ABSTRACT This paper shares findings from a preliminary study exploring how communication studies instructors incorporate social justice into their syllabi. Using a qualitative content analysis approach, the study examined 20 departmental syllabi at a university in the U.S. in 2021–2022, identifying instances of social justice framing across course objectives, readings, assignments, and overall document. Findings reveal varying degrees of explicit and implicit integration, often shaped by pedagogical approaches and disciplinary subfields. Emerging from patterns in the analysis, the authors share a guide for enhancing social justice integration and indicate a need for intentional and reflective syllabus design to align teaching practices with social justice values. Through its focus on syllabi as a site for pedagogical framing, this assessment supports student success and retention and the cultivation of a more locally and globally connected campus community.

This teaching activity introduces philosophy of communication through poetry to help students grasp ontological, epistemological, and axiological dimensions in a creative and experiential way. The activity guides students from conceptual understanding to reflective expression, encouraging them to engage with philosophy not only as theory but also as lived communication practice. The approach integrates art-based learning, reflection, and independent work, adaptable to various communication courses and cultural contexts. It promotes critical and creative thinking by combining analytical and affective modes of learning, fostering deeper understanding and self-awareness among students. Courses Philosophy of Communication, Communication Theory, Introduction to Communication, Advanced Communication Studies, Communication Research Methods (Undergraduate Level). Objectives By the end of this activity, students will be able to: (1) understand the basic concepts of ontology, epistemology, and axiology in communication philosophy; (2) apply philosophical frameworks to analyze real or imagined lived experiences; (3) engage in reflective and expressive practices through poetic composition and analysis; (4) connect abstract philosophical constructs to communication practices such as meaning making, identity negotiation, and ethical discourse; and (5) demonstrate multimodal expression and critical reflection using creative and analytical tools.

This single assignment proposes a paper-onion activity to help students experientially engage with the concept of self-disclosure through social penetration theory (SPT). Students write personal information on a four-layered onion, pair with a lesser-known classmate to peel back the layers, and then reflect on the experience to connect theory with practice. Courses This activity is designed for use in an interpersonal communication class but can also be applied in health, organizational, family, intercultural, and computer-mediated communication courses when exploring the process of interpersonal relationship building. Objectives Students will be able to: (1) recognize self-disclosure as a foundational process in building and sustaining meaningful relationships; (2) apply SPT to analyze patterns and functions of self-disclosure; (3) strengthen interpersonal intelligence by observing and evaluating disclosure communication in real-time interaction; and (4) cultivate self-awareness and empathy through guided reflection on personal boundaries, vulnerability, reciprocity, and trust.

This teaching activity employs Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) through the Lake Erie Bill of Rights (LEBOR) case to demonstrate how all actants involved in a network from laws to algae co-produce socio-ecological systems. For communication scholars, identifying all actants in a network is crucial to understanding complex systems. Following Latour’s symmetrical approach, which treats all actants as equally consequential in shaping outcomes, students complete a “Weave Your Network Map” exercise. The first part of the activity is about students’ daily interactions with technological and environmental forces. In the second part of the activity, they analyze LEBOR's network, where a lake's legal personhood emerged through alliances among activists, water quality data, and legislative texts. By comparing personal networks with LEBOR’s struggle, students analyze power as distributed agency, a horizontal web of influence where actants (e.g. laws, algae, apps) shape outcomes alongside human actors. Courses Communication Theory, Media Studies, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Environmental Communication. Objectives Following this activity, students will be able to (1) define ANT, (2) apply ANT by mapping interactions between all the actants present in a network to explore how agency is distributed in everyday life, and (3) critically evaluate the strengths and limitations of ANT.

ABSTRACT Writing campaign proposals is a cornerstone of strategic communication education but often presents a hurdle for students. This article describes campAIgnR, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tool to cowrite proposals for public communication campaigns about health-related topics used in an undergraduate class. We detail the tool’s integration into the course. Our results suggest campAIgnR provides a scaffold for the process of campaign design, reduces student stress, and provides new learning experiences in the domain of AI. It frees students to focus less on the more mechanical aspects of basic drafting and more on higher-order ideational tasks. This shift not only makes the process more engaging and enjoyable but also fosters more thoughtful and effective campaign proposals, all while developing crucial prompt engineering skills for the twenty-first-century communication workforce. Course Public Communication Campaigns—Design and Analysis. Objectives Students learn AI-augmented campaign design. They develop strategic communication and health communication expertise as well as prompt-engineering skills. They also learn to critically evaluate and refine AI-generated content to meet campaign objectives and standards.

ABSTRACT Corporate museums rely on various rhetorical strategies to commemorate the history and legacy of private business organizations. Hence, corporate museums are rich examples from which to teach undergraduate students a nuanced understanding of public memory that incorporates interdisciplinary perspectives from the subfields of rhetorical and organizational communication studies. This single-class activity introduces students to corporate museums, equipping them to analyze these institutions as public memorials suffused by organizational rhetoric. Students work in small groups to apply this knowledge by persuasively proposing and justifying the design of an original corporate museum. Courses Undergraduate courses in rhetorical studies, organizational communication, business and professional communication, and strategic communication. Objectives This activity enables students to (1) gain familiarity with the corporate museum as a place-based vehicle for public memory and organizational rhetoric, (2) make interdisciplinary connections between the subfields of rhetorical and organizational communication studies while analyzing corporate museums, and (3) work in small groups to persuasively propose and justify the design of an original corporate museum.

This study introduces a music-enhanced learning activity designed to address the challenges of active listening and emotional engagement in interpersonal communication. It details the goals, setup, steps, and evaluation of a group activity conducted during an interpersonal communication course. The activity utilized the sad-themed song “Sampai Jadi Debu” by Banda Neira to create an emotionally charged atmosphere, aiming to enhance students’ ability to listen actively, respond empathetically, understand emotional cues in communication, and foster stronger interpersonal connections. Courses Interpersonal communication, communication skill development, and courses focused on practical communication strategies. Objectives A music-enhanced listening activity is part of an undergraduate communication course that introduces students to key concepts in active listening, emotional intelligence, and effective response techniques. The activity encouraged students to practice these skills through music, creating a deeper emotional connection in their interactions. The specific objectives of the activity were: (1) to prepare students to engage in dynamic, real-world communication situations that require deep listening and appropriate responses; (2) to challenge students to reflect on their emotional responses and recognize the impact these have on their communication; (3) to help students develop the ability to listen attentively in high-pressure or emotionally charged situations; and (4) to enhance empathy through the use of Banda Neira’s sad-themed songs, which encourage open expression of thoughts and feelings. The method involves two students sitting in front of the class, engaging in a question-and-answer session using preprepared emotional questions, which encourages them to listen actively and respond empathetically to each other’s emotional cues. By incorporating music into the learning process, the activity not only is designed for interpersonal communication courses but can also be applied to other communication courses that require complex emotional and social interactions.