Described is a sociology of communications and media course in which college students look at and analyze major media institutions in order to understand communications in society. The strategy of developing students' analytic, synthesis, and critical thinking skills is applicable to other programs and courses. (RM)

Integration of knowledge is as critical to understanding as is new knowledge. Specialization requires new forms of integration. Graduate programs should teach future faculty to synthesize, seek new relationships between parts and whole, relate past to future and present, and find patterns of meaning not seen through traditional disciplinary…

Problems faced by graduate students in research and writing and ways to improve competence in these areas are addressed. Student problems were identified through formal/informal interviews and work with graduate students over a 12-year period. In the first step of choosing a topic, students may be worried that the topic is too broad, narrow, or…