Major: Mass Communication We are bombarded with images and
messages every day of our lives, from billboards towering over
the highway, to television commercials, newspaper ads, leaflets,
brochures, and radio advertising. These messages shape our
culture and define our perceptions, influencing the way we think
and look at almost everything from a candy bar to geopolitics.
Mass Communication majors investigate the role mass media has
played, and continues to play, in American culture. They are
analysts and historians, examining everything from 19th Century
Harper’s political cartoons to the newest McDonald’s commercial.
Given the enormous effect of the media on our daily lives, Mass
Communication majors seek out how and why they reflect our
social values. They also describe how public policy draws
boundaries for Mass Communication, like the near-prohibition of
nudity on broadcast television. Mass Communication majors are
sometimes also located within a broader communication major that
more generally examines th