Department of Communication
M.A. in Communication
Dr. Kathy Adams, Department Chair
Dr. Kevin Ayotte, Graduate Program Coordinator
- Program Objectives | Our Graduate Program | Our Students | Assistance and Support | Faculty | Quick Facts
Program Objectives
The Department of Communication at California State University, Fresno, offers a blend of traditional and contemporary understandings of communication. In earning the Master of Arts in Communication degree, our students develop communication competencies utilized in the professional world in careers as varied as business, law, medicine, education, government, social and human services, high technology, and international relations. Our advanced degree program provides graduate students with a comprehensive understanding of the historical and philosophical foundations of the communication discipline, its major theoretical frameworks, and its primary research methodologies. Students investigate a wide range of applied communication problems within diverse contexts ranging from California's San Joaquin Valley to the larger global community.
Our Graduate Program
Our graduate program's primary mission is to offer students a balance of advanced instruction in communication and rhetorical studies. Graduate study is seen as a continuing interaction among teaching, research, and service scholarship. The graduate program encourages free scholarly inquiry as a forum for the discussion and critical examination of ideas, findings and conclusions. Individuals are given opportunities to develop intellectually, personally, and professionally in various departmental activities and graduate seminars open to a diversified student population that includes non-traditional, adult, and international students.
A student's graduate program is built around several core seminars, including communication theory, rhetorical theory, research methods, and rhetorical criticism, as well as elective seminars such as organizational communication, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, argumentation, public address, small group communication, and health communication. Graduate students may select a thesis, project, or comprehensive examination for the Master's degree culminating experience.
Graduate students in our program regularly present their scholarship at international, national, and regional conferences with substantial funding provided by the university. Student involvement in the intellectual life of the department extends to monthly Communication Forums, where faculty, students, and invited speakers share current research. Students have the opportunity to work collaboratively with faculty on research projects. Recent M.A. program graduates have co-authored with faculty articles that have appeared in the Handbook of Risk and Crisis Communication, the Handbook of Cancer Care and Communication, and the National Women's Studies Association Journal.
Our Students
Our graduate students exhibit excellence in and out of the classroom. Hundreds of distinguished alumni from our Master's degree program have gone on to succeed in prestigious doctoral and professional programs. Many are currently teaching at both the university and community college levels. Others have utilized the M.A. degree to advance careers in the fields of law, corporate and non-profit communications, sales and marketing, politics and governmental communication.
Our graduate student population is a culturally diverse group of scholars and professionals pursuing various goals. Our program also seeks to attract international students as well as students from undergraduate disciplines other than Communication in order to foster a rich and innovative learning environment. A student-run Graduate Student Association provides students in the program with leadership opportunities and serves as an additional liaison with faculty governance.
Assistance and Support
Various types of financial assistance are available to our graduate students, including teaching assistantships. Additionally, a limited number of Provost's Graduate Scholarships may be awarded to exceptionally qualified applicants. A small number of competitive tuition waivers are available to out-of-state and international applicants.
Also available for use are computers and a large library of publications and journals housed in the department office. The newly expanded Madden Library is the largest academic library in the California State University system.
Program Objectives | Our Graduate Program | Our Students | Assistance and Support | Faculty | Quick Facts