Dec 22, 2024  
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog

Communication, B.A.


More information about the Department of Communication :

A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a Bachelor of Arts in Communication.

Major Requirements


39 credits:

Communication Electives (18 credits) Choose from the following:


OPTION - Concentrations (12 credits):


Students may select the following options to complete Major Electives. Eighteen elective credits are needed but following one of these tracks is not necessary for completion of the major.

Creative and Technical Writing Concentration:


Journalism and Publishing Concentration:


Public Relations and Business Communication Concentration:


Social & Cultural Communication Concentration:


Special Programs


For interested students, Communication faculty will work with the theology department to develop a program in Church communication. Likewise, the department works with the School of Business for students interested in the areas of Integrated Marketing Communication.

Core Requirements (46 to 49 credits)


The First Year Symposium (3 credits)


Complete the First Year Symposium

World Language Requirement (3-6 Credits)


Complete either 6 credits at the 101 and 102 level or 3 credits at the 200 level or above

  • Introductory Language (For students beginning at the 101 level)
    • XXXX 101 (3)
    • XXXX 102 (3)
  • Advanced Language (For students who begin at the 201 level or above)
    • XXXX 201/301 (or higher).

Foundations of Philosophy (3 Credits)


Origins of the West (3 Credits)


Philosophy in the Modern Age (3 Credits)


Atlantic Encounters (3 Credits)


Mathematical Thinking (3 Credits)


Foundations of Theology: Faith and Revelation (3 Credits)


America in the World (3 Credits)


Theology: Made in God’s Image (3 Credits)


Modernity in Literature or the Arts (3 Credits)


Choose from among one of the following:

Laboratory Science (3-4 Credits)


Choose one laboratory science course:

Global Encounters (3 Credits)


Choose one Global Encounters course:

  • XXGE Global Encounters
    • Global Encounters courses are offered in many departments, including Business, Communication, English, Education, Foreign Language, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology and Theology.

Ethics and the Human Good (3 Credits)


Complete one of the following:

Ethical Leaders (0 Credits)


The Ethical Leadership Experiential Learning Core Requirement invites students to integrate their own personal call to leadership with a mature reflection on one or more of the core virtues of Justice, Courage, Integrity, and Humility.  Students will accomplish this by engaging in and reflecting upon the practice of virtue ethics within the context of one or more experiential learning activities.

Note


To earn a Bachelor of Arts in Communication, students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours. Students must also earn a major GPA of 2.0, and a cumulative GPA of 2.0.

Sample Four Year Sequence


Freshman Year

Fall Semester

FSYM 101 The First Year Symposium (3)  

World Languages I (3)

Foundation in Social Science (3) (either semester)

COMM Elective (3)

Elective (3)

15 credits

Spring Semester

WCIV 102 Origins of the West (3)  

PHIL 103 Foundations of Philosophy (3)  

World Languages II (3)

COMM 190 Public Speaking (3)  

Elective (3)

15 credits

Sophomore Year

Fall Semester

WCIV 201 Atlantic Encounters: 1450-1850 (3)  

PHIL 203 Philosophy in the Modern Age (3)  

MATH 211 Mathematical Thinking (3)  (either semester)

COMM Elective (3)

Elective (3)

15 credits

Spring Semester

THEOL 220 Foundations of Theology (3)  

AMER 202 America in the World (3)  

COMM 200 Foundations of Writing (3)  

COMM 201 Media Writing (3)  

Elective (3)

15 credits

Junior Year

Fall Semester

THEOL 320 Made In God’s Image (3)  

XXMO 300 Modernity in Lit./Art/Music/Theatre (3)

GNSCI XXX Laboratory Science (3) (either semester)

COMM XXX Elective (3)

COMM 310 Media and Society (3)  

15 credits

Spring Semester

THEOL/PHIL 300 Ethics and The Human Good (3)

XXGE 3XX Global Encounters (3)

COMM 325 Classical Rhetoric (3)  

COMM 3XX Comm Elective (3)

Elective (3)

15 credits

Senior Year

Fall Semester

COMM 498 Senior Seminar (3)  

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

15 credits

Spring Semester

COMM 480 Internship (1-12)  *

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

Elective (3)

15 credits

 

*Students may elect to complete three credits of practica instead of an internship, working with the Mountain Echo or the campus radio station. If students elect this opinion, they may complete a two-credit practicum in one semester and a one-credit practicum in another or do three-credit practicum experiences across three semesters. Freshman may select one credit of practicum work. 

Note to students: This is an ideal schedule. It does not follow from this ideal that one must take courses in this exact way. For further information, please consult a member of the Department of Communication.