Courses & Curriculum

With Chatham's communication major, you will gain a strong and creative foundation for many career opportunities. Explore this page's sample courses and curriculum, and come back soon for a more detailed example degree progression.

Sample Courses & Curriculum

The Communiqué Newsroom

This professional development course is designed to give students hands-on training in the various roles that work together to make a multiplatform newsroom function by fulfilling a staff position with the Communiqué. Students will develop skills related to developing/pitching story ideas, beat reporting, story budgets, print newspaper design, and digital journalism.

Practical Public Relations

Students learn the theories, practical writing skills, and strategies involved in planning and implementing public relations campaigns. The course is an exploration in how to influence public opinion/behavior and build connections with legacy and new media outlets through effective, ethical, and socially responsible communication.

Persuasion

This course introduces students to sociopsychological theories that measure and quantify communication. Students will focus on attitudes, behaviors, and values to identify cause-and-effect relationships. As a writing-intensive course, students will develop a term-long project that demonstrates interaction and influence.

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Program Highlights

  • Versatile and interdisciplinary: The Communication program invites students to combine their major coursework with other areas of personal interest. Chatham’s liberal arts focus allows students to explore multiple disciplines or even pursue a double major or minor. Communication students have also studied business, marketing, photography, political science, women and gender studies, and social justice. The interdisciplinary nature of Communication prepares students to be well-rounded, socially conscious storytellers and media makers.
  • Practical experience: Students will prepare for careers in media through coursework, co-curricular activities, and internships. Journalism students learn how to plan, produce, and promote a multiplatform news outlet by working for the Communiqué, Chatham’s student-run media outlet that’s modeled after a professional newsroom. Through Chatham’s student-run PR, marketing, and design firm, students get to create campaigns for real-world clients and explore the roles and responsibilities of working in an agency setting. Students also have the opportunity to work extensively with audio-visual equipment, including camcorders, DSLRs, studio and location lighting systems, tripods, dollies, microphones, audio mixers, and recorders. Students also have access to editing labs, a designated studio space, and an audio booth.
  • Capstone: All undergraduate students complete a capstone seminar that channels the knowledge they’ve accumulated into a discipline-specific project under close faculty guidance. Chatham is one of the few universities across the country that offers such an independent and student-driven program.