Communication, B.A./M.A. (5-Year)
Program Description
The 5-year BA-MA program builds on our successful undergraduate major and our 20-plus years of graduate education to provide students with advanced training in professional and business communication, leading to the Master of Arts in Strategic Communication.
The Communication major blends theory with practice, built on a liberal arts education and supplemented with experiential learning opportunities within and outside the classroom. This approach is captured in our program motto: Think. Do.
The 5-year program allows students to dive deeper into communication issues, research, and contexts, and to apply that understanding to organizational contexts. Students are also able to earn graduate credit for internships.
Regardless of which concentration students pursued at the Bachelor's level, they are able to count up to two undergraduate courses (6 credit hours) toward the Master's degree, thus enabling them to finish the MA with just one additional year of school.
Communication majors start with a grounding in classes that provide a strong theoretical foundation for understanding a field that traces its roots to Aristotle but is as contemporary as today's Tweet. Students then can pursue tracks in Advertising, Interpersonal Communication, Media and Journalism, and Public Relations. These concentrations provide the communication knowledge and skills needed for meaningful personal, professional, and social relationships.
The major seeks to develop graduates who engage in informed civic participation and progressive leadership in professional and community settings. This goal reflects the Lasallian tradition of providing a practical education in the service of the greater good.
UG/Grad Dual Counted Courses
The following undergraduate classes may be double-counted toward the 5-year BA/MA program. Only those courses where the student earns a grade of B or better will double-count on the graduate transcript.
| Undergraduate Course | Graduate Equivalent |
|---|---|
| COM 300: Communication Ethics | COM 601: Professional Communication Ethics |
| COM 308: Communication Law and Ethics | COM 670: Communication Graduate Elective Course |
| COM 387: Public Relations Cases and Campaigns | COM 619: Public Relations Campaigns |
| COM 407: Public Relations Management Capstone | COM 613: Approaches to Public Relations |
| COM 408: Media & Journalism Practicum | COM 640: Professional Media Development |
| COM 409: Advertising Capstone | COM 671: Communication Graduate Elective Course |
| COM 415: Applied Interpersonal Communication Capstone | COM 672: Communication Graduate Elective Course |
Why Take This Major?
In addition to the various reasons for pursuing a Communication major, the 5-year BA/MA in Strategic Communication offers the following advantages:
- On average, people with a graduate communication degree start at salaries that are considerably higher than those with just a Bachelor's degree.
- The unemployment rate for people with a graduate communication degree is half of that for those with just a communication BA.
- Ninety-four percent of La Salle's One-Year MA graduates landed advanced jobs in the field soon after graduation.
In addition to those career benefits, there are some advantages for staying in school for a fifth year:
- BA/MA student receive a discount on their graduate tuition costs.
- BA/MA students will be able to earn an advanced degree after just 5 years of college
- BA/MA students will be able to "double count" some upper level undergraduate courses for both their BA and MA.
- BA/MA students will continue to be eligible for financial aid and housing during their 5th year.
Degree Earned
Students earn both a B.A. and, if they continue into the Strategic Communication graduate program, the M.A.
Required for Graduation
- Courses
- Major: 15 for the B.A., 9-11 for the M.A., depending on the number of undergraduate COM classes double-counted.
- Total: 38-40 for the B.A., 9-11 for the M.A.
- Credits
- Major: 45 credits for the B.A.; 27-33 credits for the M.A., depending on the number of undergraduate COM classes double-counted.
- Total: 120 credits for the B.A.; 27-33 credits for the M.A., depending on the number of undergraduate COM classes double-counted.
- GPA
- Major: A 3.0 minimum is required for admission to the MA program.
- Cumulative: A 3.0 minimum is required for admission to the MA program.
Student Learning Outcomes
The Communication Department at La Salle University has aligned our measures of student learning with the National Communication Association's (2015) learning outcomes in communication.
