Communication
Learn to harness the power of communication.
A communication degree will prepare you for a career in many areas, including business, journalism, public relations, media, nonprofit, government, law and education. Whether writing, teaching, serving customers, disseminating information to the public, or managing workers, a communication degree provides the skills and knowledge necessary for professional achievement. With an emphasis on both professional experience and academic credentials, the program prepares you for success after graduation.
Recognizing the power and potential of communication, Meredith strives to educate women to become more proficient practitioners, responsible for making ethical, critical and effective communication choices. As our community becomes more globally integrated, it is increasingly important for students to gain an understanding and respect for diverse and culturally rich communication perspectives.
Meredith's communication program emphasizes civic engagement, social and professional interaction as well as written and oral communication skills. We offer two concentrations, interpersonal communication and mass communication, each leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. The curriculum also explores ethical issues, theories and behaviors that are involved in public and mass communication, and issues crucial to the relational communication between cultures.
The interpersonal communication concentration focuses on theories of relational communication and methods of improving an individual's success in social interactions. The curriculum emphasizes interpersonal relationships, genders and cultures, nonverbal communication and communication in business settings.
The mass communication concentration offers a liberal arts curriculum focusing on the functions and effects of the mass media. The coursework is broad based. Students investigate many areas, including journalism, broadcasting and public relations. Hands-on experience is emphasized equally with scholarly research.
All Meredith communication students are required to complete at least one internship. This experiential learning provides students with valuable practical experience and frequently leads to permanent employment following graduation.
Communication majors are required to complete at least one internship. Recent internships have consisted of jobs in event planning, public relations, radio and TV production, marketing and human resources. Internships have been held in a variety of business communication settings, including many nonprofit organizations:
- Brain Injury Association of North Carolina
- Clear Image Communications
- American Diabetes Association
- Scandinavian Child
- Autism Society of North Carolina
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Wake County Realtors Association
- Mitchell’s Catering and Events
- HIS radio
- 101.5 (WRAL-FM)
- G-105 Radio
- News 14 Carolina
- Cystic Fibrosis
- WTVD
- Howard Merrell and Partners
- NBC 17
Many graduates of the communication program go on to graduate school in communication, psychology, social work or law school. Others hold professional positions in departments of leading employers such as:
- Corporate Human Resources, bioMerieux
- Public Relations, SAS Institute
- Marketing, Wake County Realtors Association
- Production, NBC-17
Meredith’s student/faculty ratio of 11:1 and average class size of 17 ensure that students get to know their professors. In turn, our faculty know students by name and, just as important, are familiar with each student’s unique strengths and interests. This allows faculty to identify interesting research and internship opportunities for students, to write meaningful letters of recommendation, and to support students as they conduct in-depth undergraduate research. In fact, students and faculty frequently work together on such projects—more than 140 were conducted by student/faculty teams last year.
Communication faculty members include:
- Carla Ross, Ph.D., teaches interpersonal communication courses that focus on nonverbal, relational and forgiveness skills.
- Chuck Grant, Ph.D., teaches in the Interpersonal concentration and focuses on public speaking, small group, persuasion and research methods.
- Doug Spero, M.A., brings significant experience in the broadcasting world to his current position at Meredith. He has worked for all three network giants, ABC, CBS and NBC, and has collected more than 40 professional awards, including an Emmy for Best Investigation. His courses focus on mass media issues in culture & society, law and writing for the media.
- Michiko Yamada, Ph.D., focuses on introducing students to the mass communication world and intercultural communication.
The program also has highly-qualified adjunct faculty who round out course offerings with classes in gender communication, public relations, event planning and business and professional communication.
For more detailed information about the communication major, please go to the program website.
For information about other majors at Meredith, return to the Admissions majors page
