Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders
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Studies how the disabled are portrayed in film, theatre, and literature in contrast with the realities of society. Examines the issue of disability as a culture.Instructor: David KociembaIntroduces American Sign Language and American deaf culture. Students learn commonly used signs and basic rules of grammar. The course also explores information related to the deaf community, interaction between deaf and hearing people, and deaf education.Introduces the professions of speech-language pathology and audiology, and the variety of communication disorders affecting children and adults. Students learn to use clinical terminology to describe treatment sessions during in-class guided observations. Guest speakers include speech-language pathologists and audiologists who describe their various work experiences.Instructor: Laura Glufling-ThamExplores the theoretical and practical aspects of the language learning process and its relation to other aspects of cognitive and social development. Includes discussion of the development of speech and language skills throughout the life span, from birth to adulthood. Includes a required service learning component involving weekly participation in an area preschool program throughout the semester.Instructor: Julia HaydenContinues to expand on receptive and expressive skills in ASL with emphasis on developing use of classifiers and the role of spatial relationships.Studies the various aspects of speech sounds and their production with a focus on articulatory, acoustic, and linguistic bases. Students learn to discriminate, analyze, and transcribe speech sounds using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The relevance of course content to clinical and other applications is discussed as students learn to use the IPA to transcribe the speech of individuals with communicative impairments and different social dialects and accents. This course may be of special interest to students interested in acting, radio, and/or television broadcasting.Instructor: Lisa LavoieStudies the structure of the biological systems that underlie speech, language, and hearing with an emphasis on the processes and neural control of respiration, phonation, resonance, and articulation. Clinical disorders are used to elucidate dysfunction of these normal processes as substrates for human communication.Instructor: Stephane MaisonA continuation of American Sign Language II. Students continue to expand different grammatical features of time signs and some different forms of inflecting verbs. In addition, students continue to develop conversational strategies in asking for clarification, agreeing, disagreeing, and hedging.Provides students with a basic understanding of human communication in areas of articulation, fluency, resonance, and voice. Issues related to assessment and intervention are addressed. Students observe diagnostic and therapy sessions toward completion of the 25 hours required by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Students learn to abstract and integrate information from clinical observations into thoughtful, well-written clinical observation reports.Provides students with a basic understanding of disorders of human communication associated with developmental and acquired language disorders in children and adults. Assessment and intervention are addressed. Students observe diagnostic and therapy sessions toward completion of the 25 hours required by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. This is a writing-intensive course in which students write a major term paper with revisions and learn to use the APA writing conventions.Instructor: Alisa RuggieroIntroduces the clinical process and methodology that underlie observation, assessment, and treatment of communication disorders in children and adults. Students learn to plan and execute a therapy session with a selected client. Clinical writing skills are developed through a variety of written assignments such as treatment plans, data collection and analysis, and progress notes.Instructor: Shelley LipschultzExamines the physiological, acoustic, and perceptual processes involved in speech production and perception. Students get exposure to instrumentation for the display and acoustic analysis of speech sounds. This course may be of special interest to students in radio and television broadcasting who want to better understand properties of speech.Instructor: Amit BajajA continuation of American Sign Language III. Students continue to expand knowledge and use of advanced grammatical features and further develop conversational abilities.Instructor: Richard ShupertIncludes detailed anatomy of the ear with an overview of the physics of sound and current medical and audiologic management of hearing loss. Covers pure tone and speech audiometry, site-of-lesion testing, and audiogram interpretation.Examines theories underlying habilitation and rehabilitation procedures for deaf and hard-of-hearing children and adults. Covers the effects of hearing loss on an individual and family, education of children with hearing loss, use of sensory aids, and design of aural rehabilitation programs for various populations.Instructor: Cathy BakkensenFocus on topics in the field such as current theoretical perspectives, particular pathologies, clinical methodologies or interdisciplinary issues between communication disorders and other fields.Required for graduate students from undergraduate fields other than communication disorders and introduces them to clinical practice. Through class discussion, required