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About The Program

College of Arts and Sciences

Communication Studies

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Northern's communication studies students learn to understand and practice communication, developing insight into and ability in effective expression and listening.

In this compact, agile communications program, we'll help you tailor experiences and projects to your special needs and interests.

Our communication studies degree also prepares you for professional schools in law, journalism, public relations, and organizational communication; or graduate studies in speech communication, rhetoric, public relations, mass media, and others.

You can also test your abilities and sharpen your competition skills on Northern's Speech and Debate team, which places competitively in state and regional meets and whose members have qualified for national competition.

Public Relations Emphasis

Public relations specialists read, research, write and speak well - they're doers who have a creative flair. NSU's Communication Studies program offers a focus on public relations, opening opportunities for you if you're interested in preparing and sharing information that keeps people informed.

Careers

The communication studies degree program provides a foundation for many careers. You'll learn the skills needed to obtain positions in business, industry, education and government service. Other potential career areas include sales and marketing; artists, broadcasters, editors, entertainers, public relations specialists and writers; and management- and administration-related occupations.

Public Relations

Public relations specialists work for private firms, educational institutions and government agencies, or are self-employed. They also have positions in sales and marketing or as artists, broadcasters, editors, entertainers, and writers, and work in management and administrative occupations.

For more information on careers in your major or help choosing a major, contact the NSU Career Center.

Internships

Communication Studies students gain valuable real-world experience through a required a 3-credit internship.

NSU College of Arts and Sciences Internships

Scholarships

Arts and Sciences Scholarships

NSU Scholarships

Courses

Communication Studies (BA) Course Requirements

Communication Studies Minor Course Requirements

Plans of Study

Communication Studies (BA) Plan of Study

Public Relations Emphasis (BA) Plan of Study

Program Success/Outcomes

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“I came to Northern with no idea of what I wanted to pursue, but thankfully one of the first professors that I had once I got to Northern talked to us about the speech and debate team. Through that program, I learned about the Communication Studies major and realized that I found something that I genuinely enjoyed learning. I think that something that sets Northern apart is its size. At a bigger school, I don’t think that I could have gotten as much personal interaction with my professors. I have friends at bigger universities whose professors don’t even know their name. At Northern, however, when I walk around campus my professors address me by name. Without that personal connection I may have never thought of a major in Communication Studies and be on the path that I am now.” – Makaela Moser, Mobridge #beNORTHERN #unleashYOURpotential #NorthernStateU

A post shared by Northern State University (@northernstateu) on Jan 17, 2020 at 10:11am PST

Our Faculty

Justin (Gus) Foote

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Languages, Literature and Communication Studies

Programs

Communication Studies

Pre-Journalism

Brooke C. Nelson

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Languages, Literature and Communication Studies

Programs

Communication Studies

English

M.A. University of South Florida

B.A. Northern State University

Brooke C. Nelson began as an instructor of English, reading, and communication studies at Northern's Huron Community Campus in August 2020. The previous spring, she received an M.A. in applied linguistics - TESL from University of South Florida in Tampa. In 2017, she graduated with a B.A. in English and TESOL certificate from Northern.

Before pursuing her M.A., she taught at a private boarding school in south central China. As an instructor of EFL speaking classes, she worked with students in tenth grade and select sections of seventh and eighth grades. As one of the few foreign teachers in the area, she focused lessons on the development of communicative competence. She also volunteered with the primary school's English Club, hosting game nights with the primary school English instructor.

Research Interests

Her research interests lie in sociolinguistics - specifically, discourse analysis and pragmatics. She has conducted and presented work on creativity, multimodality, and impoliteness in the context of online sexual harassment. She is currently exploring the mitigation strategies used in online contexts.

Liz Sills

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Languages, Literature and Communication Studies

Programs

Communication Studies

Pre-Journalism

Resume/CV

Dr. Liz Sills received her Ph.D from Louisiana State University and her M.A. in communication studies from the University of Montana. Her interests lie in rhetorics, philosophies, and cultural consequences surrounding comedy, humor, and any other catalysts of mirth that constitute The Funny. Other examples of her work may be found in Comedy Studies, Empedocles: European Journal for the Philosophy of Communication and in the 2013 Eisner Award-winning volume Black Comics: Politics of Race and Representation. She also enjoys teaching standup comedy skills to her students and hosting workshops that teach community members how to understand and make use of the funniness of their everyday lives.

Dr. Sills is president of the Lighthearted Philosophers’ Society, a group of scholars dedicated to studying philosophies of humor in funny ways. She is also serving a two-year term as president of the Speech Communication Association of South Dakota. On campus, she is the advisor for the communication studies honorary, Lambda Pi Eta, and a co-advisor of Northern's Feminist Club.

Tanya White

Department

College of Arts and Sciences

Languages, Literature and Communication Studies

Programs

Communication Studies

Pre-Journalism

Spanish (online)

Spanish Education

Resume/CV

Tetiana (Tanya) White received her B.A. in Spanish and English philology from Kiev National Linguistic University, Ukraine. She then pursued an M.A. in communication at the University of North Dakota and an M.A. in Spanish linguistics at Arizona State University.

In her Spanish, linguistics, and communication classes, Ms. White gives students opportunities to develop new and various lenses through which to see themselves and other cultures. She enjoys watching students gain the confidence to speak publicly and carry that skill into their future careers.

Ms. White’s research interests lie at the intersection of linguistics and communication. Her latest master’s thesis studied critical cultural awareness of students, the structure of their mental lexicon, and their cultural values and beliefs. Her scholarly writing has appeared in Across Languages and Cultures and The Journal of Developmental Communication.

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