Students graduating with a degree in Communication should be able to:
- Describe the communication discipline and its central questions
- Employ communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
- Engage in communication inquiry
- Create messages appropriate to the purpose, audience, and context
- Critically analyze messages
- Demonstrate the ability to accomplish communicative goals (self-efficacy)
- Apply ethical communication principles and practices
- Utilize communication to embrace difference
- Influence public discourse
Progress Chart
Level One - Core Courses
12 courses and 2 modules required.
Major Requirements
Major requirements include 4 Level Two ILO requirements, fulfilled through the major.
Students in this major must complete 38-40 for the B.A., 9-11 for the M.A. courses in total in order to graduate. 15 for the B.A., 9-11 for the M.A., depending on the number of undergraduate COM classes double-counted courses will be from this major program.
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Level One - Core Courses | ||
| Universal Required Courses | ||
| Students must complete the following 4 courses. | ||
| ILO 8.1: Written Communication | ||
| ENG 110 | College Writing I: Persuasion | 3 |
| ILO 5.1: Information Literacy | ||
| ENG 210 | College Writing II: Research | 3 |
| ILO 1.1: Understanding Diverse Perspectives | ||
| FYS 130 | First-Year Academic Seminar 1 | 3 |
| ILO 2.1: Reflective Thinking and Valuing | ||
| REL 100 | Religion Matters | 3 |
| Elective Core Courses | ||
| Students must complete 1 course in each of the following 4 ILOs. | ||
| ILO 3.1a: Scientific Reasoning | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 4 | |
| ILO 3.1b: Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| ILO 6.1: Technological Competency | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| ILO 8.1a/12.1: Oral Communication/Collaborative Engagement | ||
| COM 150 | Presentation Skills | 3 |
| Distinct Discipline Core Courses | ||
| Students must complete 1 course in each of the following 4 ILOs. Each course must be from a different discipline. (A "discipline" is represented by the 3- or 4-letter prefix attached to each course.) | ||
| ILO 4.1: Critical Analysis and Reasoning | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| ILO 9.1: Creative and Artistic Expression | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| ILO 10.1: Ethical Understanding and Reasoning | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| ILO 11.1: Cultural and Global Awareness and Sensitivity | ||
| Choose course within ILO | 3 | |
| Universal Required Modules | ||
| Students must complete the following 2 non-credit modules. 2 | ||
| ILO 7.1a | ||
| Health Literacy Module | ||
| ILO 7.1b | ||
| Financial Literacy Module | ||
| Major Requirements | ||
| Level Two | ||
| Students must complete 1 course/learning experience in each of the 4 commitments. | ||
| ILO 2.2: Broader Identity (Capstone Course/Experience) | ||
| Select one of the following: (ILO 2.2) | 3 | |
| Public Relations Management | ||
| Media and Journalism Practicum | ||
| Advertising Capstone | ||
| Communication Training and Development | ||
| Select one ILO from 3.2a, 3.2b, 4.2, 5.2, 6.2, 7.2a, or 7.2b: Expanded Literacies | ||
| COM 312 | Persuasion, Power, and Influence (ILO 4.2) | 3 |
| ILO 8.2b: Effective Expression (Writing-Intensive Course) | ||
| Select one of the following: (ILO 8.2b) | 3 | |
| Media Writing | ||
| News Writing and Reporting | ||
| Advertising Copywriting | ||
| Public Relations Writing | ||
| Select one ILO from 10.2, 11.2, or 12.2: Active Responsibility | ||
| COM 308 | Communication Law and Ethics (ILO 10.2) | 3 |
| or COM 317 | Organizational Communication | |
| All Other Required Courses | ||
| Free Electives | ||
| In addition to the requirements listed above, students must take enough courses to the fulfill graduation credit requirements for their School and major. | ||
| Total Credits | 49 | |
- 1
NOTE. The following students use Level 2 Capstone Experience in Major instead of FYS 130 First-Year Academic Seminar: Honors, BUSCA, Core-to-Core, Transfer, and Non-Traditional/Evening.
