IU Indianapolis Campus Bulletin 2024-2025

Undergraduate

Bachelor's Degree Programs

Communication Studies

Major in Communication Studies

Communication Studies course work assists students in enhancing such competencies as critical inquiry, problem solving, media and message design, oral performance, relational interaction, and cultural communication. The Communication Studies curriculum provides a foundation for students interested in pursuing careers that apply communication principles, such as public relations, sales, marketing, video or film production, corporate media production, training and development, human resources, public affairs, consulting, and special events planning. In addition, it prepares students for graduate work in various areas, including communication, informatics, humanities, or social sciences, or in professional programs such as law, business, health, and social work.

The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Communication Studies (COMM) requires satisfactory completion of the following:

• A minimum of 120 credit hours is required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts.
• A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (C) is required for graduation.
• A minimum of 30 credit hours must be completed after formal admission to IU Indianapolis.
• A minimum of 21 credit hours of major coursework must be completed in residence in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Course work completed on an IU-administered or IU co-sponsored Overseas Study program counts as residential credit. 
• No more than 12 credits may be transferred into the major.
• A minimum grade of C (2.0) is required in each major course.
• Once a course has been applied toward one requirement, it cannot be used to satisfy a second requirement, except where explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, except in cases of variable title courses, internships, and other special courses, no course will be counted more than once toward graduation.
• At least 15 credit hours in the major must be in courses at the 300 level or above.
• At least 3 credit hours each must be completed in three of the four areas in the major which are designated by the prefixes C, M, R, & T.
• COMM-R 110 may not count toward the major.
• A total of 9 credits of COMM-G 300: Independent Study and COMM-G 491: Internship may count toward the major.

IU Indianapolis General Education Core

A list of accepted courses in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core can be found here.

Core Communication (6 credits)

• ENG-W 131: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry I (3 credits) or ENG-W 140: Reading, Writing, and Inquiry: Honors (3 credits) completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) sections of ENG-G 131 have been designated for students whose first language is not English.

• COMM-R 110: Fundamentals of Speech Communication (3 credits)

Analytical Reasoning (6 credits)

• College math from List A (3 credits)
• List A or List B (3 credits)

Cultural Understanding (3 credits)

• A world language course is recommended

Life and Physical Sciences (6 credits)

• A laboratory science component is required

Arts/Humanities and Social Sciences (9 credits)

• Arts & Humanities (3 credits)
• Social Science (3 credits)
• Additional Arts & Humanities or Social Science (3 credits)

Transfer students entering IU Indianapolis from another public university in Indiana who have completed the transferable general education core at their home campus will not need to complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core.

Liberal Arts Baccalaureate Competencies

First-Year Experience (1-3 credits)

• SLA-S 100: First Year Success Seminar
• Other: First Year Seminar from another school at IU Indianapolis

Transfer students with 18 or more credit hours are not required to take this course.

Writing Proficiency (3 credits), completed with a grade of C (2.0) or higher, chosen from the following:

• ENG-W 230: Writing in the Sciences
• ENG-W 231: Professional Writing Skills
• ENG-W 270: Argumentative Writing

Transfer students may satisfy the writing proficiency by completing course work equivalent to ENG-W 231, ENG-W 230, ENG-W 270, or GEWR-UN 200 with a grade of C (2.0) or higher at another campus or institution.

Transfer students with 80 or more transfer credits may petition for exemption from the Writing Proficiency requirement.  Petition available in the Miriam Z. Langsam Office of Student Affairs, Cavanaugh Hall room 401.

Analytical Proficiency (3 credits), chosen from the following: 

• ECON-E 270: Introduction to Statistical Theory in Economics and Business
• PHIL-P 262: Practical Logic
• PHIL-P 208: Causality and Evidence
• PHIL-P 265: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
• POLS-Y 205: Analyzing Politics  
• SOC-R 359: Introduction to Sociological Stats

Analytical Proficiency is in addition to the Analytical Reasoning area in the IU Indianapolis General Education Core. Analytical Proficiency courses may be shared with major requirements if applicable.

