Overview
This 30-credit program focuses on the theory and research of critical communication and social change within global contexts. Students are provided a foundation in communication for social change, global communication, and research methods. Students go further in depth through a wide range of elective courses in categories that include communication for social change, global and intercultural contexts, contemporary social issues, and research skills.
Students complete a thesis, which enables them to apply their knowledge, understanding, critical analysis and research skills to a specific research project.
This program prepares students for leadership positions in agencies and organizations working in social change, globally and in the United States and for graduate education toward a Ph.D. in global communication and social change.
Admission Requirements
- A baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution
- The School's official application
- An $85.00 non-refundable application fee
- Three letters of recommendation
- 500-work typed statement of academic and professional goals
- Official transcripts of all college work, both undergraduate and graduate.
- Note: In addition, international applicants must send a copy of their diploma for all degrees earned, and all documentation that confers their degree, with English translation.
- Note: All transcripts must be the original document, forwarded directly from the University: Xerox copies, true copies, notarized copies and other types of copies are not acceptable.
- Official TOEFL or IELTS scores
- Note: Only for international applicants
- Copy of current passport.
- Note: Only for international applicants. The name entered on the graduate application must exactly match your name as it appears on your passport.
- CV / resume
Curriculum Requirements
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| REQUIRED COURSES | ||
| COM 621 | Research Design and Proposal Writing | 3 |
| COM 622 | Communication and Social Change | 3 |
| COM 623 | Global Communication | 3 |
| COS 645 | Intercultural Communication: International Perspectives | 3 |
| Elective in Contemporary Social Issues | 3 | |
| Students will take a total of three credits from the list of courses below. | ||
| Advanced Medical Anthropology | ||
| Medical Sociology: Issues in Research and Theory. | ||
| Sociocultural Foundations of Global Health | ||
| Hospital Ethnography | ||
| People, Plagues, and Pandemics | ||
| Climate Change and Public Health | ||
| Introduction to Weather and Climate | ||
| Climate Change | ||
| Special Topics | ||
| Economics of Natural Resources | ||
| Fieldwork in Coastal Management: Tourism, Conservation, and Development | ||
| The Science of Actionable Knowledge | ||
| Water Resources in China and Vietnam: Science and Policy | ||
| Citizen and Participatory Science | ||
| Marine Conservation Outreach | ||
| Theoretical Practical Issues in Exploration Science | ||
| Health Applications of Geographic Information Systems | ||
| Sustainable Cities | ||
| Sustainable Food Systems | ||
| Population, Sustainability and the Media | ||
| Global Environment Politics | ||
| The Environmental Movement: Groups, Beliefs and Values | ||
| Contemporary Representations of the Environment | ||
| Nature, the Anthropocene, and Visual Culture | ||
| Environmental Justice Storytelling | ||
| Advanced Graduate Colloquy in Black Feminist Theory and Praxis: Major of 7 Black Feminist Thinkers | ||
| Immigrant Refugee Health | ||
| Bilingualism | ||
| Introduction to Critical Theory | ||
| Readings in Critical Theory | ||
| LGBTI Politics | ||
| Race Relations: Social Psychological Perspectives | ||
| Theories of Race and Ethnic Relations | ||
| Special Topics and Current Issues in Race/Ethnic Relations | ||
Other courses by approval | ||
| Elective in Communication and Social Change Scholarship | 3 | |
| Students will take a total of three credits from the list of courses below. | ||
| Social Media Strategies | ||
| Strategic Communication in Health Care | ||
| Science Documentary: Autism | ||
| Podcast Storytelling | ||
| Internet and Media Activism | ||
| Designing Games for Impact | ||
| Designing and Producing Messages | ||
| Visual and Narrative Theories | ||
| Special Topics in Communication (Special Topics relevant to Communication and Social Change) | ||
| Global Health Communication (Global Health COmmunication) | ||
Other courses by approval | ||
| Elective in Research Methods | 3 | |
| Students will take a total of three credits from the list of courses below. | ||
| Foundations of Quantitative Communication Research Methods | ||
| Qualitative Research Methodologies | ||
| Advanced Quantitative Communication Research Methods | ||
| Theories and Methods for Mass Communication Research | ||