- 2
The Modules are not required for Transfer Students, Core-to-Core Students, or BUSCA Students. BUSCA students are required to take modules if/when they pursue a bachelor’s degree.
Recommended Course Sequence
Students in the 5-year program would generally follow the recommended course sequence for the undergraduate Communication program. Most classes that would double count toward the MA degree would be taken during the senior year.
Dual Major Requirements
It is possible to complete a dual major while enrolled in the 5-year BA/MA program in Communication. However, only Communication courses may double-count toward the MA program.
Course Descriptions
Communication
This course is an introduction to the mass media and their impact on society. Students will investigate the historical, technological, and social developments of a variety of media, including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, and emerging technologies. Students will be asked to consider evidence, assumptions, and assertions about the effects of media in order to draw conclusions about the responsibility of media professionals and the public when creating, sharing, and consuming content. The course will also examine legal and ethical issues of the media and how politics and economics affect the form, function, and content of media.
This course examines the factors that influence interpersonal communication, effective and ineffective interpersonal communication practices, and the effects of interpersonal communication on our personal and professional lives. Specific topics include how culture influences communication, conflict management, the power of language, and the influence of communication on relationship development, maintenance, and deterioration.
The presentation skills course teaches students how to research, structure, and deliver effective oral presentations. It requires active student participation in order to build both skills and confidence. Among the topics covered in the course are: analyzing the audience; identifying, selecting, and critically evaluating content; organizing content in a logical manner; matching presentation content to presentation goals; using visual aids effectively; dealing with speaking anxiety; and effective, respectful collaboration in preparing presentations.
In this course, students will learn a variety of creative writing techniques for visual media projects. Students will work with various written formats including creative concepts, dual column and master scene scripts, treatments, and storyboards. Students will work within an interactive writers' room to craft effective advertisements/public service announcements, documentary concepts, original film and television scripts, and projects for emerging and interactive media forms. *This course also meets ILO 8a.2 (effective written communication within the major).
In this gateway course to the Media & Journalism track, students will learn the language of mediated storytelling by describing and analyzing the ways in which stories are creatively and artistically crafted for various formats and purposes, including television, film, online video, documentary, and news. Students will be exposed to various types of contemporary visual media, and discuss the ways in which production techniques play a role in creative expression and telling effective stories.
This course introduces students to significant theories of communication, including interpersonal communication, mass media, and persuasion theories. Students will be introduced to the humanistic, social scientific, and critical traditions. A focus of the course is on practical application of theory to real world problems and situations. The course is geared toward sophomore or early junior-year students.
This course teaches students how to report and write news stories that are accurate, fair and complete. Students will learn the basic elements of reporting--how to observe events, how to interview people, and how to use other research tools. Students will also learn how to write and structure news stories for different media platforms including print, broadcast and online. *This course also meets ILO 8a.2 (effective written communication within the major).
This course provides students with a foundation in the distinct yet interconnected fields of advertising and public relations. Students will learn about the roles and effects of public relations and advertising within a variety of organizational contexts, including business, social, and political landscapes. Geared toward first- and second-year students, the course emphasizes historical and contemporary perspectives, essential concepts and theory, introductory planning and practice strategies, as well as opportunities to interact with industry professionals.
This course introduces students to the fundamental theories and practices of audio and video production. Students will learn how the preproduction, production, and postproduction stages apply to media. Emphasis is on storytelling, the importance of audience research and planning, scheduling, and selecting and employing proper resources. Students will experience the process using fundamental production techniques of audio and video through hands-on projects.
Successfully working within a group or team setting is important for our academic, professional, and personal lives. This course blends the theory and practice of successful group communication. Through experiential activities, students will learn about group roles, collaboration, and effective and ineffective decision-making and problem solving.
