As a Communications major, you’ll learn how to use rhetoric and technology to transform audiences and influence culture across various contexts—whether professional, personal, political, or evangelical.
Fast Fact: Communication is key. Many employers identify having good communication skills as one of the most desirable traits in prospective employees.
As a Communications major, you’ll learn how to use rhetoric and technology to transform audiences and influence culture across various contexts—whether professional, personal, political, or evangelical.
Fast Fact: Communication is key. Many employers identify having good communication skills as one of the most desirable traits in prospective employees.
Instructor of Communications and Literature
Email:
maria.boersma@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7142
Office:
Henkels 3003
Chair of the Communications and Literature Departments; Assistant Professor of Communications; Internship Coordinator and A/V Studio Director; Communications and Literature Internship Coordinator
Email:
justin.bonanno@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7964
Office:
Henkels 2018
Chair of the Humanities Department; Professor of Humanities and Literature; Director of Shakespeare in Performance
Email:
travis.curtright@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 280-1612
Office:
Canizaro Library 219
Assistant Professor of Literature; Director of Literature Program
Email:
william.gonch@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7035
Office:
Henkels 3038
Associate Professor of Communications and Literature; Director of the Writing Program; Director of Composition Program
Email:
gavin.hurley@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 280-1662
Office:
Henkels 2052
Associate Professor of Communications; Director of Communications Program
Email:
john.jasso@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7936
Office:
Henkels 2054
Assistant Professor of Literature and Modern Languages
Email:
deana.kelly@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7188
Office:
Canizaro Library 254
Assistant Professor of Literature
Email:
jessica.schnepp@avemaria.edu
Phone:
(239) 304-7072
Office:
Canizaro Library 250
The Communications major builds within it an internship or clinical experience so that students can begin building a portfolio and acquire professional experience. From this hands-on experience, excellent students may be recommended for positions in television, digital productions, radio, journalism, or other media related work.
COMM 200 Media, Society, and the Church
COMM 250 Public Speaking and Public Discourse
COMM 350 Audio and Visual Productions
COMM 400 Internship in Communications I (4 credits total. May be taken over multiple semesters)
COMM 303 Classical and Medieval Rhetoric
COMM 305 Contemporary Rhetorical Theory
COMM 205/BUSN 200 Business Communication
COMM 300 Writing and Dialogue: Plato to Podcasts
COMM 310/POLT 310 Media and Politics
COMM 320/LITR 320 Creative Writing
COMM 325/LITR 325 Modern Fantasy
COMM 330/HUMS 330/THEA 330 Shakespeare in Performance
COMM 340 Writing for Journalism
COMM 401 Internship in Communications II
COMM 417 Ensemble Shakespeare
COMM 418 Special Topics
Any COMM elective
BUSN 330 Organizational Behavior/PSYC 330 Organizational Psychology
HIST 311 The Historian and the Saints
HIST 370 History and Film
HUMS 490 Thomas More
MKTG 200 Marketing
MKTG 335 Consumer Behavior/PSYC 335 Consumer Psychology
MKTG 450 Advertising and Digital Marketing
PHIL 203 Logic
PHIL 315 Philosophy of Art and Beauty
POLT 305 Public Policy
PSYC 320 Social Psychology
THEA 206 Fundamentals of Acting I
THEA 207 Fundamentals of Acting II
THEO 250 Foundations of Catechesis
THEO 350 Catechesis in the Church
THEO 370 C. S. Lewis: Theological Apologetics
Up to 4 credits of participation in an AMU Choir (MUSC 101M/MUSC 101W/MUSC 200/MUSC 410)
Acting and Directing Shakespeare (when offered as either THEA or HUMS 415)
*COMM majors must complete four Communications Electives in addition to the Required Courses for the Major. At least one of those electives must have a COMM designation. The other three may be COMM Electives or may be selected from the approved list of Additional Elective Courses. Majors who take both COMM 303 and COMM 305 may count the second course as a COMM Elective.
Are you interested in rhetoric and public speaking? Are you looking for creative outlets through which to communicate artful messages? Would you like to understand media and popular culture? Are you interested in an internship where you can put lessons learned in the classroom into practice? The Communications major is tailored to fit students with these interests, who want to put theory into action for the good of society and the Church.
Plato defined rhetoric as an art of “leading souls by means of speech,” and he included in his discussion of the art the most advanced communication technology of his day (writing!). In the tradition of Plato, and in imitation of the greats, you will benefit from the best of a liberal arts curriculum and learn how to adapt the knowledge you gain to the new media of today’s digital world. Whatever the context, you will discover strategies for ethically communicating truth at a time when people desperately need to hear it.
5050 Ave Maria Blvd., Ave Maria, FL 34142
