Comm 368 (Delaney)

CMN 368 : Sexual Communication

Fall 2012

Sexual Communication Workshop Assignment

General Description: This project is a chance for you to take the academic research you learn about in class, and use it to develop a communication workshop that addresses a sexual communication problem. You will choose from a list of potential topics, or have the option to develop your own. As a few examples, some of you will be developing workshops to improve communication between parents and children of various age groups, while others will create a program to help sex ed teachers, and others will work on a program to help romantic partners feel more comfortable requesting a condom. In sum, this project is about applying the things we talk about all semester long to the real world. This project accounts for 20% of your final grade and will be evaluated on clarity, effectiveness, connection to communication, and integration of academic research. Your paper is due Monday April 9th at the beginning of class (noon). Absolutely NO late work will be accepted on this project.

Goals: There are two important goals to keep in mind as you work on this assignment. First, your goal should be to focus on communication. Workshops that only talk about STD rates or different birth control options, for example, will receive minimal credit. It is your job as a sexual communication “expert” to provide information that will help improve the way we interact when it comes to sexuality. This is the second goal of the workshop: to help participants do a better job of communicating about sex. So, projects that simply describe a problem will also not receive full credit. As you look for sources, develop your program, and proofread your paper, keep these goals in mind.

Content: Your workshop proposal will consist of two sections: a needs assessment as well as a sample lesson plan. Each section is very important for providing thorough description and rationale for your proposed workshop. You should integrate academic research throughout the proposal to back up your argument for the need, structure, and individual lesson described in your paper. At least five of your ten academic sources must be from communication journals (e.g. Communication Monographs, Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, Journalism and Mass Communications Quarterly, Health Communication) but the other five can be from other disciplines (psychology, medicine, public health, etc). Additionally, no more than 3 of your sources can be current CMN 368 readings. Below you will find some guidelines for developing your workshop proposal.

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