UCLA Communication Studies Program: A Comprehensive Overview

The UCLA Communication Studies program offers an interdisciplinary curriculum leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree. This program provides students with comprehensive knowledge of human communication across various levels of analysis. Enrollment in the major is limited, with admission granted by application to the overseeing committee. The major requires the completion of lower and upper-division courses, totaling at least 45 units, including 7 lower-division and 10-11 upper-division courses. The specific courses within the Communication curriculum are subject to change.

Curriculum Structure

The Communication major at UCLA provides a diverse spectrum of topics, drawing from approximately twelve different departments within the College of Letters and Science and the School of Fine Arts. This interdisciplinary approach equips students with a broad scholarly background, preparing them for various career paths. The major's requirements include courses from Mass Communication and Media Studies, Interpersonal Communication, Communication Technology and Digital Systems, and Political and Legal Communication.

Course Variety and Content

Communication classes range from large introductory courses, such as COMM 10 with approximately 250 students, to smaller, more focused seminars restricted to around 25 students. The subject matter covers contemporary issues, including computational methods in media analysis, social networks, political communication, social vision, and evolutionary approaches to interpersonal communication.

Core Course Examples

The curriculum includes a wide array of courses, such as:

Communication 100: Communication Science: Examines fundamental principles in human communication science. A prerequisite includes course 10 or Linguistics 1 or Sociology 1 or Psychology 10 or consent of instructor.
Communication 101: Freedom of Communication: Analyzes legal, political, and philosophical issues related to free expression, access to an audience, and access to information.
Communication 102: Principles of Argumentation: Focuses on the analysis of propositions, tests of evidence, and briefing.
Communication 104: Rumors, Gossip, and Urban Legends in Journalism: Explores the impact of these phenomena on journalistic practices.
Communication 105: Conspiracy Theories, Media, and Middle East: Examines the role of mass and digital media in shaping conspiracy theories, particularly in the Middle East. It studies the interdisciplinary relationship between media and society in Muslim societies.
Communication 106: Reporting America: Introduces western European and Middle Eastern news media, with a focus on comparative case studies of Britain, Spain, and Germany.
Communication 107: Terrorism in Journalism: Explores how media outlets in the Middle East represent Islamist terrorism, focusing on Arab, Afghan, and Iranian media discussions.
Communication 108: Communication and Identity: Studies the relationships among communication, culture, and identity, examining how texts construct experience, difference, and subjectivity.
Communication 110: Gender and Communication: Explores the intersection of gender and communication.
Communication 111: Conflict and Communication: Analyzes the prevalence of conflict in daily lives and mass media, and how communication affects reactions and consequences of conflict.
Communication M113: Nonverbal Communication and Body Language: Examines how nonverbal communication conveys meaningful information, with a focus on body language.
Communication 114: Understanding Relationships: Explains types of communication in close relationships, especially romantic relationships.
Communication 115: Interpersonal Dynamics: Surveys recent scientific approaches to dyadic communication and interpersonal relationships, including technological techniques for measuring and influencing dyads.
Communication M117: Negotiation: (Same as Labor and Workplace Studies M117) Covers the art and science of negotiation in securing agreements between independent parties.
Communication 120: Group Communication: Examines group communication from the perspectives of evolutionary psychology, communications, and psycholinguistics.
Communication M123: Social Cognition: Surveys research from the field of social cognition, emphasizing cognitive processes in interpersonal and intergroup communication.
Communication M125: Talk and Social Institutions: (Same as Sociology CM125) Explores communication and social interaction in major institutional sites in contemporary society.
Communication 126: Evolution of Interpersonal Communication: Examines interpersonal communication from the perspective of evolutionary behavioral science.
Communication 129: Natural Language Processing for Social Science: Develops students’ understanding of Natural Language Processing (NLP) model architectures, and provides experience accessing, evaluating, and thoughtfully engaging with those models at scale.
Communication 130: Science of Language: Introduces the foundations of the science of language, connecting it to practical issues in communication.
Communication 131: Computer Models of Communicators: Introduces using computerized methods to model communication processes, with hands-on exercises.
Communication 132: Multicultural Television: Critically evaluates television programming and scholarly research of new developments in television.
Communication 141: Films of Persuasion: Social and Political Advocacy in Mass Society: Examines how films communicate about history, society, and politics.
Communication M144A & M144B: Explores popular culture's role in influencing political and social struggles, examining how communicative texts renegotiate cultural meanings.
Communication 145: Situation Comedy and American Culture: Analyzes the history of sitcoms and their influence on American life and culture.
Communication M147: Sociology of Mass Communication: (Same as Sociology M176) Studies the relationship between mass communication and social organization.
Communication 148: Marketing Communications: Examines marketing, advertising, and behavior from the viewpoint of evolutionary psychology and biology.
Communication M149: Media: Gender, Race, Class & Sexuality: (Same as Women’s Studies M149 and Labor and Workplace Studies M149) Explores how media culture induces perceptions of various dominant and marginalized groups.
Communication 151: Computer-Mediated Communication: Examines how computer technology, particularly the Internet, has influenced patterns of human communication.
Communication 152: Analysis of Communication Effects: Surveys experimental and field research on the effects of communications. Prerequisite: course 100 or consent of instructor.
Communication 153: Introduction to Data Science: Examines how large-scale data can be used to systematically measure various aspects of human activities.
Communication 155: Artificial Intelligence and New Media: Reviews the origin and modern development of artificial intelligence (AI) and its recent breakthroughs, with special emphasis on its usages of media industry.
Communication 158: Python for Social Sciences: Introduces the applications of Python in social sciences, focusing on data analysis with the Pandas library.
Communication 159: Artificial Intelligence and Society: Explores the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society.
Communication M161: Electoral Politics: Mass Media and Elections: (Same as Political Science M141D) Assesses how mass media presentations influence Americans’ political beliefs, choices, and actions, especially during election campaigns. Prerequisite: course 160.
Communication M165: Agitational Communication: (Same as Labor and Workplace Studies M175) Studies the theory of agitation as a force for change in democratic societies.
Communication M169: Critical Vision: History of Art as Social and Political Commentary: (Same as Honors Collegium M179) Seminar, three hours.
Communication 170: Legal Communication: Studies trial and appellate processes as systems of communication.
Communication 171: Theories of Freedom of Speech and Press: Explores the relationship between freedoms of speech and press and values of liberty, self-realization, self-government, truth, dignity, respect, justice, equality, association and community. Requisites: course 101 or consent of instructor.
Communication 173: Affect and Emotion in Political Communication: Examines the importance of affect, emotion, and personality in politics.
Communication 174: Entertainment and Politics: Explores how entertainment media affects our ideas about the world.
Communication 175: Criticism and the Public Arts: Introduces methods and problems of criticism in the public arts.
Communication M176: Visual Communication and Social Advocacy: (Same as Labor and Workplace Studies M176) Explores the impact of visual communication in conveying major social and political topics.
Communication 178: Propaganda & the Media: Examines the nature of propaganda, the institutional structure of the American media, and the relationship between propaganda and the American news media.
Communication 179: Images of the USA: Explores the roots of the USA’s images in the minds of people abroad.
Communication 185: Field Studies in Communication: Designed for juniors/seniors. Fieldwork in communication. Students participate in two-hour seminar sessions and spend seven hours in approved community settings each week for each two units of credit.
Communication 186: Media, Ethics, and the Digital Age: Examines media ethics using a case-study approach to debate pressing issues from actual newsrooms.
Communication 188A: Variable Topics in Mass Communication: Lecture, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 188B: Variable Topics in Interpersonal Communication: Lecture, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 188C: Variable Topics in Communication Technology and Digital Systems: Lecture, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 188D: Variable Topics in Political and Legal Communication: Lecture, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 189: Advanced Honors Seminars: Limited to 20 students. Designed as adjunct to undergraduate lecture course. Exploration of topics in greater depth through supplemental readings, papers, or other activities and led by lecture course instructor. May be applied toward honors credit for eligible students.
Communication 189HC: Honors Contracts: Tutorial. Limited to students in College Honors and departmental honors programs. Designed as adjunct to upper division lecture course. Individual study with lecture course instructor to explore topics in greater depth through supplemental readings, papers, or other activities. May be repeated for maximum of 4 units. Individual honors contract required.
Communication 191A: Variable Topics Research Seminars: Mass Communication: Seminar, three hours.
Communication 191B: Variable Topics Research Seminars: Interpersonal Communication: Seminar, three hours.
Communication 191C: Variable Topics Research Seminars: Communication Technology and Digital Systems: Seminar, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 191D: Variable Topics Research Seminars: Political and Legal Communication: Seminar, three hours. Selected Topics.
Communication 191E: Variable Topics Research Seminars: Practicum: Seminar, three hours. Selected Topics.
198A: Requisites: courses 10, 150. Limited to junior/senior majors.
198B: Requisite: course 198A. Continuation of work initiated in course 198A.
198C: Requisite: course 198B. Completion of research developed in courses 198A, 198B. Presentation of honors project to supervising faculty member.

