Communication

[ major | graduate program | courses | faculty ]

Thurgood Marshall College
Media Center/Communications Building (MCC)
http://communication.ucsd.edu

All courses, faculty listings, and curricular and degree requirements described herein are subject to change or deletion without notice.

Communication at UC San Diego is a field of study that emphasizes the role of technologies and institutions of communication, from language to television to the internet and beyond, in mediating human experience. It draws from social science disciplines including anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science, and from the humanities and fine arts, including media studies, theatre, literature, and visual arts. Communication students will develop a critical awareness of the communicative forces that affect their everyday lives.

There are two majors offered by the Department of Communication: (1) the general communication major and (2) the media industries and communication major, which offers a specialized focus on cultural industries and systems. Both majors provide students with a solid liberal arts background necessary for graduate studies in communication and many other disciplines, and for professional work in a number of communication and media related fields, including primary and secondary education.

The faculty in the Department of Communication believe that students will develop a deeper understanding of how communication works by exploring firsthand the capabilities and limitations of a variety of media. Students, therefore, will have the opportunity to conduct part of their studies in video, through online platforms, and via other forms of media practice.

The Communication Major

Degree offered: Bachelor of Arts

All courses taken to satisfy major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A grade of C– or better is required for all courses for the major.

One Lower-Division Core Course (four units)

*COMM 10. Introduction to Communication

Four Upper-Division Core Courses (sixteen units)

*COMM 100A. Communication, the Person, and Everyday Life
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)
*COMM 100B. Communication, Culture, and Representation
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)
*COMM 100C. Communication, Institutions, and Power
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)
*COMM 190. Junior Seminar in Communication
Prerequisite: COMM 10 and at least one COMM 100 course (concurrently enrolled with department approval)

*These courses must be taken at UC San Diego.

Eight Upper-Division Elective Courses (thirty-two units minimum)

Two advanced electives (courses from COMM 120–189). Prerequisites: COMM 10 and at least one COMM 100 course (concurrently enrolled with department approval).
Six additional upper-division electives. Any combination of intermediate electives (COMM 101–119) and advanced electives (COMM 120–189) is permitted. Prerequisites for intermediate electives: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval). Prerequisites for advanced electives: COMM 10 and at least one COMM 100 course (concurrently enrolled with department approval).
Only ONE course of COMM 198 or 199 may be applied to satisfy an upper-division elective for the major.
AIP 197 must be petitioned for approval for the major and may only be applied to satisfy an upper-division elective.

Residency Requirement

Students are required to complete at least eleven classes of their overall work in the major at UC San Diego. Below are the communication classes required to be taken at UC San Diego. See college Advising Office for further residency requirements.

COMM 10. Introduction to Communication

COMM 100A. Communication, the Person, and Everyday Life

COMM 100B. Communication, Culture, and Representation

COMM 100C. Communication, Institutions, and Power

COMM 190. Junior Seminar in Communication

Six upper-division communication elective courses

The Media Industries and Communication Major (MIC)

Degree offered: Bachelor of Arts.

The media industries and communication major provides students with the historical and theoretical background and critical and practical skill sets necessary to effectively analyze an increasingly complex media and communication landscape. With a foundation of media literacy, system literacy, and skills-oriented education, MIC graduates will be able to demystify media and communication work in the short term and build better media and communication environments in the long term. This degree program is designed to support and foster informed and media literate citizens, responsible and imaginative creators, and ethical future leaders in the fields of media, communication, technology, and culture.

All courses taken to satisfy major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A grade of C– or better is required for all courses for the major.

Lower-Division Courses (two courses)

Required:

*COMM 10. Introduction to Communication

ONE course from the following:

COMM 20. Media Analysis

COMM 30. Digital Media Literacy

COMM 40. Introduction to Promotional Communication

Required Upper-Division Courses (three courses)

Required:

*COMM 106. Introduction to Media Industries

TWO courses from the following:

*COMM 100A. Communication, the Person, and Everyday Life

*COMM 100B. Communication, Culture, and Representation

*COMM 100C. Communication, Institutions, and Power

Upper-Division Electives (nine courses)

Any TWO additional courses numbered in the COMM 106 series:

Offerings may change each year, but courses include: *106A: Advertising and Society; *106D: Data and AI Industries; *106F: Film Industry; *106G: Tourism; 106I: Internet Industry; *106N: Journalism and the News Industry; *106S: Streaming Media; *106V: TV Industry.

