About the Department of Communication

With 630 undergraduate majors and 150 graduate students, the Department of Communication is diverse and dynamic, featuring programs in communication studies, media arts and studies, film, journalism, public relations and dispute resolution.

Our students experience the benefit of a world-class education in a real world context. The department is composed of 30 tenure and tenure track faculty and 35 part-time faculty with strong backgrounds in both scholarly and professional approaches to communication.

25 graduate assistantships are offered each year. Wayne State's Graduate School is among the 10 largest in the country and, with more than 10,000 students, is the largest in Michigan.

Role and Mission of the Department of Communication
The study of communication involves the theory, research and practice of message-based interaction among individuals, groups, institutions and cultures. Communication is a human and technological activity whereby ideas, information and perceptions are made common among individuals, groups, institutions and cultures.

The mission of the Department of Communication is to establish and maintain programs of scholarly research and creative activity, to provide excellence in academic instruction, to produce professional communicators who can excel in a variety of contexts and to serve metropolitan Detroit, the state of Michigan, larger national and international communities and the communication discipline at large. This mission entails:

Excellence in the Generation and Critique of Knowledge about Human Communication: We seek to establish and maintain programs of scholarly research and creative activity that contribute to the larger understanding and the practice of communication. These programs should incorporate the range of empirical, critical and creative approaches to communication; yet remain focused so as to provide depth and continuity.

Excellence in Teaching: We seek to educate students broadly in communication so that our students are familiar with the oral, aural, written and visual contexts and skills of communication. Our graduates should be skilled practitioners, critical consumers and thoughtful observers of communication processes.

Excellence in Serving Multiple Constituencies: We seek to serve our communities and the communication discipline at large by example participation and leadership. We should interact with the individuals and institutions in the urban environment and provide services and knowledge relevant to their communication concerns.