It is important that students plan ahead for their comprehensive in Communication Studies. To complete the senior comprehensive, students must take a sequence of two classes. The first of these classes is taken in the spring of the junior year; the second in the fall of the senior year. Typically, the student is expected to complete some work over the intervening summer.

Students wishing to participate in Saint Mary's travel abroad programs should plan to do so before the Fall semester of their Junior year in school.

Students may complete the senior comprehensive in one of two sequences of courses reflecting the main intellectual traditions of the communication discipline:

  • Research methods (COMM 385 & COMM 496), which explores social-scientific methods of inquiry. Contact Professor Colleen Fitzpatrick (research sequence) for more information.
  • Rhetoric and criticism (COMM 302 & COMM 495), focusing on the critical analysis of all types of public communication. The first course in either sequence should be taken in the spring of the junior year, the second in the fall of the senior year. Contact Professor Michael Kramer (rhetoric & criticism sequence) for more information.