observation of clinical work, and community screenings, students begin to understand the dynamic interactions between clients and clinicians.Following the completion of prerequisite coursework and observation hours, students are taught assessment procedures, treatment strategies, and clinical writing skills. The course covers policies and procedures required for on-campus clinical performance as part of pediatric group treatment experiences and/or individual treatment for persons of all ages. This course must be passed prior to enrolling in CD 602.Instructor: Betsy MicucciFocuses on assessment, intervention, documentation, and legislation related to work with school-aged children. This course must be passed prior to enrolling in CD 603.Instructor: Sandra Cohn ThauStudents learn about the role of the speech-language pathologist in clinical work with adults and issues pertinent to conducting effective assessment and treatment sessions with various communication disorders in this population. Additional topics include health care reimbursement and regulation, health literacy, and the role of other team members in adult settings. This course must be passed before enrolling in CD 604.Instructor: Laura Glufling-ThamFocuses on professional issues and the transition into professional practice.Instructor: Sandra Cohn ThauAs students progress through the program, they will be assigned to a variety of clinical opportunities both on and off campus. Students enroll in CD 605 for a minimum of five semesters.Instructor: Sandra Cohn ThauTeaches fundamentals of data collection and interpretation in a clinical context. Students will learn about psychometric and normative data supporting diagnostic measures, how to select appropriate diagnostic tools and interpret the resulting data. Students will collect their own data sets, select and conduct statistical tests, and interpret results. A key component of the class is to understand what questions are clinically relevant to ask, what measures are appropriate to answer those questions, how to collect the relevant data, and the applications and limitations of statistical tests to interpret the results.Instructor: Rhiannon J. LuysterExplores the nature of stuttering from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Cluttering and neurogenic and psychogenic stuttering are also examined. Procedures for evaluating and treating/managing stuttering among children and adults are emphasized.Instructor: Amit BajajPresents normative and theoretical perspectives on speech sound development as well as assessment and treatment of the disorders of articulation and phonology. General treatment strategies and specific treatment programs are emphasized. Research in evidence-based practice is highlighted.Addresses feeding and swallowing mechanisms and processes, as well as current assessment procedures and management options that occur from infancy through adulthood.Focuses on the relationship between spoken and written language and its role in language-based learning disabilities in school-age students. It addresses the characteristics of language, reading, and spelling impairments; the subtypes of these disorders; and the different intervention approaches used with them. Various models of language and reading development and their disorders are reviewed.Instructor: Elaine GellerStudents learn the etiology, assessment, diagnosis, and principles of rehabilitation of speech production disorders in individuals with acquired neuropathologies. Information is presented in the context of speech production theory and (where appropriate) of the neurological disease of which the speech disorder is a symptom.Instructor: Alisa RuggieroThis seminar provides a framework for determining appropriate speech and language assessment techniques, therapeutic objectives, and intervention strategies for children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders. It includes a review of current perspectives on differential diagnosis, etiology, and core challenges faced by this population of children at various developmental stages. The unique learning style characteristics of children with autism and pervasive developmental disorders are reviewed along with appropriate intervention/educational models and tenets of "recommended practice."Instructor: Amy LaurentThis seminar reviews failures in craniofacial growth and development and the subsequent associated speech and language disorders. Communication and speech issues related to cleft lip and palate, dental malocclusions, and neuromuscular dysfunctions of the head and face are included. The role of speech-language pathologists in diagnosis and treatment within interdisciplinary models of case management is emphasized.Instructor: Kara Fletcher LarsonThis seminar provides a survey of approaches to counseling with emphasis on application of counseling theories to persons with communication disorders and their families. Exploration of strategies for assessing and working with the family system are also included.This seminar provides information regarding early intervention context. Emphasis is placed on understanding this population, the service delivery system, its consumers, and their special needs. The speech-language pathologist's role in providing direct assessment, treatment, and advocacy for children and their families is integrated into each topic area.Instructor: Betsy MicucciA range of current topics in the field will be selected and scheduled.Instructors: Laura Glufling-Tham, Marnie MillingtonAddresses the characteristics, etiology, evaluation, and clinical management of voice disorders and associated pathological