Syllaus cmn 368 - Syllabus for course PDF

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CMN 368:

SEXUAL COMMUNICATION Spring 2020 Professor: Dr. Mary E. Ramey Email: [email protected] Office Hours: WF 10-10:50 Office: 4020 Lincoln Hall Course Description Sex is a foundational activity in the development and maintenance of human relationships. Communication about sex happens in a myriad of interpersonal, group, organizational, and mediated contexts. This course explores the many ways in which sexual communication intersects our personal, relational, cultural, and institutional norms and values. Topics will include but are not limited to social norms about sexual communication, family communication about sex, sexual health education, doctorpatient communication about sex, sex in relationships, and sex in the media. Theory and research on communication processes will be used to elaborate how sexual communication can achieve multiple goals. Discussion Section Instructors:

Danni Liao: Email: [email protected] Office Hours: M 10-11 and by appointment Office: 4070 Lincoln Hall, Pod E Amanda Tolbert Email: [email protected] Office Hours: M 10-11 and by appointment Office: 4070 Lincoln Hall, Pod C All students should be enrolled in the lecture and one discussion section. Students may only attend the discussion section they are enrolled in (no exceptions).

Course Materials

Illinois Compass. This course will rely heavily on the instructional web platform that you know as Illinois Compass. We will use Compass to distribute readings, post grades, and post announcements about class. You are responsible for checking Compass regularly. Readings. There is no required textbook for this course. As noted above, readings for this course will be posted online to Compass as PDF files. Course Evaluation:

Contract Grading: CMN 368 uses a contract grading system, which means you will be responsible for allocating the percentage of your grade that will rest on each assignment. Your completed and signed grading contract is due to your TA during discussion section on Feb. 5-7 (depending on when your discussion section meets). After your TA signs your contract, it will become a binding agreement for your grade in the course. (If you do not turn in a contract by the deadline, your grade will be based on the default allocation.) Once you have submitted your contract to your discussion section instructor, he or she will input your contract weights into Compass. You are responsible for checking Compass to make sure that your contract weights are accurate. Your grading contract will be based on the following assignments: Exams: Three unit exams will be given during the semester (see the course calendar for dates). These multiple choice exams will require students to synthesize and apply material covered in lecture, in discussion sections, and in the readings. Exams are not cumulative. Lecture Participation: During lecture, I will assess your participation and engagement in our topics by asking you to respond to different discussion questions. You will write your responses down and hand them in to your discussion section instructor. You will need to make sure you bring paper and a writing utensil to class on a regular basis. Your lecture participation grade will be based out of the number of responses you complete out of 10. It is your responsibility to make sure that you hand in your response to your discussion section instructor. If you hand in your response to another member of the CMN 368 teaching staff, you will not receive credit for participation that day. We will not accept late participation responses. If you hand in a participation response for another student, you will both receive a zero for that response. You cannot “make-up” lecture participation opportunities. This means that if you miss a class period in which a lecture participation opportunity was presented, then you can’t make it up. I will provide more than 10 participation opportunities to allow for unavoidable absences (illness, family and other extreme personal emergencies, job interviews, etc.). Advice Assignment: This assignment is a 4 to 6 page essay in which you use course concepts and material as well as research to give advice in response to a sexual communication problem. On Compass, you will find detailed instructions about this assignment.

Discussion Participation: Discussion sections are designed to help you develop your communication skills by providing opportunities to talk about how to apply concepts in your everyday lives, to ask questions about the limitations of concepts, and to role-play new skills. If you decide you wish to have your discussion participation included as a portion of your grade, you will be evaluated according to the number of participation assignments you complete in discussion. Discussion sections will meet 13 times this semester and during each section you will complete a participation assignment. Your grade for discussion participation will be based out of the number of participation assignments you complete out of 12. Self-Reflection Essays: This two-part assignment requires you to set goals for the semester and provide an assessment of your sexual communication competence in an essay due early in the semester. In a follow-up essay, due towards the end of the semester, you will have to report on the new information you learned and the progress you made on your sexual communication goals. Grading Scale. The following scale will be used to calculate all grades: 0-59 = F / 60-62 = D- / 63-67 = D / 68-69 = D+ / 70-72 = C- / 73-77 = C / 78-79 = C+ / 80-82 = B- / 83-87 = B /88-89 = B+ / 90-92 = A- / 93-100 = A I will offer extra credit this semester. I do NOT “round up” grades. Course Expectations:

Level of Difficulty: Expect to be challenged. The readings go beyond information covered in class, and the exams cover both lecture and reading material. The writing assignments require careful reflection and analysis. The exercises may push you out of your comfort zone and force you to rethink some of your communication habits. If you are not ready for a challenge, CMN 368 is not the course for you. Attendance in discussion sections. Although this course is structured as a lecture with discussion sections, we may be different from other courses you have taken in which the discussion sections were optional opportunities to receive clarification of lecture. We hope you will raise clarification questions in discussion sections but we also do many other things during those times, including presenting new material and working on theoretical application. We also give information about assignments and exams during discussion sections. We expect you to attend discussion sections even if you aren’t counting discussion participation in your grade. Meeting deadlines. If an exam conflicts with religious observance or formal participation in scheduled activities of an officially recognized university group, you should notify your TA at least two weeks prior to the exam. If you miss an exam due to serious illness or other extraordinary circumstance, please contact your TA as soon as possible to arrange a make-up exam. Our final exam time will be held according to the University-wide schedule. Before committing yourself to any vacations, jobs, internships, etc., wait until the final exam

