Department of Communication Department Faculty Mission Statement Mary E. Wilson, Chair Associate Professor of Communication (1994) PhD University of Southern California 2001 Organizational communication, mass communication The faculty of the Department of Communication recognize that communication, on both the personal and social levels, is the foundation of human interaction. Our mission is to understand ourselves and our world more fully by returning again and again to those ­linguistic forms which have continually shaped and reshaped us, which define and limit us and then wonderfully set us free—recast in new forms. We take language seriously as a tool of self- and social-understanding, as a means of entry into the life and responsibilities of the adult, the church member, and the citizen, and as a means to p ­ rofessional advancement, yet not so seriously as to overlook the ­important roles language plays in recreation and entertainment. Finally, the ­department emphasizes the importance of a liberal arts education with a firmly grounded knowledge of the communication process to prepare students for graduate education and for success in a wide variety of occupations. T. Lynn Caldwell Associate Professor of Communication (2013) MA Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo 1990 Public & media relations Melissa Ann Tafoya Associate Professor of Communication (2013) PhD Arizona State University 2007 Family and interpersonal communication Collaborating Faculty Stephen Shelton Adjunct Instructor of Communication (2011) MA California State University, San Bernardino 2005 Mass Media, political & media studies Deanna Wisbey Adjunct Instructor of Communication (2009) MA Andrews University 1987 Speech Degrees Offered • Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication, with a required emphasis in one of the following areas: Media Studies, Public Relations or Strategic Communication Objectives The department has three objectives: a) to enhance the creative and critical competency of all students across multiple modes of communication; b) to provide courses that assist students in understanding the complexity of their world by exploring all forms of communication as avenues to truth, social commentary, service, and self-understanding; c) to offer a well-balanced program that examines social and personal responsibilities within experiential, theoretical, and cultural frameworks. Media Studies examines the processes of mass media through visual and digital media. It includes video production, media criticism, media writing, journalism, media law, history of cinema, movements in film and audience analysis. • Minor in Communication Preparation for teaching Students interested in learning more about the preparation involved for teaching at the elementary and secondary levels, should refer to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction section in this bulletin. Public Relations involves the study of how organizations utilize responsible behavior and two-way communication in order to influence opinions and behavior of key publics (employees, consumers, government, community, media) as well as to respond and adapt to the concerns of those publics. The student becomes a professional communicator whose charge is to credibly promote the organization. Strategic Communication is the study of how organizations and individuals use communication to negotiate their role in society. This emphasis includes the applied and theoretical sides of communication. The subject matter examines Interpersonal, Mass, Organizational and Speech Communication. La Sierra University Undergraduate Bulletin 125