The Communication Studies major is designed for students interested in the creation, expression, and analysis of messages in their personal, professional, and public lives. The department offers a variety of programs centered on a diverse curriculum teaching marketable skills in areas such as verbal and nonverbal communication, organizational and professional communication, rhetoric and criticism, argumentation and persuasion, and communication technology. See below for our course catalog.
Undergraduate Program
BA in Communication Studies
The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.
Mark Twain
Mark Twain on Common Sense
Why Choose Communication Studies
While everyone who majors in Communication Studies will take a diverse set of courses that familiarize students with the variety our discipline has to offer, some students may wish to focus on a particular aspect of communication. Although there is no required sequence of courses for any single area of interest, the following guides may assist students in providing a focal point to their communication studies:
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Relationship Management and Well-Being Concentration
A concentration in Relationship Management and Well-Being is designed for those who are passionate about fostering positive and productive relationships in their personal and professional lives.
Why should I choose this concentration?
Courses in this concentration will teach you diverse and valuable skills. Through a personalized curriculum that combines theory and practice, you will be prepared to:
- Build and maintain diverse, inclusive, and supportive relationships.
- Analyze personal communication within close relationships for healthy outcomes.
- Identify ethical communication practices within relationships.
- Evaluate self and others' nonverbal communication for healthier relationships.
- Provide and respond to constructive feedback.
- Manage intra-group and interpersonal conflict.
These communication skills will help you to manage relationships across a variety of contexts. Whether you are supporting a family member in a time of need, navigating a new romantic relationship, working with neighbors on community projects, managing conflict in the workplace, or building client relationships on the job, effective communication is essential for relational success, professional growth, and ultimately, your personal well-being.
With expertise in relationship management and well-being, you will find professional opportunities in careers and industries such as management, healthcare, education, customer service, corporate recruiting, hospitality, or other professions that emphasizes effective human relationship skills.
What courses can I choose from to complete the concentration?
To complete the concentration, you can choose 15 hours from the following electives:
- Communication Theory
- Communication and Coping
- Communication and Conflict Management
- Family Communication
- Communication and Gender
- Intercultural Communication
- Nonverbal Communication
- The Dark Side of Communication
- Diversity and Communication
- Professional Communication
- Communication and Technology
- Health Communication
- Persuasion
- Relational Communication
- Communication Internship
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Persuasion, Advocacy, and Civic Engagement Concentration
The Persuasion, Advocacy, and Civic Engagement concentration is designed for those interested in using public messages to create social and political change.
Why should I choose this concentration?
Courses in this concentration will teach you diverse and valuable skills. Through a personalized curriculum that combines theory and practice, you will be prepared to:
- Analyze situational resources, challenges, and audiences to determine the best messages for creating change.
- Craft and present public messages for a variety of social, political, and professional contexts and goals.
- Investigate ways that persuasive communication creates, maintains, and challenges political and social systems.
- Examine persuasive strategies for leading, uniting, and sustaining coalition advocacy efforts.
- Explain how messages in popular culture influence, reinforce, and legitimize beliefs, values, and roles.
The concentration is ideal for those who want to communicatively engage the public sphere. Whether you are running for public office, protesting on an issue of social justice, representing your company at a press conference, speaking at a town hall meeting, organizing your nonprofit's lobbying efforts, submitting an opinion piece for the local newspaper, or analyzing the impact of the latest Hollywood blockbuster, being able to ethically develop, present, interrogate, evaluate, and respond to public messages is fundamental to critical citizenship.
This concentration helps prepare you for futures in politics, the law, social advocacy, ministry, education, marketing, and other pursuits where persuasion, argumentation, and analytical skills are essential.
What courses can I choose from to complete the concentration?
To complete the concentration, you can choose 15 hours from the following electives:
- Communication Theory
- Rhetoric, Race, and Memory
- Speechwriting
- Communication and Conflict Management
- Argumentation and Debate
- Public Advocacy and Civic Engagement
- Media Criticism
- American Speeches
- Rhetoric of Protest Movements
- Organizational Rhetoric
- Persuasion
- Advanced Public Speaking
- Political Communication
- Environmental Communication and Sustainability
- Leadership and Communication
- Communication Internship
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Professional and Organizational Advancement Concentration
A concentration in Professional and Organizational Advancement enhances your capacity for success in managing and cultivating communication interactions within corporate, public service, nonprofit, and professional organizations.
