Welcome to the School of Communication Studies
By the numbers, the School of Communication Studies connects with more students than any other academic department on campus. Every student at the university engages with one of our amazing team of 45 faculty when they take their Introduction to Communication course, a course designed to offer an understanding of the complex process of human communication and exposure to the skills that will be useful in building and maintaining relationships, articulating and advocating for ideas, and working with others in their personal and professional lives.
We are also a vibrant, highly-desirable undergraduate major that allows students to concentrate their study of communication on advocacy, health communication, organizational communication, public relations, interpersonal communication, and cultural communication. Undergraduates in other disciplines can also complement their majors with minors in political communication, cultural communication, health communication, sports communication and communication studies. Our faculty also teach classes and offer leadership to several interdisciplinary minors including African, African American and Diaspora Studies (AAAD); Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Environmental Studies; Latin American, Latinx, and Caribbean Studies (LAXC); and Humanitarian Affairs.
We also boast a master’s degree program in Communication and Advocacy which allows both those seeking to advance in professional practice or seek a Ph.D. an opportunity to engage in advanced study of the role of advocacy in the contexts of health communication, environmental communication or strategic communication.
Students are encouraged to participate in the organizations and activities associated with the school. Our debate and individual events teams are consistently among the best in the country, and both groups offer many opportunities for involvement beyond joining the team. Majors and minors are welcome to join any of the student organizations within the school that including Lambda Pi Eta (a national communication honor society), the Shout Out feminist blog, and the Public Relations Students Society of America. Our student-run public relations firm, Bluestone Communications, offers students a chance to gain course credit for professional experience.
We value a blend of theoretical and applied learning and many classes feature service-learning or community-based learning projects that engage students in helping area nonprofit and grassroots organizations meet their communicative goals.
Our faculty regularly present at a wide range of conferences and publish research in some of the top journals in our field, while our undergraduates are consistently successful in having their own research accepted at high profile academic conferences. When our alumni return for SCOM events, they frequently discuss how the coursework and other experiences in the major have provided them opportunities to shine and advance in their chosen professions.
You can find a great deal of information about us on the website, while our social media platforms are a great way to keep up with the latest news concerning our activities. Don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Toni Whitfield, the assistant director of SCOM, or me if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by!
Sincerely,
Lori Britt
Professor and SCOM Director
