Course Descriptions and Plan of Study

The Master of Arts in Professional Communication (MAPC) is a flexible, multidisciplinary degree designed with several student audiences in mind:

• People in their early, mid or late careers who need to develop new skills and knowledge to move forward, do more or increase output in their current role or organization
• Career changers — people who have a degree or experience in a different field and want to move into a new field or role where specialty communication skills are required
• Recent college graduates who want more time and experience in a university setting working with classmates, making career connections and gaining access to new networks
• People planning to study or teach in higher education who want to work one-on-one with UT’s dynamic faculty to create an academic path forward

Core Courses (Required for all MAPC students) 

MAPC 601 Leadership and Strategic Presentations

This course will combine self-study, practical application and theory and practice for students to analyze their current leadership practices and abilities, and from there create, produce and execute professional self-branding and professional presentations. Students will learn proper mediated software techniques, ways around death by PowerPoint, Prezi, rhetorical strategies, memorization, impromptu speaking, case and entrepreneurial pitching and interview strategies. Individualized work will help students apply exercises and assignments to current working situations. Networking and guest speakers will join the course.

MAPC 602 Global Professional Communication

This course will focus on the fundamentals of global professional communication in both written and visual contexts. We draw from your professional and academic background to enhance your knowledge of intercultural considerations for professional correspondence. This course offers a foundation in intercultural communication, effective professional writing and visual design. It also provides a brief grammar refresher as well as direct application to recent case studies.

MAPC 603 Organizational and Strategic Communication

This course covers a wide range of topics and introduces students to organizational and strategic communication theory and practices. Students will begin by learning about organizational communication and structure. From there, students will learn about best practices in communication and then apply them through hands-on activities. Students will also learn about personal branding, responding to crisis situations, developing targeted communication plans and crafting position statements. The semester will culminate in a group project with accompanying presentation where students will analyze a global company’s communication practices and develop an integrated and strategic communication plan. 

MAPC 604 Conflict Resolution

This course will help students understand the dynamics of interpersonal conflict. Specifically, it will focus on the theory and practice of conflict resolution. To do this, students will first learn the theory behind conflict, how to analyze a conflict situation and about the many different types of conflict resolution tactics. Students will engage in hands-on simulations and participate in role-playing activities to put the theory into practice.  

MAPC 605 Research Strategies and Design

In this course, students will learn how to identify communication problems, form research questions and hypotheses, employ a variety of methods to collect and analyze data, report their findings and make recommendations. Students will learn to identify and use methodology related to quantitative and qualitative data with the purpose of improving communication practice.

Elective Courses

MAPC 610 Digital Communication Practice

In this course students will learn strategies, tactics and tools to develop effective online content, messaging, branding, imaging and search engine optimization to meet goals of an organization using performance measures. Media planning and production will be based on market and audience analysis. Projects will include social media content development and curation, website production for multiple formats, video and 2-D production, augmented reality and mobile app conceptualization, and writing for online platforms and marketing reports.

MAPC 611 Emerging Technologies and Applications

Students will study the current and upcoming status of technologies in relation to professional communication and leadership strategies. This hands-on course will explore open source and emerging tools related to visual and aural media, immersive tools, mixed and virtual realities, alternative and embedded screens, physical computing, biosensors, trackers, etc., and how those tools provide essential data on how clients and users interact with products. Time-based and interactive media, as well as client/server tools, some of them connected to cloud-based sharing strategies, will be key components in the class.

MAPC 612 Ethics and Communication Law

This course will help students understand the ethics and laws impacting communication professionals. Students will learn about their legal rights and obligations. Topics range from the First Amendment to communication via social media. Overall, this course will aim to give students the essential legal framework of their rights and responsibilities as communication professionals.

MAPC 613 Popular Communication

In this course we focus on popular communication and contemporary issues as they relate to the field of communication and its impact on professional practice. In other words, what communication case studies and theories most impact communication practice at work, academia, family and life? Popular communication often encompasses media and popular culture criticism. This course takes a step over and uses practices from that praxis to understand critical issues facing communication practice today. Topics include entrepreneurship and sales communication, business communication strategies, event planning and public relations, training and family and interpersonal communication.

MAPC 614 Issues in Communication

This course provides an overview of relevant issues in communication scholarship. We focus on three areas within the field of communication: ethics, health and technology/globalization. These areas are separated into three modules with the expectation for the class to accept the challenge of locating common threads that connect the three, as well as highlighting the distinct differences of each area of interest. Each of these three areas will engage a range of readings considered timely and/or foundational. 

MAPC 615 Communication in Motion 

This one-semester course will investigate the functional and expressive aspects of human movement for the professional communicator. Students will explore, analyze and assess movement within professional contexts in an effort to support presentations and communication methods.

MAPC 616 Communication in the Academy

This advanced-level organizational communication course respects academic spaces as a series of systems and students will study the communication conduit through the lens of the educational professional.

MAPC 617 Creativity, Mindfulness and Practice of Communication

This course explores the theory and practice of creativity and mindfulness. You will be introduced to interdisciplinary research on creativity and embodied cognition and you will learn specific techniques of mindfulness and mindful movement that can be applied to communicating in words, images and gestures. We will critically evaluate both the theories and the concrete mind-body practices and connect them to real-world situations of professional communication, collaboration or conflict.

Final Capstone Project (completed by all students in fulfillment of the MAPC)

A thesis option may be substituted. Consult the program director ASAP.

MAPC 700 Capstone Project

The capstone experience is designed as the conclusive experience in the Master of Arts in Professional Communication. The project is largely independent and students will choose a faculty advisor with whom to formulate a process and complete a project. This person may come from any field at UT. Consult the course syllabus and/or the program director for the highlights and procedures, objectives, outcomes and guidelines for the MAPC 700 capstone in professional communication.

Plan of Study

This is an evening program

• All courses* (May/January electives may start at 5:15 p.m.) begin at 6 p.m.
• All courses are face-to-face on UT's campus
• Students take one course at a time each term

*May/January electives may start at 5:15 p.m.

The schedule below is the suggested and expected format for course offerings and how a student will progress to graduation with the MAPC. This program is dynamic and students are not held to a single cohort model, so if a student wishes to change pace or program of study, contact your advisor or the program director.

Fall Start Sample Schedule

Spring Start Sample Schedule