ABOUT COMMUNICATION ARTS
[A Description of Communication as Described by the National Communication Association Pathways Publication]

What is Communication?

Communication is a learned skill. Most people are born with the physical ability to talk, but we learn to speak well and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening, and our ability to understand verbal and nonverbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modeling our behaviors based on what we see. We also are taught some communication skills directly through education, and by practicing those skills and having them evaluated.

Communication as an academic field relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of knowledge. The information relates to both verbal and nonverbal messages. A body of scholarship all about communication is presented and explained in textbooks, electronic publications, and academic journals. In the journals, researchers report the results of studies that are the basis for an ever-expanding understanding of how we all communicate.

Communication teachers and scholars, in 1995 in 2000, developed a definition of the field of communication to clarify it as a discipline for the public:

The field of communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. The field promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.¹

Why is Communication Important?

Oral communication has long been our main method for communicating with one another. It is estimated that 75 percent of a person’s day is spent communicating in some way. As a college student, 69 percent of your communication time is spent on speaking and listening. You spend 17 percent of your communication time on reading and 14 percent writing.²  Put another way, “We listen a book a day, we speak a book a week, read the equivalent of a book a month, and write the equivalent of a book a year.” ³

Not only do we spend considerable time communicating, communication skills also are essential to personal, academic, and professional success.  In a report on fastest growing careers, the U.S. Department of Labor states that communication skills will be in demand across occupations well into the next century.⁴  In a national survey of 1000 human resource managers, oral communication skills are identified as valuable for both obtaining employment and successful job performance.⁵  Executives with Fortune 500 companies indicate that college students need better communication skills, as well as the ability to work in teams and with people from diverse backgrounds.⁶  Case studies of high-wage companies also state that essential skills for future workers include problem solving, working in groups, and the ability to communicate effectively.⁷  When  1000 faculty members from a cross section of disciplines were asked to identify basic competencies for every college graduate, skills in communicating topped the list.⁸  Even an economics professor states that, “. . . we are living in a communications revolution comparable to the invention of printing . . . In an age of increasing talk, it’s wiser talk we need most.  Communication studies might well be central to colleges and universities in the 21st century.” ⁹

^{CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT A SEMINAR I ATTENDED IN CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT}

History of the Communication Discipline

The communication discipline has a long history of accomplishments.

The ability to speak clearly, eloquently, and effectively has been recognized as the hallmark of an educated person since the beginning of recorded history. Systematic comment on communication goes back at least as far as The Precepts of Kagemni and Ptah-Hopte (3200-2800 B.C.). Under the label “rhetoric,” the study of the theory and practice of communication was a central concern of Greek, Roman, medieval, Renaissance, and early modern education. In the United States, rhetorical training has been a part of formal education since Harvard’s founding in 1636.¹⁰

Modern day communication studies also stress the role of citizenship in a civil and democratic society, especially as related to freedom of speech. The 20th century has seen the field of speech and rhetoric grow to include communication in the workplace, in families, in mass media, and in advertising, to name a few.  Contemporary students of communication draw on theories and practices common in the fields of: anthropology, psychology, sociology, linguistics, semiotics, and rhetoric.  The study of communication today includes all forms of: interpersonal, small group, organizational, intercultural and international, and public and mass communication.  The field of communication considers how people communicate as individuals, in society, and in various cultures.

Areas of Concentration in the Communication Discipline

Many subject matters are encompassed in the field of communication. While areas of emphasis differ from one school to another, some of the most common include:

Communication as an Academic Discipline
Growth of the Discipline of Communication

Instruction in communication is widely available in the United States and is growing rapidly in Canada and in other countries.  The communication discipline in higher education shows entails approximately 118,000 communication majors pursuing undergraduate degrees and 16,000 seeking graduate degrees in communication.¹¹  Depending on the school, you can earn: a certificate of proficiency, associate degree, bachelor of arts and science, masters of arts and science, and/or a doctor of philosophy or education. The number of undergraduate and graduate communication degrees conferred on students has been rising steadily throughout the 20th century.

Departmental Approaches to the Field of Communication

Communication departments vary from school to school in focus, courses offered, and types of programs and degrees available.

Some schools offer degrees in specific areas of communication such as public relations, radio-TV-film, journalism, advertising, theatre, organizational communication or communication education. At such schools you would receive, for example, a B.A. in advertising.

Some colleges offer a communication degree with an emphasis, concentration, or track in a specific area (such as public relations, rhetoric, mass communication, interpersonal communication). At such institutions you would receive, for example, a B.S. in communication with an emphasis in public relations.

Some schools offer a communication degree without a particular emphasis. At such colleges you would receive a B.A. in communication.

Some community colleges offer associate degrees in communication. These schools would grant, for example, an A.A. degree in communication.

Some schools don’t offer a degree in communication but do offer one or more courses. At these institutions, you would receive a degree in another major but have communication courses as part of the units taken. For example, you might obtain a B.S. in Psychology, with five courses in communication (possibly a minor).

Departments of communication also may differ according to the theoretical approach and research methods they favor. They may emphasize: rhetorical, critical, interpretive, scientific, applied, and/or performance perspectives.

Undergraduate programs at most schools cannot and do not offer all possible courses or majors in all areas of communication. Each school generally specializes in one or perhaps several areas of study under the broad umbrella of the communication field. The areas of study available to students include an interesting array of possible choices.  A variety of courses and majors in communication are available, but not all are offered at all schools.

ENDNOTES