Communication B.A.
Overview
Department of Communication Studies
University Hall, Room 018
(909) 537-5815 http://cal.csusb.edu/Depts/CommStudies/
Bachelor of Arts
Communication
with concentrations in
Human Communication
Intercultural Communication
Mass Communication
Public Argumentation and Rhetoric
Public Relations
Teacher Preparation Program
English - Communication Studies Concentration
Minor
Communication
Intercultural Communication
Public Relations
Script Writing
Certificate Programs
Communication Skills
Conflict Management
Defined as "the creation, transmission and evaluation of messages," communication is a multifaceted discipline combining both academic and professional interests.
Through courses in communication, students learn to describe, interpret and evaluate the communication processes as they occur within and among individuals, groups, organizations and societies. Students explore problems in diverse media (platform, conference, print, radio, television, film, computer mediated communication), settings (family, industrial, professional, governmental) and contexts (racial, cultural, international).
The educational objectives established for the degree program in communication are the following terminal competencies: understand relationships between symbols and culture, discover information from its sources, describe characteristics of potential audiences, translate information into an audience's conceptual framework, transmit information/messages clearly in media appropriate to the audience, evaluate messages and their effects on audiences and appreciate the ethics of communication.
By the mid-1980s more than half of the country's gross national product was spent on information products and services. Communication is the means by which information is shared. The growth of communication studies reflects, in part, a growing technology permitting spoken language to move from the forum of Greece to the surface of the moon and around the planet in mere moments.
Communication majors enter careers in business and industry, government and social services, education, media and the professions in positions of public relations, marketing, teaching, sales, media production, writing, personnel, on-air media, advertising and training. Men and women across the ages have testified how the study of communication aided their personal and professional lives, whether they be persuaders, conciliators, diplomats, teachers and scholars, or researchers.
In today's world of changing and integrated communications technology, the department's curriculum reflects the belief that communication should be studied as a single discipline integrated into the liberal arts. Practica and internships support but do not substitute for a sound theoretical base. Participants in department-sponsored journalism laboratories are required to register in COMM 243. Communication Practica; participants in intercollegiate-forensics activities are required to register in COMM 382. Intercollegiate Forensics. Internships are available on and off campus in the full range of communication professions.
For more information please visit our website. Department of Communication Studies
Please refer to the University catalog at http://catalog.csusb.edu for official information.