conditions in both children and adults. Neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of voice and speech production are reviewed.Outlines the anatomy and functional neurophysiology of human communication and provides an overview of neurodevelopment and its processes and disorders. Although the organization of the human nervous system is presented, emphasis is placed on the relationship of this organization to the components of the various communicative, cognitive, linguistic, sensory, and motor processes that are central to human communication and to the treatment of its disorders.Focus on topics in the field such as current theoretical perspectives, unique pathologies, or in-depth discussions of methodological issues.Surveys language learning and its neuropsychological underpinnings. Current theoretical perspectives are introduced and analyzed with respect to their clinical and educational implications. Selected methods for evaluating developing language are also reviewed, with special emphasis on the influence of cultural and linguistic diversity on language learning outcomes.Introduces the clinical considerations involved in the identification of candidacy for augmentative communication strategies, including domains of AAC assessment across disciplines and selection of AAC strategies as part of a total communication approach. Students become familiar with assessment and intervention considerations with persons who are nonspeaking, and develop an understanding of population characteristics, evaluation considerations, and feature matching within each domain/discipline and within varied intervention techniques.Examines current perspectives in defining, assessing, and intervening with children with language disturbances from infancy through the preschool years. In addition, issues surrounding older individuals with language functioning in the preschool developmental age range are described. Particular attention is given to assessment and intervention techniques for children and individuals at pre-linguistic, emerging language, and conversational language levels. Additional considerations include multicultural issues, working with caregivers and peers, non-speech communication alternatives, and the diverse roles played by speech-language pathologists.Instructor: Rachel Currie-RubinProvides students with audiological information relevant to the scope of practice for speech-language pathologists. Basic testing and screening techniques, interpretation of audiometric results, and habilitative and rehabilitative methods are discussed with reference to the current literature.Instructor: Stephane MaisonPathophysiology, epidemiology, and prevention of aphasia, its nature, assessment, and diagnostic procedures, and approaches to intervention are presented. Issues surrounding recovery and prognosis, and treatment efficacy and outcome are also included. All areas are presented with reference to the current literature in the field and to its clinical application.Instructor: Joanne LaskerCommunication disorders consequent to dementing processes, closed head injury, and damage to the right cerebral hemisphere are covered. Pathology, assessment, differential diagnosis, and treatment are addressed with reference to the current literature.Instructor: Amy LitwackIntroduces the study and application of principles and practices of health communication. This is a foundation for students in exploring what we know about our health due to the different components of communicating about health. Specifically, topics cover doctor-patient communication, the role of culture, social support, family health history, varied communication channels, technology, health campaigns, risk communication, and government policies. Case studies of health practices are used to illustrate these different topics.Instructor: Tanya DubroFocuses on current topics in health communication such as those related to culture, diversity, and communication. May be repeated for credit it fopics differ."Just Say No." "This is your brain on drugs." "Live Strong." "Race for the Cure." Health campaigns have influenced our perception of issues related to health and health behaviors for decades. Students learn the process of health campaigns to obtain the skills to develop, implement, and evaluate their own health campaign for a community effort. The course also discusses the role of public health, perceptions of health, and the variety of communication channels available when creating these campaigns.Instructor: Angela Cooke-JacksonExplores the role of theory, research, and practice in health communication. Investigates provider-patient interaction, social support networks, medical ethics, mass media, and health promotion and disease prevention. Covers the role of communication in health, including the role it plays in individuals' social and cultural expectations and beliefs about health, how such information influences people to think about health and effect behavioral change, and how communication may be used to redefine and change public health policy. Includes readings, projects, exams, and class interaction.Students develop an understanding of the strategic use of the media by health communicators in message development and communication strategy execution. Students also explore the ethical concerns of healthcare professionals who utilize the media. Students learn how to develop effective health communication campaigns that bring about behavioral change among target audiences and influence health policy issues at the local, state, national, and international level. In addition, students learn how to develop evaluation techniques for