Communication Major

All students majoring in Communication are required to complete 10 credit units total (5 required CUs and 5 elective CUs).

Communication majors need to maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher within the major.

Learning Objectives

Communication Fluency - Determine best methods and strategies for developing communicative messages for mass audiences
Relational Skills - Explore the social interactions between individuals, societies, and institutions
Critical Reasoning/Analytical Skills - Evaluate and apply diversity, objectivity, and balance to any form of mass communication
Ethical Considerations - Demonstrate an understanding of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and other forms of diversity in relation to mass communication
Technological Skills - Demonstrate proper application of industry tools and techniques common to mass communication
Specialized knowledge - Identify specific examples of media evolution
Global Influence - Understand the significance of mass communication in a global society

Core Courses

5 units

COMM 100 1 Communication Theory OR COMM 111 Mass Media History
COMM 210 Principles and Practices of Public Speaking
COMM 300 1 Research Methods in Communication OR a statistics coure (PSYC 210 , MATH 105 , MATH 230 ) with the approval of the Communication chair.
COMM 300 7 Communication Internship OR COMM 495 Internship
COMM 499 Senior Seminar (Capstone in Communication)

The Department strongly suggests that students take Communication Theory OR Mass Media History before Research Methods in Communication, or at least take one of these courses in the same semester as Research Methods.

Electives

5 units

Mass Media & Production (Choose 1)

COMM 200 1 Media Effects and Society
COMM 200 4 Media Literacy and Analysis
COMM 200 3 Digital Media
COMM 250 Radio and Podcast Production
COMM 300 5 Video Production
COMM 355 Editing and Design
COMM 300 4 Special Topics in Communication (depending on topic)
- COMM 300.4 can be taken to fulfill either the “Mass Media & Production” requirement or the “Applied Communication” requirement, but not both.

Applied Communication (Choose 1)

COMM 300 2 Intercultural Comm
COMM 300 3 Conflict Resolution
COMM 300 6 Persuasive Communication
COMM 300 10 Health Communication
COMM 300 15 Strategic Communication and Message Design
COMM 300 4 Special Topics in Communication (depending on topic)
- COMM 300.4 can be taken to fulfill either the Mass Communication & Media Production” requirement or the “Applied Communication” requirement, but not both.

Open Choice Electives (Choose 3)

Any COMM course above not already taken to fulfill another requirement
COMM 110 Fundamentals of Journalism
COMM 341 Journalism and the American Landscape
COMM 350 Data Journalism and Media Ethics
COMM 355 Editing and Design
COMM 382 Special Topics in Journalism
COMM 385 Feature Article Writing
ART 355 Photography I
ART 357 Graphic Design I
BUS 307 A Advertising (0.5)
BUS 307 B Public Relations (0.5)
BUS 307 D Digital Marketing (0.5)
DATA 100 1 Introduction to Data Analytics
DATA 300 2 Social, Ethical, and Cultural Impact of Big Data
DATA 300 2 Data Visualization and Presentation
ENG 254 Introduction to Film
ENG 265 Literary and Cultural Criticism
ENG 300 9 Magazine Writing
PG 261 American Politics and the Mass Media
WGS 325 Women and Media: Gender, Race, Class

Writing Requirement

At least one of the COMM courses taken to fulfill the major requirements must be a Writing (or R) course (COMM prefix required).