Click here for a newly added Resource List for Careers in Communication

Careers in Communication

Areas of emphasis within communication studies are vast. However, in Youngstown State University's Communication Studies Department, you can prepare for futures in a variety of communication-related fields. Below you will find common fields of study that can be pursued at YSU.

What is Communication?
(from NCA's Pathways to Careers in Communication, 2003)

Communication is a learned skill. Most people are born with the physical ability to talk, but we must learn to speak well and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening, and our ability to understand verbal and nonverbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modeling our behaviors based on what we see. We also are taught some communication skills directly through education, and by practicing those skills and having them evaluated.

Communication as an academic discipline relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of study and knowledge. The communication discipline includes both verbal and nonverbal messages. A body of scholarship all about communication is presented and explained in textbooks, electronic publications, and academic journals. In the journals, researchers report the results of studies that are the basis for an ever-expanding understanding of how we all communicate.

Communication Fields:

• Applied Communication - study of communication consultants analyze communication needs of organizations and social interaction, including the design of training to improve communication between employees.
• Communication Education - study of communication in the clasroom and other pedagogical contexts.
• Communication Theory - study of principles that account for the impact of communication in human social interaction.
• Electronic Media - study of radio, television, media technology, and web design with streaming audio and video.
• Health Communication - study of communication as it relates to health professionals and health education, including the study of provider-client interaction as well as the diffusion of health information through public health campaigns.
• International/Intercultural Communication - study of communication among individuals of different cultural backgrounds, including the study of similarities and differences across cultures.
• Interpersonal Communication - study of communication behaviors in dyads (pairs) and their impact on personal relationships.
• Language/Social Interaction - study of the structure of verbal and nonverbal behaviors occurring in social interaction.
• Legal Communication - study of communication as it relates to the legal system.
• Mass Communication/Media Literacy - study of the structure of verbal and nonverbal behaviors occurring in social interaction.
• Mediation/Dispute Resolution - understanding, management, and resolution of conflict within intrapersonal, interpersonal, and intergroup situations.
• Organizational Communication - study of the processes used to analyze communication needs of organizations and social itneraction, including the design of training to improve communication between supervisors and employees.
• Performance Studies - study of components, such as performer(s), text, audience, and context within the communication discipline.
• Political Communication - study of the role that communication plays in political systems.
• Public Address - study of speakers and speeches, including the historical and social context of platforms, campaigns, and movements.
• Public Relations - study of the management of communication between an organization and its audiences.
• Rhetorical Criticism - study of principles that account for the impact of human communication between speaker and audience.
• Semiotics - the use of verbal and nonverbal symbols and signs in human communicaiton
• Small Group Communication - study of communication systems among three or more individuals who interact around a common purpose and who influence one another.
• Speech Communication - study of the nature, processes, and effects of human symbolic interaction. While speech is the most obvious mode of communication, human symbolic interaction includes a variety of verbal and nonverbal codes.
• Theatre and Drama - study and production of dramatic literature.
• Visual Communication - study of visual data, such as architecture, photography, visual art, advertising, film, and television as it relates to communication.

Resource List for Careers in Communication