Why should I choose this concentration?
Courses in this concentration will teach you diverse and valuable skills. Through a personalized curriculum that combines theory and practice, you will be prepared to:
- Investigate how organizational cultures are created, maintained, and changed through communication.
- Develop tools for addressing practical communication challenges in teams, communities, and organizations.
- Cultivate best practices for enhancing personal work-life and workplace relationships.
- Build and lead inclusive organizations through a deeper understanding of diversity, identities, and culture.
- Create and sustain organizational missions and strategic visions with employees and stakeholders.
- Analyze organizational communication and transform workplace through innovation.
This concentration is designed to develop skills necessary for success in the workplace. It will help you gain expertise in interviewing, onboarding, developing and maintaining group relations, making decisions, and driving organizational initiatives. Choosing this path will add value to your future roles by teaching you how to lead diverse groups and teams, provide training opportunities, consult for communication-centered solutions, establish a more inclusive workplace, and affect organizational change.
This is a perfect track for a career in corporate training and development, nonprofit or community organizing, human relations/resources, communication management, diversity and inclusion training, or organizational consulting. This concentration will prepare for a variety of industries including: Social Media Director, Communication Consultant, Event Planner, Diversity Officer, Human Resource Specialist, Marketing Manager, Nonprofit Director, Corporate Trainer, Sales Coordinator, Communication Specialist, Project Manager, and many others.
What courses can I choose from to complete the concentration?
To complete the concentration, you can choose 15 hours from the following electives:
- Communication Theory
- Diversity and Inclusion: Applications for Corporate Communication and Training
- Introduction to Organizational Communication
- Professional Skills for the Global Workplace
- Communication and Conflict Management
- Intercultural Communication
- Nonverbal Communication
- Communication and Identity in International Work Cultures
- Diversity and Communication
- Interviewing Principles and Practices
- Professional Communication
- Planning Communication Studies Activities and Events
- Organizational Rhetoric
- Communication and Technology
- Social Media in Organizations
- Communication Training and Human Resource Development
- Persuasion
- Leadership and Communication
- Communication Internship
Specialized Minors in Communication Studies
In addition to the minor in Communication Studies, the Department is also the home for three interdisciplinary minors: Leadership Studies, Political Communication, and Health Communication.
Using a unique blend of theory, research, and application, the minor in Health Communication provides students the essential skills to enhance communication among physicians, nurses, health specialists, health technicians, and patients.
The minor in Political Communication is ideal for those who are interested in the fundamental relationship between messages and political change and prepares students for careers or advanced degrees in fields such as law, politics, issue advocacy, public administration, and public policy.
Effective leaders do more than manage what is, they provide a vision of what could be. The minor in Leadership Studies at Texas State helps prepare citizens to be ethical leaders that will have a positive influence on individuals, groups, organizations, communities, and society.
Second Teaching Field in Speech (Grades Seven through Twelve). For students who are seeking a teacher certification within their major and would like a second teaching field in Speech
Participate in Enriching Co-Curricular and Extracurricular Activities
Department Internships
Students who seek on-the-job experience in a communication-related organization may be interested in applying for an internship and enrolling in COMM 4390. Requirements for the course may be found in the Courses sections of the catolog.
Career Readiness
The Communication Studies Career Readiness (CSCR) program is an innovative experience for select students to discover opportunities in the communication field by building a personalized career pathway.
Student Organizations
The department proudly sponsors the Delta Beta Chapter of the Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society, the Communication Guild for all majors and minors, the Elton Abernathy Forensics Society, and the LBJ Debate Society.
For more information, contact:
JEREMY P. HUTCHINS, M.A.
Senior Lecturer & Director of Undergraduate Studies
Office Location: Centennial Hall 306D
Phone: 512-245-9041
Email: jh200@txstate.edu