Communication between members of different cultural groups is complex and challenging, and can lead to misunderstanding and a lack of trust. This course focuses on uncovering historical patterns that influence values, beliefs, and behaviors within cultural groups, and how these issues influence communication practices. A particular focus is on increasing knowledge and skills to improve communication between races and other ethnic and cultural groups.
This course is designed to integrate the phenomena of sports with the field of communication. The course examines how sports are impacted by interpersonal communication, group communication, organizational communication, and mass media. Specific concepts include family communication and sport, the performance of identity in sport, coach-athlete communication, team communication, and cultural views of sports.
This course focuses on the skills of writing, reporting, interviewing, and analyzing in the context of sports media. Students will learn how to develop strategies for sports coverage in a variety of forms, including straight news, features, opinion, and investigative work. Students will be expected to produce content and ideas for written copy, photographs, and video or audio segments. The course will also introduce students to the uniqueness of covering specific sports beats each week.
Communication can be the source of conflict, can reflect conflict, or can be a tool to resolve conflict. This course focuses on productive and unproductive conflict management processes, with a particular focus on the techniques associated with negotiation and dispute resolution.
This course provides students with an overview of ethical standards relevant to social behavior and an in-depth study of contemporary ethical issues facing communicators. Students will apply ethical perspectives such as virtue, universalism, utilitarianism, egalitarianism, dialogic ethics, postmodernism, and the feminist ethic of care to contemporary ethical issues in interpersonal, organizational, public, and mass mediated communication contexts. Concepts of truth, confidentiality, conflict of interest, social justice, and other issues will be addressed.
This course explores the development and change in legacy and new media industries. Issues of economics, regulation, and trends in both entertainment and news media are considered. Students will learn how media companies use research to make strategic decisions, discuss the latest trends and business practices of media conglomerates, and analyze the impact of media business decisions on society and culture.
This course entails reporting for TV and radio broadcast with an emphasis
on hard news but including some feature stories.
This course is an introduction to and application of scriptwriting techniques
in formats appropriate for radio, television, and film.
In this course, students will learn how to report and write feature stories making use of storytelling techniques such as scene-setting, descriptive language, the narrative arc, character development, use of dialogue, explication, and literary devices such as metaphors, flashbacks, foreshadowing and parallel construction. The techniques learned in this class will be applicable to print, broadcast and online presentation.
In this course, students review the history, development, and interpretation of the First Amendment in the U.S. by our court system. Emphasis is placed on the amendment’s impact upon media professionals, journalists, and citizens and includes legal and ethical principles that underpin effective communication practices. Topics include privacy, defamation, press freedom, copyright, media regulations, and the laws of emerging technologies. Students will learn to apply statutes, case law, and ethical principles to First Amendment issues and disputes.
The portfolio assists students with synthesizing and applying what they have learned in Communication courses to the task of bridging from undergraduate studies to post-graduation. Students will build a portfolio that can be used to demonstrate knowledge and skills.
This course emphasizes theory-based analysis of persuasive messages across a variety of contexts and situations, ranging from interpersonal settings to mass mediated-campaigns. Students will also be taught techniques of presenting and selecting evidence with the goal of enhancing the student's abilities to strategically analyze and create persuasive messages. Students will be asked to consider assumptions and draw conclusions about the persuasive efficacy of messages by applying concepts from theory and research. *This course also meets ILO 4.2 (critical analysis and reasoning in the discipline).
Through reading and reflection, students will assess their own interpersonal communication skills. Students will also explore interpersonal programs of research, such as: forgiveness, jealousy, distance relationships, and bullying.
This course introduces students to the strategic process of collecting and analyzing information in professional settings. The practical focus of course assignments will be on using research to solve problems. Students will be introduced to situation analysis, designing and implementing surveys, interviewing, focus groups, and content analysis.
