Communication Studies Concentration

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Communication Studies focuses on how people use the communicative process to generate meaning. From the face-to-face context of interpersonal communication to the rhetorical context of public communication to the mediated context of mass communication, Communication Studies examines how both oral and written messages, using verbal and nonverbal symbols, can unite and divide individuals and societies.

Communication Studies has ancient roots in the liberal arts: Aristotle’s definition of rhetoric as “the faculty of observing the available means of persuasion” and the classical rhetorical canons have provided means of thinking critically about communication for centuries. Rhetoric, grammar, and logic constituted the trivium, which together with the quadrivium formed the seven liberal arts during the Middle Ages. Building on these classical traditions are explorations of how people create meaning symbolically in a range of contexts. Theoretical frameworks include:

W. Barnett Pearce and Vernon Cronen’s articulation of the coordinated management of meaning as a basis for the social construction of reality;
Sheila Ting-Toomey’s examination of negotiating face in collectivist versus individualistic cultures;
Kenneth Burke’s perspective on language as strategic responses to situations;
Walter Fisher’s development of the narrative paradigm to investigate humans’ fundamental nature as story-tellers;
George Gerbner’s investigation of how television cultivates perceptions of a violent world; and
James Carey’s delineation of connections between the historical development of new media and ways of understanding the world.

The central concern of Communication Studies, then, is how the communicative process generates meaning, both intentionally and unintentionally. As such scholars as S.I. Hayakawa and Benjamin Whorf contend, communication creates culture and culture creates communication, in a mutually productive process. For Communication Studies, because the very act of communication is generative, not incidental, it is a fundamental way of thinking and an essential way of knowing and encountering the world, not something that is simply added on afterwards. Communication Studies examines the process by which people create meanings through messages. It is through communication that we establish, change, and maintain societies, as well as our own roles within them.

Requirements

The concentration in Communication Studies requires six courses, as follows:

COM 101 - Introduction—Principles of Oral Communication
COM 201 - Introduction to Communication Studies
Should be taken by end of junior year.
COM 495 - Communication Theory and Research
Ordinarily taken senior year.

Tracks

Select three courses from one of the following tracks, from at least two different departments. At least two should be completed before enrolling in COM 495.

Interpersonal/Intercultural Communication

Examines how meaning develops in messages within personal relationships, small groups, and organizational contexts, as well as within and across cultures.

Public Communication/Rhetoric

Examines how meaning develops in messages in a variety of public forums, with attention to rhetorical analysis and such intentional efforts to influence audiences as persuasion, social movements, and political communication.

Mass Communication

Examines how meaning develops in messages in the mass media, including the history of mass media, the critical analysis of media, and how media shape the communication process.

Additional Information

The above list, while as complete as possible, is not exhaustive. Every semester, as new courses are developed and extant courses revised, there are often courses not on this list that could be approved as electives in the Communication Studies concentration. In addition, some departments offer special topics courses that might be approved as electives for the Communication Studies concentration. Please check with the faculty liaison for the most current, complete listing of approved electives when planning a program of study. If there is a question about when a particular elective will be offered next, please consult the department offering that course. COM 390: Special Topics in Communication Studies and COM 395: Independent Study may count toward any of the above tracks, as appropriate.

No more than two courses in the concentration may also be in the student’s major field of study. Only one course may be transferred from another institution. Only one independent study may be included in the concentration. No courses taken pass/fail may be applied to the concentration. A grade of “C” or higher must be earned in all courses applied towards the concentration.

Application Procedure

The Communication Studies concentration is administered by the Communication Studies Advisory Committee. The faculty liaison is Dr. Kathleen J. Turner. Students interested in pursuing the Communication Studies concentration should contact the faculty liaison as early as possible to discuss curricular options. A student must submit a written application by the last day of classes in the fall of the junior year to the Communication Studies Advisory Committee. The application will specify the courses to be used to satisfy the concentration requirements. If one of the proposed electives is an independent study, the students shall provide for the Advisory Committee’s approval a complete description of that course prior to the term of enrollment. Certification of completion of all the requirements for the concentration is made by the Registrar upon the recommendation of the Communication Studies Advisory Committee.