The Bachelor of Science in Communication empowers students with the fundamental skills to create, send, understand and analyze messages utilizing a variety of media for specific purposes and audiences.

Program Overview

The Communication program explores theoretical perspectives and practical applications of communication in an individualized, supportive and hands-on learning environment. The program provides a solid foundation for all students and offers three areas of specialty: (1) Interpersonal and Organizational Communication; (2) Video/Media Production, Performance and Technology; and (3) Graphic Design. The Communication major empowers students with practical skills to create, send and analyze effective messages in a variety of media.

What You Will Learn

Students in any of the tracks in the Communication program will be prepared to:

• Understand the role of communication in society
• Create messages appropriate for purpose, audience and context
• Critically analyze communication and understand its role in society
• Identify and overcome obstacles to successful communication
• Apply communication theory and practice in an ethical manner in a variety of media
• Utilize communication skills to understand diversity

Graphic Design track:

• • Skillfully use industry-standard digital tools
  • Apply principles of design to create compelling visual communications

Video/Media Production track:

• • Use professional video/audio equipment and editing software
  • Apply industry-standard techniques of video/audio production and storytelling to engage an audience

The Mitchell Difference

Earning a degree at Mitchell College requires a combination of coursework and experiential learning built around our Abilities Model. This skills-based learning approach includes the following: First Year Experience, Integrative Career Development, Core curriculum, Major curriculum and exploratory electives. Every program at Mitchell offers unique opportunities to our broad spectrum of students for their educational, occupational and lifestyle pursuits.

Hands-on learning as a way for students to explore, retain and experiment within their field of study. Examples include:

• • Creating and managing social media for a brand or organization
  • Creating a visual brand identity package using graphic design tools and techniques
  • Producing collaborative student filmmaking projects
  • Writing professional communication research papers
  • Writing, rehearsing and performing for video and audio applications such as podcasts, sports broadcasts, screen acting, video game voiceovers, and radio/TV advertisements

Wraparound supports that offer resources and promote community-building within the learning process

• • Organizations and activities to build community with peers, learn, and have fun, such as Radio Mitchell, the college’s radio station, offering opportunities to DJ live events, host talk shows, program music, and do sports broadcasting
  • Internship opportunities offering real-world experience to enhance our students’ education journey
  • Service learning that combines learning objectives with community service in ways that can benefit both student growth and the community
  • Research that offers students the opportunities to delve deeper into subject areas of interest with faculty guidance
  • Minor and/or Microcredential(s) allowing students more compact, narrowly focused courses to develop specific skills in their area of study

Career Pathways

The Communication program prepares students for a wide variety of career opportunities in various disciplines:

• Business
• Advertising
• Communication Education
• Electronic Media Video/Radio/Television/Broadcasting
• Journalism (Print or Digital)
• Public Relations
• Theatre/Performing Arts
• Government/Politics
• High Technology Industries
• Communication and Health Care
• International Relations and Negotiations
• Law
• Social and Human Services

Gabriella Orlando has always loved art and puzzles and now sees the connection between the two. When she researched career opportunities in the art field, she realized graphic design was the perfect fit. A communication major with a concentration in graphic design, she was able to put those skills to work and build a portfolio at her internship with Rena DeBortoli Design in Pawcatuck. 

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Aspiring film producer Jakobe (Kobe) Anderson found an internship through connections he made with communications professor Luke Walden and Paul Dunn, coordinator of the Integrative Career Development (ICD) center at Mitchell. Kobe landed an internship at the Coast Guard Academy (just across town from Mitchell) recording videos for sports teams. He credits his internship with improving his camerawork, using both a tripod and a gimble, an apparatus which makes running scenes smoother and is used in both the sports world and Hollywood filmmaking alike.

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Sample Coursework: 4-Year Overview

View the College Catalog for full descriptions of these courses.

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