These areas of specialization – Film & Media Studies, Relational & Organizational Communication, and Rhetoric & Civic Engagement – are the foci of our research, teaching, and practice in the Department of Communication Studies. Our ability to succeed and thrive as an informed, inclusive, and compassionate society depends on advancing these foci together as students, teachers, scholars, and citizens.

We do not silo faculty or graduate students into one area of specialization. While faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized experts in their areas of specialization, many collaborate with colleagues in other specialties, both within our department and across the discipline. Graduate students can form committees comprised of faculty from any specialization, allowing them to develop research progFaculty are grouped by area according to their primary scholarship.  For many, their scholarship spans these foci.