Modaff and DeWine's new undergraduate text, Organizational Communication: Foundations, Challenges, and Misunderstandings, offers a unique perspective on the field of internal organizational communication. The authors review the foundational material, but intersperse the discussions with excerpts from interviews conducted with over 60 leaders and workers in a variety of organizations.
A central feature of the text is the concept of misunderstandings, which highlights the idea that organizations are inherently problematic. This focus positions communication at the center of organizational life, and shows the reader how and why communication can serve to create and resolve misunderstandings of all types. The authors advance a model, the Communicative Organization, which allows the reader to see the significance of communication to every aspect of organizational functioning.
Benefits to instructors and students include:
* The use of real-life problems as told by organizational leaders and workers to illustrate the material discussed in every chapter, which provides an easy mechanism for starting class discussions.
* Chapters on realistic recruitment and organizational socialization, which are not typically found in other introductory organizational communication textbooks.
* Integration of the concepts of gender and diversity throughout the text.
* Discussions of current applications of theories and concepts as students have or will experience them.
* A postscript that ties all of the material from the text together.
* A writing style that is student-centered yet sufficiently challenging.
* A dedicated website (created by Derek Lane, Universityof Kentucky, Lexington) to support the text is available at http: //www.uky.edu/~drlane/orgcomm. It includes chapter outlines, supplemental content, and suggested course syllabi. The site greatly facilitates use of the text for students. A PDF of corrected pages of the subject index from the first printing is also available at this site.

DeWine, Gibson, and Smith's new hybrid "essentials" introductory text, Exploring Human Communication includes unique coverage of important topics not usually found in basic texts: mass communication, legal communication, mediated communication and technology, and using communication principles on the job.
The text's compelling, applications-oriented approach helps students internalize concepts by applying them to real-world situations and contexts both inside and outside the classroom. Featured are numerous activities, illustrations, and student-centered stories.
Rather than prescribing particular courses of action, the authors offer a broad range of options to choose from in order for students to be successful.
Exploring Human Communication covers all of the fundamental concepts necessary for understanding the complexity of human communication and improving communication effectiveness: verbal and nonverbal communication, active listening, development of interpersonal relationships, intercultural communication, small group communication, organizational communication, and two chapters on public speaking.
Stand-out benefits to instructors and students include:
* Integration of the themes of communication across cultures and ethical dilemmas in communication throughout every chapter. "Spotlight on Diversity," "Spotlight on Ethics," and "Mission Possible" boxes encourage students to think critically about the concepts introduced in each chapter.
* A common thread throughout the text is the debunking of myths about communication, which helps dispel mistaken notions.
* Original illustrations, created specially for this text, are used to enhance major themes.