HISC 23: What is Communication?

University of California, Santa Cruz

We’ve never had more ways to communicate, yet misunderstanding has rarely been greater. This course asks what communication is, how it works, how it breaks down, and why it matters. Examining how it operates within individuals, between people, and across society, students explore how it shapes thought, emotion, and action, drawing on philosophy, social theory, and cultural criticism to show how communication both stabilizes and transforms human life.