Communication and Media Arts, B.A.

Communication and Media Arts

The Communication and Media Arts major is designed to provide its graduates with communicative competence, especially within a professional organization. During the course of their study, students select from a wide range of courses in mass media; journalism and editing; television, audio, and web-based production; desktop publishing; public relations; advertising; and communication research. These curricular options create a learning environment which prepares graduates to approach professional tasks and projects with confidence, competence, and creativity. As part of their study, students are challenged to collaborate with others on projects, and encouraged to develop self-selected areas of competence by completing a 12-credit concentration in media arts and, if so desired, any minor at Neumann University.

Program Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, the graduate will earn a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Communication and Media Arts and will be able to demonstrate competencies in the following areas:

• By studying the basics of interpersonal, group, and mass communication, create clear, creative documents and presentations for the professional audience.
• Participate in group processes to understand different models for collaborating, and learn how to communicate well with others.
• Communicate effectively in written, spoken, nonverbal, and visual forms of communication.
• Integrate effective communications research techniques into projects.
• Recognize and apply critical reasoning skills to the completion of tasks, the solving of problems, and personal interactions with others.
• Collaborate on orchestrating a public relations event.
• Understand and apply different types of communications to distinguish across varied purposes and genres — to distinguish public relations communications from advertising, social marketing, journalism, and professional reports and proposals.
• By completing at least one Cooperative Education experience, apply communicative competence in a real work environment, and learn how individuals communicate in a specific context to complete tasks effectively.
• Integrate effective interpersonal, group, and mass communications techniques into the completion of a senior capstone project that shows depth and breadth in research processes and knowledge of media products.
• By completing a concentration of 12 credits in media arts, develop competence, creativity, and increased self-confidence using different technologies and techniques which have been designed to enhance communication.
• Employ technology to demonstrate greater clarity and creativity in the management of information to facilitate communication.
• Integrate effective design strategies into print, media, and web-based projects to show an understanding of varied professional audiences.
• Be able to utilize multimedia techniques to integrate designs into texts and, thereby, create materials of greater visual appeal.
• By completing a self-selected minor for this program, develop expertise in a content area, be better prepared for a future career as a communicator with a specialty, or be able to enter graduate study in specialized areas in communications.

Admission Criteria

Candidates for admission to the Communication and Media Arts major are required to:

• Achieve a grade of “C” or higher in all major and allied requirements as well as all Communication and Media Arts courses taken prior to admission to the major.
• Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.00.
• Make formal application to the major, preferably in the Fall semester of the sophomore year. Students must also successfully complete ENG 102 Rhetoric and Writing II , and CA 110 Introduction to Communication , both with a minimum grade of “C.”

Progression Criteria/Degree Requirements

Progression in the Communication and Media Arts major requires students to:

• Maintain a minimum 2.00 cumulative GPA.
• Achieve a minimum grade of “C” in every major and allied course requirement.
• Complete a minimum of 122 credits.

Cooperative Education Requirement

Students are required to complete a minimum of three (3) credits in Cooperative Education in areas related to Communication and Media Arts. See CA 394-396 , CA 494-496  in the Course Descriptions  section of this catalog for specific details pertaining to this experience.

Course Requirements

Suggested Four-Year Curriculum: 122 Credits