The mission of the School of Communication is to achieve national and international distinction in research, teaching and service. To accomplish this mission, the School will advance high quality communication scholarship in ways consistent with the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences and will engage in innovative, excellent undergraduate and graduate education. Scholarly, professional and public constituencies will be served by helping improve the understanding of communication processes and by working with professional constituencies to improve the practice of communication.
Goal
The overall goal is to design an innovative School that is among the best in the discipline in specific areas of expertise, closely allied in purpose and function with the mission of the College of Arts and Sciences. The research and teaching programs within the School will be strong and focused on present and future directions of the field.
Rationale: A Changing Discipline and Changing Priorities
Many changes have occurred over the past decade in the communication industry. These changes will continue to occur as we advance our understanding of human communication and communication processes and as the structure and capabilities of ways in which we communicate change.
Telecommunications, the Internet, digital and visualization technologies, and interactive communication have transformed the content, process and nature of mass communication. Communication researchers are witnessing the growth of a new medium that is a hybrid of interpersonal and mass communication, holding simultaneous entertainment and information functions.
In addition, our understanding of the interrelated processes of interpersonal and mass communication has continued to evolve, creating new and interesting challenges for communication researchers and scholars. As the traditional boundaries among modes of communication become blurred, communicators, like communication itself, are expected to move effectively across interpersonal, organizational, and mass media channels. In addition, the increasing importance of communication research in political and social arenas and the constant monitoring of public opinions on a multitude of issues have resulted in a need for students of communication to be trained in the nuances of communication research. The relationship between communication, marketing and business and the increasing need to communicate between nations and cultures have created an unprecedented demand for skilled communicators and scholars.
The field is clearly a young, dynamic field with critical opportunities and challenges for the students and faculty who engage in teaching and research in the discipline. The curriculum and research agenda at the School of Communication is geared to address the sweeping changes that have occurred in the communication industry in the last decade.
To learn about the focus of our undergraduate and graduate programs, please read the detailed information about our undergraduate and graduate programs under their headings in our website.