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Communication Studies

Major in CMST

Major Requirements

A major in communication studies requires 30 hours of course work. The requirements and options for the major are as follows:

Category 1: Foundations—two courses (6 credit hours)

  • Communication Studies 1002: Introduction to Communication Studies
  • Communication Studies 1500: Fundamentals of Public Speaking

Category 2: Argumentation and Advocacy—one course (3 credit hours)

  • Communication Studies 2100: Argumentation and Debate*
  • Communication Studies 2110: Persuasion*
  • Communication Studies 2120: Business Communication*

* Prerequisite CMST 1500

Category 3: Public Discourse and Deliberation—three courses (9 credit hours), one of which must be 3000, 3001, or 3002

  • Communication Studies 3000: Rhetoric of the American Experience 1640-1865
  • Communication Studies 3001: Rhetoric of the American Experience 1865-1945
  • Communication Studies 3002: Rhetoric of the American Experience 1945 to the present
  • Communication Studies 3110: Women, Rhetoric, and Social Change
  • Communication Studies 3120: Rhetoric of U.S. Religion
  • Communication Studies 3140: Communication and the First Amendment
  • Communication Studies 3200: Social Media & Everyday Life
  • Communication Studies 3600: The Rhetorical Tradition
  • Communication Studies 3700: Politics and Mass Media
  • Communication Studies 3750: Rhetoric of the Body

Category 4: Culture, Theory, and Critique—three courses (9 credit hours)

  • Communication Studies 2800: Rhetoric and Civic Life
  • Communication Studies 2950: Rhetoric of Mass Media
  • Communication Studies 3100: Rhetoric of Social Movements
  • Communication Studies 3150: Law, Media, and Society
  • Communication Studies 3620: Rhetoric, Culture, and Critique
  • Communication Studies 3620W: Rhetoric, Culture, and Critique
  • Communication Studies 3710: Cultural Rhetorics of Film
  • Communication Studies 3720: Communicating Gender
  • Communication Studies 3730: Communication, Culture, and Consciousness
  • Communication Studies 3730W: Communication, Culture, and Consciousness
  • Communication Studies 3740: Rhetoric of Medicine and Health
  • Communication Studies 3800: Communication and Media Studio

Category 5: One elective course (3 credit hours):

  • Selected from the courses listed in categories 2 through 4, which has not been counted toward those requirements.

Communication Studies 1111 (Freshman Seminar), 3840 (Directed Readings), 3850 (Independent Study in Communication), 3890 (Special Topics in Communication), 4960 (Seminar in Selected Topics), and 4961 (Seminar in Selected Topics) may be counted toward the major in the category corresponding to the topic of the course, with the permission of the director of undergraduate studies.