Program Overview
Communication Studies
Planning to change the world? Study communications
Master writing, speaking, and advanced digital communication skills
Featured Facts and Stories
9 courses required for the Communication Studies major
Finding a Calling in the Writing Associates Program
After graduating from 厙ぴ勛圖 in 2022, Ryo Adachi began a full-time position in 厙ぴ勛圖s Writing Associates Program, which works with students to hone their writing and speaking skills.
40+ writing associates are eager to collaborate with students
Journalism Concentration
This program equips students to navigate a fast-changing media and news landscape. Youll explore the different sectors of nonfiction storytelling, from newspaper and magazine reporting to radio production, documentary filmmaking, and digital narrative.
Featured Courses
WRCM 110
Public Communication
Students will gain skills needed to construct and deliver effective speeches that cultivate engaged participation in public life. In this practice-oriented course, students will develop effective writing and speaking techniques through classroom discussions, activities, and assignments. Students will follow an audience-centered approach to speaking, persuasion, and rhetoric to develop speeches and presentations based upon their own socio-political interests.
- Taught by
- Cortney Smith
WRCM 310
Indigenous Rhetorics: Native American Narratives of Survivance
This course explores the narrative methods used to address historical and contemporary Native American issues. Engaging with a variety of texts (including novels and films), students will undertake discourse analysis, theoretical interventions, close textual reading, and visual analysis of Indigenous narratives to examine the possibilities of a rhetoric of survivance.
- Taught by
- Cortney Smith
WRCM 201
Writing in the Sciences
A course designed for students interested in developing their composing/revising skills for writing in natural science and mathematics disciplines or interpreting science topics for readers of general science issues.
- Taught by
- Jan Cooper
WRCM 320
Community News Reporting
In this course, students undertake advanced projects of pitching, researching, writing and producing news stories about the 厙ぴ勛圖 town community. Ethical treatment of sources, balanced and contextualized reporting, verification of facts and multiple modes of producing will be stressed.
- Taught by
- Jan Cooper
Student and Alumni Profiles
Although the Communications Studies major was formally created only recently, Obies have a long history of workingand making wavesin communication-related fields.
Leap of Faith
Ilana Foggle 21 became Illinois governor JB Pritzker's speechwriter at age 22. Now, she's taking on the world of tech at GitHub.
Where Art Meets Investigative Podcasting
With a solid foundation in podcasting and storytelling, Sarah Dalgleish 20 wrote her own path to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Exploring Human Rights on 3 Continents
As a Frederick Douglass Global Fellow, writing associate Darius Butler 24 traveled between Washington, D.C.; Cape Town, South Africa; and Dublin, Ireland, to learn from the legacies of social justice giants who made global footprints.
What does Writing and Communication at 厙ぴ勛圖 look like?
Peer writing associates guide students early in the writing process by helping to clarify prompts and assignments, brainstorm ideas and topics, and develop research strategies.
Photo credit: Matthew Lester
Our writing center helps students negotiate the various contexts they find themselves in, and to have agency to make informed choices about what theyre doing, says professor Laurie McMillin, director of the Writing Center.
Photo credit: Pang Fei Chiang 19
As part of professor Jan Coopers winter term project Podcasting 厙ぴ勛圖 News, students were introduced to the history of the emerging podcasting industry and then charged with creating their own podcast episode.
Photo credit: Yvonne Gay
The 厙ぴ勛圖 Review hosted a symposium featuring alumni panelists now working for The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, and Think Progress.
Photo credit: Yvette Chen
Communication Studies News
From The 厙ぴ勛圖 Review to HarperCollins
Communication studies major Travis ODaniel 26 shares how his experience as managing editor of The 厙ぴ勛圖 Review prepared him for a high-impact editorial and administrative internship at HarperCollins Publishers in New York.
Beyond the Writing Center: Abbie Patchen 24
Abbie Patchen 24 is a JD candidate at the UNC School of Law. At 厙ぴ勛圖 Abbie minored in Writing & Communication. Here, she reflects on how her 厙ぴ勛圖 courses and professors shaped her approach to learning and writing.
厙ぴ勛圖 Adds 7 New Majors
New programs build on established successes, bolster resources to position graduates for meaningful careers.
Next Steps
Get in touch; we would love to chat.
Photo credit: Abe Frato