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Nov 24, 2024
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2023-2024 EIU Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Communication Studies (B.A.)
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 Return to: Majors and Minors
The Communication Studies major prepares our students to be effective and ethical communicators in their professional, relational, and cultural roles. Our students learn to critique and create messages in multiple contexts. We emphasize the intersection of theory and practice as the foundation for problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, and understanding the diversity of communication practices.
Option areas in the Communication Studies major:
Corporate Communication
Interpersonal Communication
Mass Communication
Communication in Organizations (online)
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Corporate Communication Option
Semester hours required for the BA in Communication Studies: Corporate Communication Option: 48
Communication is identified as one of the top skills required for any organization. The option provides students with the knowledge, values, perspectives and skills necessary to understand the roles, functions, strategies, and management of positions within organizations with high communication demands.
Communications Studies Core: 21 hours
Corporate Communication Option Core: 18 hours
Option Electives: 9 hours
Corporate Communication students may select any CMN prefix course as an elective. Other electives are available, selected in consultation with an advisor.
Interpersonal Communication Option
Semester hours required for the BA in Communication Studies: Interpersonal Communication Option: 48
This option is designed for students who are interested in developing knowledge, skills, and abilities that facilitate effective communication in personal, professional, and group contexts. Option core requirements examine interpersonal communication processes of influence, support, conflict, and intimacy among friends, family, romantic partners, and in the workplace. Graduates with an Interpersonal Communication Option are particularly well-prepared for positions which require working with individuals and groups from varying backgrounds, with differing needs and interests, and where the goals of communication are to inform/explain, influence, and/or negotiate resolution of problems or disputes. Interpersonal Communication students can tailor the program so as to prepare themselves for work in multiple or multi-faceted communicative environments (e.g., as an advisor, educator, mediator, liaison, change agent in profit, non-profit, and national and international contexts).
Communication Studies Core: 21 hours
Interpersonal Communication Option Core: 18 hours
Option Electives: 9 hours
Interpersonal Communication students may select any CMN prefix course as an elective. Other electives are available, selected in consultation with an advisor.
Mass Communication Option
Semester hours for the BA in Communication Studies: Mass Communication Option: 49
Success in today’s rapidly evolving media industries requires a solid foundation in the liberal arts, comprehensive training in media theory, and introductory skills in media production as traditional communication channels overlap and converge. The Mass Communication option helps students to learn how to think critically about the ways in which mass communication influences society, and helps them become informed, critical consumers of media. Special focus is given to how mediated communication influences our understanding of political and social life, and our understanding of our place in a world that has become increasingly smaller.
Communication Studies Core: 21 hours
Mass Communication Option Core: 19 hours
Option Electives: 9 hours
Mass Communication students may select any CMN prefix course as an elective. Other electives are available, selected in consultation with an advisor.
Communication in Organizations Option (Online)
Semester hours required for the BA in Communication Studies: Communication in Organizations Option: 46
This online degree completion program will help students enhance their marketability in today’s professional environment through the integration of theory and practice and the development of relational and organizational communication skills. Individuals who are proficient communicators are more valuable in contemporary organizations that are increasingly global, team-based, and feature flatter hierarchical structures. This option is designed for online delivery to meet the needs of place-bound students, including working adults who want to finish their Bachelor’s degree to help with career advancement.
Required Courses: 34 hours
Communication in Organizations Electives: 12 hours
(Selected in consultation with an advisor)
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Return to: Majors and Minors
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