Why Study Communication?
Communication skills are a differentiator when competing in an evolving job market; written and oral communication are among the most important skills employers consider when hiring. At Wheaton, you will expand your verbal and nonverbal skills, develop sensitivity for their appropriate use, and nurture a Christian perspective on issues of power, influence, justice, freedom, and truth. The course work, advising, and co-curricular activities combine to prepare you for future academic study, professional success, and lifelong learning.
Oral Competency Exam
Need to take the oral competency exam? You've come to the right place.
The Speech Center
Invention. Organization. Delivery. Response. Find out more about this important speech resource.
Why Study Communication at Wheaton?
Written and oral communication are among the most important skills employers consider when hiring because they evidence creative and critical thinking. At Wheaton you’ll experience fascinating courses that push you to think creatively and critically about the world, such as Rhetoric of Rap; Sport Communication; Non-Profit Consulting; Propaganda and Ethics; and, Digital Journalism.
This major applies to every aspect of your personal and professional life. You’ll explore Christian growth and witness by celebrating our God who spoke creation into existence and guides us into Kingdom-building communication. You’ll live fully present in each moment through skilled listening, strategic speaking, and faithful sensitivity to God’s work in and through human interaction.
Join a legacy of students who have graduated with a Communication Major and gone on to excel in a variety of careers across the nation and world.
- Participate on a National Parliamentary Debate Team that ranked among the top 16 teams in the nation and placed in the final rounds for National Parliamentary and British Debate tournaments.
- Earn course credit in producing, filming, and editing documentaries on Korean culture during Wheaton in Korea
- Join Wheaton’s Arena Theater faculty, students, and alumni as they collaborate each summer with Wheaton Park District to stage “Shakespeare in the Park,” one of the largest all-community events in the City of Wheaton.
- Earn course credit studying the development of modern media technology during the Germany/Switzerland Summer Program.
- Participate in honor societies: Lambda Pi Eta, a national communication honor society which recognizes, fosters and rewards outstanding scholastic achievement in the field of Communication; and Pi Kappa Delta, a national honorary forensics organization which recognizes excellence in competitive speaking events.
What Will I Learn?
The Communication Major enables students to understand historical and cultural effects of communication; engage in intentional processes of creating identities and messages; comprehend guiding theories, foundational research, and investigative methods; and demonstrate knowledge, skill, and motivation for the ethical creation of messages.
The Communication major offers four areas of concentration:
- Interpersonal Communication: Explore how meaning develops within personal, social, and work place relationships, as well as how patterns of human behavior contribute to individual growth and Christian community.
- Media Studies: Engage and contribute to the world of symbols and meanings, texts and contexts, sight and sound, and form and content from a critical and cultural perspective.
- Rhetoric and Culture: Construct oral messages intended to influence specific audiences and cultures, and interpret culture critically and charitably.
- Theater: Explore the interaction of word, action, and symbol in the collaborative process of making theater, and in the development of the whole person.
The Journalism certificate prepares students for graduate school or entry-level positions through internships, advanced courses, and professional networking.
The department offers an honors program for outstanding junior and senior majors desiring to carry out independent research. Details of the program are available from the Department Chair.
Consult the course catalog for full listing of current courses available in this field.
