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Communication & Media Studies

Offerings: Bachelor | Minor

Course Description

The Bachelor of Arts in Communication degree program provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of the nature of communication, its varied forms and uses, and its multiple social, cultural, and cognitive effects. Courses introduce students to the significance of communication within their own lives, showing its relevance to the complex relationships they enter into as participants in families, communities, and organizations; as representatives of one or more cultures; and as consumers of information distributed through mediated channels.

As the world becomes more complex, so do the forms of communication needed to interact. This is especially evident within contemporary institutions where gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class differences must be negotiated on an ongoing basis through everyday communication activities. The study of communication in everyday settings is essential for:

  • Judging whether communication processes are effectively meeting the needs of institutions and the people involved with them;
  • Analyzing systems of communication in order to identify areas for change;
  • Devising plans to improve communication practices and systems.

Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies provides students with theoretically focused and application-based frameworks to understand media, media technology, and its influence upon domestic and global culture and society. Students will study theoretically grounded approaches to a variety of media, becoming sensitive to the ways power affects media creation, distribution, representation, access, and change. Students will explore and contribute to a lively and stimulating socially conscious intellectual environment – one that allows every student to expand the scope of his or her cultural and educational experience. The program is broad-based, focusing on studies of a wide range of traditional, alternative, historical, contemporary, and emerging media within their cultural, social, historical, economic, global, and political contexts. The goal of the degree program is to help students become theoretically informed navigators and critical consumers of media texts; skills useful for citizens of a dynamically mediated world.

The program requirements for a degree in Media Studies include core courses, which form the foundation of study, and electives to allow the student to develop their interests according to their intellectual and career goals. As all course work is aligned with the three cornerstones of the degree – Theory and Application, Social and Cultural Impacts, Media History and Trends – the core program provides a theoretical and methodological foundation for critically analyzing and engaging with media in a variety of situations.

The Minor in Communication program provides students with a comprehensive knowledge of the nature of communication, its varied forms and uses, and its multiple social, cultrual, and cognitive effects. Courses introduce students to the significance of communication within their own lives, showing its relevence to the complex relationships they enter into as participants in families, communities, and organizations; as representatives of one or more cultures; and as consumers of information distributed through mediated channels.

Programs Offered:

  • Bachelor of Arts in Communication
  • Minor in Communication
  • Bachelor of Arts in Media Studies*
  • Minor in Critical Intercultural Communication**

College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral & Social Sciences (CHABSS)

Careers

  • Advertising
  • Diplomat
  • Editor
  • International advisor
  • News anchor
  • News channels
  • Producer
  • Production assistant
  • Proofreader
  • Public relations specialist
  • Social/human service provider
  • Videorapher
  • Writer

Industry

  • Broadcaster
  • Broadcasting
  • Entertainment
  • Journalism
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Pr
  • Publishing

Key-Terms

Advertizing, Broadcast, Broadcaster, Broadcasting, Communicate, Current events, Demographics, Digital, Editing, Editor, Events, Film, Journalism, Journalist, Marketing, Media, News, Press, Print, Producing, Production, Public relations, Radio, Social media, Television, Video, Visual, Visuals, Visulization