Upon completion of this course, you will be able to:

1. Critical Thinking
   1. Apply major theoretical concepts in the field of relational communication to real world relationships
   2. Analyze roles in interpersonal relationships in a family, professional, friendship, interracial/intercultural, or intimate context
   3. Formulate a plan for improved interpersonal competencies in family, romantic, friendship, and work conversations
   4. Construct a plan for setting personal boundaries in interpersonal relationships
   5. Evaluate and use information, ideas and arguments from a variety of perspectives to make sense of complex issues
   6. Use critical thinking to understand and resolve issues
2. Communication
   1. Use written, spoken, and nonverbal communication to express thoughts, philosophies, and strategies for daily interpersonal communication
   2. Listen to and interpret complex ideas
   3. Demonstrate principles of organization and synthesis of information
   4. Send and interpret verbal and nonverbal messages with accuracy
3. Cultural and Civic Engagement
   1. Demonstrate the ability to competently work with people of different genders, sexual orientations, cultures, religions, ages, cognitive/physical abilities, and socioeconomic statuses
   2. Exhibit the ability to connect with others across communities
   3. Adapt behaviors appropriately to live and work in an evolving, diverse world
   4. Demonstrate care and concern for the welfare of others
   5. Evaluate incompetent interpersonal communication strategies for use in creating competent interpersonal communication strategies
4. Communication Process
   1. Define and use a vocabulary of relational communication terms
   2. Demonstrate the communication process by creating a model of communication
   3. Identify how interpersonal communication is distinct from public speaking and other communication contexts
5. Cultural Influences
   1. Identify the influence of ethnicity and gender on culture
6. Influence of Self in the Communication Process
   1. Describe how a view of oneself influences the communication process
   2. Identify the influences of others on self-identity and communication with others
   3. Define self-disclosure and illustrate its use in competent interpersonal communication and relationships
7. Understanding Perception and its role on Interpersonal Communication
   1. Describe the three parts of the perception process and its role in competent communication
   2. Identify the factors influencing attribution of meaning in communication and relationship
   3. Evaluate conversations for fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias as well as other perception missteps in interpersonal communication
8. Verbal and Nonverbal Communication in Interpersonal Relationships
   1. Distinguish between succinct, clearly spoken communication, and arbitrary, ambiguous use of words
   2. Identify consequences of loaded language, biased communication, and prejudice in dialogue
   3. Practice effective verbal and nonverbal communication
9. Communication of Emotion in Interpersonal Communication
   1. Define emotional intelligence
   2. Identify feeling and framing rules and their influence on communication in interpersonal relationships
   3. Identify ineffective expression of emotions and choose competent strategies for expressing emotion
   4. Evaluate the expression of emotion and solve dialogue challenges by owning the emotion and expression of it
10. Mindful Listening and its Role in Interpersonal Communication
    1. Distinguish the difference between hearing and listening
    2. Create a strategy for competent listening
    3. Identify and classify poor listening behaviors
    4. Demonstrate effective mindful listening strategies
    5. Describe the various types of noise that interfere with competent listening
    6. Identify non-listening and barriers to effective listening
    7. Define mindful listening and its role in communication, and create a strategy for it
11. Creating Competent Interpersonal Climates
    1. Define relational dialectics and assess competent negotiations of tensions
    2. Identify disconfirming and confirming communication climates
    3. Assess strategies for turning disconfirming environments into confirming environments
    4. Identify types of nonlistening
    5. Define interpersonal conflict
    6. Construct a plan to use effective communication strategies for managing conflict in interpersonal relationships
    7. Describe the responses to conflict and the appropriate use of each response
    8. Evaluate ineffective responses to conflict and demonstrate a plan for correction
    9. Recognize the stages of relationship and adjust communication strategies based on the stage of the relationship.