COMMUNICATION

Office:

Craven Hall, Sixth Floor

Telephone:

(760) 750-4104

Department Chair:

G.H. (Bud) Morris, Ph.D.

Faculty:

Dreama Moon, Ph.D.

Michael Huspek, Ph.D.

Liliana Castañeda Rossmann, Ph.D.

G.H. (Bud) Morris, Ph.D.

Barry Saferstein, Ph.D.

Program Offered:

• Bachelor of Arts in Communication

• Minor in Communication

The undergraduate degree in communication is designed to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of the nature of communication, its varied forms and uses, and its multiple effects within and across societies and cultures. This involves introducing students to the significance of communication within their own lives, and showing its relevance to the complex relationships they enter into as interpersonal and organizational actors, as representatives of one or more cultures, as consumers of mass-mediated information, and as interested citizens who may desire to influence the changing course of human affairs.

The undergraduate degree in communication has two emphases. First, students are expected to acquire some sophistication in being able to identify and utilize a range of communication theories and methods with the aim of sharpening and clarifying our ways of thinking about communication issues and problems. Second, and closely related, students are encouraged to develop critical descriptive and analytical skills and, where appropriate, to prescribe means of improving communication practices within interpersonal, institutional, and larger societal settings. To this end, theory and method are valued as essential tools of thought to assist in (1) judging whether contemporary communication processes are meeting adequately the needs of institutions and the people involved within them, (2) locating and identifying problems that may be bound up in communicative relations and processes, and (3) devising solutions or stratagems as means of effectively addressing those problems.

Career Opportunities

Communication is increasingly recognized as an extremely significant, multifaceted phenomenon that deserves our focused attention. There are at least three reasons for this need. First, the rapid development of complex technologies has increased the need for intense interactions among people from diverse cultures. This brings with it new challenges, as well as previously unimagined potentials with respect to what is to be gained from communicating across cultural boundaries, and as how we are best to go about doing it.

Second, as the world becomes more complex, the forms of communication needed to interact on numerous levels also become more complex. This is especially evident within contemporary institutions where gender, race, and social class differences must be negotiated on an ongoing basis through communication.

Third, with the emergence of the mass media and its increased presence and influence in our lives, it becomes essential that we learn how to analyze this complex institution in terms of its channels and messages. It is important to know the extent to which it offers reasonable access to diverse populations, its multiple effects upon cultures and the values that sustain them, and its potential as an instrument for effecting genuine societal change.

A communication degree increasingly offers interesting career possibilities in the areas of conflict mediation, community relations, advertising and market research, government, public affairs, business management, international trade, foreign service, teaching, and law. In addition, the fast-growing communication industry is very receptive to communication majors, as are private and public organizations and agencies which often hire communication majors as consultants and problem solvers.

Preparation

High school students should take four years of English, including composition. Social science and civics courses, including history and economics, are encouraged. A familiarity with computers is also desirable.

Transfer Students

Community college transfer students may transfer a maximum of six (6) lower-division units in Communication. Students must have earned a grade of C (2.0) or higher in the coursework to be counted for credit toward the major.

Requirements for the Major

To be counted toward the major, a communication course must be completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher. A minimum of eighteen (18) units of upper-division credits must be earned at CSUSM.

No more than six (6) hours of independent study may be applied toward the major. Independent study may be applied to field distribution requirements at the discretion of the instructor under whose supervision the student is doing the study. Communication majors must complete nine (9) upper-division units selected from at least two of the social sciences.

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN COMMUNICATION

Graduation Requirements

Units

General Education 51 units

Preparation for the Major 9 units

Major Requirements 39 units

General Electives 25 units

Total Required 124 units

Preparation for the Major

Lower-division (9 units)

Units

COMM 100 3 units

COMM 200 3 units

PSYC 220 or SOC 201 3 units

(Other introductory statistics courses may be accepted upon approval of the communication advisor.)

Major Requirements

Upper-division (39 units)

Units

COMM 300 3 units

COMM 330 3 units

COMM 360 3 units

COMM 390 3 units

Eighteen (18) additional upperdivision units in at least two of the three

areas of communication (Communication Theory and Methods; Communication, Culture and Social Context; Mass Communication) 18

Approved Electives (9 units)

Nine (9) units of upper-division courses selected from at least two of the social sciences 9

MINOR IN COMMUNICATION

Lower-division (3 units)

Units

COMM 100 3 units

Upper-division (15 units)

Nine units selected from:

COMM 300 3 units

COMM 330 3 units

COMM 360 3 units

COMM 390 3 units

Six (6) units of communication electives. 6

Total Units 18 units

Upper-division Communication courses are grouped into three categories. These categories are: Communication Theory and Methods (CTM), Communication, Culture and Social Context (CCSC), and Mass Communication (MC). Specific courses under these designations are given below and described within the Communication course listings.

Communication Theory and Methods (CTM)

COMM 300 Communication Theory

COMM 340 Interviewing Principles and Practices

COMM 390 Communication Research Designs, Methods, and Approaches

COMM 400 Discourse Analysis

COMM 420 Topics in Communication Theory

Communication, Culture and Social Context (CCSC)

COMM 310 Group Interaction and Problem Solving Method

COMM 330 Intercultural Communication

COMM 333 Language and Social Interaction

COMM 320 Conflict and Communication

COMM 425 Communication and Mediation

COMM 430 Power, Discourse and Social Identity

COMM 435 Communication and Gender

COMM 437 Interpersonal Communication

COMM 440 Organizational Communication

COMM 450 Topics in Intercultural Communication

Mass Communication (MC)

COMM 316 Student Newspaper

COMM 360 Mass Media and Society

COMM 370 World Wide Web as Mass Medium

COMM 465 Communication and Popular Culture

COMM 470 Political Communication

COMM 480 Topics in Mass Media

COMM 499 Independent Study