Speech Communication Undergraduate Major (BA, BS, HBA, HBS)

Students in speech communication focus on aspects of human communication through courses developed around two themes: interpersonal communication and rhetoric. Within the area of interpersonal communication, our faculty engages in scholarship and teaches courses in organizational, small group, health, and intercultural communication, along with courses in mediation and conflict management. Within the area of rhetoric and social influence, our faculty engages in scholarship and teaches courses in argumentation, persuasion, propaganda, visual rhetoric, social movements, pop culture, media criticism, political campaigns, and environmental rhetoric. Students can also practically apply their knowledge through participation in internships, our nationally-ranked Speech and Debate team, and our award-winning chapter of the national honorary fraternity in communication, the Alpha Beta Theta chapter of Lambda Pi Eta. Students majoring in Speech Communication must choose between a Communication option and a Theatre Arts option. Both options function as stand-alone majors. The Communication option consists of 48 credits of course work. Students who choose the Communication option will be required to satisfactorily complete an undergraduate prerequisite core before applying (through the School of Arts and Communication) to the major. Students who are working on completing the prerequisite core are placed in pre-communication. The Theatre Arts option consists of 51 credits of course work. Students in theatre arts do not need to complete the undergraduate prerequisite core required in the Communication option. The course requirements for students pursuing a Theatre Arts option are held to a minimum with the intention of allowing the student and his or her faculty advisor to devise a program most suited to the student's specific needs and objectives. Students pursuing the Bachelor's degree in Speech Communication must successfully complete the requirements of either the Communication option (48 credits) or Theatre Arts option (51 credits); the requirements of the Liberal Arts Core (15 cr.); the Oregon State Baccalaureate Core (48 credits); and the requirements for the BA or BS.