Office: 
Craven Hall, Sixth Floor

Telephone:
(760) 750-8048

Department Chair:
G.H. (Bud) Morris, Ph.D.              

Faculty:
Katherine Brown, Ph.D.
Liliana Castañeda Rossmann, Ph.D.
Michael Huspek, Ph.D.
Dreama Moon, 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 marketing research, public relations, business management, international trade, foreign affairs, health and human services, philanthropy, 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 Cal State San Marcos.

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
Preparation for the Major9
Major Requirements39

Students must take a sufficient number of
elective units to bring the total number of
units to a minimum of120

Preparation for the Major
Lower-division (9 units)

Units

COMM 1003
COMM 2003
PSYC 220 or SOC 2013

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

Major Requirements
Upper-division (39 units)

Units

COMM 3003
COMM 3303
COMM 3603
COMM 3903
Eighteen (18) additional upper-division
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,
or other disciplines' DD courses9

 

MINOR IN COMMUNICATION

Lower-division (3 units)

Units

COMM 1003

Upper-division (15 units)
Nine units selected from:

COMM 3003
COMM 3303
COMM 3603
COMM 3903
 

Six (6) units of communication electives.  6

Total Units 18

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 Principals and Practices
COMM 390 Communication Research Designs, Methods and Approaches.
COMM 400 Discourse Analysis
COMM 420 Topics In Communication Theory
COMM 499 Independent Study

Communication, Culture, and Social; Context (CCSC)

COMM 310 Group Interaction and problem solving Methods.
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
COMM 499 Independent Study

Mass Communication (MC)

COMM 316 Student Newspaper
COMM 360 Mass Media and Society
COMM 370 World Wide Web as Mass Medium
COMM 455 Television and culture
COMM 465 Communication and Popular Culture
COMM 470 Political Communication
COMM 480 Topics in Mass Media
COMM 499 Independent Study