Communication Studies Department
- Degree Requirements
BACHELOR OF ARTS
Communication Studies Major
Twelve courses overall—eight required core courses and four courses within one of eight emphases. For transfer students, at least six of these courses must be taken at Augsburg.
Required of all communication studies majors:
- COM 111 Public Speaking
or COM 112 Contest Public Speaking - COM 254 Interpersonal Communication
- COM 280 Introduction to Communication Studies
- COM 351 Argumentation
- COM 352 Persuasion
- COM 355 Small Group Communication
- COM 321 Business and Professional Speaking
or COM 329 Intercultural Communication - COM 490 Senior Keystone
Professional Communication Emphasis
This emphasis is intended for students interested in studying communication from an artistic and humanities perspective. It is appropriate for career interests such as communication graduate school, other professional graduate programs (e.g. law school), rhetorical criticism, political communication and being a professional trainer, communication consultant, professional speaker, or speechwriter.
Four additional electives from the following: COM 321 (required), COM 329, 345, 405, 399, 499; THR 350; BUS 242, 301; ENL 220; POL 326, 342, 370; PSY 271, 325; SOC 362, 363
Organizational Communication Emphasis
Appropriate for: business-related careers such as professional manager, sales, management consulting, technical consulting, internal communications, organizational or industrial consulting, human systems analyst or designer, and also graduate programs in organizational studies.
Four additional electives from the following: COM 345 (required), COM 321, 329, 356, 399, 405, 480, 495, 499; BUS 242, 340; PSY 271, 325, 373; SOC 265, 349, 375
Supervisory Management Emphasis
Appropriate for students seeking management careers.
Four additional electives from: BUS 242 or 440 (required); COM 321, 329, 356, 399, 405, 480, 495, 499; BUS 340; ENL 223; MIS 260; PSY 373; SOC 349
Human Relations Emphasis
Appropriate for students pursuing the study of how organizations manage their internal structure and personnel. People who work in this area deal with such issues as discrimination, work rules, employee relations, etc.
Four additional electives from: BUS 340 (required); COM 321, 329, 345, 356, 399, 405, 495; PSY 373, 385; SOC 265, 349, 375
Marketing Communication Emphasis
Courses in this emphasis focus on the communication aspects of the marketing-communication mix. This emphasis is particularly helpful for students interested in an organizational role in marketing communication.
Four additional electives from: MKT 252 (required); COM 120, 321, 329, 356, 399, 405, 480, 495, MKT 352, 355, 357, 450; POL 342
Public Relations and Advertising Emphasis
Courses are designed to prepare students for the growing fields of public relations and crisis management, as well as advertising and promotional communication. An internship in public relations, advertising, or a related field is required.
Four additional electives from: ENL 227 (required); COM 120, 321, 329, 345, 356, 399, 405, 480, 495; ART 132, 224, 225; BUS 242, 379; MKT 252, 355, 357; PSY 373; SOC 349, POL 342
Mass Communication and Journalism Emphasis
Courses are designed to prepare students for entry into television, film, journalism, e-media (both performance and production), media criticism and policy, or graduate school in mass communication or journalism.
Four electives from the following: ENL 227 (required); COM 120, 243, 247, 321, 329, 348, 399, 495, 499: ART 132, 215, 224, 225, 315, 330, 340; ENL 226, 228, 241, 324, 327, 427; POL 342; THR 232, 233, 325, 350, 360; BUS 254, ENL 328
Graduate Study Emphasis
Courses in this emphasis would be especially helpful for students planning to do graduate work in such fields as communication studies, education, or law.
Four electives from the following: SOC 362 or ENL 420 (required); COM 120, 321, 329, 356, 405, 495, 499; PHI 230; POL 483; PSY 215, 315; SOC 363, 375
For All Eight Emphases
We encourage all majors to participate in Augsburg’s interscholastic forensics program. Students should be aware that the tournament season is essentially from October through mid-March, and should plan schedules accordingly.
All Day majors should plan to include at least one internship (COM 399) as one of their electives.
Students may petition the department to include as part of their major concentration other Augsburg courses not listed above. Such requests must be submitted in writing to the departmental adviser for prior approval. Also, students may petition to include up to three courses from other ACTC schools as electives, with prior approval of the adviser or department chair.
The Critical Thinking (CT) and Speaking (S) graduation skills are embedded throughout the offered courses and are met by completing the major. The graduation skills in Quantitative Reasoning (QR) and Writing (W) are met by completing the following courses:
QR/QFA: GST 200, MAT 145, MAT 146, or PHI 230; OR a QF: PSY 215, MAT 129, 163, or 173; AND a: QA: COM 352 (NOTE for Mass Communication only, COM 352 or ENL 327) W: COM 351 and any 200 level writing course in English
Transfer students must consult an adviser about potential adjustments to their course requirements to fulfill each of these skills.
Communication Arts/Literature Teacher Licensure Major
This major, which includes secondary education coursework and student teaching requirements in the education department, offers students the preparation necessary to become teachers of communication arts and literature in public schools and allows them to become licensed to teach at the middle school through the secondary level. Recommendation for teacher licensure is granted only to students who complete the requirements for this program with a minimum grade of 2.0 in major courses and with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.50 in the major. All requirements in the major must be completed prior to student teaching. The course requirements for this program are listed in the Department of English section of the catalog.
Departmental Honors
Departmental Honors is designed to encourage overall excellence as well as outstanding achievement on a specific project of special interest to the student. Departmental Honors students must maintain a 3.50 GPA in the major and a 3.00 GPA overall, and, as part of their major program, complete a substantial independent project of honors quality (COM 499 registration). Honors candidates should meet with their departmental adviser prior to their senior year to develop a proposal for the honors project.
Communication Studies Minor
Six courses including:
- COM 111 Public Speaking
or COM 112 Contest Public Speaking
or COM 115 Scientific and Technical Speaking - COM 254 Interpersonal Communication
- COM 280 Introduction to Communication Studies
- COM 120 Mass Media and Popular Culture
or COM 243 Studio Production
or POL 342 Mass Communication in Society - COM 351 Argumentation
or COM 352 Persuasion - COM 355 Small Group Communication
or COM 345 Organizational Communication
