Communication Studies

Office: Sturm Hall, Room 200
Mail Code: 2000 E. Asbury Ave. Denver, CO 80208
Phone: 303-871-2385
Email: ugcomn@du.edu
Web Site: http://www.du.edu/ahss/schools/comn

The Department of Communication Studies calls students to engage communication meaningfully, creatively, ethically, and with intellectual curiosity, in order to enhance their personal and public lives, as well as contribute to a sustainable common good.  

A major or minor in Communication Studies prepares students with the communication knowledge and skills necessary to navigate their relationships and communities, as well as careers in a multitude of contexts, such as advocacy, business, education, and healthcareThrough coursework and collaboration with faculty, peers, and the communities around them, students learn to find their voice, take risks, express their convictions, become transformational leaders, deliberate, and contribute to a more socially just, inclusive, and equitable worldWe invite students to explore and re-examine accepted truths about communication in private contexts, as well as from local to international settings. Students gain insight into communication theories and contexts, as well as learn to conduct research using diverse methods of inquiry in order to ask and answer important and innovative questions. As means toward individual, relational, and community well-being, students apply and critically reflect on communication skills, such as advocacy, conflict, debate, dialogue, leadership, persuasion, empathy, and compassion.

Program Learning Outcomes

Communication Studies Major 

  • Explain, apply, and critique communication theories, concepts, models, and practices that span the breadth of the discipline.
  • Read, interpret, critically analyze, and engage in communication inquiry.
  • Demonstrate self-reflexivity, cultural awareness, curiosity, and empathy, while exploring issues of power and cultural difference.
  • Practice delivering messages, dialoguing, and deliberating in ways that are appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context.
  • Integrate learning in communication studies into real world domains, including personal relationships, families, organizations, social groups, and communities. 
  • Identify, evaluate, advocate, and carry out—from a communication perspective—ethical courses of action to address urgent challenges facing both their local communities and the world.