W elcome to the Speech Communication Department at Cal Poly, home to more than 200 student majors and minors.
Communication is one of the oldest fields of study in Western education.
The discipline can be traced back to the academies of ancient Athens, where the study of oral communication as a means of sharing information and gaining influence formed the core of the academic curriculum. U nderstanding the process of human communication is no less important in the Information Age than it was in the Golden Age of Greece and Rome. T he goal of the major in Speech Communication at Cal Poly is to provide an understanding of the nature, processes and effects of human communication. Multi-dimensional in its focus, the discipline uses the rich resources of both the humanities and the social sciences in exploring how people communicate directly and indirectly through language and associated nonverbal messages. The Speech Communication major leads to a Bachelor of Arts degree which prepares students for graduate work or careers in the various communication professions, as well as for careers in a wide variety of occupations which place a premium on excellent communication skills.