Faculty

Chairperson: Craig O. Rich 

Associate Chairperson: Christopher J. Finlay 

Professors: Bryant Keith Alexander, Paige Pettyjohn Edley, Michele L. Hammers, Dean Scheibel 

Associate Professors: Shaun M. Anderson, Christopher J. Finlay, Meng Li, Nina Maria Lozano, Patricia Oliver, Kyra L. Pearson, Craig O. Rich 

Assistant Professors: Jason Leigh Jarvis, Allison Noyes 

Clinical Professors: Judy Battaglia, James Bunker, Matthew Dewey, Thomas Dowd, Kathleen Norris 

Instructors: Rebecca Avalos, Corrina Laughlin 

Mission Statement

The Communication Studies Department provides students from across the LMU community with the communication competencies necessary to pursue their personal, professional, and civic goals. Our faculty and students examine how messages and meanings are produced, interpreted, and consumed. In particular, our program rigorously engages the following:

• The production and evaluation of communication messages,

• The role of communication in shaping the performance of identity and community,

• The processes and technologies by which people relate to and collaborate with each other, and

• The importance of principled advocacy across our personal, professional and public lives.

Throughout all aspects of our program, we encourage self-reflection and critical engagement with disciplinary subject matter and contemporary social and political events at the local and global level. We encourage our students and faculty to nurture personal habits of lifelong learning and service.

In addition, our students and faculty produce scholarship that advances our knowledge of human communication, enhances the quality of public deliberation, and bridges the gap between our curriculum and real world experiences. To serve these goals, the Communication Studies Department creates an environment where students and faculty pursue scholarship, community engagement, and leadership in civic, corporate, and international arenas.

Finally, we develop students’ professional competencies and enable them to maximize their post-graduation opportunities for career development. In seeing professional development as a shared responsibility, students are empowered to cultivate their communication skills outside of the classroom through engaged forms of learning and professional development.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the Communication Studies degree, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate subject matter knowledge of the communication studies discipline, including:
   • The history of the discipline;
   • The nature of theory and its role in the study and practice of human communication; and
   • The foundational theoretical concepts from multiple sub-disciplines within the major.
2. Express ideas and relay information using conventions and forms appropriate to the intended audience.
3. Test or generate new knowledge using research methods appropriate to the communication studies discipline.
4. Articulate the relationship among disciplinary subject matter, research methodologies and one or more non-academic contexts.
5. Demonstrate the value of multiple theoretical, pedagogical, and socio-cultural perspectives.
6. Collaborate effectively and ethically in group problem-solving and decision-making situations.
7. Demonstrate and value respectful engagement with individual and group differences in interactions with all others.
8. Apply ethical standard to communication practices across multiple contexts.
9. Apply communication principles in service of justice for self, others, and society.
10. Innovate, justify, and enact solutions based on: inquiry, discernment, evidence, and analysis.
11. Demonstrate and value the pursuit of ethical actions through critical reason and reflection.
12. Demonstrate and value a self-reflexive approach to the study and practice of communication.

Potential Career Pathways

A degree in Communication Studies (CMST) from Loyola Marymount University provides students with the opportunity to develop essential skills–writing, oral communication, critical thinking, and teamwork–that are in high demand in today’s challenging and ever-changing world.

CMST students take a variety of courses that allow for both depth and breadth of study. We feature a rigorous Internship Practicum course for our juniors and seniors. CMST students often pursue minors in fields such as business, journalism, political science, or the arts to complement their CMST coursework.

With careful academic planning, CMST graduates are prepared for a variety of entry-level positions emphasizing both internal and external communication management across corporate, nonprofit, and/or public fields.

Below are a few of those fields:

• Campaign Strategy
• Corporate and Non-profit Communication
• Social Media Management
• Training and Development
• Development/Fundraising
• Human Resources
• Public Relations, Advertising, Sales, and Marketing

Our graduates often successfully pursue additional education, including advanced degrees, in a variety of academic fields. These fields include:

• Communication Studies and related fields
• Mediation/Conflict Resolution
• Media Studies
• Education
• Law
• Business

Major Requirements: (44 semester hours) (CMST)

Communication Studies Model Four-Year Plan