Communication and Media Studies

The Department of Communication and Media Studies offers a major and a minor in communication and a concentration in prelaw studies.

The department is an integral part of Goucher’s liberal arts tradition. Students are encouraged to develop a sense of communication history and are provided with the means of mastering the grammar of our mass media. They are challenged to develop a critical view and ethical judgments about the most current media issues. Academic and theoretical classes are supplemented with skills-oriented coursework, applied internships, research activities, as well as TV studio, field video and audio production classes, and extra-curricular work with the campus television station. Students are encouraged to pursue specific interests in television and film studies, radio and television production, print and radio and television journalism, photography, advertising and public relations, human communication and media research, and popular culture studies. The department sponsors a film club and a student-staffed campus television station. Students complete internships in a variety of arenas including television, radio, public relations, advertising, nonprofit agencies, film, news writing and production, sports broadcasting, and marketing. Motivated students are always encouraged to pursue independent research in their particular areas of interest.

Professional communication associations in which students and faculty participate include American Film Institute, Broadcast Education Association, International Communication Association, International Radio and Television Society, National Association of Broadcasters, Popular Culture Association, Public Relations Society of America, Society for Cinema Studies, National Communication Association, University Film and Video Association, Media Ecology Association, Director’s Guild of America, and Women in Communication.