Communication and Media Studies (B.A.)
The Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Media Studies is a broad program of study that prepares students to become competent communication professionals and engaged citizens. The program develops students’ abilities to engage in critical reflection and analysis of communication from multiple perspectives. In accord with the Barry University Mission, students learn about transformative and ethical approaches to communication. Topics explored in the program’s multifaceted curriculum include race, gender, and the interpersonal, intercultural, and organizational contexts of human communication. The media’s institutional, cultural, and economic effects on society are also examined, as well as the role they can play in promoting social change and creating a more inclusive society. Graduates leave the program with a broad, liberal arts-based education that emphasizes today’s highly sought after communication skills.
Program Goals
- Identify communication’s role in shaping personal identities and social and cultural relationships.
- Provide an integrated study of key theoretical frameworks within communication scholarship.
- Encourage the use of communication for social change.
- Develop students’ technical and practical communication skills.
Students who complete the major in Communication and Media Studies majors will be able to:
- Assess how human communication and media institutions shape key aspects of social life, including interpersonal relationships, gender relations, and culture;
- Apply various communication theories in the analysis of texts, relationships, messages, and social settings;
- Design communication strategies that meet ethical and professional standards in multiple contexts; and
- Demonstrate communication practices that pursue social justice and bring about social change.
Graduates of the program work in advertising, communication education, public relations agencies, electronic media, radio and television broadcasting, journalism, theatre/performing arts, government/politics, communication and health, law, and social and human services.
A minimum grade of C is required in all major and minor courses.
Degree Requirements (120 credits)
Distribution (51-52 credits)
SPE-101 is required for all students as part of the Distribution requirements.
Departmental Requirement (3 credits)
Media Foundations (15 credits)
Communication & Media Studies Foundations (12 credits)
| COM-104 | INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION | 3 |
| COM-304 | INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION | 3 |
| COM-349 | SOCIAL MEDIA AND IDENTITY | 3 |
| COM-409 | ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION | 3 |
Communication and Media Studies Electives (6 credits)
Capstone/Integrative Experience (3 credits)
Minor or General Electives (29-30 credits)