We’re launching a new undergraduate curriculum in 2024-2025
The new curriculum is intended to be more interdisciplinary, flexible, and student-centric. We are calling it a pathways approach to Communication. We will continue to give students focused opportunities to engage with the department’s core areas of expertise: interpersonal and organizational communication, media arts, media and technology studies, new media, performance studies, rhetoric, and writing for screen and stage, but the new curriculum allows students to bring these areas together in new combinations.
The new curriculum offers students 5 pathways they can pursue:
Communication & Everyday Life
Media Arts, Performance, and Creative Practice
Media Technologies & Public Life
Organizing & Work Cultures
Rhetoric, Activism & Advocacy
Within each pathway, students will find classes from each of the department’s core areas that are in conversation with one another. Within each pathway, students will have multiple classes to choose from at all levels, giving them tremendous flexibility to focus on depth, breadth, or both.
For example, a student in the Organizing & Work Cultures pathway might choose Comm 120: Introduction to Interpersonal and Organizational Communication and Comm 325: Introduction to Organizational Communication as starting points and then dig deeper with courses like Comm 423: Critical Perspectives on Work, Labor, and Professional Life, Comm 523: Communication and Leadership, and Comm 527: Organizational Ethic, which offers them a focused but general understanding of organizational communication
OR…
Within the same pathway, they might pare Comm 325: Introduction to Organizational Communication with Comm 249: Introduction to Communication Technology, Culture, and Society as starting points and interweave classes like Comm 526: Critical-Cultural Approaches to Organizational Communication, and Comm 625: Communication and Nonprofits in the Global Context with Comm 650: Cultural Politics of Global Media Economies to consider global media work cultures.
These options and more exist within every pathway.
Meaningfully, most COMM classes exist within two or more pathways, making it easy for students to shift from one pathway to another if their interests change without needing to start over.
For example, COMM 349: Technologies and Social Justice, exists in the Media Technologies & Public Life, Rhetoric, Activism & Advocacy and Communication & Everyday Life pathways and any student taking that class could count the course toward any of those pathways and use it to pivot from one pathway to another.
These opportunities exist at multiple spots across every pathway.
The Specifics:
In the new curriculum, all Majors are required to take COMM 100: Intro to Communication (3 credits). This is the only core requirement for the degree.
Within each pathway, students must complete 4 100-300 lower-level courses, including a minimum of two “starter” courses for that pathway. Starter classes introduce students to their chosen pathway. All pathways have 6-8 courses that count as “Starter classes” giving students a lot of options to select from. They must also complete 3 400-600 upper-level courses. They also select 2 elective courses at any level, which can be in their chosen pathway or outside of it.
10 courses and 30 credits total.
- COMM 100 (3 credits)
- 4 100-300 lower-level courses (including a minimum of two “starter” courses) (12 credits)
- 3 400-600 upper-level courses (9 credits)
- 2 elective courses (6 credits)
Among the ten courses needed for the Major, students must take at least one Modes of Inquiry class. These classes focus on teaching students research methods and tech no logy tools. There are over 40 Modes of Inquiry courses to choose from at all levels and cut across all pathways.
Among the ten courses needed for the Major, students must take at least one Representation, Identity, and Difference class. These classes focus on the intersections of diversity, equity, and communication. There are over 40 Representation, Identity, and Difference courses to choose from at all levels and cut across all pathways.
Among the ten courses needed for the Major, students must take at least one High Impact class. These classes focus on preparing students to apply the critical tools they’ve amassed. There are over a dozen High Im pact courses to choose from including internships, service learning classes, honors theses, and capstone classes.