The Department of Communication and Media Studies represents one of the fastest-growing disciplines in higher education. It is founded on the belief that competent communication transforms individuals, organizations, and society. Competent communication involves forming and maintaining satisfactory relationships, having skill in a variety of communication behaviors and being able to adjust those behaviors for a variety of situations, showing empathy, and applying ethical guidelines for communication practice. Courses in the department reflect these concepts through the breadth of areas of expertise within the discipline.

Graduating majors are prepared for careers or advanced education in fields as diverse as advertising, entrepreneurship, public relations, broadcast journalism, law, ministry, human resources, higher education, and not-for-profit management.

After completing the requirements for a Communication and Media Studies major, students will be able to:

• Describe the Communication Discipline and its central questions;
• Employ Communication theories, perspectives, principles and concepts;
• Engage in Communication Inquiry;
• Create messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context;
• Critically analyze messages.