Life and Physical Sciences Laboratory

One laboratory science course is required, but may be part of the coursework taken in theIU Indianapolis General Education Core.

Arts and Humanities (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement

100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines

• Africana Studies (AFRO)
• American Studies (AMST)
• American Sign Language (ASL) excluding World Languages courses
• Classics (CLAS) excluding World Languages courses
• East Asian Languages and Cultures (EALC) excluding World Language courses
• English-Creative Writing or Writing and Literacy (ENG-W), excluding courses in the Writing Proficiency area.
• English Literature (ENG-L)
• Film Studies (FILM)
• Folklore (FOLK) excluding FOLK-F 101
• German (GER) excluding World Language courses
• History (HIST) excluding HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
• Latino Studies (LATS)
• Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS)
• Museum Studies (MSTD)
• Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
• Philosophy (PHIL)
• Religious Studies (REL)
• Spanish (SPAN) excluding World Language courses
• Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS), excluding WGSS-W 105
• World Languages and Cultures (WLAC)

Social Sciences (3 credits) - Courses in one’s first major field of study cannot be used to fulfill this requirement

100 or 200 level course chosen from the following disciplines

• Africana Studies (AFRO)
• Anthropology (ANTH)
• Economics (ECON)
• English-Linguistics (ENG-Z)
• Folklore (FOLK)
• Geography (GEOG)
• Global and International Studies (INTL)
• History (HIST) only HIST-H 105, HIST-H 106, HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, HIST-H 114
• Journalism and Public Relations (JOUR)
• Latino Studies (LATS)
• Medical Humanities and Health Studies (MHHS) excluding MHHS-M 201
• Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS)
• Political Science (POLS)
• Psychology (PSY)
• Sociology (SOC)
• Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS)

World Language and Perspectives (0-14 credits) This requirement may be satisfied in one of the following ways:

1. Completion of second-year proficiency in a single world language.
   1. Languages include:
      1. American Sign Language (ASL)
      2. Arabic (NELC-A)
      3. Chinese (EALC-C)
      4. French (FREN)
      5. German (GER)
      6. Japanese (EALC-J)
      7. Spanish (SPAN)Languages include:
   2. Second-year proficiency is demonstrated by:
      1. passing the full second-year sequence of courses in a single language or
      2. completing a third or fourth-year course¹
2. Completion of third-semester proficiency in a single world language and one course in History selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114.
3. Completion of first-year proficiency in a single world language; one history course selected from HIST-H 108, HIST-H 109, HIST-H 113, or HIST-H 114; and one course selected from the Global History and Perspectives list:
   1. ANTH-A 104: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
   2. CLAS-C 213: Sport and Competition in the Ancient World
   3. EALC-E 232: China Past and Present: Culture in Continuing Evolution
   4. ENG-L 245: (The Empire Writes Back) Intro to Caribbean Literature
   5. GEOG-G 130: World Geography
   6. HIST-H 108: Perspectives on the World to 1800
   7. HIST-H 109: Perspectives on the World since 1800
   8. HIST-H 113: History of Western Civilization I 
   9. HIST-H 114: History of Western Civilization II
   10. INTL-I 100: Intro to International Studies
   11. LATS-L 228: An Interdisciplinary Look at U.S. Latino/a Identities
   12. POLS-Y 217: Introduction to Comparative Politics 
   13. POLS-Y 219: Introduction to International Relations
   14. REL-R 212: Comparative Religions
4. Non-English native speaker with approved waiver.

Courses in World Language and Perspectives may also satisfy General Education Core Cultural Understanding. 

       ¹ Students interested in receiving credit for lower-division language courses, see the section ‘‘Special Credit for Foreign Language Study.’’

Advanced Courses

Students are required to have 42 credit hours in 300-400 level coursework including courses in their major. Of the 42 advanced credits, 9 credit hours must be 300-400 level coursework outside the first Liberal Arts major field of study and from the School of Liberal Arts. Students seeking dual degrees are exempt from completing 9 credits hours in 300-400 level coursework outside their major and from the School of Liberal Arts.

