The BA in communication provides a broad-based liberal arts degree designed to foster students' abilities to understand, analyze, and effectively engage in a wide range of communication practices. It fosters critical thinking about the ways that symbols and interactions contribute to social problems and solutions to them, to identities and differences, to organizations and work, to personal relationships and groups and to experience and meaning across cultural settings.
At the same time, the major provides instruction and practice in the skills of effective communication and collaborative problem-solving that employers are looking for—speaking, writing, reading, listening, asking good questions, utilizing media and working in groups. The mix of theory and practice gives students the tools to improve communication performance and critical awareness of it across many situations.
Majors must complete a minimum of 36 credit hours of coursework in communication, at least 18 of which must be upper division (3000 level or higher). Only courses with grades of C- or better count toward the major, and the overall major GPA must be 2.000 (a C- is 1.700).
Up to 8 credit hours of independent study and 6 credit hours of internships may be taken. These are upper-division elective hours but do not count toward major requirements. Eligible students interested in graduating with department honors should contact the department's honors coordinator as soon as possible.
In addition to coursework required for the major, all students in COMM must complete a secondary area of study outside of COMM. This secondary area of study can be met by any of the following: a minor, a second major within CMCI, a double degree, or any credit-based certificate program of at least 12 credit hours.
The department encourages its majors to take related courses in other departments in CMCI as well anthropology; business; English; ethnic studies; history; linguistics; philosophy; political science; sociology; speech, language and hearing sciences; and theatre and dance.
The department also encourages participation in optional programs such as study abroad, internships and graduating with honors.