The Current State of Communication Studies Essay Example

Communication is defined as an academic field that deals with the aspects and processes involved in the human interaction (Monika, 2004). The art of being an effective communicator is of uttermost importance in the modern times where it can determine the success or failure of an individual or an institution. From an individual's perspective, having excellent communication skills ensures that one can relate well with other people, be able to convince them on various issues and products and the same time gather opinion and preferences through interaction. On the other hand, the ability of an organization to communicate effectively with its clients, customers, and workers enhance deeper relationships, helps in solving problems and promotes the growth of the company (Manning, 2014). Studying communication ensures that students are prepared to be future dynamic leaders who are capable of driving complex programs, collaboration and are innovative when solving problems in their workplaces.

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Even though current communication studies is considered as part of social sciences, it embraces other disciplines such as mathematics, engineering, sociology, computer science economics, gender and sexuality among other areas. This vastness and interconnection with other areas of study has made it hard for the communication students to exhaust the discipline fully. Nonetheless, by the time the students graduate, they are equipped with the right skills to overcome most of the challenges that they encounter in their areas of work (Lule, 2006). Teaching communication studies nowadays entail aligning with other areas of research such as business, organizational development, language, philosophy history, and political science for they are directly related to one other and requires a combination to coexist harmoniously. The inability of these traditionally superior disciplines to survive by themselves without engaging communication skills further explains how the art has evolved to be the dominant subject in many areas of life.

In the institutions of learning, the department of communication studies is tasked with the responsibility of providing exceptional educational opportunities to students so that they can be equally competitive in the world. The urge to produce the best students has promoted an increase in the quality of the education offered in the universities and colleges which has led to ensuring that students who graduate are a reliable workforce which can shape the countries future growth and development (Lule, 2006). Modern lecturers and departments encourage their students to be aware of communication choices, how they behave and the technology that is available. In spite of that, studying communication has evolved to a point whereby the graduates can understand beliefs, performance, and communication in diverse forms such as electronic media to speeches.

In the current times, the learner is provided with a chance to explore the critical aspects of communication and is always better equipped upon graduating at handling people and solve problems (Hamera, 2018). It is worth to note that studying the course has also evolved remarkably to deal with the modern challenges of a digital world. In the modern era, how a person communicates verbally, body language and use of gestures can say a lot about an individual's personality, mental condition, the importance of the message among other things that can only be seen by a trained eye (Monika, 2004). Therefore, modern communication embraces these facts, and the students are trained in how to observe and decode the body language, gestures and facial expression of an individual to understand the hidden meaning. Such instances have been seen by analyzing politicians, business competitors, in an interview and other areas where gathering of information is vital.

In modern communication studies, the teaching of the discipline is being offered at the right time and by qualified people. This is because the nations of the world have evolved to be digital economies, social networking and the desire of organizations to rise to prominence (Hamera, 2018). Looking back 30 years ago: such evolutions had not occurred, and the passing of information from one nation to the other was not as easy as it is today. Therefore, teaching the students about social networks, mass media, and group communication would not have been as relevant and useful as it is today (Lule, 2006). In the current state, the power of the internet has broadened the scope of communication studies in that from large corporation to startup film, engaging communication specialists has become paramount and thus providing employment and internship opportunities to the graduates.

Depending on the department of the university, the subjects offered for the undergraduate and the postgraduate programs might vary, but in most campuses and colleges, the units are categorized as follows

• Introduction to communication studies- this is the basic unit where the learner is introduced to the basic principles and elements of effective communication. Here, the student is also able to understand common terminologies and words used in the field of communication.
• Business communication- in this unit, the learner is taught the importance of information sharing in an organization and beyond the organization. The group is further broken down into two sub-categories which are internal and external communication (Hamera, 2018). In the internal communication, the movement of information is within an organization while the external communication entails communicating with people outside the company.
• Communication design- this is a mixed discipline between the development of information and planning. It prepares the learner to conceptualize and execute visual materials and digital media outlets ("Communication Education," 2018). In most cases, this unit helps the student to acquire the right knowledge of thriving in a studio based setting.
• Communication Theory- this is a branch which deals with the technical process of information in humans.
• Applied Communication- in this unit, the learner is taught how organizations are structured and their mode of communication, public relation and how they advertise. The unit equips the student with the ability to fit in a wide range of managerial positions in private and public sectors that need persuasive communication.
• Applied Communication- this is a branch is dedicated to teaching the student about how information is spread and its effect in the political arena. The student is educated on how to conduct political debates, advertisements, gathering the opinion polls and image management as far as leadership and politics are concerned (Manning, 2014).
• Mass communication- in this discipline the student learns the technique of exchanging information on a large scale through official channels of communication that target large groups of people and organizations (Manning, 2014). The channels of communicating might include the use of social media, televisions, printed materials, radio among other channels.
• Visual communication- in this area of study, the learner becomes familiar with the broad spectrum that includes the use of signs, drawings, animations, topography and electronic sources to pass information.
• Technical communication- this is unit dwells at enlightening the learner with the means that are available to convey engineering, scientific or other technical information.

With the everyday advancements in the fields of technology and public relationship, the desire to effectively will not decrease. Instead, future projections show that humans will strive to better their communication techniques and this will only make the discipline more valuable and useful. However, some scholars feel that communication studies are not fully utilizing its unique status to enlighten more students in all the academic disciplines (Lule, 2006). According to Professor Robert McChesney of Illinois University, the future relationship of communication studies and other subjects will need to be pushed further towards the creation of a more dynamic education system that will teach communication skills as a mandatory unit in all courses. Professor Robert goes ahead to observe that students who take sciences and engineering courses are not adequately trained in the communication skills and therefore they have the problem of communicating once they graduate from colleges (Manning, 2014). The departments involved in communication studies should also embrace the advances in technology to research and strengthen the program. The tutors must think of better ways to equip the students with the right tools that will help them maneuver in a changing world; this will be achieved through active research and implementation of new models of teaching.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the value of communication studies has only increased with time, and the course has remained robust and relevant in the modern time. The high number of students who continue to enroll for the program is a clear indication that this field of study is alive and healthy and will only get better in future. Due to globalization and the complex nature of technology and how information is passed, the need to have communication experts will increase. Therefore, the collages and universities need to continually retool to meet the future needs and produce relevant graduates who will be productive in the workforce.

References

Communication Education. (2018, January 3). Retrieved from https://www.natcom.org/node/1192. Accessed 11 September 2018

Hamera, J. (2018). Performance Studies in Critical Communication Studies. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Communication. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.640

Lule, J. (2006). (New) Media Studies. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 23(4), 339-339. doi:10.1080/07393180600933162

Manning, J. (2014). A Constitutive Approach to Interpersonal Communication Studies. Communication Studies, 65(4), 432-440. doi:10.1080/10510974.2014.927294

Monika, K. (2004). REPORT ON THE CONFERENCE INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION - OUTLINES OF AN ACADEMIC DISCIPLINE. Iletisim: Arastirmalari Dergisi, 2(1), 1. doi:10.1501/iltaras_0000000006