Communication Studies

Mission Statement: The communication studies major introduces students to the process of communicating, including the symbolic and informational nature of messages themselves and the cultural and experiential process by which people learn to share meaning in the communicative situation. The major encourages students to learn to think critically about communication in a variety of organizational, group, interpersonal and mediated contexts through coursework designed to move them toward practical engagement with real-world problems of culture, identity, conflict and technological change. All courses involve some element of public speaking and small group communication experience.

Goals: The communication studies major teaches students the oral, written and visual communication skills employers desire while emphasizing argument, theory, research and collaborative work. The major teaches students a variety of theories of communication and insists that the students be able to apply those theories to the analysis and practice of everyday communication situations from the family to the international arena, from the internet to the silver screen and from the corporation to the classroom. A communication studies major will be able to not only understand, but also to skillfully adapt to these diverse communication environments.

Career opportunities: Students planning to enter the following fields may wish to consider a major in communication studies: management, law, journalism, the web, counseling, international business, media production, teaching, politics, advertising, public relations, film and mediation. Students who decide to pursue graduate study will be well prepared to enter programs in communication, cultural studies, law, business, film, the humanities and most social sciences, including anthropology, sociology, folklore, psychology and mass communication.

Programs

Major

Major in Communication Studies, B.A.

Minor

Communication Studies Minor

Courses

Communication Studies