What is Communication Studies?
Communication Studies is a broad-based discipline concerned with
the exchange of messages in interpersonal and mediated situations
and with the impact of such exchanges on society. Courses focus
on understanding the communication process and developing skills
to communicate effectively. The department offers a wide range
of courses in interpersonal, group, and organizational communication,
rhetorical theory and criticism, public relations, media communication,
research methodologies, and digital media (video or multimedia).
One of the largest departments in the University, the Department
of Communication Studies offers degrees in Journalism and Communication
Studies. With recent additions and renovations to its physical
facilities, Communication Studies now enjoys a television studio,
two dedicated computer labs, an audio-editing suite, and a high-end
video editing lab. The department supports a variety of student
activities including a nationally respected debate program and
the University’s weekly newspaper, the State Hornet. Outstanding
faculty and staff take pride in their sensitivity and service to
students.
Trends in the Discipline
“The most valuable things in life come from a combination of passion and patience.”
–Diego Bonilla, Digital Media Faculty
One way to measure trends in the communication discipline is to track the phenomenon by tracking the allotment of panels to divisions at the annual convention of the National Communication Association. Divisions are the largest parts of the NCA organization. Thus, looking at the amount of convention time devoted to divisions provides an accurate gauge of our discipline’s priorities at the national level.
The next units down from divisions are commissions and associations. Each would also provide insight into the trends of the discipline. The decision was made not to examine these trends, as the divisions alone accounted for more than 2600 panels. With each panel accounting for a minimum of 4 scholars, tracking divisions alone accounts for the research and creative achievements of more than 10,000 scholars. As such, tracking divisions reveals a significant portion of our time and this discipline.
A challenge is that while associations and commissions have a smaller panel allotment per capita, their overall share of the conventions is significant. Further, areas move from commission to division as they increase in popularity (e.g., the Commission on African American Communication became the African American Communication Division in 2000). Further, there are several units of a similar nature (e.g., African American Communication Division and the Black Caucus or the many forensics-based divisions, associations, and commissions) which may indeed present panels of a similar nature.
With few exceptions (e.g., the Ethnography Division, the Language and Social Interaction (LSI) Division), units are topic-area based rather than methods-based. As such, one may find LSI or ethnographic work presented in other divisions (e.g., an ethnography of a business presented in the Organizational Communication Division or an LSI study in the Intercultural and International Division).
It must be noted that NCA is but one of the many scholarly organizations in this discipline. Each of the others (e.g., ICA, WSCA, AEJMC) has its own trends, politics, and ethos. Nonetheless, NCA was chosen due to its large size and political power.
Looking at NCA Trends
An examination of the table below reveals that, for the most part,
division panel allotment has been rather consistent from 1999-2003.
To prepare this table, division allotments were counted for these
years, and numbers were converted to percentages, which are recorded
in the table. A pie chart for each year follows the table.
The trends seem to be as follows: with the exception of the addition of the African American Communication Division in 2000 (it was a large commission prior to this date), division panel allotments remained rather consistent over the past 5 years. Panel allotments have changed no more than 2% from year to year, even in years when the size of the conference changes dramatically, such as 2002 to 2003. In sum, the macro trends in the discipline tend to be unchanging.
Overall, one can see a rise in the proportion of work coming from a qualitative methodological perspective. This is reflected both in the 2000 jump in size of the Critical Studies Division and in the number of studies presented across the discipline. This is even more true on the West Coast, where some of the more prominent qualitative and critical scholars (e.g., Martin, Trujillo, Sorrells, Yep) and schools (e.g., USC) can be found.
Nationally, there is a trend in the organizational communication area to involve critical studies. In our department some organizational communication instructors emphasize critical and political approaches to organizational studies whereas others emphasize application. The concern for application is due to the interest on the part of a large number of students in their own professional development, which is appropriate.
In intercultural and international communication, there is a
trend toward the study of culture from the inside, known as the “emic” approach.
One can note the increasing proportion of emic studies presented at NCA (and
at other conventions), emic studies published in our journals, and emic intercultural
textbooks appearing on the market. As our department personnel and students
become more diverse, we can teach better about culture from this inner perspective.
For example, Professor Bonilla is teaching a course now about his own culture.
Courses such as this are consistent with an emergent trend in many departments,
which are offering courses such as International Communication, Non-Western
Communication or Native American Communication.
1999 |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
|
| African American Communication and Culture Division | 0% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
4% |
| Applied Communication Division | 3% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
5% |
| Argumentation and Forensics Division | 3% |
2% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
| Asian/Pacific American Communication Studies Division | 1% |
2% |
3% |
1% |
2% |
| Basic Course Division | 4% |
2% |
2% |
3% |
4% |
| Critical and Cultural Studies Division | 5% |
8% |
6% |
7% |
7% |
| Ethnography Division | 6% |
5% |
6% |
4% |
4% |
| Family Communication Division | 5% |
4% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
| Feminist and Women's Studies Division | 6% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| GLBT Division | 2% |
3% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
| Group Communication Division | 3% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
2% |
| Health Communication Division | 4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| Instructional Development Division | 5% |
3% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| International and Intercultural Communication Division | 4% |
5% |
5% |
4% |
6% |
| Interpersonal Communication Division | 4% |
4% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
| Language and Social Interaction Division | 4% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
3% |
| Latino/a Communication Studies Division | 2% |
2% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
| Mass Communication Division | 4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| Organizational Communication Division | 5% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
5% |
| Performance Studies Division | 5% |
6% |
6% |
6% |
5% |
| Political Communication Division | 5% |
5% |
4% |
4% |
4% |
| Public Address Division | 4% |
5% |
4% |
5% |
4% |
| Public Relations Division | 4% |
4% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
| Religious Communication Association/Public Address Division | 0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
| Religious Communication Association/Theory Division | 0% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
| Rhetorical and Communication Theory Division | 5% |
5% |
5% |
6% |
6% |
| Theater Division | 5% |
6% |
5% |
5% |
2% |
| Training and Development Division | 3% |
1% |
2% |
3% |
3% |
| TOTAL PANEL ALLOTMENT TO DIVISIONS | 480 |
461 |
516 |
506 |
641 |