This course surveys classic concepts and theories associated with organizational communication such as leadership, organizational culture, and the role of organizations in society. Contemporary issues such as globalization, technology, and ethical decision making in organizations are also featured, as well as a focus on the practical skills necessary for successful organizational encounters and socialization. *This course meets ILO 10.2 (ethical understanding & reasoning within the discipline).
This advanced course is designed to maximize professional success through an in-depth focus on achieving presentation goals. Students will learn how to effectively present themselves as skilled content experts in professional settings.
Students will learn how communication practices vary across cultures.
Focus will be on intercultural, cross-cultural, and interethnic communication.
Nonverbal communication refers to the many ways that we send messages without relying on words. This course focuses on specific nonverbal structures (e.g., touch, gesture, facial expression, appearance), the functions of nonverbal communication (e.g., impression formation, deception, etc.), and cultural variations in nonverbal communication rules and interpretations.
This course provides experience with writing for advertising. Students will explore the theoretical and research basis for communication and will examine the role of both strategy and creativity in the development and implementation of communication campaigns. Students will write for print, broadcast, and other media.
This course addresses the many positive and negative implications associated with society's reliance on social media platforms. Using a perspective rooted in digital literacy, the course examines how social media is used in both personal and professional contexts, and how me might use social media to communicate competently, ethically, and strategically.
This course focuses on the influence of sex, gender, and sexuality on communication in a variety of contexts. The course will review the recent theories and research literature on communication and sex, gender, and sexuality. The course will present information on communication and sex, gender, and sexuality as it relates to individual identity development, personal relationships, and social relationships.
This course introduces students to research methods used by media professionals,
with particular emphasis placed on the Nielsen and Arbitron
ratings reports. Topics address principles of collecting and interpreting
audience data with application to programming, promotion, and sales.
This experience is normally a full-time, paid employment in a cooperating firm to provide on-the-job training (part-time positions at least six months in duration may qualify). The course requires meetings with the faculty supervisor, reflection papers, and interaction and evaluation by the site supervisors. Position must be approved by Department Chair.
Coaching, regardless of whether it occurs in an athletic context or an organizational context, is dependent on effective interpersonal communication. This course focuses on effective coaching practices, including the instructional, persuasive, team-building, and leadership elements of coaching.
This course teaches core technical and journalistic skills for journalistic
storytelling on the Web. Each student will create his or her own Web
log and fill it with original reporting of community-based stories told
using words, still photos, video, and audio. The reporting will be accurate,
fair, and compelling.
Writing is one of the top-rated skills for public relations professionals. This writing intensive course introduces students to the principles of planning and pre-writing as the basis for successful writing efforts. Students will learn how to produce a variety of pieces for print and electronic media, including press releases, backgrounders, brochures, newsletter articles, and public service announcements, as well as other tools designed to engage an organization's key stakeholders. *This course meets ILO 8b.2 (effective writing in the discipline).
In this course students learn to apply more advanced audio and video production techniques. Students will develop and strengthen their production skills through hands-on projects both in the field, and utilizing the tools of the television studio, for both news and creative productions that can be distributed across various media platforms.
This course focuses on contemporary research and theories associated with communication in close relationships. We will address cultural norms regarding "good" communication and "good" relationships, as well as what research suggests are the realities associated with communication and relationships.
Combining the study and critique of media examples with hands-on experience, this course examines the techniques, equipment, and theories involved in achieving structure in film and video through editing. Students will strengthen and expand their editing skills through class exercises and outside projects, while also studying past and present film and video productions.
In this hands-on course, students learn to approach advertising and public relations (PR) decisions strategically by applying techniques and theories to case examples of communication plans, programs, and campaigns. The course also explores current trends in PR and advertising practices and how these trends influence planning.
