Communication - College of Integrative Sciences Downtown

About this opportunity

The BA in Communication Arts explores how communication processes create, maintain and transform identities, relationships, workplaces and communities. If you are interested in facilitating healthy relationships in the workplace, pursuing positive social change in your community, or engaging in constructive intercultural interaction, the BA has much to offer.

The BA is explicitly interdisciplinary. Students complete a core, followed by selected courses from a chosen emphasis area: Communication and Culture, Law and Community Advocacy, or Communication, Technology and Society.

The Major at a glance: https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/majorinfo/ASU00/LSCOMBA/undergrad/false
The Faculty in Languages and Culture: https://cisa.asu.edu/people/faculty/lc

Thesis

Any social, political or interpersonal issue must eventually be addressed through communication. Research in honors communication can be either qualitative or critically based. Students may observe the communicative behaviors in a specific context, analyze texts produced by organizations or media outlets, or assess the effectiveness of leadership strategies.

Honors projects have typically taken the form of a written thesis. Students are encouraged to consider web based or video projects if the subject lends itself to that medium.

Academic Preparation

We welcome Barrett students and offer many opportunities for an enriched undergraduate experience. A variety of courses may be taken for honors credit, including:

• COM 316: Gender and Communication
• COM 323: Communication Approaches to Popular Culture
• COM 326: Court Room Oratory
• COM 371: Language, Culture, and Communication
• COM 400: Identity and Diversity in Organizations
• COM 420: Rhetoric and Community Advocacy
• COM 428: Graphic Novels and Popular Culture
• COM 464: Communicative Sexualities
• COM 467: Digital Rhetoric

Recommended Timeline

Students usually begin work during the first semester of their Senior year. 

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors Enrichment Contract projects in COM have included:

• A paper that connected issues of identity management as it intersects with social media. In particular (COM 100).
• An in-depth examination of interpersonal deception theory and how it surfaces in everyday conversation (COM 100).
• Interviewing individuals active in issues of gender equality and presenting the results to the class (COM 316).
• An analysis of how CPAs used social media to market tax advice to gay couples In the wake of the Supreme Court decision regarding marriage equality (COM 400).
• An analysis of arguments presented by plaintiffs in small claims court versus "Judge Judy" (COM 326).