•What is communication?
● Not everything is communication, so be clear about what counts and what
doesn’t.
•What is the communication studies discipline?
● How is it different from closely related fields, like psychology or sociology? Think
about a topic area for research and how a communication researcher would
approach it vs. a psych researcher, etc.
•What are focal areas in communication studies – which ones are represented in our
department and which ones exist but are not represented in our department?
● How would you define these different focal areas? Again, what counts and what
doesn’t?
● Which faculty members identify with which focal areas?
•What are seminal theories of communication? Describe them. What are more
contemporary or more newly developed theories in communication?
•What are contexts or situations that are popularly researched by communication
researchers?
•What is the state of researching communication? Where is the field headed?
