The last ten years have witnessed a nationwide proliferation of courses and programs in public relations. Consideration of the role and function of the introductory course in public relations involves the course's objectives, the methods used to teach it, and placing the course in a curricular setting so that its interrelationship with other courses in a public relations sequence may be understood. The public relations sequence at the University of Alabama is incorporated within the Department of Communication Studies that is part of the School of Humanities. The Principles course is offered in the context of a major urban university and enrollment in the course reflects that setting. Approximately 75% of the students are of traditional college age. The remaining one-fourth of the enrollment is made up of nontraditional students. This diversity creates a stimulating teaching environment. The course emphasizes the evolution and application of public relations theory. Grunig and Hunt are used as the text basis for instruction, and students are required to do a major research paper. In a followup survey conducted after the students completed the next course in the sequence, nearly 90% indicated that the theory they had learned was valuable. (Appendixes include a course syllabus and guidelines for a journal). (DF)