Communication Studies Department Wins National Award
The WOU Department of Communication Studies proudly announces winning the 2008 "Program of Distinction," selected by the National Communication Association. This award recognizes ONE program each year based on a total profile of the department, including our curriculum, goals and objectives, student outcomes, and diversity efforts. The award is named for Rex Mix, a communication professor at LSU who was strongly dedicated to providing a quality education in communication for every undergraduate.
Mailing
Address:
Humanities
Division
Western
Oregon
University
345
N. Monmouth Ave.
Monmouth, OR 97361
Humanities Division Office Location:
HSS 313
Phone:
(503)
838-8408 (Voice)
(503) 838-8056
(Fax)
Department Chair
Dr. Claire Ferraris
HSS 117
Telephone:
(503) 838-8191
E-mail: ferrarc@wou.edu
The mission of the Department of Communication Studies is:
Excellence in teaching, research, and service in communication—the processes that occur when individuals interact in interpersonal, group, family, organizational, or public situations—based on sound theory and practice.
We concentrate on understanding similarities and differences among contexts and perspectives to prepare students for effective communication throughout life.
Our students develop skills in ethical, reflective, and effective message production, evaluation, and response including: synthesis and acceptance of communication styles reflecting our diversity in standpoint, cultural background, and belief; development of abilities to make informed, critical analyses of communicative acts; and the ability to apply knowledge to facilitate effective communication. @w
The Communication Studies Major: u.edu
In the liberal arts tradition, including both humanistic and social scientific study, the department offers a 66-hour major. Students, in close consultation with a department advisor, select courses from
- Interpersonal and Organizational Communication
- Rhetoric and Critical Thinking
- Media, Culture, and Society
The Communication Studies Minor consists of 27 hours, 15 of which must be upper division, selcted by the student in close consultation with a department advisor.
Communication Studies Program Goals:
- Promote student development of abilities to make informed, critical analyses of communication;
- Provide students with the ability to apply their knowledge to facilitate effective communication; and,
- Encourage students to synthesize and accept varieties of communication styles reflecting diversity in standpoint, cultural background, and belief.
Program learning outcomes:
Goal 1: Understanding of multiple theoretical perspectives and diverse intellectual
underpinnings in communication as reflected in disciplinary philosophy and/or history
Goal 2: Competency in effective communication with diverse others
Goal 3: Competency in multiple forms of presentation
Goal 4: Competency in analysis and interpretation of contemporary media and public
discourse.
Goal 5: Competency in reflective construction and analysis of arguments and discourse
intended to influence beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors
Goal 6: Competency in systematic inquiry (the posing of research questions, testing of
hypotheses, and development of conclusions)
Goal 7: Competency in analysis and practice of ethical communication
Goal 8: Competency in human relational interaction, including complex social organization.
Communication Studies Faculty
|
Professor |
Professor |
|
Associate Professor, Chair |
Associate Professor |
|
Associate Professor |
Dr. Cat McGrew Assistant Professor |
|
Adjunct Assistant Professor |
Adjunct Instructor |
Ms Kelli Swanson Jaecks Adjunct Instructor |
|

