Communication

After Hiram – Communication major

A firm foundation for the future

A Hiram education ensures that students have been exposed to studies across many disciplines and graduate with the critical thinking skills needed to enter a variety of career fields or graduate study. Our communication major promotes both theoretical and hands-on learning to ensure that students are prepared for a career in many industries.

Students are also given opportunities to complete research, an apprenticeship or internship before they graduate. Some recent external internship sites have included • WEWS, News Channel 5, Cleveland • Cleveland Cavaliers • Youngstown Osteopathic Hospital • Cleveland Bar Association • WOIO-WUAB, Cleveland • Farm and Dairy Agriculture News • 850AM WKNR, ESPN Cleveland • Ohio Magazine • Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens • Time Out, Buenos Aires, Argentina • Hospice of the Valley

Types of careers our students pursue

The depth and breadth of Hiram’s program ensures that our students are well prepared for the future. Examples of professional positions young alumni hold include:

• journalist
• editor
• public relations specialist
• government affairs
• marketing manager
• social media strategist
• website developer
• radio/television broadcasting

Although minors are not required for graduation, many students choose one. A minor area of study consists of courses specified by each department. Typically, minors consist of five or six courses, over half of which must be taken at Hiram College.

Why pursue a minor?

Minors allow you to pursue areas of interest that your major alone won’t cover. They can help supplement your major-related coursework, help you become a more well-rounded and accomplished student, and communicate to potential employers that you have a diverse knowledge base and the drive to continue learning.

The communication department seeks to provide students with an understanding of the communication process as human symbolic activity, the necessary skills for the application of that process, as well as an awareness of its ethical dimensions.

Goals:

1. To appreciate a theory-based curriculum with roots in the Liberal Arts.
2. To apply multiple theoretical perspectives and diverse intellectual underpinnings in the discipline to explain   communication phenomena.
3. To enhance student proficiency in both oral and written discourse with diverse others.
4. To demonstrate systematic inquiry (the process of asking questions and systematically attempting to answer them, and understanding the limits of the conclusions reached).
5. To engage in the analysis and practice of ethical communication as a function of enlightened and free choice.
6. To demonstrate competency in human relational communication (the basis for faculty-faculty, faculty-student, and student-student relationships, in and out of the classroom as open, honest, and affirming).
7. To engage in reflective construction and analysis of arguments and discourse intended to influence beliefs, attitudes, values, and practices.
8. To engage in the analysis, interpretation, and critique of contemporary media.