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Communication and UW-Parkside

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The Department of Communication
University of Wisconsin-Parkside
Communication Arts 265
900 Wood Road, P.O. Box 2000
Kenosha, WI 53141-2000
(262) 595-2331

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"The Department of Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside is truly a unique and special place to learn. I found that each professor made it a priority to reach out to their students, providing them with many opportunities to grow personally and within the community. I left UW-Parkside with a deeper understanding of the world around me and a sense of empowerment, ready to take on many tasks that were in my future. I thank them for making my undergraduate experience a life-changing one."
Gina M. Sanders

"My aptitude to think critically and creatively was a skill nurtured by the Communication Department faculty and has become the talent that sets me apart from others in the field. The skills that were instilled in me by the Communication Department have become the foundation of the process by which I conduct my work every single day."
Anna Muthu

The UW-Parkside Communication Department

Communication affects our lives at multiple levels. At one level, communication can be thought of as the way we construct knowledge and information through human interaction, whether face-to-face (such as having a conversation) or mediated (such as watching a film or television). At another point, communication is the process through which we continually negotiate the meaning and purpose of our lives. At no level is this process transparent or innocent. Rather it is influenced by the various ways in which we identify ourselves as individuals and as groups. Recognizing that there are multiple perspectives on what we study, the Communication Department is committed to creating a learning community within which students, faculty, and staff investigate the theoretical knowledge of the discipline. While at the same time learning to use a shared communication process in its many applications, to use it responsibly, and to reassess it when necessary.

Departmental Competencies

The 12 competencies state the assumptions common to courses in the Communication major. Students demonstrate their understanding of these areas prior to graduation as part of their Senior Seminar.

1. Working effectively with information, including evaluating materials produced by others, synthesizing viewpoints, and creating new ideas.
2. Attending to detail, negotiating situations, observing one’s own place within specific contexts, and thinking systematically.
3. Analyzing rules and patterns in social and mediated interactions.
4. Working constructively and building supportive relationships in groups.
5. Solving problems, including defining a problem, and designing, implementing and evaluating solutions.
6. Creating ethical messages appropriate for a variety of audiences and purposes.
7. Understanding communication as the social construction of reality.
8. Understanding identity as constructed and sustained through language and interaction.
9. Understanding the role of communication in creating, sustaining, and changing cultural differences.
10. Understanding individuals as members of multiple groups, organizations, and communities.
11. Understanding the role of symbolic forms, including image, metaphor, narrative and ritual in creating and negotiating meaningful social life.
12. Understanding the connections between communication media and how people have thought and acted over time.

The Communication Department offers:

• Major
• Minor
• Certificate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Students seeking teacher certification should consult the Teacher Education Handbook for current requirements.

Student Clubs

• PAC: Parkside Association of Communicators is a student organization dedicated to promoting interaction and cohesiveness among communication students, and to presenting programs valuable to students’ professional and intellectual development.
• LPH: Lambda Pi Eta is the national Communication Honor Society for undergraduates; the Gamma Pi chapter was established at UW-Parkside in 1994. Students who are accepted majors with at least 60 credits overall and 12 credits in the major, with a GPA of 3.0 overall and a GPA of 3.25 in Communication are eligible.
• TOE: Theatre of Empowerment is a group committed to addressing conflict and promoting dialogue through the medium of public performance. The goals of the group are to raise awareness of particular social problems, and to engage the audience in finding new and creative ways to manage them.