College of Communication undergraduate students must meet the requirements in the following three components:
- Liberal Studies Program
- Major Field Requirements
- Open Electives
Students must also meet the requirements in their chosen major.
Liberal Studies Program (84 quarter hours)
The Liberal Studies Program is comprised of the liberal studies common core and the liberal studies learning domains. 32 quarter hours are required in the liberal studies common core and 52 quarter hours are distributed through six learning domains as part of the Bachelor of Arts. The number and distribution of courses in each of the areas are as follows:
Common Core
First Year Program: 16 quarter hours required as follows: Four quarter hours in Discover Chicago or Explore Chicago, four quarter hours in Focal Point Seminar, eight quarter hours in Composition and Rhetoric.
Mathematical and Technological Literacy: LSP 120 and LSP 121 are required as part of the Liberal Studies Common Core. Additional prerequisite courses may be required depending on math placement. Prerequisite courses earn open elective credit.
Sophomore Seminar: Four quarter hours required in Sophomore Seminar on Multiculturalism in the United States.
Junior Year Experiential Learning: Four quarter hours required. Options for completion include an approved internship for course credit, an approved study abroad experience, or an approved service learning course.
Senior Capstone: Four quarter hours required. Students majoring in Communication complete CMN 396 (Capstone in Communication). Students participating in the Honors program must follow capstone requirements for that program.
Learning Domains
Arts and Literature: Eight quarter hours required.
Philosophical Inquiry: Eight quarter hours required.
Religious Dimensions: Eight quarter hours required.
Scientific Inquiry: 12 quarter hours required; four quarter hours with a lab component, eight quarter hours without a lab component.
Self, Society and the Modern World: eight quarter hours required.
Understanding the Past: eight quarter hours required.
Students may not use major field courses toward their Liberal Studies Program Learning Domains.
Major Field Requirements (52 quarter hours)
College of Communication Common Core
These core courses are required of all College of Communication students:
CMN 101 Introduction to Human Communication
CMN 102 Introduction to Mass Communication
CMN 103 Intercultural Communication
CMN 104 Public Speaking
Students are encouraged, but not required, to complete all three courses prior to taking additional course work in the major.
College of Communication Major Requirements
Students select their remaining 10 major courses from among the course offerings from the college's various programs, including up to two approved classes from Digital Cinema in the Jarvis College of Computing and Digital Media.
Open Electives (56 quarter hours)
Students complete their Bachelor’s Degree by taking 14 unrestricted electives.
Modern Language Requirement
Students who intend to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Communication will be required to demonstrate competence in a modern language. Such competence may be demonstrated in one of several ways:
Completing the last course in a second year high school course work in a modern language or Latin.
- Completing the last course in the first-year college sequence of any language.
- Completing a college course beyond the first-year level in any language.
- Achieving a satisfactory score on any of the Modern Language placement examinations administered at DePaul.
- Achieving a satisfactory rating in a proficiency examination accepted by DePaul.
- Achieving a score of three or higher on the Advance Placement (AP) test for any language (must be completed during high school).
- Achieving a score of 5 or higher in the Language B assessment from a Standard or Higher Level International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
- Achieving a satisfactory score on the CLEP examination. (Note that CLEP scores may be used only to meet the language requirement. Credit is not awarded in modern languages on the basis of CLEP scores).
Students with some modern language training should consult with the Department of Modern Languages in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences about the course with which they should begin. Students with little or no previous work in the language will be required to complete the entire three-course introductory sequence.