General Communication Degree Description:
Communication is an interdisciplinary field that draws from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The undergraduate Communication program focuses on the theoretical, critical, and empirical examination of fundamental communication systems, institutions, processes, and effects. Communication majors gain deep insight into how communication shapes our individual and collective social, political, economic, and cultural lives; both historical and contemporary, local and global. Our majors learn and employ a range of theories and research methods, including quantitative approaches such as survey research, experiments, content analysis, and computational science; and qualitative approaches such as historical, textual and discourse analysis, focus groups, and ethnographic fieldwork. In doing so, they produce scholarship that is rigorous, relevant, and multi-modal.
The major in Communication is granted by the College of Arts and Sciences, but the 14-credit major curriculum is designed, administered, and taught by the Annenberg School for Communication.
Majors may complete an optional concentration. Effective Fall 2020, Communication concentrations are as follows: Advocacy & Activism; Audiences & Persuasion; Culture & Society; Data & Network Science; and Politics & Policy. Alternatively, students may also choose to enroll in the Communication and Public Service (ComPS) program. Students interested in pursuing one of these concentrations or ComPS should should make an appointment to meet with a member of the Communication Undergraduate Advising Team.
See separate details on requirements for a Communication major concentration or the Communication and Public Service program.
Communication students with a concentration complete the 14-credit major curriculum, including a total of 5 courses required to complete a concentration. Of the 5 courses required to complete a concentration, 3 courses are COMM courses, and 2 courses are non-COMM elective courses. A list of approved COMM Data and Network Science concentration courses can be found on the Annenberg School for Communication website. Non-COMM elective courses require pre-approval from a member of the Communication Undergraduate Advising Team. Students may only complete one concentration.
In addition to concentrations, the Communication curriculum also offers opportunities for thesis research, independent study, internships, study abroad, and public service (through the Communication and Public Service Program).
Data & Network Science
Courses in this concentration focus on the role and analysis of data, complex systems, and networks in digital communication. Through this concentration students will gain an understanding of the role of digital media and social networks in disseminating information and influencing the communications, attitudes, and behaviors of social groups. Students have the opportunity to learn computational social science techniques to support research in this area, including social network analysis and methods from data science (information visualization, social media collection, quantitative data, and textual analysis) using various tools and programming languages (Python and R). Sample courses include: Computational Text Analysis for Communication Research; Communication in the Networked Age; Understanding Social Networks; The Impact of the Internet, Social Media, and Information Technology on Democracy; and Social Networks and the Spread of Behavior.
The minimum total course units for graduation in this major is 34. Double majors may entail more course units.
Students must meet the following minimum course and GPA requirements as a condition of application to the major. Students may submit the application for the major after enrollment in the third required course. Meeting these requirements is not a guarantee of admission to the major.
The deadline for declaring the major, declaring a concentration, changing a concentration, and/or removing a concentration is the last day to add a course in the students' final semester.
- Completion of at least two of the following introductory core survey courses:
Course List Code Title Course Units COMM 1230 Critical Approaches to Popular Culture 1 COMM 1250 Introduction to Communication Behavior 1 COMM 1300 Media Industries and Society 1 - Completion of a third Communication course.
- Cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher in all University of Pennsylvania courses.