Degree Requirements
All students are required to complete overall degree requirements in addition to their major. Please see Degree Completion Requirements for full details for students entering in the 2025-2026 catalog year.
Those students who started at Hiram prior to the 2025-2026 academic year will follow the Degree Requirements outlined in your catalog of record.
Major Requirements
Students may only double major in two disciplines from the Scarborough School of Business & Communication with permission from the program faculty. Students must develop a proposal to outline how they will achieve breadth of knowledge in the two disciplines chosen.
The communication program offers a major requiring ten courses and one correlative course defined below. Students must earn a C- or better in COMM 10100 FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN and COMM 30000 HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY and maintain a minimum grade-point average of 2.0 for all communication courses to progress in the major. See the Communication Overview page for additional information.
Core Courses in the Major
All four core courses listed below are required and must be completed in sequential order. COMM 48000 SENIOR SEMINAR constitutes the capstone experience, which encourages students to explore critical issues in the discipline and further refine their communication skills in the context of a senior seminar.
Students will coordinate with the faculty member teaching COMM 48000 SENIOR SEMINAR when choosing their project topic for SOSC 21000 RESEARCH METHODS IN SOC SCI:SM, and they’ll carry that same topic into COMM 48000 SENIOR SEMINAR.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Courses | ||
| COMM 10100 | FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN | 4 |
| COMM 30000 | HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY | 4 |
| SOSC 21000 | RESEARCH METHODS IN SOC SCI:SM | 4 |
| COMM 48000 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 4 |
| Elective Courses | ||
| Students must consult with their communication major advisor to complete a minimum of six elective courses in communication chosen from the options listed below. | 18-24 | |
| DIGITAL IMAGING:CM | ||
| INTRO TO HEALTH COMMUNICATION (Required Course) | ||
| INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| GROUP INTERACTION PROCESSES | ||
| FAMILY COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| ORAL INTERPRETATION OF LIT:CM | ||
| NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| ARGUMENTATION AND ADVOCACY | ||
| MEDIA LAW & ETHICS:ES | ||
| SURVEY OF JOURNALISM | ||
| MASS MEDIA AND SOCIETY | ||
| PUBLIC RELATIONS (Required Course) | ||
| SPORTS JOURNALISM (Required Course) | ||
| STRATEGIC SPORT COMMUNICATION | ||
| MEDIA AND MULTICULTURALISM:UD | ||
| PRINCIPLES OF ADVERTISING | ||
| COMMUN BETWEEN CULTURES:EW | ||
| VISUAL COMMUNICATION I | ||
| SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION | ||
| ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION | ||
| GENDER COMMUNICATION:CA | ||
| PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE | ||
| INTERCULTURAL HLTHCRE COMM:UD | ||
| Correlative Courses | ||
| Students are required to complete one writing course at the 20000-level or above (e.g. COMM 24000, 24600, WRIT 20500, 22100, 31100, 31300, etc.) | 3-4 | |
| If a communication course is selected to fulfill the writing correlative, it cannot also be counted as one of the six courses required for communications majors. | ||
| Apprenticeship in Communication (Practical Experience) | ||
| The apprenticeship is required for students who major in communication and strongly encouraged for communication minors. The apprenticeship requirement gives students the opportunity to apply and further develop their knowledge and skills through practical experiences. The apprenticeship requirement can be completed with or without having course credit attached, and it can be tied into or separate from Hiram Connect experiential learning requirements. The apprenticeship requirement can be fulfilled through a variety of options on or off campus. Students must consult with their major advisor when selecting an apprenticeship experience. The most traditional manner of fulfilling the apprenticeship is through either internships (COMM 49800) or field experiences (COMM 29800). Please refer to the Catalog for related course descriptions. | ||
| Total Hours | 37-44 | |
Pathway
| First Year | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall 12 Week | Hours | |
| UCS 10101 | FIRST-YEAR ENDURING QUESTIONS | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 3 |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM 10100 | FOUNDATIONS OF PUBLIC COMMUN 1 | 4 |
| UCS 20201 | ADDRESSING URGENT QUESTIONS | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3 | |
| Hours | 3 | |
| Second Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Third Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| UCS 30301 | URGENT CHALLENGE SEMINAR:TT | 4 |
| COMM 30000 | HUMAN COMMUNICATION THEORY (only offered in the fall semester) 1 | 4 |
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM XXXXX | Communication Elective | 4 |
| Hiram Core Requirement or Elective | 4 | |
| WRIT XXXXX Program Writing Requirement 2 | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Fourth Year | ||
| Fall 12 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Fall 3 Week | ||
| SOSC 21000 | RESEARCH METHODS IN SOC SCI:SM | 4 |
| Hours | 4 | |
| Spring 12 Week | ||
| COMM 48000 | SENIOR SEMINAR | 4 |
| Internship (Optional but strongly recommended) | 4 | |
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 4 | |
| Hours | 12 | |
| Spring 3 Week | ||
| Hiram Core Requirement, Elective, or Minor Course | 3-4 | |
| Hours | 3-4 | |
| Total Hours | 121-126 | |
- 1
"Critical'' to timely degree progression.
- 2
A writing course at the 20000-level or above or a communication course designated as “writing.”