International Communication
Today more than ever, clear communication among people of different cultures and nationalities is essential. Major conflicts and lesser misunderstandings may to a large part have their source in a simple breakdown in communication. Most of us also travel to other parts of the world, and a basic understanding of the difficulties and challenges which face us in communicating with people from other cultures, as well as the rewards which can come from establishing good communication with people from different countries, is of great benefit to the traveller.
The School of Language Studies offers an interdisciplinary major in International Communication which allows students both to gain a broad intellectual understanding of the issues involved in communication across cultures and nationalities and to prepare themselves for a variety of careers in government, business, education, non-government international agencies, media, and generally any career which involves contact with people from backgrounds other than their own.
Although the International Communication major is administered by the School of Language Studies, students undertaking this major are by no means restricted to taking courses only within this school, or indeed within the College of Arts and Social Sciences. Students may select from a range of courses in Anthropology, Applied Linguistics, Asian Studies, Classics, English, Linguistics, Political Science, and Sociology. It is truly an interdisciplinary major!
Students may undertake an International Communication major as one of the two majors required in the Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) or as an Arts major within another degree, including the stand alone Bachelor of Arts degree or any combined degree including a Bachelor of Arts. This major may also be undertaken as ‘out of faculty’ electives within other degrees, subject to the rules of the particular degree.
