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Communication Studies

The Department of Communication Studies focuses on the study of human communication as a social practice. Scholarship and teaching in the department center on the role that human communication processes play in the construction, maintenance, reinforcement, and reformation of various aspects of social, professional, and institutional life.

The department provides a liberal-arts-based undergraduate education that prepares students to meet the complex communication challenges of the 21st century. It provides top-ranked doctoral education and is a national and international leader in research and knowledge dissemination.

The department has three areas of specialization. The rhetoric and public advocacy specialization focuses on how citizens use public argumentation and other rhetorical processes to bring about cultural, social, and political changes. The media studies specialization focuses on modern media in their cultural, economic, historical, political, and social contexts to understand how society and social relations shape and are shaped by media practices. The interpersonal communication and relationships specialization focuses on how the communicative practices of relating in everyday life construct, shape, sustain, and change who people are as individuals, as well as the quality of their lives.

The Department of Communication Studies encourages exploration of the practical, political, social, and aesthetic dimensions of symbolic exchange and awareness of the relationships among these dimensions. The department has produced many influential scholars and artists and has been a hub for the intersection of programs and projects of the University and other institutions.

Undergraduate Programs

The department offers a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in communication studies. First-year students interested in pursuing a degree in communication studies are advised at the Academic Advising Center. Students who have earned 30 s.h. or more and who have a cumulative (University of Iowa and transfer) g.p.a. of at least 2.60 can declare the major and are advised in the department by the communication studies academic counselor. 

Bachelor of Arts

The Bachelor of Arts in communication studies requires a minimum of 120 s.h., including 30 s.h. of work for the major. Students must complete the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences General Education Program.

The curriculum is designed to encourage learning that progresses from a basic understanding of communication as symbolic action to intermediate and advanced courses that emphasize four approaches to communication: the practice of communication, the context of communication, communication research and criticism, and communication theory. Students may choose to focus on specific areas of the field in order to build creative combinations of course work that suit their individual learning and career goals.

Students may count up to 50 s.h. of communication studies course work toward the degree. Guided Independent Study and transfer courses may be accepted as long as the student meets University of Iowa and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences residency requirements and the department approves the courses; a maximum of 15 s.h. of transfer credit may be counted toward the degree. Students must have a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 2.60 to take most communication studies courses.

Students work with the department academic counselor to develop study plans that meet the requirements of the major. They may check their progress toward the degree by logging on to ISIS (Iowa Student Information Services).

Students may discuss their career goals and interests with faculty members.

Students complete the following course work.

Core Concepts

All majors begin their studies with 036:001 Core Concepts in Communication Studies (3 s.h.). This course is prerequisite to most other major courses. It introduces and builds on introductory concepts and theories and orients students to the organization and goals of the major.

Practice

Practice courses focus on communication production and practice. Students acquire practical skills and learn to recognize and understand the interpersonal, public, or technical communication practices of others.

At least 6 s.h. from these:

Context

Context courses explore how communication practices and meanings are shaped by context--for example, historical, cultural, social, interpersonal, or institutional settings. Context courses provide students with a better understanding of communication practices useful in professional careers such as business, education, health care, and law.

At least 6 s.h. from these:

Research and Criticism

Research and criticism courses emphasize communication study methods and approaches as well as how those methods and approaches are interpreted and evaluated. These courses focus on the application of interpretive schemas and analytical models to communicative practices or bodies of discourse. Students work directly with primary materials such as institutional data, transcripts of conversations, speeches, historical documents, media programs, and performances.

At least 3 s.h. from these:

Theory

Theory courses examine the process of abstracting, modeling, and conceptualizing communicative relationships and interactions. Students learn how scholars have described and explained communication practices as behavior, cultural and social forms and formations, expressions of commonality and difference, mediated discourses, and symbolic interaction. They explore particular bodies of theory and investigate the process of theorizing in communication studies.

At least 3 s.h. from these:

Electives

Students earn 9 s.h. of elective credit in advanced courses.

Internships

Internships enable students to supplement their course work with professional experiences relevant to careers in communication-related fields. The department's internship program is open only to communication studies majors.

To earn academic credit for internships, students must obtain approval for their internship experience and site before they register for 036:028 Communication Studies Internship (arr.). Internship academic credit is awarded for an analytical paper and daily log submitted at the end of the internship and for the number of hours worked. Internships can be completed during fall semester, spring semester, or summer session.

Visit the department's web site for information on communication studies internships.

Four-Year Graduation Plan

The following checkpoints list the minimum requirements students must complete by certain semesters in order to stay on the University's Four-Year Graduation Plan. Students who have signed the four-year graduation agreement should consult the department for details.

Before the third semester begins: at least one-quarter of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the fifth semester begins: at least two courses in the major and at least one-half of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the seventh semester begins: at least six courses in the major and at least three-quarters of the semester hours required for graduation

Before the eighth semester begins: at least eight courses in the major

During the eighth semester: enrollment in all remaining course work in the major, all remaining General Education courses, and a sufficient number of semester hours to graduate

Honors

The department encourages outstanding undergraduates to take part in the honors program. To graduate with honors in communication studies, students must maintain a cumulative University of Iowa g.p.a. of at least 3.33, join the University of Iowa Honors Program, and fulfill the following course requirements. 

In special cases, independent study course work may be substituted for the Honors Workshop, with the honors officer's permission. Additional course work may be required by the student's honors advisor.

