In Communication Introduction Students in Cornell's Department of Communication are educated to become leaders of the information society of the next century. They acquire analytical skills and knowledge of communication principles. They learn how to understand audiences, shape messages, and interact with individuals and technologies, all of which are underlying principles that govern public information, interactive multimedia, broadcasting and narrowcasting, government, desktop publishing, law, journalism, education, electronic network information production, and virtually every other position in a modern world that depends on information.
Communication is both a process and an area of knowledge.
Equally important, communication is an area of knowledge, based on systematic inquiry in the ways in which individuals process information to create meaning about the world. The discipline of communication examines everything from how relationships are formed through communication between pairs of individuals, through how understanding of technical subjects is shaped by television reports, to the implications for society of new communication technologies such as computers, hypermedia, and satellite broadcasts. Communication draws on psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, history, and other fields to develop its knowledge of how people communicate. In Cornell's Communication Department, students gain a better understanding of the processes, role, power, and possibilities of communication in the modern world. They can study intercultural and international dimensions of communication.