Communications, MA

48 credit hours

The MA program in Communications offers a great deal of flexibility in planning and design. The graduate student in communications may specialize in one of four areas of emphases. The four areas of emphasis are

  1. Promotions
  2. Training and development
  3. Media management
  4. Digital and multimedia studies

Each cluster is limited to approximately 14 students, which allows for close contact with faculty members and individualization of study to meet each student’s needs within the parameters of the cluster. Each cluster meets one evening a week for four hours and integrates related areas of study which, in more traditional formats, are taught separately. Evaluation is based primarily upon projects in which written and oral communications skills are developed.

Students may apply for three credits of either ICM 59300 Media Internship or ICM 59400 Communications Internship, on-site learning experiences in communications-related establishments. Students who wish to pursue an internship must receive the recommendation of the Program Director and be accepted by the internship organization. Internships require 50 hours of fieldwork per one semester hour of credit.

In the final term of study, a capstone course (ICM 60100, 3 credit hours), is required of all majors except for those in Digital and Multimedia Studies who have a concentration in Television Production. These students, in their final term, do a Culminating Project (ICM 58999, 3 credit hours) in the area of production or scriptwriting. A proposal is required and needs approval from the Communications Program Director to be eligible for the Culminating Project option. Students need to request the Culminating Project Directive and Proposal Guide and submit the proposal in the quarter prior to enrolling for the option.

Students with this interest can also, with permission of the Communications Program Director, earn up to nine hours of Independent Study coursework (ICM 59500 Special Topics I, ICM 59600 Special Topics II, ICM 59700 Special Topics III). These three credit hour courses involve applied individualized studies, under the supervision of Lindenwood faculty, in support of developing programming and operations at LUTV, the Lindenwood television station.

See Communications Emphases