health communication strategies.Instructor: Nancy AllenThis course is organized around the research process in which students learn how to formulate a research question and define a research problem, decide upon a research design, assess data collection methods, define a sampling frame, determine types of data analyses, interpret data appropriately, and prepare a research report. Topics in both qualitative and quantitative research methods are included. Further, students gain an understanding of the importance of research in the development of health communication strategies.Focuses on changing the voluntary behaviors of a society (e.g., smoking cessation, diet and exercise habits). Students learn how to apply marketing techniques and concepts to social contexts like preventive health, education, and politics. As part of their course requirements, students must complete a marketing audit of a nonprofit organization involved in social marketing. In addition, cases and exercises allow students to develop their skills and knowledge in this area.Occasionally, courses are offered that capitalize on trends in health communication or which address topics not covered in other courses in the program. May be repeated when topics vary.A capstone experience for students completing the Health Communication program. Students conduct research and develop and implement a communication plan to address the needs of a health-related organization in the Boston area. Projects may include the creation of training modules for health professionals, patient education, health information dissemination, policy advocacy, and the like. Students produce a final report.Instructor: Timothy EdgarIntensive one-week learning experience that brings together academics and professionals from a variety of disciplines to study how to use marketing principles and creative arts to influence change. Combines theory and practice. Participants work in teams on project with real-life client.Applies mathematical methods to topics including set theory, mathematical logic, plausible and heuristic reasoning patterns, probability theory, and investment theory including simple interest, compound interest, basic annuities, and amortization.Applies mathematical methods to a wide variety of business decisions including reconciliation, taxation, property and casualty insurance, cash and trade discounts, simple interest, simple discount, compound interest, basic annuities, and amortization.Instructor: Eiki SatakePrepares students to use, understand, and evaluate basic statistical techniques. Introduces the most common topics and procedures in descriptive and inferential data analysis, such as measures of central tendency and variability, shapes of distributions, correlation and simple linear regression, sampling distributions, hypothesis testing, effect size, statistical power, t-tests, and chi-square.Presents topics across the range of sub-disciplines that make up the field, including the history of psychology, research methods, attention and consciousness, learning, memory, language, motivation, emotion, social perception and interaction, child and adult development, and mental illness. Students engage in discussions, presentations, and demonstrations centered on key ideas in the field.Instructors: Vinoth Jagaroo, Mark ProkoschIntroduces the discipline of social psychology. Examines how the behavior of individuals is influenced by their social environment. Topics include impression formation, persuasion, conformity, interpersonal attraction, helping behavior, aggression, and prejudice.Instructors: Tracy McLaughlin-Volpe, David ShimProvides an introduction to the nature, etiology, and classification of abnormal behaviors and therapeutic methods used to treat them. An explanation of the relation between mental disorder and the social and cultural setting is also provided.Instructor: Eileen McBrideExplores the stage/age-related physical, cognitive, and psychosocial development of individuals. Topics include physical maturation and sensory-motor development; thinking, reasoning, and language processes; personality growth; social cognition; and interpersonal interaction. Attention is also given to the discussion of contemporary issues in developmental psychology.Instructors: Eileen McBride, Mark ProkoschStudies the mental mechanisms and processes involved with perception, learning, memory, and thinking. Topics may include perception, attention, memory, language, problem solving, decision-making, mental representation and knowledge, reasoning, creativity, and intelligence. Highlights the close relationship between modern cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience that ties cognitive processes to brain systems.Examines means and methods of adaptation to life, with a focus on psychological development across the life cycle. An applied psychology course with a heavy emphasis on self-reflection and the means of effective functioning. Topics may include stress, adaptive and maladaptive coping, identity and the self, as well as specific lifestyle issues such as relationships, health, values, working, aging, gender, and sexuality.Instructor: Eileen McBrideExplores the psychological causes and consequences of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination through an analysis of psychological theory and empirical research. By focusing on the experiences of a wide range of groups, the course examines themes such as group identity and intergroup conflict; the nature of categorization; why stereotypes persist; the personal and societal impact of prejudice; and how prejudice might be overcome.Special offerings in psychology focus