Communication
Division Chair: B. Wooten
Program Chair: K. Brown
Faculty: K. Brown, J. Dickerson, V. McDonald, and B. Wooten
Website: http://www.berea.edu/com/
Courses: COM Courses
Major/Minor Requirements: Communication B.A.; Communication Minor; Broadcast Journalism Minor
The Communication Program offers courses in human communication including strategic communication, cultural identity, and mass media (production and theory). The Program offers a major and minor in Communication as well as a minor in Broadcast Journalism.
The Program has two principal responsibilities: advancing the student’s knowledge, critical thinking, analytical abilities, and skills in communication and furthering the student’s insight into the meaning and value of human experience through the study of other art forms and through the student’s own creative process.
Upon graduation, majors proceed into graduate or other professional schools, public relations, marketing, broadcasting, advertising, counseling or numerous other occupations.
The purpose of the Communication major is to develop in students the ability to be effective, thoughtful, and critical communicators and consumers of communication. Objectives of the major include developing students’:
- capacities for critical thinking, reasoning, argumentation, and decision making;
- skills in oral communication;
- abilities to construct and present effective arguments, mass mediated messages, interpretations and critical analyses orally and in writing;
- abilities to understand and effectively engage in interpersonal, organizational, intercultural and public relations communication contexts;
- understanding of various theories of communication and rhetoric from the classical to contemporary age;
- abilities to utilize naturalistic/qualitative research methods to collect and analyze original data and form conclusions; and abilities to be discriminating consumers and creators of messages
In addition to supporting students' achievement of the Aims of General Education, the Communication and Broadcast Journalism Program seeks to assist students in meeting the following learning goals and associated learning outcomes:
Learning Goal 1: Students will be informed and engaged citizens of the world by. . .
Learning Outcome 1.1: Demonstrating capacities for critical thinking, reasoning, argumentation, and decision making.
Learning Outcome 1.2: Communicating competently across a range of social identities including race, culture, gender, sexuality, and class.
Learning Outcome 1.3: Engaging in service learning opportunities that bridge the gap between theory and practice as well as provide service to local community organization.
Learning Outcome 1.4: Gaining professional experience through service in internship positions.
Learning Goal 2: Students will be competent and ethical communicators in a range of contexts including interpersonal, small group, conflict, public speaking, organizations, and media by . . .
Learning Outcome 2.1: Developing their own communication competence goals and assessing their competence while planning and monitoring their progress.
Learning Outcome 2.2: Constructing and presenting effective arguments, mass mediated messages, interpretations and critical analyses orally and in writing.
Learning Outcome 2.3: Creating speeches, written communication, and media designs that reflect thorough research, commitment to truth, and respect for all sides of an issue and their audiences.
Learning Outcome 2.4: Engaging productively with others to meet mutually satisfying goals.
Learning Goal 3: Students will demonstrate understanding of various theories of communication and rhetoric from the classical to contemporary age by . . .
Learning Outcome 3.1: Explaining competently a range of objectivist, interpretive, and critical theories and the thinking behind them.
Learning Outcome 3.2: Analyzing communication artifacts and current events through a variety of theoretical lenses.
Learning Outcome 3.3: Constructing new theoretical perspectives based on analyses of communication phenomena.
Learning Goal 4: Students will become competent communication researchers by . . .
Learning Outcome 4.1: Collecting original data by utilizing naturalistic/qualitative research methods.
Learning Outcome 4.2: Analyzing original data and forming conclusions by utilizing various theoretical lenses.
Learning Outcome 4.3: Interpreting and synthesizing existing scholarship.
Learning Goal 5: Students will demonstrate media literacy by being discriminating consumers and creators of messages by . . .
Learning Outcome 5.1: Demonstrating an understanding of the industry makeup and business & societal functions of the various mass media.
Learning Outcome 5.2: Demonstrating an understanding of the research process for the construction of media messages.
Learning Outcome 5.3: Creating media products, including news stories and public relations campaigns, reflecting high standards in production, writing, and ethics.
Learning Outcome 5.4: Creating written and oral analyses of media products that demonstrate understanding of the historical, commercial, ideological, and production properties of the product as well as its content.
Learning Outcome 5.5: Apply a working knowledge of the equipment (lighting, sound, cameras, editing, and production), writing processes, script development, studio terminology, and artistry in broadcast journalism.
Communication Course Sequencing Table:
Please be aware that the table below represents current planning and is subject to change based on faculty availability and student interest. It is not meant to represent any guarantee to the student that the courses will be offered in the term in which they are currently planned.