Communication, BA

UP’s Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Communication offers a liberal arts approach to understanding communication as a central constitutive feature – as rich and intriguing building material – of human society. This degree guides students' understandings and applied learnings about how interpersonal, organizational, cultural, and mediated communications operate to shape people's personal, group, and societal attitudes, values, beliefs, identities, and actions.

While building several core communication understandings, each student and their advisor also shape their specific upper-division coursework to suit each student's particular learning goals. UP COM students commonly shape Communication B.A. coursework to develop their expertise and knowledge of inter/cultural, environmental, relational, organizational, and/or mediated communication (including journalism), among many diverse and distinct possibilities.

UP’s Communication BA well-prepares students for a wide range of professional work and for graduate study in communication and related fields, such as law, counseling, public policy and many other avocations. A host of community-based academic internships also enrich COM students’ explorations of the professional opportunities open to them.

Bachelor of Arts in Communication: Curriculum Overview

Three primary Areas of Study:

(a) Organizational and Relational Communication

(b) Culture and Communication

(c) Environmental Communication  

University Core: 40 credit hours

CAS Core: 24-33 credit hours

Major Requirements – 45 credit hours

1. Required courses - 15 credit hours 

COM 265 Media Literacy and Culture

2. Research Methods Courses – 6 credit hours 

Select two courses from the following: 

COM 392 Special Topics: Methods 

3. Upper-division COM courses – 21 credit hours (sstudents select SEVEN 3-credit upper-division CST courses in consultation with their academic advisors. At least 3 of these must be 400-level.)

Areas of Study and sample courses include: 

Organizational and Relational Communication 

COM 434 Researching Organizational Life: Identity, Culture, Voice 

Culture and Communication 

COM 440 Media Criticism 

Environmental Communication 

COM 470 Plants, Nonhuman Animals, Food Systems, and Climate Communication 

4. Senior Project – 3 credit hours 

To be completed senior year: 

COM 475 Senior Capstone 

Communication, BA Degree Requirements