Additional Area Elective Courses

Students are required to take four additional elective courses from the core group.

Emphasis on Research

UCLA's Communication major is known for its strong emphasis on research. Students have opportunities to participate in research projects through labs or independent study, enhancing their understanding of communication studies and strengthening their resumes.

Departmental Honors

Departmental Honors are available to students with a GPA of at least 3.6 in the major. These students must complete a required course of study and an independent research project during their senior year.

Career Preparation

Communication majors receive a theoretical foundation in the social sciences, which prepares them for graduate-level study in various academic fields and professional schools. The department also assists students in connecting their studies to potential careers.

Field Studies Course

The theories and principles of Communication are augmented by a Field Studies course available to juniors and seniors. This course allows students to engage in hands-on activities through internships, applying theory to practice and gaining a head start on their career paths. The surrounding LA area also provides plentiful opportunities for real-world learning and internships, due to being a hub for many media and communication-related industries.

Tuition and Fees

For undergraduate students, the average full-time tuition and fees are:

In-State:
- Tuition: $11,834
- Fees: $1,913
- Books and Supplies: $1,574
- On-Campus Room and Board: $17,148
- On-Campus Other Expenses: $5,562
Out-of-State:
- Tuition: $42,611
- Fees: $1,913
- Books and Supplies: $1,574
- On-Campus Room and Board: $17,148
- On-Campus Other Expenses: $5,562

Student Experiences

Based on student feedback, the Communication major offers a range of foundational knowledge and skills in communication study. Students can expect to touch on areas like combative discourse, organizational communication, interpersonal communication, and mass communication, among others. This prepares students for careers in Broadcasting, Corporate Communication, Digital Media, Event Planning, Media Analysis, Public Relations, and more. Classes can be demanding with a heavy workload, and the major is competitive, requiring students to apply after fulfilling prerequisite courses and maintaining a specific GPA.

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