Program Description
The Bachelor of Arts in Communication provides a thoroughly integrated yet individual degree program that prepares students for communication careers in business, government, and public sectors. In addition, the program provides a foundation for graduates who wish to pursue advanced degrees in the humanities, social sciences, business, and law. Through their coursework and extracurricular experiences, Communication majors develop a set of skills in oral, written, and visual communication that enables them to research, design, present, and evaluate messages across diverse contexts and from a variety of platforms, including social media and digital communication technology.
Students choose from one of four emphasis areas: Health Communication; Strategic Communication; Media and Technology Studies; and Generalist. These emphasis areas offer the flexibility to accommodate each student’s professional objectives.
The Health Communication Emphasis Area prepares students with the conceptual and applied foundations for success in a field that examines communication in health promotion and health care. This emphasis area allows students to explore health communication across the domains of patient-provider communication, campaigns and interventions, communication technologies, health inequalities and health systems locally and around the world. Students in this emphasis area are prepared to understand the challenges and opportunities in communicating health information and behavior.
The Strategic Communication Emphasis Area prepares students to explore organizational-stakeholder relationships through various methods, theories and topical areas. The ethical practice of building relationships across organizations and stakeholders is examined as students explore best practices grounded in theory and essential in a global society. This emphasis area allows students to study and employ practices that are meant to persuade and inform across various publics, understanding on how decision-making occurs and the impact these relationships have on the entities involved.
The Media and Technology Studies Emphasis Area engages students in research, theory, and application of mass communication theory, media history, technologies, new media, culture and forms of inquiry that expand and enhance a student’s ability to navigate and be successful in a dynamic and evolving global society.
The Generalist Emphasis Area allows students to engage across the broad collection of theoretical and practical content offered by the department curriculum in the areas of health communication, strategic communication, media and technology studies, and other courses of interest.
Students may change majors into the Communication program based on approval of a committee of faculty from the Department of Communication. The deadline for applying for a change of major during the fall semester is the first Monday after the start of classes for the fall term, with decisions made by September 15. For spring semester changes of major, the deadline is the first Monday after the start of classes for the spring term, with decisions made by February 15. The Department of Communication accepts a maximum of 30 changes of major per year. To qualify for acceptance, applicants should have completed 15 credit hours including ENGL 1030 and COMM 2010 (with a grade of C or better). All students requesting transfer into the Communication program must have a grade-point average of 2.5 or higher. An application form and a writing sample are also required. Detailed information is available from the CBSHS Advising Center and the department website: https://www.clemson.edu/cbshs/departments/communication/.
Second Semester
- Emphasis Area Requirement 3 Credits 5
- Minor Requirement 6 Credits
- Elective 6 Credits
First Semester
- Capstone Experience Requirement 3 Credits 6
- Minor Requirement 3 Credits
- Elective 9 Credits
Footnotes
1 See General Education Requirements .
2 Select STAT 2220 or STAT 2300 .
3 Students must complete through 2020 in a modern language. See Modern Languages Requirement at Clemson University statement.
4 See the South Carolina REACH Act Requirement in the Academic Regulations section.
5 In consultation with their advisor, students select one of the following emphasis areas, each of which consists of 12 credits.
- Health Communication Emphasis Area: COMM 3120 and nine additional credits selected from COMM 3140 , COMM 3810 , and COMM 3830 .
- Strategic Communication Emphasis Area: COMM 3550 and nine additional credits selected from COMM 3050 , COMM 3560 , COMM 3570 , and COMM 3690 .
- Media and Technology Studies Emphasis Area: COMM 3310 and nine additional credits selected from COMM 3070 , COMM 3080 , COMM 3170 , and COMM 3180 .
- Generalist Emphasis Area: 12 credits selected from COMM 3300 , COMM 3480 , COMM 3500 , COMM 3610 , COMM 3640 , and COMM 3800 .
6 See advisor. Students select six credits from any combination of the following:
COMM 4900 - Communication Internship 3 Credits (May be repeated for a maximum of six credits.)
COMM 4960 - Honors Creative Inquiry Capstone 3 Credits (May be repeated for a maximum of six credits.)
COMM 4970 - Creative Inquiry in Communication 1-4 Credits (May be repeated for a maximum of nine credits.)
COMM 4990 - Independent Study 1-3 Credits (May be repeated for a maximum of nine credits.)
Note: A transfer course may not be used to satisfy the General Education Global Challenges Requirement. While a transfer course may fulfill other degree requirements, students must enroll in a Clemson course(s) on the Global Challenges list to fulfill the Global Challenges Requirement.
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