Communications Major

Majors take 11 required courses, including the two introductory courses (to be completed by the end of the first semester of the junior year); two media, culture, and society courses; one ethics, law, and policy course (to be taken during the senior year); three courses in a chosen concentration, one of which serves as the introduction to the concentration; and three free electives.

Course requirements for the major are as follows:

Course Title Credits
Introductory Courses 1
COMM 1000Fundamentals of Communication and Media Studies
COMC 2329Media Industries
Media, Culture, and Society
Select two courses from the media, culture, and society concentration 2
Concentration
Select three courses in one of the following concentrations:
Media, Culture, and Society
Film
Journalism
New Media/ Participatory Media
Television/Radio
Ethics, Law, and Policy
Select one ethics, law, and policy course 3
Electives
Select three electives in COMC, DTEM, FITV, JOUR, or in appropriate related programs 4
1

Majors are required to take both introductory courses by the end of the first semester of their junior year.

2

This includes any COMC course except COMC 2329 Media Industries. Those majors who wish to concentrate in media, culture, and society must take three additional courses from the media, culture, and society concentration, for a total of five media, culture, and society courses, to fulfill this requirement.

3

See course options under Ethics, Law, and Policy Course Requirement in the Communication and Media Studies department. 

4

Any course with the COMM subject code or the COMM attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation from the communications major or minor in PCS, students will have achieved the following curricular goals:

  • Develop a critically-informed understanding of media as a set of industries, institutions, objects, and infrastructures; sites of political, economic, and cultural contestation; and fields of creative production.
  • Understand how media–as historically situated technologies, production practices, and consumption practices–define cultural notions of pastness and futurity.
  • Recognize and evaluate the ethical, regulatory, and legal frameworks within which media and communication systems operate, as well as the asymmetrical power relations embedded within these frameworks.
  • Assess the affordances of communication and media practices for addressing or perpetuating social inequities, and for promoting positive social change.
  • Articulate the varied roles that media play in the shaping of global identities, cultures, and beliefs.

Availability

The major in communications is available to students in Fordham's School of Professional and Continuing Studies at Lincoln Center and Rose Hill, and to students in Fordham College at Rose Hill (FCRH) and Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) who matriculated at FCRH or FCLC prior to fall 2016. Although most courses with the COMM subject code have been reassigned to COMC, DTEM, FITV, or JOUR, the requirements for the major in communications have not changed substantially. Requirements for the major have been restated using the new subject codes.

Fordham College at Rose Hill students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.

Fordham College at Lincoln Center students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the Core Curriculum.

Professional and Continuing Studies students: The requirements above are in addition to those of the PCS Core Curriculum and any additional electives that may be required to earn a minimum of 124 credits.

CIP Code

09.0101 - Speech Communication and Rhetoric.


You can use the CIP code to learn more about career paths associated with this field of study and, for international students, possible post-graduation visa extensions. Learn more about CIP codes and other information resources.

Communications majors are required to specialize in one of the program’s five concentrations by taking that concentration’s introductory course plus two additional courses in the same concentration.

Media, Culture, and Society concentration requirements

Courses in this concentration also fulfill the Media, Culture, and Society requirement for all COMM majors. 

Course Title Credits
COMC 1101Communications and Culture: History, Theory, and Methods
Select any two other COMC courses or courses otherwise fulfilling the requirements for the communication and culture major 1
1

Any course with the COMC subject code or the COMC attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

Film concentration requirements

Course Title Credits
FITV 1501Understanding Film
Select any two other FITV courses numbered x5xx (i.e., whose second digit is a 5) 1
1

Any course with the FITV subject code or the FITV attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

Journalism concentration requirements

Course Title Credits
JOUR 1702Introduction to Journalism4
Select any two other JOUR courses or courses otherwise fulfilling the requirements for the Journalism major
1

Any course with the JOUR subject code or the JOUR attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

New Media concentration requirements

Course Title Credits
DTEM 1401Introduction to Digital Technologies and Emerging Media
Select any two other DTEM courses or courses otherwise fulfilling the requirements for the Digital Technologies and Emerging Media major
1

Any course with the DTEM subject code or the DTEM attribute code may fulfill this requirement.

Television/Radio concentration requirements

Course Title Credits
FITV 1601Understanding Television
Select any two other FITV courses numbered x6xx (i.e., whose second digit is a 6) or where the title of the course contains Television or Radio 1
1

Any course with the FITV subject code or the FITV attribute code may fulfill this requirement.