The field of communication has a long and prominent intellectual history as one of the oldest liberal arts. It dates back to ancient Greece where rhetoric was essential for participation in civic life. In the more than two thousand years since then, the field has expanded to study many kinds of human communication phenomena, including interpersonal communication, group communication, organizational communication, and mediated communication. Thus, our field is a broad one, but single-minded in its mission to study human communication in all its manifestations.

Generally, students pursuing a degree in communication will graduate from the program with a deep understanding of communication theory, the ability to practice effective communication, and the skill to engage in thoughtful criticism of communication acts and artifacts. The major, therefore, helps students develop critical thinking skills. Students also obtain competency in both verbal and nonverbal communication skills within multiple communication contexts. Further, the program trains students to become effective evaluators of oral, written, and mediated communication texts.

Students will have the opportunity to specialize in one of three concentrations: Interpersonal Communication, Media and Film Studies, or Rhetorical Studies. These areas represent not only unique areas in the field of Communication, but also the mission of Wesleyan College in regard to its goal of preparing women to become leaders in a complex social environment in which effective communication is the key to personal, professional, and civic success. For information about specific courses offered, please see our Academic Catalogue.   

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Concentrations

Because we offer three different concentrations, we offer our students a great deal of curricular choice.

Interpersonal Communication. Based in the social scientific study of human communication, our Interpersonal Communication concentration offers students several courses for studying quality communication between two people. Students will explore intimate relationships, family relationships, relationships within the health setting, intercultural communication, and gender communication. Also, students in this concentration will study small group communication.

Media and Film Studies. Our Media and Film Studies concentration focuses on media theory and criticism. New communication technologies demand an academic focus on how media are produced and how media representations help forge our understandings of contemporary reality. Thus, much of what we do in these courses springs from contemporary social theory and cultural studies.

Rhetorical Studies. The most traditional avenue in communication studies, our Rhetoric and Public Address concentration focuses on the study of rhetoric, the process of persuasion. Students will learn traditional and innovative perspectives of rhetorical theory, criticism, and practice - from the history of rhetorical theory founded in Greek and Roman thought to contemporary rhetorical theory including postmodern and feminist thought to argumentation, debate and persuasion focused on analysis and strategies. 

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Field Study

Students majoring in communication have interned with the Atlanta Governor’s Program, CNN, the Red Cross, the Cherry Blossom Festival, local television and radio stations, and various law offices, hospitals, schools, and businesses in Atlanta and in the surrounding Macon community.

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Special Opportunities

The department sponsors The Communication Club, an active organization that provides resources and information to majors and minors, and offers membership to qualified juniors and seniors in the Zeta Xi chapter of Lambda Pi Eta, the national honorary society for communication studies.

Faculty and students are involved in collaborative research in such areas as health communication, media and society, intercultural communication, and rhetorical theory and criticism, and have had competitive research papers accepted at various state and regional conferences.

Finally, the department sponsors several visiting communication scholars, who present  campus-wide convocations and teach communication classes. Recent examples include Drs. Michael and Suzanne Osborn, authors of the basic speech textbook Public Speaking, Dr. Karen Foss, Professor of Communication at the University of New Mexico and co-author of the book Inviting Transformation: Presentational Speaking for a Changing World and Feminist Rhetorical Theories, and Dr. Stephen Littlejohn, mediator, facilitator and author of Theories of Human Communication, Moral Conflict When Social Worlds Collide, and Enjoying Communication in Conflict.

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Outcomes

There is no ready-made or single career option for communication students because of the pervasive nature of communication. However, Communication students often, for example, go on to work in careers such as public relations, personnel, counseling, human services, journalism, broadcasting, lobbying, speech writing, and teaching. Students in communication also go on to graduate school in communication or other disciplines, law school, or even medical school.

Read about Cyndey Costello Busbee '92 and how she is using her degree in communications here in the middle Georgia community.

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Faculty

David A. Bobbitt Associate Professor of Communication and Communication Department Chair. B.S. (Economics) University of Tennessee 1976; M.A. (Media and Film Studies) Memphis State University 1986; M.A. (Cultural Studies ) University of Iowa 1988; Ph.D. (Rhetorical Theory and Criticism) Louisiana State University 1992. My primary interests include media/film theory and criticism, cultural studies, rhetorical theory and criticism, American public discourse, and philosophy of communication. Tate 225B. dbobbitt@wesleyancollege.edu

Cindy Buell Associate Professor of Communication. B.A. (English and Theatre) Lake Erie College 1996; M.A. (Speech) Kent State University 1970; M.A. (Communication) Marshall University 1981; Ph.D. (Speech Communication) Florida State University 1984. I am interested in mentoring and mentoring practices within the communication academy. Particularly, I am interested in mentoring models: The Cloning Model, The Nurturing Model, and the Friendship Model. Additionally, I am interested in mentoring pairs, who chooses whom, the dynamics of the interpersonal relationship, and how these dynamics play out over time. Tate 217. cbuell@wesleyancollege.edu

Deidra Donmoyer Assistant Professor of Communication. B.A. (Communication) Kutztown University 1993; M.A. (Communication) Auburn University 1996; Graduate Certificate (Women's Studies) Bowling Green State University 2001; Ph.D. (Rhetorical Theory and Criticism)  Bowling Green State University 2003. My research is centered on rhetorical, film, women's, cultural, and pedagogical studies; these interests converge through critical awareness and ideological positionality. Using film as a primary basis of rhetorical analysis, I am able to come to understandings of how women are represented and who they are thought to be, thereby exploring how society may expect women to behave and interact in everyday life. Tate 215. ddonmoyer@wesleyancollege.edu

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