Academic study of human communication in all its facets provides critical advantages in preparing students for both professional life and civic participation. Our department boasts award-winning teachers and researchers who support students in those pursuits with both expertise and enthusiasm.
In a top-ranked department that spans the humanities and social sciences, majors and minors learn together to: think and listen critically; undertake independent and collaborative research; influence people; analyze public discourse; understand empirical studies that test communication theories; and participate more richly in civic, communal, and relational life.
As a reflection of our unique status as a humanities and a social sciences department, CAS allows students to choose either a bachelor of arts (B.A.) or a bachelor of science (B.S.) degree program. On World Campus exclusively, CAS offers a B.A. or B.S. in Organizational and Professional Communication.
CAS offers the following minors: CAS; Rhetoric; Civic and Community Engagement; Dispute Management and Resolution; Information Science and Technology.
Graduates of our program consistently enjoy successful careers as analysts and strategists, lawyers, professors, community organizers, corporate executives, freelance writers, and more.
What sets our program apart?
Career Preparation: Our department assists students in their professional development through Internships, Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships, and Rhetoric and Law.
Award-Winning Faculty and Disciplinary Leaders: CAS students learn from award-winning teachers and researchers as well as recognized leaders in their academic specialties at all levels of our faculty.
Academic Community: Our program offers many opportunities to develop excellence beyond classroom learning in student organizations, including Future Leaders in Communication, Lambda Pi Eta, the Speech and Debate Team, Mock Trial, and Undergraduate Awards and Showcases.
Enrichment Experiences: CAS students can earn critical academic experience in specialized programs, such as Accelerated Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate Degrees and Education Abroad Opportunities.
Beyond our financial support, the department is a vibrant intellectual community devoted to developing students’ particular interests. We embrace the value of an interdisciplinary education.
Our communication science students can participate in a Health and Risk Communication brown bag series, learn big data science through SoDA, learn new methodologies through the Methodology Center, pursue research and teaching at the Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, learn to pursue fMRI research through the Social, Life, and Engineering Sciences Imaging Center, and participate in The McCourtney Institute for Democracy Roundtable.
Our rhetoric students can take classes in allied departments, including English, philosophy, sociology, history, and media studies, pursue graduate minors, work with the Rock Ethics Institute to develop their understanding of ethics literacy and pedagogy, receive fellowships and research support through the Humanities Institute, work closely with the Center for Democratic Deliberation to improve public deliberation, and complete a Digital Pedagogy Graduate Internship through the Penn State Office of Digital Pedagogy and Scholarship.
Alumni Spotlight:
Susan Larkin
Biography:
Larkin graduated from Penn State with a degree in Speech Communication in 1990. Larkin is the Vice President of Allied Personnel Services, the largest staffing service in the Lehigh Valley. Allied has been partnering with leading businesses since 1984 and focuses on building strong relationships with clients while providing an unparalleled knowledge of the local labor market. Larkin has led the growth of Allied for the past 24 years. She holds multiple industry certifications, including SPHR, the SHRM Senior Certified Professional designation, and Certified Staffing Professional from the American Staffing Association, and she is very active in the community. She serves on numerous boards, including the Women in Leadership task force for the American Staffing Association, and locally as an executive board member for Communities in Schools of the Lehigh Valley. Her commitment to the community led her to be named a Lehigh Valley Business Woman of Influence in 2015.
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