| Structured Research and Practice in SoC Consultancy | ||
| Directed Readings | ||
| Communication Studies Practicum | ||
| Essentials of Research in Social and Behavioral Sciences | ||
| Program Evaluation | ||
| Community-Based Participatory Action Research | ||
| Qualitative Research Methods | ||
| Evaluation Research | ||
| Applied Policy Analysis | ||
| Public Program Evaluation | ||
| Special Topics in Political Theory and Methods | ||
Other courses by approval | ||
| Elective in Global and Intercultural Communication Contexts | 3 | |
| Students will take a total of three credits from the list of courses below. | ||
| Global Issues and Filmmaking | ||
| National Cinemas | ||
| Organizational Culture | ||
| Latin American Journalism and Media Systems | ||
| Special Topics in Journalism and Media Management (Latinx and the Media) | ||
| International Public Relations | ||
| Special Topics in Communication | ||
| Advanced Graduate Seminar | ||
| Community Well-being and Change: Theory and Practice | ||
| Multicultural Communities in a Globalized Society | ||
| Transnational Social Movemen | ||
| Bilingualism | ||
| Politics, Societies, and Cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean | ||
| Global Cultures: Religion, Communication, and Security | ||
Other courses by approval | ||
| ETD THESIS | ||
| COM 810 | Master's Thesis | 6 |
| Total Credit Hours | 30 | |
- 1
All elective courses must be approved by your faculty advisor.
- 2
Only three credits of special topics, independent study, directed reading, practicum, or the like, are permitted.
- 3
Students are required to take a total of 12 elective credits.
Sample Plan of Study
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Fall | ||
| COM 622 | Communication and Social Change | 3 |
| COM 623 | Global Communication | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Spring | ||
| COM 621 | Research Design and Proposal Writing | 3 |
| COS 645 | Intercultural Communication: International Perspectives | 3 |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Summer | ||
| COM 810 | Master's Thesis | 6 |
| Total Credit Hours | 30 | |
Program Mission Statement
Our MA in Communication for Global Social Change will educate students to understand how to critique and to construct communication interventions designed for the benefit of people and communities, local and global. Through grounded scholarship, students will learn to listen and combine learning from academic research and lived experiences in order to engage in intentional communication practices for social change.
Evaluation builds from critical analyses situating problems and solutions within social, cultural, political, economic and technological contexts, as well as from methodological expertise guiding assessment and planning. Critical analyses build from foundations in interdisciplinary approaches to studies of power and marginalization, given inequities across race, gender, orientation, and other key dimensions of identity including and importantly their communication contexts. Social concerns, considered within their global contexts, include those relevant to public health, climate change, migration, social justice, sustainability, and other emerging issues.
Program Goals
To promote:
- Knowledge and understanding of communication and social change
- Application of research skills
- Consideration of global and intercultural communication contexts
- Knowledge and understanding of a contemporary social issue
Graduates will be prepared for professional work as well as for doctoral studies. Specifically, graduates will be able to contribute to:
- Agencies and organizations working in social change, globally and in the United States
- Positions relevant to the design and assessment of communication interventions
- Graduate education toward a PhD, to lead advances in global social change
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate foundational expertise in critical communication theory and research, particularly as it relates to global communication and social change.
- Students will signal understanding of communication and social change within a global communication context, recognizing social, cultural, political, economic, and technological domains.
- Students will demonstrate research skills including the ability to diagnose social problems across multiple levels (systemic, community, etc.), in order to critique and to assess communication interventions as well as to design and to implement them based on these diagnoses.
- Students will display an understanding of a designated contemporary social issue, such as health, climate change, migration, or social justice.
- Students will be able to apply their knowledge, understanding, critical analysis and research skills to specific research through completion of a written master's thesis.
