Introduction

Communication is the process of conveying messages to others, whether in a one-to-one encounter, in a public speech to many, or in a mass medium that reaches thousands or millions. Communicators know how to design messages for a variety of media and how to change that message depending on the audience or the medium. Good communicators know that effective messages are structured differently for speech, print photography, film, radio, theatre or television.

Knowledge of many areas is essential to successful structuring of these messages; e.g., language, rhetoric, culture, history, art, music, drama, technology and science. Communication is by its very nature a liberal art. Effective and accurate communicators are needed in this information age. Imaginative people, who can speak, write and produce messages for a variety of media, are valuable.

Description of the Communication Major

The Communication major in the Communication and Theatre Arts Department prepares students to design, adapt, and analyze mediated and interper sonal messages appropriate for specific audiences in a variety of settings. The students enrolled in this program will be able to create and critique persuasive arguments and conduct research. The liberally educated Communication major understands the rights and responsibilities of communicators and the historical and contemporary contexts of the field.

The Requirements of the Communication Major

The Communication Major requires 42 credits in Communication and Theatre Arts. The major includes the following 26-credit core: Mass Communication, The Moving Image, Voice and Diction, Intercultural Communication, Argumentation, Mass Media Law and Ethics, and Persuasion.

The remaining 16 credits (8 of which must be upper division) allow students to design their own emphases, such as film, journalism, or rhetoric.

Communication Major Outcomes

1. Message Construction - Create a message that is appropriate for a specific audience in a variety of settings or media on a variety of topics.
2. Argumentation - Create and evaluate persuasive arguments.
3. Communication Skills - Understand the potential outcomes of various choices made during communicative exchanges.

Admission to the Communication Major

Students apply for a Communication major at the end of the sophomore year; they are expected to have a 2.3 (C+) average in three CTA courses. Each candidate appears before a review panel of CTA faculty for informal evaluation prior to admission. Prior to the interview, students must submit an essay about the chosen major and three samples of graded work. Students who are less than one calendar year from graduation are not admitted to the major. Students must choose a minor from another area, or a 20-credit directed course of study, a self-designed minor, or second major in consultation with their CTA advisor. The Department will deny admission to the major for poor performance in the interview, a poorly written essay, or failure to comply with the deadline for application to the major.