on important questions in contemporary psychology. Each course uses theory and methods within major psychological perspectives such as cognitive, biological, evolutionary, developmental, social, and clinical psychology to demonstrate how psychology addresses and responds to concerns of individuals and groups in real-world contexts. May be repeated for credit if topics differ.Involves comprehensive study of a sample of topics at the forefront of psychology and cognitive neuroscience. Topics extend across cognitive, developmental, social, clinical, biological, and evolutionary psychology. Approaches each of the topics with in-depth historical perspectives, a wide interdisciplinary scope, theoretical detail, and the current state of research on the subject matter. Active student participation and discourse are integral to the format of this seminar.How is our human body designed and maintained and how is the intricate balance of this system disrupted in illness? This course explores the structure, function, and interrelationship between several body systems through the study of human disease. Several major non-infectious diseases are selected (for example, diabetes, Alzheimer's, heart disease, and lung cancer) as a platform for discussing the chemistry and anatomy of the body. Study of these diseases informs discussion on mechanisms of drug action, the nature of disease risk factors, ethics and politics of healthcare, and the role of mind-body relationships in health and disease.Instructor: Robrecht ThoonenIntroduces food systems, diet, and nutrition. Helps students become informed consumers of food by discussing what we eat, why we eat, where our food comes from, how it is processed, and how it affects our health. Students learn principles of nutrition, including the function of nutrients, food composition and diet analysis, the workings of the digestive system, and the nutritional roots of disease. The environmental, sociological, and psychological implications of food are discussed, and emphasis is placed on dispelling common myths about food and on questioning information presented in the media.Instructor: Kimberly DongIntroduces the field of evolutionary biology and its application to all species, including humans. Major topics include natural selection, adaptation, and sexual selection, as well as genetics. Focuses particularly on the ancestral legacies of primate and human evolution that continue to influence modern-day society, including topics such as cooperation, jealousy, aggression, and health.Instructor: Diana SherryDiscusses the general structure of the human brain and perceptual, cognitive, and neurologic functions and disorders tied to various brain systems. Covers neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, basic sensory functions, brain development, mechanisms of drugs and hormones, sleep, consciousness, and investigative methods used to study the brain. Higher neurocognitive functions, including language and memory and a range of neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, and neurodegenerative disorders are also explored.Instructor: Vinoth JagarooInfectious diseases are a leading worldwide cause of human death. This course describes and discusses the role, origins, spread, and impact of infectious diseases. By examining how the human immune system guards against infectious disease, students gain an understanding of the complex interaction between host and pathogen. This foundation is a launching point for discussion of topics such as the rise of drug-resistant microbes, advances in diagnostic and vaccine development, the socioeconomic and political factors involved in disease progression, food preservation and safety, and the use of microbes and microbial products in bioterrorism.As it becomes increasingly possible to obtain personalized versions of our individual human genomes, it behooves us to consider how much weight this information carries in generating our physical uniqueness and individual identity. This course introduces the biological basis of inheritance and human variation while considering the personal and public implications of accessibility to one's genetic information. In particular, students explore what our DNA can and can't tell us about appearance, disease, ancestry, and behavior. Students consider the marketing of genetic tests, the use of DNA databases in forensic science, regulation of the personal genomics industry, and genetic privacy.Explores the structure and function of DNA and the role of the genetic code in shaping the basic cellular units of life. Covers the molecular biology necessary to understand science developments that have garnered the attention of the media and the scientific community, including those relating to biotechnology, stem cells, and genetic engineering. Students discuss this science at its intersection with art, policy, marketing, medicine, and human experience. They gain an appreciation of how molecular biology impacts our society and obtain the tools necessary to make informed decisions about the science we encounter.Instructor: Jamie LichtensteinEnergy has emerged as one of the most important issues facing our society, as it is increasingly clear that our current patterns of energy use are not sustainable. The course examines the ways in which we use energy, as individuals and as a society, and discusses available and future energy technologies in terms of their environmental impact and technical, economic, and political viability. Students explore various energy sources, beginning with traditional fossil fuel-based technologies, then focusing on emerging technologies, such as