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Degree Requirements

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Bachelor of Arts in Communication

2009-2011 Four-Year Plan

Communication at Aurora offers liberal arts-oriented courses focusing on the most fundamental and pervasive of human activities. The study of human communication ranges from interpersonal processes such as persuasion and relationship formation to organizational processes such as group leadership and dispute resolution, as well as the strategies and styles of public deliberation and debate and the political and cultural processes involving mass media, the Internet, and telecommunications systems. The study of human communication encompasses the scholarly traditions of both the humanities and social sciences. The intellectual foundations for this study range from classical rhetoric to cognitive science, from the economics of mass-mediated communication to the ethics of public debate.

The goal of Aurora University's Communication faculty is to develop both theoretically and practically competent Communication graduates. Toward this central objective, the following goals are used to inform the curriculum of all Communication courses: advancing the understanding of communication concepts, the building of skills to analyze and critique texts, the improvement of academic and professional writing skills, the mastery of oral presentation capabilities, and the development of professional facilities with media technologies.

One of the prime attractions of communication as a major and minor subject is its versatility with regard to career opportunities. Besides the obvious jobs in areas such as public relations, journalism and media, effective communication and writing skills are in demand across just about every area of the modern economy. Practical experience is encouraged through internships, faculty-led research initiatives, and service-learning opportunities.

Communication Major Requirements — 37 semester hours
Students must complete 37 semester hours of communication major approved courses. Students are required to complete the following sequence of courses to graduate with a major in Communication:

Foundational Communication Courses — 12 semester hours
All communication majors are required to complete each of the the following courses in the foundational principles and practices of communication:

Intermediate-level Communication Courses — 19 semester hours

Complete an additional 15 semester hours from the following intermediate-lever courses:

Advanced-level Communication Courses — 6 semester hours
All communication majors are required to complete one of the following courses in advanced communication practice:

Communication Major Specializations
While there are almost limitless possible career paths for the student graduating with the Communication major, the Communication faculty recognize that by bundling together courses, students can develop areas of specialization in the field of communication studies. While not explicitly required of any Communication major, specializations in the following areas are offered: Public Relations and Corporate Communications, Journalism, and Media Arts. Students who do not opt to specialize in a specific communication subdiscipline will graduate as a communication generalist.

Students wishing to develop a specialization are required to complete all the requirements for the Communication major, as well as bundle a minimum of 12 semester hours of courses from the following list of approved specialization courses:

Public Relations and Corporate Communications Specialization (minimum of 12 hours)

± NOTE: The Public Relations and Corporate Communications Specialization requires that 6 of the required 12 specialization hours include COM3240 Public Relations and COM3000 Organizational Communication.

Journalism Specialization (minimum of 12 semester hours)

± NOTE: The Journalism Specialization requires that 6 of the required 12 specialization hours include COM3140 Journalism: News Reporting and Writing and COM3250 Digital Design for Print and Web.

Media Arts Specialization (minimum of 12 semester hours)

± NOTE: The Media Arts Specialization requires that 6 of the required 12 specialization hours include COM3310 Media Criticism and COM3250 Digital Design for Print and Web.

*Special Topics course must be approved as appropriate for the specialization before it can meet the specialization requirement.

NOTE: The Bachelor of Arts in Communication is also available at George Williams Col­lege of Aurora University in Williams Bay, Wisconsin.

Minor in Communication

Communication also makes a very flexible and adaptable minor that works well in combination with majors such as business, education, history and English. To receive a minor in com­munication, a student must complete 20 semester hours of any Communication major approved course. Of the required 20 semester hours, 8 semester hours must include COM1500 Human Communication and COM2100 Media and Society.

Academic information on departmental Web sites reflects the university's most current curriculum. The print version of the catalog, which is also posted online, may differ from this information.