The Major

The undergraduate communication major at the College of Charleston is supported by over 55 undergraduate communication courses and over 35 full- and part-time communication faculty. Three undergraduate concentrations and a rich array of minors allow communication students to customize their education to fit their own career plans and goals. Over 800 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees at the College of Charleston in the typical academic year, consistent with the department’s mission of developing leaders in the communication professions and emphasizing core competencies in writing, speaking, research, critical thinking, and problem solving.

The Corporate and Organizational Communication concentration addresses the application of communication theory to the contemporary workplace, with courses dealing with such subjects as business communication and crisis communication. The Media Studies concentration recognizes the twenty-first-century reality of converged media by providing courses in both “old” and “new” media, with courses offering both critical and practical perspectives on such topics as print and electronic journalism and communication management. The Communication Studies concentration most strongly represents the traditional study of oral and written communication in the liberal arts, with courses emphasizing public speaking and public address, argumentation and debate, interpersonal communication, and oral performance.

In addition to the three undergraduate concentrations, the department offers a sequence of courses in public relations, which can be taken either in the corporate and organizational communication concentration or the media studies concentration. In addition, the study of political communication is possible in all three of the undergraduate concentrations.

Several advanced courses take a service-learning approach that benefits both student and area non-profit organizations (whether on campus or in the community), while other courses involve students in cutting-edge academic research on such topics as health communication or media criticism. In addition, over half of all communication majors complete a for-credit internship in the department’s year-round internship program, with students committed to internships in such cities as Charleston, New York, Charlotte, Greenville, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. International internships also are possible.

Students have opportunities to enhance the classroom experience with such extra- and co-curricular opportunities as Lambda Pi Eta membership, involvement in the award-winning Public Relations Student Society of America chapter, or participation in the department’s Debate and Forensics Team, which has existed at the College of Charleston since the 1890s. With numerous guest speakers, the department’s Distinguished Communicators Series, a mentorship program and forum series operated by the Department of Communication Advisory Council, and an annual Internship and Networking Fair, students and faculty interact with and learn from the community outside the classroom.

Study Abroad. Students from the Department of Communication lead all other majors at the College of Charleston in studying abroad for a summer or semester. Communication majors have studied in Australia, Canada, Ghana, Great Britain, New Zealand, Peru, and a host of other countries. Department of Communication faculty have taught summer College of Charleston courses in Austria, France, Italy, Germany, and Spain.

Graduate and Law Schools. Department of Communication undergraduates have gone on to graduate or law school at such institutions as the College of Charleston, Duke University, Florida State University, George Washington University, Michigan State University, New School University, New York University, Purdue University, the University of Florida, the University of Georgia, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, the University of South Carolina, and the University of Virginia.

Alumni Employment. College of Charleston communication alumni pursue careers in for-profit and non-profit organizations, the public sector, and education. They are employed throughout South Carolina, the nation, and the world. For example, recent job titles for our young alumni in the New York City area include "Project Manager," "Vice President," "Senior Manager in Public Relations," "Producer," "Information Technology Specialist," "Assignment Editor," "Special Events Director," "Senior Imaging Consultant," "Program Scheduling Director," and "Managing Director."

Institutional Memberships. The Department of Communication at the College of Charleston is an institutional member of the National Communication Association and the Southern States Communication Association.

Faculty Memberships. College of Charleston faculty are active members of the American Forensic Association, the Association for Communication Excellence, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Broadcast Education Association, the Eastern Communication Association, the International Communication Association, the National Communication Association, the Public Relations Society of America, and the Southern States Communication Association.

School of Humanities and Social Sciences.  The Department of Communication is one of eight departments and seven interdisciplinary programs housed in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS).  The HSS departments and programs offer 11 undergraduate degrees and six graduate degrees.  HSS, the largest of the six academic schools, is responsible for five of the College’s top 10 undergraduate majors (in terms of numbers of majors) and plays a central role in delivering the general education curriculum of the College.  Visit the HSS Web site at www.cofc.edu/hss.