hydropower, wind, biomass, solar, geothermal, oceanic, fuel cell, and nuclear.Instructor: Jon HoneaIntroduces the basic concepts involved in the analysis of weather phenomena and climate patterns at global and local scales. Major topics of discussion include: atmospheric composition and dynamics; solar radiation; temperature, moisture, and condensation; optical phenomena in the atmosphere; weather patterns; severe weather; and weather forecasting techniques.Instructor: Benjamin PapandreaFocuses on natural disasters to introduce students to a range of earth-science fields, including geology, meteorology, ecology, and hydrology. Explores a variety of natural processes, such as earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, floods, landslides, wildfires, tornadoes, and climate change. Particular attention is paid to the impacts of natural disasters on human populations, the built environment, and natural resources.Climate change is a complex topic of enormous scientific interest, societal importance, and political debate. This course introduces the science of climate change and global warming, focusing in particular on: past environmental change, including abrupt changes and past intervals of warmth; the response of physical and biological systems to recent and ongoing changes in climate; future climate scenarios, forecasting uncertainties, and public-policy options; and critical evaluation of media coverage of climate-change issues.Instructor: Cascade SorteEngages students in an exploration of ecological principles and environmental issues having scientific, economic, and social dimensions of global significance. Emphasis is placed on the application of population and community ecology toward the conservation of species in the face of natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Promotes the informed and critical interpretation of results reported in ecological studies and their coverage in the media.Explores the confluence of fundamental ecological, hydrological, and other environmental processes with policy and law at the watershed scale. Emphasis is placed on how natural pathways of the flow of water support vital freshwater ecosystem services such as clean drinking water and healthy fish populations. Students also seek insight toward improved management by weighing the trade-offs required for other valued uses such as recreation, agriculture, hydropower, and industrial uses.Introduces plant biology, botany, and ecology, with a particular focus on the importance of plants to humans. Explores the basics of plant structure, growth processes, and reproduction; plant diversity and evolution; the use of plants for food, medicine, and other products; the interactions between plants and the environments they live in; and the role of plants in global environmental change.Special offerings in science focused on theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, contemporary questions in human biology and the physical sciences, and interdisciplinary issues involving science and other fields.Refines and broadens students' ability to interpret scientific language and communicate critical scientific content to others. This course examines popular representations of molecular biology in various outlets such as film, fiction, and journalism. Conversation about any scientific inaccuracies provides motivation for delving deeper into the science, and discussion of creative intent provides a mechanism for discussing ethical, social, and political impact of related research. Students then apply such interpretative understandings to their own craft as they put scientific translation and communication into practice in select scenarios.Examines human sensory and perceptual processes relating mainly to visual and auditory perception. The course first describes basic processes of neural functioning and neural pathways of perceptual systems. It then covers object-, form-, depth-, size- and motion-perception, and sound-, pitch-, and tonal-perception. Lastly, high-level neurocognitive processes such as mental imagery, speech perception, and multisensory integration are discussed. Attention is then given to gustatory, olfactory, and cutaneous senses. May be of special interest to students of psychology and visual media as well as those interested in fields involving audio design, radio and television production. Encourages discussion of the course's practical applications in graphic design, advertising, and other forms of media production.Instructor: Vinoth JagarooRefines and broadens students' ability to interpret scientific language and communicate critical scientific content to others. This course examines popular representations of environmental issues in various outlets such as film, fiction, and journalism. Conversation about any scientific inaccuracies provides motivation for delving deeper into the science, and discussion of creative intent provides a mechanism for discussing ethical, social, and political impact of related research. Students then apply such interpretative understandings to their own craft as they put scientific translation and communication into practice in select scenarios.Instructor: Jon HoneaFeatures special offerings in science focused on theoretical perspectives, methodological approaches, contemporary questions in human biology and environmental science, and interdisciplinary issues involving science and other fields. Material is presented and discussed at an advanced level, assuming students have some knowledge and understanding of the scientific method. Course may be repeated for credit if topics differ.
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