schedule has been posted. You may schedule a conflict exam for the final exam under the following circumstances: you have more than 3 final exams scheduled in a 24-hour period (per University policy) OR you are experiencing an EXTREME personal emergency (e.g., your appendix bursts the night before the final). Otherwise, make plans to be here during the final exam period. If you choose to complete any of the optional assignments, we expect you will monitor and meet all deadlines. All assignments are due on the dates specified in the syllabus and/or assignment sheets. No electronic copies of assignments will be accepted. I do NOT accept late work. Things can and do go wrong. Plan ahead. In the event of an emergency, I may grant you an extension. I do not grant extensions for the following: forgetting or missing a deadline, not understanding an assignment, not having access to reliable technology, having too many things to do, or health concerns of distant relatives or friends. You will need to be prepared to submit any work that you have done on an assignment in consideration of your extension. Contacting us sooner rather than later helps your credibility and gives us more flexibility. If you request an exam make-up or assignment extension, be prepared to provide written documentation of your excuse, including a phone number we may call to verify information. Be advised that notes or alerts from the Emergency Dean or McKinley Health Services are not sufficient documentation for an extension. In return. You may expect the following of us: We will be present and prepared every class except in cases of serious illness or emergency or pre-arranged professional obligations. We will treat you with respect. We will evaluate your work fairly according to explicit criteria. We will be available to meet with you during our regularly scheduled office hours. If you feel we aren’t upholding these standards, please let us know. Academic integrity. If you violate the Campus Code on Academic Integrity, you risk a failing grade in the course or even possible expulsion from the university. If you aren’t familiar with the Campus Code, please visit www.admin.uiuc.edu/policy/code/article_1/a1-401.html for more information on these policies. Academic misconduct is a very serious offense and will be treated as such in this course. This includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, and helping others commit offenses. Grade Inquiries. If you feel that your work has been graded inaccurately, you are encouraged to contact your discussion section instructor. In order to dispute a grade you must meet with the TA in person and provide documentation of your work as well as reading or lecture content that supports your position. Grade discussions will not be permitted within 24 hours of receiving the grade, and must be completed within two weeks of the grade being posted. Additionally, grade discussions must take place during office hours or by appointment, as before/during/after class is not an appropriate venue for discussions of individual student grades.

Spring 2020 Schedule Date

Topic

W 1/22

Reading Unit 1: Communicating Attraction Why Study Sexual Communication? No Reading

M 1/27

The Biophysical Perspective

Miller et al., 2007

W 1/29

The Biophysical Perspective

Denes, 2012

M 2/3

Social Attraction

W 2/5

Social Attraction

Regan & Berscheid, 1997; Kniffin & Wilson, 2004 Sprecher, 1998

M 2/10

Social Attraction Unit 2: Sexual Socialization No reading

Discussion Discussion 1: Intro

Discussion 2: Physical Attraction

Discussion 3: FWB

W 2/12

“Let’s Talk about Sex”

Discussion 4: “Let’s Talk” cont’

M 2/17

Culture

Widmer et al., 1998

W 2/19

Culture

Madkour et al., 2010 Atwood, 2006

Discussion 5: Exam Review

M 2/24

Exam 1

W 2/26

Formal Sex Education

Mueller et al., 2008

Discussion 6: Sex Education

M 3/2

Formal Sex Education

W 3/4

Family Communication

Kohler et al., 2008; Elders, 1997 Heisler, 2005; Sneed, 2008

M 3/9

Family Communication

Savin-Williams & Ream,

W 3/11

Gender

2003 Vohs, et al., 2004

M 3/23

Gender

Witt, 1997

W 3/25

Sex in the Media

M 3/30

Sex in the Media

W 4/1

Technology & Sex

Wingood et al, 2003 Collins et al., 2004 Reichert&Carpenter, 2003; Reichert&Lambiase, 2004 Moscowitz et al., 2009 Dir et al., 2013

Discussion 7: Family Communication

Discussion 8: Gender

Discussion 9: Sex & Advertising

Discussion 10: Advice Assignment Work

Day M 4/6

Technology & Sex

Albright, 2008

W 4/8

Unit 3: Sexual Health Sexual Health in Relationships Oncale & King, 2011

M 4/13

Exam 2

W 4/15

Sexual Health in Relationships

M 4/20

Patient-Provider Communication

W 4/22

Sexual Coercion and Consent

M 4/27

“The Hunting Ground” cont.

W 4/29

Sexual Coercion and Consent

Kahn, et al., 2003

M 5/4

Sexual Stigma

Brashers et al., 2000

W 5/6

Sexual Stigma

Bond et al., 2009

Anderson et al., 2011 Holland & French, 2011 Emmers-Sommer et al, 2009; Verhoeven et al, 2003

Discussion 11: Exam Review

Discussion 12: Non-monogamy

Discussion 13: “The Hunting Ground”

Discussion 14: Exam Review

DUE DATES FOR ALL ASSIGNMENTS AND EXAMS:

Feb.5-7: Grading Contract due; Self-Reflection Essay part 1 due (if contracted to do this) Feb.12-14: Letter for advice paper assigned Feb. 24: Exam 1 April 6: Advice Assignment Due (in lecture) April 13: Exam 2 April 29-May 1: Self-Reflection Essay part 2 due (if contracted to do this) (Final Exam TBD. Reminder: We follow the University-wide schedule. Please wait until it is published before making travel plans)....