SEVEN additional electives:

THREE courses must be numbered from COMM 160–190.
FOUR additional upper-division electives may be numbered anywhere between COMM 101–190.
Exceptions: Only ONE course of COMM 198 or 199 may be applied to satisfy an upper-division elective for the major. AIP 197 must be petitioned for approval for the major and may only be applied to satisfy an upper-division elective.

*These courses must be taken at UC San Diego.

Practice Courses (two courses)

At least ONE practice course must be taken in residence at UC San Diego, within the communication department. The other practice course may be taken at the lower-division level and many qualifying courses fill other college and university requirements. Practice courses include:

Courses in media production:

COMM 101. Introduction to Audiovisual Media Practices
COMM 101A. Production of Activist Media
COMM 101D. Editing
COMM 101K. Documentary Sketchbook
COMM 101N. Sound
COMM 102B. Podcasting
COMM 102M. Studio TV

Courses in communication practice:

COMM 102C. Practicum in New Media and Community Life
COMM 114B. Human Rights Advocacy
COMM 115J. Introduction to Journalism
COMM 120N. News Media Workshop
COMM 124A. Critical Design Studio Part 1
COMM 124B. Critical Design Studio Part 2
COMM 141. Media Activism

ONE practice course may be taken outside of the communication department. Petitions for transfer or study abroad credits will be considered, particularly if they match a course on the list below. The following courses are approved as practice courses and have no prerequisites; however, courses marked with a “†” require upper-division standing.

Creative practice in the arts:

LTWR 8A. Writing Fiction; LTWR 8B. Writing Poetry; LTWR 8C. Writing Nonfiction; LTWR 110. Screenwriting; MUS 1A. Fundamentals of Music A; TDAC 1. Introduction to Acting; TDDE 1. Introduction to Design for the Theatre; TDDM 1. Introduction to Dance Making; TDDR 101. Stage Management; TDGE 1. Introduction to Theatre; TDGE 3. Cultivating the Creative Mind; TDPW 1. Introduction to Playwriting; VIS 1, 2, 3. Introduction to Art Making; VIS 9. Introduction to Digital Photography for Non-Majors; VIS 10. Computing in the Arts Lecture Series; VIS 41. Design Communication; VIS 142. Practices in Computing Arts†; VIS 148. Visualizing Art Practice†.

Practice in business:

ECON 1. Principles of Microeconomics; ECON 4. Financial Accounting; MGT 3. Quantitative Methods in Business; MGT 45. Principles of Accounting; MGT 103. Product Marketing and Management†; MGT 162. Negotiations†; MGT 172. Business Project Management†.

Practice in computing:

COGS 1. Introduction to Cognitive Science; COGS 3. Introduction to Computing; COGS 8. Hands-on Computing; COGS 9. Introduction to Data Science; COGS 18. Introduction to Python; CSE 3. Fluency in Information Technology; CSE 6R. Introduction to Python; CSE 8A. Introduction to Programming and Computational Problems; CSS 1. Introduction to Programming for Computational Social Science; DSC 10. Principles of Data Science.

Practice in quantitative and qualitative research methods:

COGS 14A. Introduction to Research Methods; ECON 5. Data Analytics for the Social Sciences; POLI 5. Data Analytics for the Social Sciences; POLI 30/30D. Political Inquiry; PSYC 60. Introduction to Statistics; SOCI 60. Practice of Social Research; SOCI 104Q. Qualitative Interviewing†; SOCI 109M. Research Reporting†.

The Communication Minor

All courses taken to satisfy minor requirements must be taken for a letter grade. A grade of C- or better is required for all courses for the minor.

One Lower-Division Core Course (four units)

*COMM 10. Introduction to Communication

Two Upper-Division Core Courses (eight units)

Two of the following courses:

*COMM 100A. Communication, the Person, and Everyday Life
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)
*COMM 100B. Communication, Culture, and Representation
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)
*COMM 100C. Communication, Institutions, and Power
Prerequisite: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval)

*These courses must be taken at UC San Diego.

