Degree Details
From corporate leadership and fundraising to communications director, public information officer, or researcher, our fully online Master of Arts in Applied Communication will strengthen your skills and open doors to new opportunities. Our two-year program is meant to serve both working adults/professionals and the traditional student, as we invite students to participate in our mission to foster the co-creation of better social worlds through positive communication.
We engage in this mission by applying communication theory across interpersonal, organizational, and community contexts. Students learn to apply theory to everyday situations in order to improve communication within those situations, using various research methodologies, with an emphasis on qualitative and case study methods.
Request More InformationAt a Glance
Degree: | Master of Arts (M.A.) in Applied Communication |
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Hours: | 33 |
Format: | Online |
College: | College of Humanities, Arts, Social Sciences, and Education (CHASSE) |
Flexible Online Program
Courses are all online in uniquely synchronous and asynchronous formats. Many of our courses are offered synchronously over Zoom, while others are offered in an asynchronous format (completing assignments and watching lectures online in your own time). Required Zoom classes are offered on weekday evenings (after 6 PM) or weekends. Class times are listed in the US Central Time Zone. No matter where you live, or your day-time commitments, you can engage in a mission-driven program focused on practical application.
For international students, be sure to review our FAQS section. All of our courses in our program are offered online, and thus do not meet in-person course requirements for F-1. However, applicants can take online electives in our program if accepted into another face-to-face campus program, such as the MA in Mass Communication, Public Administration, or the NonProfit Leadership Certificate.
Our program builds community by focusing on three questions:
- What are we creating in our communication?
- What do we want to create in our communication?
- What communication practices will facilitate what we want to create?
Specifically, by the end of our program, we expect students are able to do the following:
- Build healthy relationships through ethical communication
- Manage conflict more constructively
- Analyze how to improve communication within organizations
- Make recommendations for improving ethical crisis responses within organizations
- Design experiential training sessions
- Articulate how to spread innovations to facilitate change
Future Career Opportunities
Our M.A. graduates work in numerous industries in Arkansas and across the country. Many of our graduates go into careers in leadership and management. To support your career development, we will aid you in connecting with our diverse alumni network. Students use our degree for moving into various corporate leadership roles as change agents, both inside organizations and within their communities. Others excel in public relations, fundraising, consulting, and government. Overall, we see our grads start or extend their careers working for local or national corporations, nonprofit organizations, universities, state government agencies, and more!
Early Entry
The Early Entry program allows our top undergraduate students working toward a major or minor in Applied Communication to earn up to 12 hours toward the M.A. while pursuing their B.A. This enables students to complete their graduate degree in a shorter amount of time than the traditional path, and will save up to 36% of the total cost of tuition.
To apply to the Early Entry program, students will need to have completed 75 or more hours of undergraduate coursework, have a 3.2 or higher overall GPA, and hold a 3.2 GPA across COMM 21073 (ACOM 2310), COMM 21173 (ACOM 2311), COMM 32073 (ACOM 3320), and at least one additional departmental elective. We offer only a few Early Entry spots per year and applicants are competitively chosen. If you’re interested in learning more or applying to the Early Entry program, please send the following to the graduate coordinator, Dr. Bailey Blackburn, at [email protected]: a writing sample from an applied communication course you successfully completed over the past year; and a 300-500 word Statement of Purpose that addresses 1) how you see the M.A. program as a good match for your professional and/or academic goals and 2) reflects on your readiness for graduate work (both in workload/time management and writing ability).
Graduate Certificates
Throughout our M.A. program, we identify ways to maximize coursework, electives, and the final project to fit a student’s career goals. Students may therefore concurrently complete a graduate certificate in the following areas alongside their M.A. in Applied Communication. One of these certificates, the Conflict Management Graduate Certificate, is housed within our department and only requires one or two additional courses to complete alongside our M.A.
Conflict Management Certificate – Prepares students to analyze, apply, and engage in constructive conflict management practices, including negotiation, conflict consulting, crisis communication, mediation, listening and civil dialogue, and more. Led by the Applied Communication Department, this program offers critical tools for anyone going into an organizational environment, working with teams, or those entering leadership positions as supervisors, managers, or directors. Email Dr. Bailey Blackburn at [email protected] if you have any questions. This is a fully online certificate program that it is offered as both a main campus program (CMGT-GC, where students have the option of taking courses in a variety of formats, including in-person, Zoom-based synchronous courses, or fully asynchronous courses) and as part of the eLearning online campus (CMOL-GC, where all courses are offered in a fully asynchronous format). If you plan to complete the M.A. in Applied Communication alongside the Conflict Management Graduate Certificate, you will need to apply to the main campus CMGT-GC program, although all of your coursework across both programs will be offered online in both asynchronous and Zoom-based synchronous modalities.
