Graduate Program (September 2008)
MISSION STATEMENT
The Graduate Program in the Department of Communication Studies provides students with
Master’s level training in communication studies and helps them further prepare for specific career
choices, including study at the Ph.D. level, teaching, and non-academic professional applications.
The program offers six areas of specialization: Communication Education, General
Communication, Mass Communication, Organizational Communication, Performance Studies, and
Public Relations. In each of these areas, our mission is to cultivate practicing scholars who can
critically apply theories and research methods in the public and professional arenas they serve. We
seek to provide our students with opportunities to enhance practice with theory, and theory with
practice, recognizing that a balanced relationship between the two is necessary to create thoughtful,
effective scholarly, professional, and creative work.
Goal 1 Communication History/Theory: Students will understand the historical development of
theory and scholarship within communication studies.
1a. Students will list and discuss the historical precedents and contemporary applications of
a variety of theories.
1b. Students will comprehend, apply, and evaluate several theories appropriate to the study
and production of communication.
1c. Students will analyze and describe the role of communication in the construction,
maintenance, and alteration of culture and meaning.
1d. Students will be able to identify and articulate their own theoretical perspective.
1e. Students will be able to identify the way evolving communication theories and
technologies impact communication ethics.
Goal 2 Communication Research Methods: Students will understand appropriate
methodologies to ethically examine questions within the communication studies
discipline/profession.
2a. Students will understand multiple research methods and their role and application in
knowledge construction.
2b. Students will demonstrate graduate-level proficiency in selecting and using research
methods appropriate for production of a thesis/research paper/creative project.
2c. Students will use ethical procedures in conducting their research.
2d. Students will adhere to IRB standards for all research conducted.
Goal 3 Communication Skills: Students will understand and apply oral and written
communication skills in relevant contexts.
3a. Students will compose written essays throughout the course of graduate study that
conform to nationally recognized standards for professional or scholarly production and
publication.
3b. Students will author a thesis/research paper/creative project that conforms to nationally
recognized standards for scholarly/creative production and publication at the graduate
level.
3c. Students will make oral presentations at regular points throughout the course of graduate
study (in the graduate seminar, prospectus presentation, thesis/research paper/creative
project presentation) that demonstrate increasingly sophisticated skills in oral
communication.
3d. Students will be able to identify the ethical issues implicated in their communication
choices.
3e. Students will understand the norms of professional communication.
Goal 4 Communication Praxisi and Community Engagement: Students will integrate
communication theories with practices/actions that enhance engagement with civic and/or
professional communities.
4a. Students will formulate a thesis/research paper/creative project topic that identifies
locations in which theory and practice intersect.
4b. Students will develop a method for disseminating the results of the thesis/research
paper/creative project to relevant civic and/or professional communities.
4c. Students will identify the ways in which theories should inform practice.
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Praxis defined: 1. Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning. 2. Habitual or
established practice; custom. 3. Creativity is a mode; praxis is a method. 4. Exercise or discipline
for a specific purpose or object. 5. Praxis is the integration of theory and practice, the integration
of research and action.