Four Upper-Division Electives (sixteen units minimum)

One advanced elective (course from COMM 120–189). Prerequisites: COMM 10 and at least one COMM 100 course (concurrently enrolled with department approval).
Three additional upper-division electives. Any combination of intermediate electives (COMM 101–119) and advanced electives (COMM 120–189) is permitted. Prerequisites for intermediate electives: COMM 10 (concurrently enrolled with department approval). Prerequisites for advanced electives: COMM 10 and at least one COMM 100 course (concurrently enrolled with department approval).
COMM 195, 197, 198, and 199 may not be used as electives within the minor.
AIP 197 may not be petitioned for the minor.

The Communication Honors Program

The Department of Communication offers an Honors Program to those students who have demonstrated excellence in the communication major. Successful completion of the Honors Program enables the student to graduate with highest distinction, with high distinction, or with distinction, depending on performance in the program. The Honors Program requires an application. Students wishing to be considered need to include the following in their application: the honors student applicant assessment form completed and signed by the student’s proposed mentor, a verified overall GPA of 3.0 and a major GPA of 3.5, and a brief but detailed description of the proposed research or creative project.

Applications will be reviewed by a faculty committee, accepting only students who meet these criteria. Once accepted into the Honors Program, students are required to complete a three-quarter course sequence, COMM 196A-B in the fall and winter quarters. This is followed by COMM 199H in the spring quarter of their senior year. A letter grade of B+ or higher in COMM 196A is required to proceed to COMM 196B. The final project grade will be awarded after completion of COMM 199H. Students must enroll in COMM 199H under the section assigned to their mentor. All three courses comprising the Honors Program must be taken for a letter grade.

Successful completion of the Honors Program requires:

Maintenance of a 3.25 GPA in the major and an overall 3.0 GPA.
Approval of the thesis by the honors faculty and mentor.
Completion of an honors project using media appropriate format (for example, a written thesis paper or digital film/media product).
Satisfactory public presentation of the honors project to the Department of Communication community comprised of faculty and invited students.

Upon completion of the Honors Seminar sequence, honors will be determined by the final grade in the Honors Seminar (COMM 199H) as follows:

Students with a B or better will be awarded distinction.
Students with an A– will be awarded high distinction.
Students with an A will be awarded highest distinction.

Study Abroad

Communication majors are encouraged to participate in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP) and the UC San Diego Opportunities Abroad Program (OAP). Interested students should contact the Study Abroad Office and visit the website at http://studyabroad.ucsd.edu. Financial aid can be used for EAP and OAP study and special study abroad scholarships are available.

Communication majors who study abroad and satisfy specified requirements may add the global concentration in communication. This is not a major in communication, but rather a concentration that any communication major may formally declare once all of the requirements have been met. This is a transcripted concentration, meaning it will reflect on your transcript but not on your final diploma.

This global concentration in communication requires:

A minimum of eight units earned through study abroad, of which a minimum of four units would count toward the major.
Demonstration of proficiency in a second language through the fourth quarter of university-level instruction.
A minimum of two courses with the department or program-identified global content.

UC San Diego communication courses with global content are the following courses:

COMM 101E. MPL: Ethnographic Methods for Media Production

COMM 104D. Comparative Media Systems (CMS): Asia

COMM 104E. CMS: Europe

COMM 104F. CMS: Africa

COMM 104G. CMS: Latin America and the Caribbean

COMM 106G. Cultural Industries (CI): Tourism: Global Industry and Cultural Form

COMM 109E. Mass Communication (MC): Political Economy of Mass Communication

COMM 112G. Interaction and Mediation (IM): Language and Globalization

COMM 114J. Communication and Social Institutions (CSI): Food Justice

COMM 128. Education and Global Citizenship

COMM 135. Contemporary Minority Media Makers and the Festival Experience

COMM 136. Transmedia

COMM 140. Cinema in Latin America

COMM 152. Global Economy and Consumer Culture

COMM 158. Representations of the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

COMM 159. Tourism, Power, and Place

COMM 160. Political Economy and International Communication

COMM 164. Behind the Internet: Invisible Geographies of Power and Inequality

COMM 166. Surveillance, Media, and the Risk Society

COMM 168. Bilingual Communication

COMM 175. Cultures of Consumption

COMM 177. Culture, Domination, and Resistance

COMM 179. Global Nature/Global Culture

COMM 181. Neoliberal Cities: Cities and Globalization

COMM 183. Global Economy and Consumer Culture

Communication courses that fall outside of this list, such as course work completed abroad, would need to be petitioned individually on a case-by-case basis and be reviewed by the undergraduate faculty adviser for approval.