Mass communication is a powerful and complex set of processes.
Its forms both shape and are shaped by the social and cultural contexts in which it occurs. Mass communication involves the creation, dissemination, and reception of many kinds of messages. Their meanings structure the ways people and societies understand themselves and their world, as well as their politics, social relations, and identities. The Department of Communication Studies offers an undergraduate curriculum focusing on the structure, processes, contexts, and effects of mass communication. Several scholarly approaches to media research are represented in the curriculum, including historical, legal, cultural, institutional and effects orientations.