Major Requirements(33 credits) 

Core Courses (9 cr.)       

• COMM-G 100: Introduction to Communication Studies (3 cr.)
  • NOTE: This course is a pre- or co-requisite for COMM-G 201 AND a pre-requisite for COMM-G310 and COMM-G480.
• COMM-G 201: Introduction to Communication Theory (3 cr.) P: COMM-G100
  • NOTE: This course is a pre- or co-requisite for COMM-G310 AND a pre-requisite for COMM-G480.
• COMM-G 310: Introduction to Communication Research (3 cr.) P: COMM-G 201
  • NOTE: This course is a pre-requisite for COMM-G480.

• COMM-G 480: Senior Capstone in Communication Studies (3 cr.) 
  • NOTE: This course is reserved for majors with senior standing who have completed COMM-G100, COMM-G201, and COMM-G310.

Major Elective courses (21 cr.)

The remaining 21 credits may be selected from any of the courses offered in Communication Studies, as long as at least 3 credit hours are completed in three of the four areas in the major which are designated by the prefixes C, M, R, & T. Students are strongly encouraged to develop their plan of study in consultation with their academic advisor and department mentor early to ensure a coherent program which meets their goals.

Communication Studies Undergraduate Honors Degree Requirements

A list of Communication Studies courses approved for H-Options is available in the Honors Program office or in the main department office. Other courses may be arranged by departmental approval. Students graduating with departmental honors will receive a certificate and a letter of acknowledgment.

Communication Studies Courses

Open electives
Candidates for a degree in the IU School of Liberal Arts must complete the IU Indianapolis General Education Core requirements, the baccalaureate competencies, and the requirements of their major department. Usually, students will still need to complete additional hours in order to reach the graduation requirement of 120 credit hours. These remaining credit hours are known as open electives.

Dual Degree Advantage

The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are waived for IU Indianapolis undergraduate students whose first major is outside the School of Liberal Arts and whose second major is a Bachelor of Arts degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts at IU Indianapolis. Students are only required to complete the courses in their major of choice in Liberal Arts. The IU Indianapolis General Education Core or the Indiana transferable general education core must be successfully completed. Students must complete the degree outside Liberal Arts in order to have the Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies waived for degree completion. The Liberal Arts baccalaureate competencies are only waived for students who actively pursue and complete another degree program outside of Liberal Arts. Both degrees must be completed at the same time.

Communication Studies BA/MA

The 5-year Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies/Master of Arts in Applied Communication, which is available to Communication Studies majors only, allows students to complete a BA and an MA in five years instead of six. In five years, the student would complete the B.A. in Communication Studies and the M.A. in Applied Communication. The program consists of three years of undergraduate coursework, a fourth year of combined undergraduate and graduate coursework, and a fifth year of exclusively graduate coursework. This accelerated track offers outstanding students a way to complete an MA degree with less time and less cost.

Admission Requirements

The following deadlines must be observed in order to receive consideration for admission:

• January 15 -- priority consideration for fall semester
• May 15 -- fall regular admission

• communicate both orally and in writing for professional and academic audiences
• synthesize, critique, and apply theoretical constructs in communication studies
• select and evaluate appropriate methodologies for conducting communication research
• propose and justify solutions to real-world communication problems
• design and conduct guided communication research

• Completion of 120 credit hours as required for a B.A. degree from the IU School of Liberal Arts (12 of the graduate-level credit hours taken during the senior year will count towards the BA)
• Completion of 30 credit hours of graduate level courses:
• 15 credit hours of core requirements. These include:
  • COMM-C 500: Advanced Communication Theory
  • COMM-C 501: Applied Quantitative Research Methods
  • COMM-C 504: Pro-Seminar in Communication Graduate Studies
  • One of COMM-C 502, COMM-C 530, COMM-C 531, or COMM-C 680
  • COMM-C 503: Applied Learning Project OR COMM-C 597: Thesis
• 15 additional hours of elective courses