On behalf of the faculty and alumni of the communication program at San Diego State University, I am happy to welcome you to explore our website and learn about the exciting opportunities for graduate and undergraduate study. We are proud of our academic programs and the success of our alumni. The School of Communication has a national reputation and we provide a strong curriculum in a fantastic urban coastal environment. Explore SDSU - we hope you will agree this may just may be the place for you!
Dr. William B. Snavely, Director School of Communication
The School of Communication at San Diego State University includes two majors: Communication Studies and our new major in Health Communication. The School of Communication has a long and rich tradition in both undergraduate and graduate studies. Faculty members are nationally recognized for their scholarship and teaching. Collectively, the members of the Communication faculty have published hundreds of journal articles, books, and book chapters. They are regular contributors to scholarly conferences, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Members of the faculty are recognized experts in areas such as nonverbal communication, stalking and other aspects of the "dark side" of communication, rhetorical theory, health communication, organizational communication, leadership, emotion and immediacy, gender communication, and many others.
The strength of our faculty, their scholarship and outstanding teaching, coupled with a competitive forensics program and thousands of very successful alumni, have resulted in SDSU being considered one of the top programs in Communication in the United States. [Back to Top]
The curriculum in Communication Studies features our very best faculty teaching most of our majors courses in relatively small class sizes. The courses, requirements, and topics are all constantly updated to ensure you receive the very best instruction.
The Communication Studies curriculum can be thought of in terms of four levels of study. To start, all students in both majors take an introduction to communication theory (Conceptualizing Communication) and methodology (Investigating Communication). With these prerequisite courses completed, students in Communication Studies move to the second level where they can choose two "conceptualizing" courses from among seven choices, and select one "investigating" course from among four choices. The third level consists of 18 units of upper-level communication courses. Students have a great deal of freedom to choose the courses that will meet their own curricular goals. The fourth level consists of the senior capstone course, which integrates all they have studied, both theoretically and methodologically.
Communication course topics include: intercultural, organizational, nonverbal, rhetorical, argumentation theory, group interaction, persuasion, interviewing, relational, rhetorical movements, interaction and gender, political communication, conflict management and leadership, among others.
For Health Communication majors, the first level is the same. Students then choose from a number of Health Communication courses and two methodology courses. At the top level, they rejoin the Communication Studies majors in the Capstone course. [ Back to Top]
San Diego State University provides web access and support for undergraduate applicants. Consult the university website for information about application procedures, housing, scholarships and financial aid.
Students interested in our M.A. program should consult the graduate section of this website. [link] [Back to Top]