The Communication Studies major is designed to prepare students with foundational communication principles and relational communication skills for a wide variety of contexts and careers that involve working with people and are important for effective leadership, training, and service.
Communication studies may be the right degree for you if you
- are a motivated, hard worker
- have a passion for leading, learning, and communicating
- have a desire to strengthen your written and verbal skills
- want to help organizations reach the rest of the world with persuasive messages
Why study communication at Northwestern?
Get hands-on experience from knowledgeable professors who approach communications with truth, ethics, and an attitude of service.
With campus close to downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, students can take advantage of opportunities in Minnesota’s thriving business and communication industries.
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The Communication Department helped me discover my creative and academic strengths and weaknesses, encouraging me to explore different areas of study. From my first class in radio workshop as a freshman to my Senior internship with Northwestern Media, professors connected me with people in a variety of fields and help me network my skills. The relationships that I formed with professors, students, and professionals in the media industry continue to help me in my job today.
Careers in communication studies
There are a variety of career and academic pathways that begin with a degree in communication studies.
What types of work are related to this degree?
- Corporate sales
- Management
- Human resources
- Advertising and promotions
- Labor relations
- Public relations
- Customer service
- Training and development
- Creative directing
- Public opinion research
- Editing, writing and publishing
- Fundraising and event planning
- Public speaking
- Speech and copywriting
- Program coordination
- Campaigning
What will I learn?
You will gain verbal and writing skills to communicate in a clear and consistent manner.
COM 3135
Business Communication
Development of skills for writing effective business letters, memos and reports, presenting business reports orally, and writing letters of application and résumés.
COM 2107
Communication Theory
A comprehensive examination of the theories of human communication, beginning with a review of the metatheoretical traditions informing communication research and progressing through the wide variety of communication theories developed from the 20th century to today. Students write papers, participate in online discussions and produce videos to demonstrate knowledge of theories and to demonstrate the ability to apply the theories to everyday communication and human interactions.
COM 4308
Communication Research Methods
A survey and analysis of the most commonly used methods of social science inquiry relating to the communication discipline. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are examined. Students produce and present original research projects.
COM 3105
Gender and Family Communication
Analysis of marriage and family relationships and how effective communication helps those relationships. The role of gender in relation to communication within families and among family members is also explored. Self-concept, sending and receiving messages, nonverbal messages, decision making, setting and achieving goals, handling conflict and roles in society are some of the matters to be studied.
COM 3106
Organizational Communication
A study of how communication organizes human actions and relationships in organizations. Attention is given to leadership, decision making, collaboration processes, and discussion techniques involving small task-oriented groups. The student studies different organizational structures and management philosophies, considering the role of communication in each. Projects are required to apply concepts studied.
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