Emphasis Area Tool

All courses are designated COMM and are listed in the Undergraduate Catalog.

Select an Emphasis:

Focuses on the role of communication in understanding and explaining individual and relational health, promoting healthy behaviors, and helping persons navigate challenges.

Pre-health students would benefit from this emphasis.

Possible Careers

  • Communication Manager for Federal Health Agencies
  • Health Communication Analyst
  • Health Educator
  • Health Personnel Educator
  • Hospice Care
  • Health Facilities Fundraiser
  • Hospital/Laboratory Corporate Director of Communication
  • Marketing Director
  • Activities Director
  • Research Analyst
  • Public Administrator or grant writer

Courses

  • 354: Health Communication
  • 368: Communication and Aging
  • 370Family Communication
  • 373Narratives and Health
  • 380Gender and Communication
  • 454Communication and Health Disparities
  • 465Communication and Social Identity
  • 470Interpersonal Communication
  • 471Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication

Suggested Minors

  • Humanities in Medicine
  • Psychology
  • Chemistry
  • Environmental Studies
  • Women’s and Gender Studies
  • Sociology Health Minor
  • Sociology
  • Biological Sciences
  • Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
  • LGBTQ Minor

Focuses on the role of communication in constituting identity in a complex and diverse world.

Students will learn how we come to identify and understand difference, how power is constituted and perpetuated in communication processes, how people organize in ways that enable and constrain voice, and how marginalized groups can (re)claim power in local/global contexts.

Possible Careers

  • Translator/interpreter
  • Immigrants/naturalization services
  • Public relations for transnational organizations
  • International business and/or marketing
  • Human resources for transatlantic organizations
  • Communication Coordinator for transnational organizations
  • International law
  • Development work for non-profit and/or government agencies
  • Conflict management for international organizations and institutions

Courses

  • 311Intercultural Communication
  • 360Intergroup Dialogue
  • 378Cultural Encounters on the Great Plains
  • 386Organizational Communication
  • 454Communication and Health Disparities
  • 465Communication and Social Identity
  • 471Dark Side of Interpersonal Communication
  • 486Communicating Organizational Culture and Power
  • 487Global Organizational Communication

Suggested Minors

  • Global Studies
  • African Studies
  • African-American Studies
  • Arabic, Czech, Japanese, or Greek
  • Asian Studies
  • French, Spanish, German, or Russian
  • Anthropology
  • Conflict and Conflict Resolution
  • Environmental Studies
  • Women’s and Gender Studies
  • Sociology
  • Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
  • LGBTQ Minor
  • Latin American Studies
  • Jewish Studies
  • Native American Studies

Focuses on the role of communication in facilitating public participation, mediating public controversies, and organizing for social change and citizen involvement.

Students will learn to become better advocates and critical thinkers. This emphasis stresses skills related to public speaking, writing, and message construction and analysis.

Possible Careers

  • Consumer Advocate
  • Consumer Affairs Specialist
  • Communications Director
  • Corporate Trainer
  • Fundraising
  • Human Resource Director
  • Lawyer
  • Lobbyist
  • Media Relations
  • Public Policy Analysis and Evaluation
  • Sales agent
  • Speechwriter

Courses

  • 312Argumentation
  • 330Freedom of Speech
  • 334Polls, Politics, and Public Opinion
  • 371Communication in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
  • 375Theories of Persuasion
  • 386Organizational Communication
  • 400Rhetorical Theory
  • 430Political Communication
  • 482Voices of Dissent and Activism
  • 486Communicating Organizational Culture and Power

Suggested Minors

  • Global Studies
  • Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs
  • Philosophy
  • Psychology
  • Women’s and Gender Studies
  • Sociology
  • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender/Queer Sexuality
  • National Security Studies
  • Political Science
  • Film Studies
  • Environmental Studies
  • Conflict and Conflict Resolution
  • Ethnic Studies
  • History
  • English
  • Digital Humanities