Focuses on the role of everyday conversation in creating and maintaining a family relationship. The class explores the three faces of talk: informative talk, talk as a means of expression, and talk as a tool for re-establishing contact. Specific focus is given to general talk and its unique meanings. Two specific kinds of talk – debriefing conversations and self-disclosure – are also defined and discussed in detail. Featured interview: Professor Anita Vangelisti (University of Texas – Austin) and Professor Julia Wood (University of North Carolina).
Languages: English
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Introduction: Communication Patterns and Families
Includes a description of the course’s philosophy and goals, and defines the basic assumptions challenged in this course. Together Dr. Galvin and the students create definitions for the terms “family” and “communication,” and discuss the types of families that will be analyzed in the course. Featured interview: Professor Dr. William Pinsof (Northwestern University), President and CEO of The Family Institute at Northwestern University
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Family Communication Framework: Part I
Reviews the powerful role of communication patterns in the family. Positive, negative, conscious, and unconscious patterns are discussed. The class also introduces the concept of “adaptability patterns” which provides a basis for understanding the level of emotional bonding and the degree of individual autonomy acceptable in a family. Featured interviews: Professor Douglas Kelley (Arizona State University-West) and Dr. Charles Wilkinson, Marriage and Family Therapist.
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Family Communications: Part II
Reviews the supporting functions of a family system, including the creation of congruent images and central family themes. Students learn to discern family boundaries (i.e. rigid, flexible, non-existent), and to define meaningful biosocial issues, such as position, person, and gender orientation. The class also explores how the systemic nature of the family applies to family structure. Featured interview: Dr. Charles Wilkinson, Marriage and Family Therapist.
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African Americans, Part 1
Examines the challenges facing this unique ethnic group and how its fate continues to evolve in the U.S. Studio Guest: Jesse Jackson Jr., Congressional Representative from the 2nd District of Illinois. Video Inserts: Birmingham Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, Alabama; a film clip from Crash; Dr. Thomas Parham a Professor from the University of California at Irvine, and Dr. V.P. Franklin a Professor at the University of California at Riverside.
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African Americans, Part 2
Studio Guest: Dr. Cathy Cohen, Director of the Black Youth Project and her graduate student Jamila Celestine-Michener from the University of Chicago. Video Inserts: Byron Hurt, Director of the film, Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes.
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Asian Americans
A discussion of some of the many cultures who fall under this label and live within the U.S. Studio Guest: Rey Flores, a community activist and columnist for Hoy Newspaper in Chicago. Video Inserts: Dr. Michael Omi, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California at Berkeley; Dr. Gargi Roysircar-Sodowsky, Director of Diversity Issues at Antioch University New England along with Dr. Farah Ibrahim of Oregon State University, multicultural consultants, Asma Abdullah and Peter Shepherd; and the Korean American community in Chicago.
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Middle Eastern and Arab American Cultures
An introspective look at Middle-Eastern cultures in the U.S. as they appear in the media and are perceived by the American society. Studio Guest: Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Chicago. Video Inserts: Dr. Jack Shaheen’s film Reel Bad Arabs.
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Islam
The fastest growing religion in the U.S. is Islam; it is also one of the most controversial as a result of 9/11. Studio Guest: Imam Kifah Mustapha (from a Mosque located in Bridgeview, IL) who is also the Associate Director of The Mosque Foundation and Dr. Aminah Beverly McCloud, a Professor of Islamic Studies at DePaul University. Video Inserts: Dr. Azizan Baharuddin from the Centre for Civilizational Dialogue at the University of Malaysia, and a mini-case study on the Islamic community in Waukegan, Illinois.
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European Americans
This program features a segment on the Amish community in Indiana and a profile of Italians in America, looking at their struggles in the past and their dreams for the future. Studio Guest: historian and film maker Dominic Candeloro. Video Inserts: Mini-Case Study on the Amish in the U.S.; and film clips from the movie And They Came to Chicago: The Italian American Legacy.