Communication Studies

SPU Communication Majors in Class
Are you interested in learning to communicate with grace, vigor, and integrity? Do you have a passion to engage the culture and change the world through thoughtful and faithful use of your gifts as a communicator? The Communication Studies major provides you with opportunities to develop your communication skills, explore your values, and acquire techniques of insight and critical reasoning.

Benefits

The Communication Studies major at Seattle Pacific University is designed to prepare you for placement in the culture-shaping world of communication. If you decide to continue your studies beyond graduation, the Communication Studies degree also serves as a strong framework for graduate school in any number of fields of study.

Additionally, the skills you will hone as a Communication major — self-knowledge, interpersonal communication, social interaction, presentation of self, personal discipline, risk-taking, cooperative group effort, sensitivity to others, and more — are important to many career applications besides those allied specifically with communication.

Major Courses and Degree Requirements

In general, if you are a Communication Studies major, you are required to fulfill the following requirements: 

  • Earn a minimum of 65 credits in Communication studies and applications, with a minimum of 30 upper-division credits.
  • Demonstrate a growing ability in communication criticism, artistic awareness, and personal communication skills.
  • Successfully complete a Senior Seminar.

View the Communication Studies requirements.

View the suggested course sequence.

Career Opportunities

Communication graduates from Seattle Pacific who pursue the Communication Studies track have pursued careers that include the following:

  • Beat Reporter
  • Blog Writer
  • Book Editor
  • Book Reviewer
  • Business Writer
  • Campaign Manager
  • Columnist
  • Copywriter
  • Corporate Communications Manager
  • Director of Photography
  • Editor
  • Human Resources Manager
  • Intercultural Communications Specialist
  • Journalist
  • Marketing Manager
  • News Analyst
  • Proofreader
  • Public Relations Specialist/Manager
  • Radio or Television Announcer
  • Recruiter
  • Reporter
  • Speechwriter
  • Sports Announcer
  • Telecommunications Specialist
  • Technical Writer
  • Theatre and Film Critic
  • Writer

Entering the Major

You may enter the major during your first quarter at SPU. Entrance after your first quarter requires only good academic standing (2.0 or higher SPU cumulative GPA).

Consult the Undergraduate Catalog for complete information on how and when to enter and what you must do to complete the program.   


Faculty Contact

William Purcell

Professor of Communication
PhD, Indiana University

Email: purcell@spu.edu
Phone: 206-281-2404
Office: Marston 208

See how one student’s post in the University’s career online networking community, Switchboard helped land her an internship with Disney.

Tod Rendleman

Why I Teach at SPU

Todd Rendleman, Professor of Communication

“Before his iconic role in Mad Men, Jon Hamm taught drama at John Burroughs High School in St. Louis. Before international stardom, Sting taught English, music, and soccer at St. Catherine's Convent School in Newcastle. Faye Dunaway says that if she hadn’t become an actress, she would have been a teacher. 

“Why do people who achieve the highest honors in their professions often think of themselves, at heart, as teachers? I think that on some level, they understand that teaching changes lives. I love teaching because it allows me to share my ideas with others — and to be changed through the exchange.”