May Term Courses
May Term courses offered by CLA departments during Summer 2026:
Learn about public communication processes, elements, and ethics as you practice individual speaking designed to encourage civic participation.
In an era when almost everybody's a content creator, learn what makes mass communication different.
Study the central problems and methods of philosophy through culturally diverse texts to learn a range of U.S. philosophical traditions.
The United States is the most powerful country in the world. This means that how the United States behaves in the world is hugely important. As a result, we should all try to better understand U.S. foreign policy: why the U.S. behaves in the way it does, how the U.S. should behave, and how it has behaved in the past.
This is a lecture, discussion, and project-based learning course on the multi-faceted Hmong identities throughout regions of different countries, time-periods, and acculturation process of each region.
Study one of the fastest-growing sectors of the entertainment media industry that has a wide-ranging impact on our culture and society.
Examine popular culture in modern and historical contexts through various mass communication, sociological, and cultural theories.
Study what it means to examine issues systematically and then apply interpersonal communication theories to real life examples, such as meeting people and dealing with unexpected encounters.
Learn how social media, mobile phones, artificial intelligence, drones, and digital games have shaped and been shaped by global society.
Pose questions such as: How do we determine what is right and wrong? How should we live our lives? What do we owe others?
Explore how advertisements influence memory, attitudes, emotions, and behaviors and how humans actively process and resist persuasive messages.
Analyze media images and messages as you study principles of literacy, media content and industries, and media effects.
Understand the impact the rise of social media has had on organizations and orient social media management from a communication strategist’s standpoint.
Analyze eight films to see what they tell us about political and legal culture, and what messages they have for contemporary politics.
Social media, news, and entertainment media help shape our ideas about identity and differences. Learn how representation and inclusion have been negotiated through media.
Move through a series of thematic units examining mobile crowdsourcing, social movements, social life, development, media, and the future of mobile communication.