Southern Utah University

Course Syllabus

Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2025

Nonverbal Communication (Online)

COMM 3150-30I

Course: COMM 3150-30I
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2025
Department: COMM
CRN: 32043

Course Description

The course teaches students patterns of nonverbal communication cues and how to interpret them including body movement, physical appearance, space and territoriality, vocal qualities, eye behavior and touch. (Fall, Spring, Summer) [Graded (Standard Letter)]

Required Texts

We do not have a required textbook for this class; All the class content can be found on Canvas.  However, the following book can be helpful to understand the course content.

Richmond, V. P., & McCroskey, J. C. (2011). Nonverbal behavior in interpersonal relations (7 edition). Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon (ISBN: 9780205042302).

Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully completes this course will:
  • Understand influence of nonverbal communication in interpersonal relationship.
  • Understand various types of nonverbal messages (such as gesture, facial behavior, eye movement, personal space, and touch norms).
  • Understand the role of nonverbal communication plays in the different types of relationships.
  • Explore nonverbal behaviors in intercultural communication.

Course Requirements

1. Public Speaker's Nonverbal Behavior Report (10% of final grade): You will be asked to select a public speaker with distinct nonverbal communication characteristics. Watch speeches, interviews, talk shows, or dialogues given by your selected communicator and observe nonverbal communication patterns including body movement (facial expression, eye contact, posture, gestures), use of touch, voice, distance, territoriality, time, physical attractiveness, clothing, and physical environment. After you are done with your analysis and have strong content, you will be asked to write a 1000-word written report to analyze this communicator’s nonverbal characteristics.

2. Observational Studies (40% of final grade for four Observational Studies): You will complete several observational reports. For each of them, you will observe nonverbal social norms and interpret the behavior through a broader cultural lens.

3. Discussions (20% of final grade): We will have multiple discussions in Canvas in different weeks for the class members sharing opinions about different topics related to nonverbal communication. You need to 1. make individual discussion  post in Canvas; 2. make at least 2 comments in canvas two other class members' discussion posts.

4. Exams (10% of final grade): You will have Exam 1 and Exam 2 covering material from online presentations, readings, and videos illustrations.

5. Nonverbal Slide Presentation (20% of final grade): You will choose one key area of nonverbal communications (e.g. vocalics, proxemics, kinesics) and generate a voice-over slide presentation with the core principles and illustrations from news, social media, and popular culture to illustrate the principles.

Course Outline

Week 1 (08/27/2025-08/31/2025): Communication and nonverbal behavior part1
Week2 (09/01/2025-09/07/2025):  Communication and nonverbal behavior part2
Week 3 (09/08/2025-09/14/2025): Physical appearance
Week 4 (09/15/2025-09/21/2025): Eye behavior
Week 5 (09/22/2025-09/28/2025): Use of eye tracking in research and business
Week 6 (09/29/2025-10/05/2025): Introduction of Visual Communication Research Lab at Southern Utah University 
Week 7 (10/06/2025-10/12/2025): Facial behavior
Week 8 (10/13/2025-10/19/2025): Gesture and movement part 1
Week 9 (10/20/2025-10/26/2025): Gesture and Movement part 2
Week 10 (10/27/2025-11/02/2025): Space and Territoriality
Week 11 (11/03/2025-11/09/2025): Environment and Physical Surrounding
Week 12 (11/10/2025-11/16/2025): Vocal behavior part 1
Week 13 (11/17/2025-11/23/2025): Vocal behavior part 2
Week 14 (11/24/2025-11/30/2025): Enjoy Your Thanksgiving Break!
Week 15 (12/01/2025-12/07/2025): Touch and Communication
Week 16 (12/08/2025-12/11/2025): Q & A

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

For each assignment, please submit it before deadline as your first submission. You will get an initial grade and detailed feedback based on your first submission. By using my feedback, you always can modify your assignment and re-submit it (except Exam 1 and Exam 2) until the last day of the semester (12/11/2025).Your latest version of this assignment (except Exam 1 and Exam 2) will be graded by the end of this semester (12/11/2025) as the final grade for this assignment(except Exam 1 and Exam 2).

Attendance Policy

For our class, attendance is measured by your class participation on Canvas. If you are ill or instructed to isolate or quarantine, the evidence of your illness or other status may be required. Please vigilantly monitor your health. If you wake up felling sick, please notify me by email (lijiezhou@suu.edu). I will figure out a way to help you for understanding our class content on a case-by-case basis.

A.I. Policy:

Any use of artificial intelligence software (A.I.), including visual (e.g., Midjourney), textual (e.g., chatGPT), or audio (e.g., voice.ai) to aid on assignments will be considered an infringement of academic integrity. Unless explicitly designated and outlined in assignment instructions, students should avoid using these aids, entirely. You are responsible for the accuracy, fairness, originality, and quality of every word you submit.  All faculty have access to Copyleaks which detects plagiarism, including the use of AI software (I will be using that tool this semester for assignment submissions). Consequences for violating this policy are consistent with SUU Policy 6.33 regarding academic integrity, and may include a failing grade in the course, and expulsion from the program.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.