Department of Communication, Media and Culture

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Communication, Media and Culture at Coastal Carolina University is to provide opportunities for student success, career flexibility, and life-long learning. Our department offers a range of unique concentrations that focus on communication studies, health communication, interactive journalism, public relations/integrated communication, and sports communication. All programs of study in the department unite theory and practice to provide students with the background necessary to pursue careers in business, industry, government, journalism and media industries or to continue education in graduate programs of study. Because of the range of disciplines offered in the department, students have a variety of pathways to their professional careers and/or graduate studies. Through their studies in the department, students gain the ability to integrate critical, cultural, theoretical, and ethical perspectives and apply those perspectives in their professional, personal and civic lives. Faculty in the department strongly embrace a teacher/scholar model and place particular emphasis on high quality teaching, engaged learning, discipline-based research, and collaboration with our community.

Student Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the requirements for degrees in one of the concentrations of the communication major accomplish a variety of learning outcomes. They are able to:

Understand the processes of human interaction;

demonstrate familiarity with and comprehension of communication theories, principles and concepts.
recognize the field of communication as “the study of human interaction” in a variety of contexts.
identify communication problems.

Engage in the study of human interaction;

evaluate communication processes and messages for their effectiveness, strengths, and weaknesses.
think critically about human interaction and how professional and popular use of communication and media affect society.
analyze principles of communication, identifying underlying values and assumptions.

Demonstrate effective communication practices;

apply principles and best practices to engage audiences and solve communication problems.
research, create and deliver effective, strategic, and ethical messages or stories appropriate for the communication professions.
demonstrate competence in one or more areas: communication studies, health communication, interactive journalism, public relations/integrated communication, sports communication.

Note:

Upper-level courses often require prerequisites that must be met before enrolling. Depending on the student’s major, many prerequisites may be taken as Core Curriculum courses.

Students must earn a grade of ‘C’ or better in each of the courses used to satisfy the major requirements, including foundation courses. Final responsibility for satisfying degree requirements, as outlined in the university catalog, rests with the student.

Students select a minor in consultation with their advisers. They choose from any minors listed in the Coastal Carolina University catalog, including, but not limited to Journalism. Students with a Communication major, regardless of concentration, may not minor in Communication. Students with an Interactive Journalism concentration may not minor in Journalism.

For Communication majors, no course can be counted for both the foundation and concentration major requirements and no more than six credits can be counted for major and minor requirements.

Programs

Majors/Degrees

Minors