Major Requirements

The Department of Communication offers a Bachelor of Arts in Communication degree, with two concentrations:

Communication Strategist and Media Maker 

• Starting in Fall 2020, the Communication Department began offering two concentrations, or pathways, to earn a Communication Bachelor of Arts degree. This will not change anything for students who declared a major prior to Fall 2020. However, new majors must choose between the Communication Strategist concentration or the Media Maker concentration. (Students who declared prior to Fall 2020 may choose to select a concentration if they desire, or they may continue to meet the prior degree requirements; either is fine.) Since these changes will have implications for all majors, I want to bring a couple of the most significant changes to your attention.
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• The Communication Strategist concentration is for students who are interested in interpersonal, relational, and intercultural communication and who would like to complete a Capstone final project that uses qualitative or quantitative methods. Students take the core courses 002, 003, 10, and 100. In addition, they are required to take Comm 110: Quantitative Research Methods; and Comm 111: Qualitative Research Methods; Comm 195: Internship; and the Comm 196: Capstone class (preferably a section dedicated to their chosen research methodology). They round out their major requirements by selecting four (4) courses from a list of classes approved as electives for the Communication Strategist concentration.
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• The Media Maker concentration is, as it sounds, for students who are interested in making media projects or researching the media. In this context, media is defined as print design, visual communication, advertising, cinema, video and audio production, and digital and social media. Students selecting the Media Maker concentration also take the major core courses 002, 003, 10, and 100. In addition, they are required to take Comm 125: Media Technologies and Culture, the introductory media studies course; Comm 126: Visual Research Methods, our new methods course; Comm 195: Internship; and a Comm 196: Capstone class focusing on making and researching the media. (In Comm 126, students will study basic methods for creating and researching the media using design and production techniques and media studies approaches to understanding media industries, audiences, and productions.) Finally, students will select four (4) electives from a list of approved courses in media making.
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• As noted, students who declared the Communication major prior to fall 2020 will remain on the previous major degree requirements, and classes will continue to be offered so that these students will move towards graduation on time. But, if students wish to switch to either of the new concentrations (which would appear on their official transcripts), they should file a Change of Major request with the Registrar's Office. Please check the Communication Department’s web area on the Saint Mary’s Website for more details on changes to the major.

If you have questions about either of the new major concentrations, please ask your academic advisor, or email the Communication Department chair, Dan Leopard, at drl1@stmarys-ca.edu.