Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts

Departmental URL: arts.iusb.edu/academic-departments/communication-studies

Departmental Email: commstma@iusb.edu

(Please note that when conferring University Graduate School degrees, minors, certificates, and sub-plans, the University Graduate School’s staff use those requirements contained only in the University Graduate School Bulletin.)

Degrees Offered

Graduate Certificate, Master of Arts

Graduate Certificate (online collaborative)

The online collaborative Graduate Certificate in Communication Studies is offered by multiple IU campuses in partnership with IU Online.  See the Online Collaborative Communication Studies program section for information and requirements.

Master of Arts

The Master of Arts in Communication Studies is a 30-credit hour program offering advanced study for students to take part in research, creative work, and teaching in diverse areas of communication, information, interaction, and culture.

The program is aimed to assist working professionals to advance their career goals by focusing on their specialized field, and to prepare the individuals who desire to advance their academic career to Ph.D. programs or professional degrees. Those who seek intellectual opportunities to advance their knowledge and critical thinking skills or recent graduates of four-year colleges who are interested in continuing their education to the higher level would choose to advance to the master’s program in order to build a plan of study that reflects their career interests in consultation with their academic advisor. Students are given personal attention to produce a quality thesis or applied project at the end of the program.

The program is designed to be completed in two years, if students are full-time. Adjusted timelines for study are available for part-time students. The program is flexible with evening courses designed to assist working professionals.

Admissions

Applicants for the program must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0. A candidate who does not meet the GPA requirement may apply for special student status. Students are admitted to the Communication Studies graduate program by the departmental selection committee.

Requirements

The 30 credit hour curriculum has four components:

• Required Core Courses (12 cr.)
• Content Courses (9 cr.)
• Elective Courses (6 cr.)
• Master's Project or Thesis (3 cr.)

Required Core Courses (12 cr.)

• COMM-C 501 Applied Quantitative Research Methods in Communication Studies
• COMM-C 502 Applied Qualitative Research Methods in Communication Studies
• COMM-C 525 Communication Pedagogy
• SPCH-S 502 Introduction to Communication Theory

Content Courses (9 cr.)

Interpersonal Communication (3 cr.)

• Sample courses include:

  • COMM-C 544 Advanced Relational Communication

  • SPCH-S 627 Studies in Cross-Cultural Communication

Mass Communication (3 cr.)

• Sample courses include

  • JOUR-J 510 Media and Society Seminar (pending approval)

  • JOUR-J 522 Political Communication

Organizational Communication (3 cr.)

• Sample courses include:

  • CMCL-C 594 Communication and Conflict Management in Organizations

  • SPCH-S 640 Studies in Organizational Communication

Elective Courses (6 cr.)

• Select two elective courses

Master's Project or Thesis (3 cr.)

Students will complete a Master's project of thesis by enrolling one of the following courses:

• COMM-C 503 Applied Learning Project

• COMM-C 597 Thesis