Course Requirements

Curriculum Overview

The human capacity to understand, influence, and appreciate others comes through Communication. The Communication Department endeavors to expand a student's range of verbal and nonverbal skills, to develop sensitivity for their appropriate use in different situations, and to nurture a Christian perspective on issues of power, influence, justice, freedom, creativity, and truth. The course work, advising, and co-curricular activities of the department assist students in becoming competent and ethically responsible communicators, as well as preparing them for future academic study, professional training, and lifelong learning.

Major in Communication

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication requires a total of 32 hours:

• 14 hours in core requirements including performance, theory, research, and senior capstone
• 16 hours in a concentration, choosing from one of the following areas:
  • Interpersonal Communication explores how meaning develops within personal, social, and institutional relationships, as well as how patterns of human behavior contribute to individual growth and Christian community.
  • Media Studies helps students engage and contribute to the media environment - the world of symbols and meanings, texts and contexts, sight and sound, form and content - from a critical and cultural perspective.
  • Rhetoric and Culture prepares students to construct oral messages (involving self presentation, verbal strategies, and non-verbal appeals) intended to influence specific audiences and cultures, and enables students to interpret culture critically and charitably.
  • Theater explores the interaction of word, action, and symbol as essential ingredients in the collaborative process of making theater, and emphasizes creativity, imagination, and a personal aesthetic in the development of the whole person.
• 2 hours of Communication elective credit.

Minor in Communication

Requirements for a minor are 20 hours in Communication courses including COMM 201, which also meets the general education requirement, and 301 or 302.

Requirements for a theater minor are 20 hours in Communication courses consisting of COMM 271, 272, 273, and 374 and an elective upper-division theater COMM course. COMM 373 does NOT count towards the minor.

Curriculum Specifics

• The Wheaton College Course Catalog offers more information about specific Communication courses.

Core Requirements (14 hours - all concentrations)

• COMM 201 Fundamentals of Oral Communication (4)
• Communication elective (2 hours, any concentration)

Theory

choose one:

• COMM 301 Communication Theory (4)
• COMM 302 Rhetorical Theory (4)

Research

choose one:

• COMM 311 Human Communication Research (Spring, 4)
• COMM 312 Communication Criticism (4)

Capstone Course in Ethics

• COMM 494 Senior Seminar (2)

Communication Concentrations

(16 hours in one area)

Interpersonal

Required (6-8 Credits) 

• COMM 221: Interpersonal (4)
• COMM 424: Special Topics/ Interpersonal (2-4)

Elective Options (at least 8-10 Credits)

• COMM 223: Gender (2)
• COMM 261: Strategic Comm (4)
• COMM 324: Intercultural Diversity (4)
• COMM 362: Group Dynamics (2)
• COMM 363: Persuasion (Spring, 4)
• COMM 367: Conflict & Resolution (2)
• COMM 461: Organizational Communication (4)
• COMM 495: Independent Study (1-4)
• COMM 496: Internship (2-4)

Media

Required (8 Credits) 

• COMM 241: Media Studies (Fall, 4)
• COMM 246: Media Production (4)

Elective Options (8 Credits, at least one upper division course)

• COMM 215: Journalism (Fall, 4)
• COMM 242: Media Performance (4)
• COMM 243: Digital Society (Spring, 4)
• COMM 261: Strategic Comm (4)
• COMM 343: Writing for Media / Screenwriting (4)
• COMM 344: Visual Symbolism: Icons, Brands, Logos (Spring, 4)
• COMM 345: Narrative Media (4)
• COMM 415/16: Special Topics: Journalism (2-4)
• COMM 424: Sport & Communication (Spring, 4)
• COMM 441: Media, Religion, & Culture (4)
• COMM 444: Special Topics in Media (2-4)
• COMM 445: Media Constructions (4)
• COMM 495: Independent Study (1-4)
• COMM 496: Internship (2-4)

Rhetoric

Required (8 Credits)

• COMM 253: Messages, Influence & Culture (Fall, 4)
• COMM 454: Special Topics (4)

Elective Options (8 Credits)

• COMM 252: Argumentation & Debate (Fall, 4)
• COMM 261: Strategic Comm (4)
• COMM 344: Visual Symbolism: Icons, Brands, Logos (Spring, 4)
• COMM 353: Advance Persuasive Speaking (4)
• COMM 363: Persuasion (Spring, 4)
• COMM 393: Intercollegiate Debate Practicum (0 or 1)
• COMM 444: Special Topics in Media & Culture (2-4)
• COMM 495: Independent Study (1-4)
• COMM 496: Internship (2-4)

Theater

Required (4 Credits)

• COMM 271: Theater Survey (Fall, 4)

Elective Options (12 Credits)

• COMM 171: Intro to Acting (2)
• COMM 272: Scenography (Spring, 4)
• COMM 273: Acting I (Spring, 4)
• COMM 373: Theater Workout (1)
• COMM 374: Directing (Fall, 4)
• COMM 376: Church & Theater (Spring, 4)
• COMM 473: Acting II (Fall, 4)
• COMM 474: Special Topics Theater (2-4)
• COMM 476: Theater and Culture (Spring, 4)
• COMM 495: Independent Study (1-4)
• COMM 496: Internship (2-4)