This course, required for majors in Communication Studies, is designed to teach you how message analysts study, interpret and evaluate messages. Learning message analysis is analogous to entering a new culture because expert message analysts think and talk about messages of all sorts in ways that are significantly different from novices or people outside the discipline. This course is designed to assist you in moving yourself, as a message analyst, as far as possible from novice to expert. ComS 100B is required for majors because the ability to explain how a message works makes communication scholars such as you and I useful and important to the rest of society. (If the ability to deftly handle complex messages was easy, there would be no need for us--everybody would be their own consultant!) When you successfully complete this course, you will possess skills that are essential to all your future professional communication practices.