Course Requirements

Curriculum Overview

The human capacity to understand, influence, and appreciate others comes through Communication. The Communication Department endeavors to expand a student's range of verbal and nonverbal skills, to develop sensitivity for their appropriate use in different situations, and to nurture a Christian perspective on issues of power, influence, justice, freedom, creativity, and truth. The course work, advising, and co-curricular activities of the department assist students in becoming competent and ethically responsible communicators, as well as preparing them for future academic study, professional training, and lifelong learning.

Major in Communication

The Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication requires a total of 36 hours:

• 16 hours in core requirements including performance, theory, research, advanced topic and senior capstone
• 12 hours in specific content areas, choosing at least one from each category: 
  • Collaboration & Interpersonal Relationships explores how meaning develops within personal, social, and institutional relationships, as well as how patterns of human behavior contribute to individual growth and Christian community.
  • Media, Culture & Performance helps students engage and contribute to the media environment - the world of symbols and meanings, texts and contexts, sight and sound, form and content - from a critical and cultural perspective. Theater explores the interaction of word, action, and symbol as essential ingredients in the collaborative process of making theater, and emphasizes creativity, imagination, and a personal aesthetic in the development of the whole person.
  • Strategic Messages prepares students to construct oral messages (involving self presentation, verbal strategies, and non-verbal appeals) intended to influence specific audiences and cultures, and enables students to interpret culture critically and charitably.
• 8 hours of Communication elective credit.

Minor in Communication

Requirements for a minor are 20 hours in Communication courses including COMM 101 and COMM 111, which also meets the general education requirement, and 301 or 302.

Requirements for a theater minor are 20 hours in Communication Theater courses consisting of THEA 271, 273, 374, 376 and 473 and an elective upper-division THEA / COMM course. THEA 373 does NOT count towards the minor.

Curriculum Specifics

• The Wheaton College Course Catalog offers more information about specific Communication courses. Refer to the Catalog for updated requirements.

Core Requirements (16 hours)

• COMM 101 Public Speaking (2) *CORE requirement, does not count towards major hours.
• COMM 111 Fundamentals of Oral Communication (2)

Communication Theory

choose one:

• COMM 301 Communication Theory (4)
• COMM 302 Rhetorical Theory (4)

Research Methods

choose one:

• COMM 311 Human Communication Research (4)
• COMM 312 Communication Criticism (4)

Advanced Topic

choose one: *(topics vary)

• COMM 404 Advanced Topics (4)

Senior Capstone (Ethics)

• COMM 494 Senior Seminar (2)

Required Content Areas (12 hours)

Collaboration & Interpersonal Relationships 

Required (4 Credits) 

• COMM 221: Interpersonal
• COMM 252: Argument & Debate
• COMM 362: Group & Professional
• THEA 374: Directing
• COMM 461: Organizational Communication
• COMM 345: Narrative Media

Media, Culture & Performance

Required (4 Credits) 

• COMM 241: Media Studies 
• COMM 253: Messages, Influence & Culture 
• THEA 273: Acting I
• COMM 324: Comm & Diversity
• COMM 344: Visual Symbolism: Icons, Brands, Logos
• THEA 376: Faith & Theater

Strategic Messages

Required (4 Credits)

• COMM 215: Journalism
• COMM 252: Argument & Debate
• COMM 253: Messages, Influence & Culture 
• COMM 261: Strategic Communication
• THEA 273: Acting I
• COMM 363: Persuasion

Electives

Elective Options (8 Credits)

• COMM 243: Digital Society
• COMM 246: Media Production
• COMM 353: Advance Persuasive Speaking
• COMM 367: Reconciliation & Conflict Resolution
• COMM 415/16: Special Topics: Journalism
• COMM 441: Media, Religion, & Culture
• THEA 171: Intro to Acting
• THEA 271: Theater Survey
• THEA 272: Scenography 
• THEA 275: Musical Theater / London
• THEA 374: Directing
• THEA 375 European Theater Studies
• THEA 473: Acting II-Shakespeare
• THEA 476: Theater & Culture

Co-Curricular Options (may count toward elective credit)

• THEA 172: Theater Practicum
• COMM 296: Journalism Practicum
• THEA 373: Theater Workout
• COMM 393: Intercollegiate Debate Practicum 
• COMM 495: Independent Study 
• COMM 496: Internship 
• COMM 498: Journalism Internship

Cross-Listed CORE Courses (may count toward elective credit)

• CORE 313: Sport, Faith, and Social Change
• CORE 321: 'Holla If Ya Hear Me': Engaging Hip-Hop Culture
• CORE 327: Propaganda & Image in Everyday Life
• CORE 369: The Rhetoric & Philosophy of James Baldwin
• CORE 375: Theater & Practice & The Other