To begin work toward a degree with honors in communication studies, students choose a faculty member to supervise their honors project and act as their honors advisor.

Students who enroll in the honors program are eligible to take courses offered through the University of Iowa Honors Program and to add an honors designation to any other departmental course by completing an agreement with the course instructor for special work in that course.

For detailed information, see Honors Program in Communication Studies on the department's web site.

Minor

The minor in communication studies requires a minimum of 15 s.h. in communication studies courses, including 12 s.h. in courses taken at The University of Iowa numbered 036:040 and above. Students must maintain a g.p.a. of at least 2.00 in the minor. Course work in the minor may not be taken pass/nonpass. The minor must include 036:001 Core Concepts in Communication Studies.

Forensics/Debate

Students in the forensics/debate program have the opportunity to participate in on-campus debates, in developmental programs designed to improve speech activities in the state, and as members of competitive intercollegiate debate teams. Forensics scholarships are available. Students interested in debate should enroll in 036:013 Practicum in Debate or 036:014 Elements of Debate.

Graduate Programs

The department offers a Doctor of Philosophy in communication studies with specializations in interpersonal communication and relationships, media studies, and rhetoric and public advocacy. The department offers a Master of Arts to students who have their committee's approval.

Master of Arts

The M.A. in communication studies requires a minimum of 30 s.h. of graduate credit and usually is granted to students in the process of pursuing the Ph.D. All students take 036:200 Introduction to Research (2 s.h.), 036:201 Issues in Teaching (1 s.h.), and at least two courses numbered 200 or above. They also prepare a graduate seminar paper that involves significant original research. For a detailed description of M.A. requirements, see the Communication Studies Graduate Student Handbook.

Doctor of Philosophy

The Doctor of Philosophy requires a minimum of 82 s.h. of graduate credit, including dissertation credit. All students take 036:200 Introduction to Research and 036:201 Issues in Teaching, and earn at least 10 s.h. of dissertation credit in 036:399 Ph.D. Dissertation.

Ph.D. students must successfully complete a qualifying examination during their second or third semester and a comprehensive (predissertation) examination in their major research area during their fifth or sixth semester, and write a substantial scholarly dissertation. The must take a 3 s.h. course in each of the program's three areas of specialization. Students must maintain a cumulative g.p.a. of at least 3.00 throughout the graduate program.

Admission usually is for fall semester entry. Applicants whose materials are received at the department by January 1 receive preference for admission and financial support. Admission decisions are based on undergraduate achievement, letters of reference, Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test scores, the statement of purpose, and samples of scholarly work.

Interpersonal Communication and Relationships

The communication and relationships program is centered on theory complemented by strength in quantitative and qualitative research methods. It focuses on scholarly issues that arise from face-to-face, everyday communication practices. It emphasizes personal relationship and family processes, identity construction, persuasion, and culture.

The goal of the program is to produce scholars who possess sophisticated knowledge of theory and methodology, who are careful consumers of theories and methods, and who can develop their own approaches to communication phenomena. The program emphasizes systematic analysis of the forms, functions, and meanings of messages within various contexts. Its broad social-scientific orientation springs from the belief that many methodological approaches are appropriate to studying and building theoretical explanations of communication.

Graduate students typically enter the program to earn a Ph.D. Advisors and committee members work closely with individual students to select courses from communication studies and other University departments and plan teaching and research experiences that will prepare students well for the employment they seek after graduation.

Media Studies

The graduate program in media studies focuses on the interplay of institutions, texts, and audiences in mediated communication systems. Its central aim is to examine modern media--radio, television, advertising, music, new media, and a wide range of other popular cultural expressions--within their historical, social, political, economic, and cultural contexts. It also uses the mass media as sites for asking basic questions about culture, society, politics, and modernity.

Like the department's other graduate programs, media studies has a strong interdisciplinary flavor. Students draw not only on allied areas in the Department of Communication Studies but on fields across the University.

Rhetoric and Public Advocacy

The program in rhetoric and public advocacy is built on foundation courses in classical and 20th-century rhetorical theory and in an overview of 20th-century rhetorical criticism. Courses from a rhetorical perspective include rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, visual rhetoric and politics, public address and public culture, studies in argumentation and freedom of speech, work in science and technology as well as academic inquiry, and historical methods. Cognate work of interest to rhetoricians also can be found in interpersonal communication and relationship studies as well as media studies.

The Ph.D. in rhetorical studies is designed to give students a mature grasp of the specialties and perspectives embraced by the field and to develop research competence essential to a life of productive scholarship.

Work in related disciplines--political science, history, sociology, English, cinema and comparative literature, anthropology, American studies, and journalism--complements rhetorical studies course offerings. Faculty from the Departments of Rhetoric, Political Science, and American Studies cross-reference their courses on rhetorical topics in this program.

The Project on Rhetorics of Inquiry (POROI) offers a certificate program, allowing doctoral students to specialize in the study of how academic fields use argumentative and linguistic strategies to generate and control knowledge. Many doctoral students also do extensive work in media studies or interpersonal communication to improve their range of teaching opportunities and their research skills.

Admission

Applicants to graduate programs in communication studies must meet the admission requirements of the Graduate College; see the Manual of Rules and Regulations of the Graduate College or the Graduate College section of the Catalog.

Facilities

The Samuel L. Becker Communication Studies Building is designed to meet the department's research and technological needs.