Communication Studies and Theater Arts

From Arthur Dirks, 8 Nov 2002

The faculty in the Department of Communication Studies and Theatre Arts discussed their concerns for the General Education program. It was difficult to separate the questions of what they think everyone needs and what the students in the major need for the program. Following is a catalog of their concerns, with no relative weighting or order of priority.

• Literacy and numeracy. By this they mean a certain above-average capacity to read with comprehension, to write with clarity, and to comprehend and construct relationships among numbers. -Students need to develop skill in using the English language both in written and oral form.
  -Rational and logical thinking sometimes seem to be thinly distributed in many of our classes. The faculty believe this should be addressed not only in the major, but also in the general education program. Students need to understand how to make an argument.
  
  
• There is a general feeling that it continues to be important to understand how the various disciplines know. There needs to be introduction to academic inquiry in each major discipline. Theatre and dance faculty feel is important for students to be introduced to more than one form of artistic expression and the cultural role of the arts.
  
  
• Faculty feel some introduction to "the great thinkers" is important for general education.
  
  
• For Communication Studies, a fundamental study of statistics is much needed to understand communication research, and it would go far to help all students evaluate the many references to data they receive in the media and culture.
  
  
• Students need to develop an understanding of history and government, and the problems of democracy.
  
  
• Communication faculty feel "media literacy" is important for all students, defined as how to "read" the output of the media and apply critical thinking and critical analysis to the media product. This is fundamental to "civics," in the sense of an informed and engaged citizenry.
  
  
• A thought was expressed about the value of "computer literacy," although no one attempted to define it. There was discussion about whether this was really functional abilities in certain applications. Some discussion also extended this to appropriate and knowledgeable use of the internet.
  
  
• There is unanimity among our faculty in the need for all students to develop the ability to communicate orally and to develop skill in presenting, communicating in groups, communicating interpersonally, and other "live" communication settings.

Given more leisure, I'm sure everyone would find more ground that it would be imperative for general education to cover.

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