The University of Massachusetts Amherst is committed to the goals of community, diversity, and social justice. The Community, Diversity and Social Justice (CDSJ) Initiative is a campus-wide effort to make UMass Amherst a more inclusive and equitable teaching, learning, working and living community. During the 2004-2005 academic year, the colleges and other major units of the university were asked to study their own progress toward CDSJ. Then Chair Michael Morgan appointed a Committee on CDSJ for the Department of Communication.
Some of the efforts by the CDSJ Committee include:
- Securing travel grants for CDSJ-related research
- Organizing/hosting colloquia that focus on CDSJ
- Organizing/hosting Career Night evens and connecting undergraduate students and alums
The CDSJ Committee secures Graduate Student Travel Grants jointly funded by the Department of Communication and through a University-Wide Diversity Education grant. The objective of these travel grants is to promote research and scholarship in the areas of race, ethnicity and diaspora within the Department of Communication, as well as to create and sustain networks with graduate students from under-represented communities, with an eye to graduate student recruitment. Also the Committee in conjunction with the Center for the Study of Communication organizes a series of colloquia that focus on graduate student and faculty research on communication, race, ethnicity and diaspora, as well as workshops that benefit international graduate students and the students of color. And the Committee organizes and hosts Career Night events for Communication undergraduate students with a panel of Communication major alums. (Please read more about career opportunities for Communication majors here.)
Below are FAQs for those who are interested in studying Communication in our undergraduate program:
Can I Study Social Justice & Diversity as a Communication Undergraduate Major?
Yes, you can! Whether your interests are about social justice and diversity across the globe or within the US, Communication offers many relevant upper-level courses, and has many faculty members who focus on issues of social justice and diversity in their research. Emphasis on social justice and diversity can be found in courses about the media, social interaction, communication industries, and communication theory. Attention to these issues is an integral part of the department’s research and teaching mission. Many courses focus on gender, sexuality, and class identities and how these relate to social inequality. This page focuses on courses that highlight global issues, race, and ethnicity. Students should note that these courses are not necessarily offered every semester or every academic year.
Who Should I Talk to If I Have Specific Questions about Studying Social Justice and Diversity in the Communication Undergradate Major?
Please contact Dr. Emily West in Machmer 303, tel. (413) 545-6345.
What Courses in Communication Focus on Global Issues?
COMM 212 - Cultural Codes In Communication
Communication as it creates, maintains, and transforms cultural identities, and, in turn, culture as it creates, maintains, and transforms communication. Grounded in the substantive patterns of communication from areas such as Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean, Polynesia, and the Far East.
COMM 297Q - Global Media & Social Change
This course examines how global media systems that have emerged since the late-1980s have transformed social and political life in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
COMM 397C - Global Communication I
An introduction to the field of global communication. The course assesses the evolution and current status of worldwide information networks (print, audiovisual, computers) and their political, economic and cultural significance.
COMM 397T - Contemporary World Cinema
This course offers an overview of recent narrative fiction feature filmmaking from Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.
COMM 391B - Communication and International Development
This course examines international communications as a field and its relationship to the discourse of development in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
COMM 497L - International News
This course covers the institutions, journalistic practices, and content of international news and their implications for an informed citizenry, particularly regarding U.S. foreign policy.
COMM 497L - Asian Pop Cinema
This course studies popular cinema from Asia and the Asian diasporas, with a special emphasis on questions of genre and gender.
COMM 497Q - Global Communication II
This course will develop a conceptual framework to answer the following questions: What is globalization? What is its relation to post-modernity and capitalism?
COMM 497R - New Communication Industries & Labor
This advanced-level course introduces some of the key debates about work in the global information economy.
What Courses in Communication Focus on Race and Ethnicity?
COMM 397I - Communication, Culture, & Social Identities
In this course we explore ways in which a) everyday communicative practices and culture are intertwined, and b) the multiple ways in which social identities (particularly race/ethnicity, but also gender) are both reflected and reconstituted through communicative practices.
COMM 397N - Interracial Communication
The role of communication in the construction of race as a basis for similarity/difference, the ways that communication about race forms a basis for individual, social, cultural and national identities, and theories about interracial and intercultural communication.
COMM 397S - Asian Pacific Cinema
This course offers a critical look at representations of and by Asian/Pacific Americans.
COMM 397V - Intercultural Communication
This course focuses on the construction of culture, identity, and difference within and among groups in contemporary society. Specific attention is given to the representation of cultural diversity, political correctness, and racism in the United States.
COMM 493B - Film Stereotyping
Intensive study of social imagery in film and the role of the American feature film in establishing and reinforcing stereotypes through characterization, narrative design, and thematic development.
COMM 497A - Native American Cultures & Communication
The purpose of this course is to explore (1) examples of expressive means that are used in various Native American communities, and (2) the meanings of these means of expression.
COMM 497F - Spanish-Language Media
This course examines the historical development and current transformation of the Spanish language media industry, particularly in the United States.
