COMM 198: Applied Activity with Forensics

The Forensics option is part of the Senior Project/Applied Activity required for graduation for majors in the department of Communication Studies. Its purpose is to provide Communication Studies majors with practical experience, under faculty supervision, with scholarly reflection. The Forensics option provides students with an opportunity to put their almost four years of learning where their mouths are; to test their speaking, reasoning, and listening abilities outside the college classroom. 

Please read through all three sections below, then check out the COMM 198 Forensics Options to learn about your choices.

• Background

  • The Comm 198 forensics option was founded to be an outlet for Communication Studies Majors and serve as the culminating experience to go out and participate in performance and civic discourse. In recent years the program has continued to evolve to include community involvement through local urban debate programs as well as becoming one of the outward faces of the Communication Studies program. The competitive forensics program exists to foster life-long learning skills for competitors. This activity should be an enjoyable learning experience. If winning happens that's great, but the program goal is learning. We don't compete to win, we compete to learn.

    
    In 2019, the Forensics program started SpeakFest, a peer coaching event that mimics the experience of competing in a competitive forensics competition without the competition. Every student who participates in the event gives speeches, performs debates, or provides peer coaching and feedback. This is an open event that caters to students uniques experiences, backgrounds, and needs. Events like SpeakFest create cornerstones that encourage lifelong learning and civic engagement.

• Mission and Roles

  • Students who are completing COMM 198 with Forensics are completing their culminating experience as students. This means that students should be utilizing all of the skills that they have acquired over their time in college to perform a complex task. However, this is not a traditional course in which students are required to go to weekly meetings, have homework, or many of the other traditional classroom experiences. Instead this is much more like an internship or individual project. Students have been given a goal and are expected to manage their time, keep track of their hours, and seek guidance when required.

    The Director's role in this process is that of facilitator or manager. Students have been given a task with the expectation that you will complete it. The Director is here to support, answer questions, provide resources, and do occasional check ins.

• Requirements

  • Students will be required to complete the total number of required hours to receive credit in the course. 50 hours for 1 unit and 100 hours for 2 units

    Regardless of the option chosen it is expected that you will participate in some capacity with SpeakFest.

    All paperwork and assignments need to be submitted to the course canvas page on the First Day of Finals each semester.

    Students will need to keep track of their hours on a spreadsheet (one is provided in the canvas course shell).

    Every month, a follow up message will be sent. Students will be required to connect about the total number of hours they have completed for the semester.

    Learn more about the COMM 198 - Applied Activity requirement.