Nonprofit Management Certificate – Equips executives, directors, and managers of nonprofit organizations with the tools they need to succeed, as well as students interested in the nonprofit sector. This program requires in-person coursework.
Human Resources and Organizational Communication Certificate – Gain specialized knowledge of effective interpersonal communication practices to apply to human resource functions and contexts. This program requires in person coursework.
Learn how to apply to our online MA in Applied Communication program. To begin the program in the Spring semester, applications must be submitted by December 10. For a Summer start date, priority deadline for applications is April 1 and for a Fall start date, we encourage applicants to have their materials submitted by May 31. For each semester, we will review applications until all spots are filled.
Learning Outcomes and Goals
Our graduates engage in the departmental mission of fostering the co-creation of better social worlds through positive communication by ethically:
Analyzing Messages to determine what we are creating in our communication. Students learn to apply theoretic models and research methods to better understand communication practices as they occur in real-life contexts.
Setting Communicative Goals to guide what we want to create in our communication. Students offer research-based and theoretically informed recommendations for both professional and personal contexts to better the communication in those contexts.
Influencing Discourse by advocating for communication best practices that will create what we want to be creating in our communication. Students model positive communication practices when productively responding to personal, local, national, and global issues.
Information About Courses
The MA in Applied Communication Program requires 33 credit hours for completion.
Required Courses (24 hours):
- Human Communication Theory, COMM 70173 (ACOM 7301) – This course serves as an introduction to the communication field, with emphasis on specific theoretical frameworks used to co-construct positive change. As a result of this class, students will be able to explain/articulate key applied communication theoretic models and the value of them to create better social worlds. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the fall.
- Applied Communication Research, COMM 74173 (ACOM 7341) – This course discusses the role of applied research methods in developing effective communication in professional and personal settings. As a result of this class, students will be able to understand the research process used in applied communication studies from inception to implementation, including (a) choosing and narrowing a research topic, (b) researching the literature surrounding that topic, (c) justifying the need to research in a particular area, (d) formulating research questions & hypotheses, and (e) selecting appropriate methods to study that topic. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the fall.
- Interpersonal Communication Concepts, COMM 70073 (ACOM 7300) – This course details concepts of human interaction as basis for developing interpersonal communication skills, framework for personal growth in one-to-one interaction, small group dynamics, leadership roles, and other interpersonal relationships. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the spring.
- Organizational Communication & Culture Analysis, COMM 72273 (ACOM 7322) – This course explores the concept of organizational culture and its relationship to effective and ineffective organizational communication. Students develop an understanding of a model for analyzing organizational culture and communication and apply this model to a case analysis. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the spring.
- Conflict Analysis & Intervention, COMM 72373 (ACOM 7323) – This course introduces students to psychological and communication theories of conflict as well as conflict management approaches. The focus is on using in-class activities to better understand the factors and dynamics of conflict resolution and develop effective conflict-management skills. Students also learn conflict consulting and lead a consulting project at the end of this course. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the fall.
- Communication Change & Information Diffusion, COMM 73073 (ACOM 7330) – This course provides an understanding of diffusion theory, which seeks to explain the process through which new ideas (innovations) spread over time via communication channels among the members of a social system. Students will apply diffusion theory to corporate, public health, social change, and policy contexts. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the fall.
- Effective Crisis Communication, COMM 75073 (ACOM 7350) – Over the past 30 years, crises, change and disasters have been studied in a number of disciplines. Sociologists, psychologists, economists, organizational theorists, and communication scholars to name a few have examined these events from different vantage points. Communication researchers are interested in the impact of communication on the onset and recovery of these events. Our ultimate goal in this course is to help the student develop as a professional to better conceptually understand crises in order to produce effective crisis communication. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the spring.
- Seminar in Applied Communication, COMM 81073 (ACOM 8310) – This capstone seminar draws on various applied communication theories to engage students in reflection on two years of study in the program. In doing so, students in the course will look at “what communication practices will create what we want to create,” reflecting on how they (a) adapt messages to various audiences, genres, and contexts, (b) model positive and ethical communication, and (c) advocate for positive co-constructed communication practices. This class is intended to be taken in the last semester or year of study in the graduate program, as a student is analyzing data for their master’s project. This online course should be taken in your final spring semester, the same semester you defend your final M.A. project. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the spring.
Elective Courses – Choose Two (6 hours):
- Communication Training & Pedagogy, COMM 75273 (ACOM 7352) – This course centers on the development and delivery of a training project. Students prepare, facilitate, and assess the effectiveness of a workshop on a specific communication topic, using best practices in experiential learning. This course is offered synchronously online via Zoom in the summer. Graduate assistants in the Communication Skill Center must enroll and pass this course during the summer before they begin their assistantship.
