Communication majors are generally interdisciplinary in nature, consisting of courses in humanities, social sciences, and the arts to give students a comprehensive knowledge of the various ways that humans communicate. But the communication – new media major builds upon the study of communication by focusing on how media formats can be used as mediums to communicate thoughts and emotions.
Communication – new media is different from other types of communication majors that you may be more familiar with such as intercultural communication, business communication, agricultural communication, communication journalism, and technical scientific communication. Majors like business communication and technical scientific communication focus on writing, editing, and speaking in a professional environment, while in organizational or intercultural communication concentrate on how to effectively communicate within organizations or with other cultures and countries. Communication – new media is more similar to that of agricultural, health, or sports communication, which cover communication, broadcasting, and journalism techniques and how apply them to specific topics and industries.
The curriculum in a communication – new media program consists of courses in video and audio production, visual design, digital imaging, media writing, mass communication, website production, design and illustration, and more. Students develop creative and technical skills in visual design, audio, web, print, and video, and learn how to use these mediums to best communicate messages to the public. The knowledge and skill set one obtains from majoring in communication – new media can qualify them for creative careers in media producing, broadcasting, media management, screen writing, and social media – just to name a few.