Department of Communication

Communication is at the core of our understanding of our world and the cultures that compose humanity. It is the means through which humans teach, learn, negotiate, lead, express emotions, and conduct commerce.

Communication majors gain understanding of social phenomena related to new communication technologies (e.g., social media, video games, mass media), public health communication, the political process, the history and evolution of human communication, the relationships between communication and globalization, and other facets of society.

The department has a quantitative methodological orientation (e.g., experiments, surveys, content analysis, social networks and "big data," and agent-based modeling). Faculty members in the UC Davis Department of Communication examine communication theories, channels, technologies, and message content from a bottom-up (micro) and a top-down (macro) perspective in a multidisciplinary context. Bottom-up communication converts collections of individuals into communities and societies, constructs societies' collective identities, and facilitates social evolution. Top-down communication primes people's perception of reality, their social context, and their personal evolution.

The department offers an AB to undergrads as well as a minor. The graduate program offers an MA with both a thesis and a non-thesis track. The department offers a PhD. 

Popular courses

• CMN 1: Public Speaking
• CMN 3: Interpersonal Communication
• CMN 76: Video Games and Virtual Environments
• CMN 10Y: Introduction to Communication: hybrid online/offline class
• CMN 103: Gender Differences in Communication
• CMN 123: Intercultural Communication
• CMN 140: Introduction to Mass Communication
• CMN 142: News Policies, Practices and Effects
• CMN 144: Media Entertainment
• CMN 170V: Digital Technologies and Social Change. Online class: course trailer (allows to take proctored exams off-campus)
• CMN 172: Computer-Mediated Communication

Research laboratories in Communication

• Computational Communication Research Lab (C² or C-square Lab, under the direction of George Barnett, Martin Hilbert, and Cindy Shen).
• Dynamic Interactions in Cognition and Emotion (D.I.C.E.) Lab (Under the direction of Narine Yegiyan),
• Virtual Interaction & Communication Technology Research (VICTR) lab (Under the direction of Jorge Peña),

Links to Communication Graduate Programs in California

• Stanford Department of Communication
• UCSB Department of Communication
• University of Southern California Annenberg School of Communication