- Negotiation, COMM 72473 (ACOM 7324) – This course provides an examination of the nature of conflict and presentation of theories and techniques of negotiation as a method of resolving or managing conflict. Students will analyze cases of negotiation at many levels and engage in negotiation simulations including topics such as buying and selling, contracts, group decision making, plea bargaining, and organizational creation. Emphasis is placed on solving problems through negotiation and consideration of the role of third parties. This course is highly interactive, utilizing lecture, discussion, and extensive role-playing scenarios. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the summer.
- Mediation, COMM 72973 (ACOM 7329) – This course focuses on mediation theory and practice. Students will explore mediation as a process of resolving different types of conflicts. The course will explain and initiate development of the skills necessary to effectively participate in mediation. Primary attention will be given to collaborative, problem-solving mediation techniques. Simulated mediation (role-plays) will deal with a range of dispute subject matter and address mediation within the role of law and justice, the role of lawyers in mediation, and overcoming barriers to agreement. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the spring.
- Communicating & Managing Difference, COMM 52773 (ACOM 5357) – This course explores communication and difference in such areas as race and ethnicity, social class, age, sexual orientation, and disability. Through applying communication theories and ideas to our experiences in each of the targeted areas, we can emerge with tools to manage communication across lines of difference and create more positive social worlds. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 4000 level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (5000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (4000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the spring.
- Listening & Civil Dialogue, COMM 53073 (ACOM 5330) – This course is designed to introduce students to perspectives on dialogue and deliberation with an emphasis on creating and maintaining ethical communication practices which value the worth of another person, while being willing to interrupt narratives which can lead to interactive conflicts. Students will learn (a) interpersonal skills to depolarize their own thinking, (b) interpersonal skills to help difficult interactions go more smoothly and (c) intergroup skills to use when working in groups to bridge differences. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000 level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online in the fall, as well as synchronously online over Zoom and in-person.
- Social Media, COMM 52773 (ACOM 5327) – This course is designed to help students acquire theoretical and practical knowledge about social media and understand the ways in which social media influences communication in various personal and professional contexts. Specifically, it aims to address how different forms of computer-mediated communication are used in various contexts and how social media shapes the way we connect to and build relationships with others. Strategies are presented to help individuals and organizations use social media effectively and ethically. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000-level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online during select spring semesters..
- Transformations in Health Comm, COMM 52673 (ACOM 5326) – This course introduces students to theories and issues in the field of health communication and personal transformation practices. The focus is on using in-class activities to better understand the dynamics of meanings of health and to develop effective personal-management skills. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000-level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online and in-person during select spring semesters.
- Family Communication, COMM 52373 (ACOM 5323) – This course includes the study of communication phenomena in the family setting. Examination of how communication relates and influences the development, maintenance, and enhancement of family relationships. Case analysis and course activities focus on co-constructing family relationships with effective communication skills. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000-level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online during select spring and summer semesters.
- Seminar: Studies in Communication, COMM 51373 (ACOM 5313) – Investigation of specific communication theories, skills, and practices. Focus is on an in-depth treatment of a content area not typically represented in other courses in the major. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog as COMM 41373. May be taken for both undergraduate and graduate credit, if on a different seminar topic. This course is offered fully asynchronously online during select spring and fall semesters.
- Intercultural Communication, COMM 51273 (ACOM 5312) – This course provides an exploration of the relationship between communication and varied ethnic and national cultures across multiple contexts, including work, community, medical, and interpersonal. Topics such as culture shock, language, conflict, and cultural identity are explored. Class activities and case studies focused on developing competent and ethical application of major intercultural theories and concepts. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000 level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online each fall semester, as well as in-person, and asynchronously online select summer semesters.
- Organizational Communication, COMM 51173 (ACOM 5311) – In this course, students develop an ability to understand and apply major theories and concepts from communication theories to varied organizational contexts. Topics such as leadership, motivation, planned change, conflict, diversity, and decision making are explored through practical application to cases and during class activities. Dual listed in the Undergraduate Catalog with a 40000 level listing. Cannot receive graduate level (50000) credit for class if previously taken for undergraduate (40000) credit. This course is offered fully asynchronously online during select fall semesters.
Final MA Project Course (3 hours):
- Master’s Research Paper, COMM 80173 (ACOM 8301) -Students develop and complete their master’s project on an applied communication research topic. This course should be taken during your final year in the program, fall or spring. Students should sign up for the 80173 section associated with their M.A. advisor.