Departmental Overview T he study of speech stretches from the ancient Greeks to the frontiers of cyberspace. At Northwestern University, we began more than a century ago to teach communication skills in what was then called a School of Oratory. In our scholarship and teaching, we're Multidisciplinary . To study it, we adopt all the available means, using descriptive, experimental, historical, critical and philosophical approaches as necessary.
Communication is an activity both ordinary and vital.
As communication changes, so does its study. We undertake to foresee and meet the challenges that change will bring. In recent years, for example, we have added courses in computer mediated communication, gender in the mass media, and intercultural communication to reflect advances in technology and understanding. You and a Communication Studies Major Courses in Communication Studies will challenge your mind, broaden your views and allow you to develop an increased awareness of and skill in communication. The Communication Studies major prepares you to succeed in a range of service and people-oriented professions that by all projections are expected to constitute an increasing proportion of the job market in the years ahead.