Origins Communication, a natural human behavior, became a topic of study in the 20th century. As communication technologies developed, so did the serious study of communication. During this time, a renewed interest in the study of
rhetoric, including persuasion and public address, emerged, ultimately laying the foundation for several forms of communication studies we know today. The focus of communication studies developed further in the 20th century, eventually including means of communication such as mass communication, interpersonal communication, and oral interpretation. However, new ways of communicating that had been discovered, especially the use of morse code through portable morse code machines, helped troops to communicate in a much more rapid pace than ever before. Before being established as its own discipline, communication studies, was formed from three other major studies no: psychology, sociology, and political science. Communication studies focus on communication as central to the human experience, which involves understanding how people behave in creating, exchanging, and interpreting messages. Today, this accepted discipline now also encompasses more modern forms of communication studies as well, such as gender and communication, intercultural communication, political communication, health communication, and organizational communication. Schramm was hugely influential in establishing communication as a field of study and in forming departments of communication studies across universities in the United States. He was the first individual to identify himself as a communication scholar; he created the first academic degree-granting programs with communication in their name; and he trained the first generation of communication scholars. Schramm had a background in English literature and developed communication studies partly by merging existing programs in speech communication, rhetoric, and journalism. He also edited a textbook,
The Process and Effects of Mass Communication (1954), that helped define the field, partly by claiming
Paul Lazarsfeld,
Harold Lasswell,
Carl Hovland, and
Kurt Lewin as its founding fathers. The patterns of scholarly work in communication studies that were set in motion at these institutes continue to this day. Many of Schramm's students, such as
Everett Rogers and
David Berlo went on to make important contributions of their own. The first college of communication was founded at
Michigan State University in 1958, led by scholars from Schramm's original
ICR and dedicated to studying communication scientifically using a quantitative approach. MSU was soon followed by important departments of communication at
Purdue University,
University of Texas-Austin,
Stanford University,
University of Iowa,
University of Illinois,
University of Pennsylvania,
The University of Southern California, and
Northwestern University. Associations related to Communication Studies were founded or expanded during the 1950s. The National Society for the Study of Communication (NSSC) was founded in 1950 to encourage scholars to pursue communication research as a social science.
In the United States Undergraduate curricula aim to prepare students to interrogate the nature of communication in society and the development of communication as a specific field. The
National Communication Association (NCA) recognizes several distinct but often overlapping specializations within the broader communication discipline, including:
technology, critical-cultural,
health,
intercultural,
interpersonal-small group, mass communication,
organizational,
political, rhetorical, and
environmental communication. Students take courses in these subject areas. Other programs and courses often integrated in communication programs include
journalism,
rhetoric,
film criticism,
theatre,
public relations,
political science (e.g., political campaign strategies, public speaking, effects of media on elections), as well as
radio,
television,
computer-mediated communication,
film production, and
new media. Many colleges in the United States offer a variety of majors within communication studies, including programs of study in the areas mentioned above. Communication studies is often perceived by many in society as primarily centered on the media arts; however, graduates of communication studies can pursue careers in areas ranging from media arts to public advocacy, marketing, and non-profit organizations.
In Canada With the early influence of federal institutional inquiries, notably the 1951
Massey Commission, the study of communication in Canada has frequently focused on the development of a cohesive national culture, and on infrastructural empires of social and material circulation. Although influenced by the American Communication tradition and
British Cultural Studies, Communication studies in Canada has been more directly oriented toward the state and the policy apparatus, for example the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission. Influential thinkers from the Canadian communication tradition include
Harold Innis,
Marshall McLuhan, Florian Sauvageau, Gertrude Robinson, Marc Raboy,
Dallas Smythe,
James R. Taylor,
François Cooren,
Gail Guthrie Valaskakis and
George Grant. Communication studies within Canada are a relatively new discipline, however, there are programs and departments to support and teach this topic in about 13 Canadian universities and many colleges as well. The Communication et information from Laval, and the Canadian Journal of Communication from McGill University in Montréal, are two journals that exist in Canada. There are also organizations and associations, both national and in Québec, that appeal to the specific interests that are targeted towards these academics. These specific journals consist of representatives from the industry of communication, the government, and members of the public as a whole. == Scope and topics ==