This course trains students to produce live sports broadcasts and sports studio shows. Students work behind and in front of the camera, in production and on-air roles, which include: play-by-play announcer, color analyst, sideline reporter, and studio show host and analyst. Students do background research and conduct interviews to identify storylines. They prepare depth charts and memorize key information and statistics for on-air roles. They write scripts and create rundowns and graphics. They research, report, shoot and edit video profiles and enterprise stories.
This course provides students with an overview of ethical standards relevant
to social behavior and an in-depth study of contemporary ethical
issues facing communicators. Concepts of truth, confidentiality, conflict
of interest, social justice, and other issues will be studied from the
perspective of several sub-disciplines of communication. NOTE: COM
400 is taken the same semester as COM 401. Corequisites/
The portfolio assists students with synthesizing and applying what they
have learned in Communication courses to the task of bridging from
undergraduate studies to post-graduation. Students will build a portfolio
that can be used to demonstrate knowledge and skills. COM 401 is
taken the same semester as COM 400. Corequisites/
This course involves an in-depth study of film as art and cultural document.
Rotating topics include film history, critical approaches to film,
film noir, American comedy, etc.
Community journalism comprises a wide range of practices designed to
give news organizations greater insight into the communities they cover.
In this course, students will use the reporting, editing, production, and
design skills developed throughout the track to create non-fiction stories
about Philadelphia community issues. They will learn to produce their
work in print, broadcast, and/or Web-based format.
This capstone in Public Relations uses a combination of case studies and service-learning to provide students with an in-depth study of public relations theory and practice. In addition to exploring a particular practice area in greater depth, students work with community organizations on public relations projects to apply what they have learned. Students complete journal assignments throughout the semester that ask them to reflect on both their professional development and understanding of the needs addressed by the community partners with which they work. *This course meets ILO 2.2 (reflective thinking and valuing in the discipline).
This capstone in Media and Journalism builds upon the skills students have developed throughout their coursework, including planning, writing, production, and editing. Students will synthesize various skills and work as a team to produce multimedia storytelling projects within the local community. Students will have the opportunity to create advanced-level work, cooperate as a team, and reflect on their role as media storytellers. *This course meets ILO 2.2 (reflective thinking and valuing in the discipline).
This course is the culmination of previous advertising coursework. Students will develop a professional advertising campaign. The emphasis will be on developing sound strategies and rationales, creativity, and the use of multiple media channels.
This capstone course challenges students to apply theoretical and practical understanding of interpersonal communication to professional situations. Using problem-based learning, students will identify communication needs and propose informed recommendations. As part of the course, students will also reflect on their own communication patterns and identify factors related to increased competencies for interpersonal and professional success. This course meets ILO 2.2 (reflective thinking and valuing in the discipline).
This course provides the student with an opportunity to do research with a faculty member. The student and the faculty member agree on the research project before the student registers for the course.
This course is a continuation of the 444 research course. It provides the student with an opportunity to continue to conduct research with a faculty member.
This experience is normally a full-time, paid employment in a cooperating firm to provide on-the-job training (part-time positions at least six months in duration may qualify). The course requires meetings with the faculty supervisor, reflection papers, and interaction and evaluation by the site supervisors. Position must be approved by Department Chair.
Students may intern in communication industries. Working approximately 15 hours a week under professional supervision, students learn how to apply their education to the everyday demands of professional positions. The course requires meetings with the faculty supervisor, reflection papers, and interaction and evaluation by the site supervisors.
Students may intern in communication industries. Working approximately 15 hours a week under professional supervision, students learn how to apply their education to the everyday demands of professional positions. The course requires meetings with the faculty supervisor, reflection papers, and interaction and evaluation by the site supervisors.
Students may intern in communication industries. Working approximately 15 hours a week under professional supervision, students learn how to apply their education to the everyday demands of professional positions. The course requires meetings with the faculty supervisor, reflection papers, and interaction and evaluation by the site supervisors.
Program Contact Information
Katie N. Dunleavy, Graduate Director
227A Communication Center
dunleavy@lasalle.edu
(215) 951-3520