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Communication Studies, M.A.

Master of Arts

About this program

The Master of Arts in Communication Studies invites you to deepen your understanding of communication with a focus on social justice. You will learn advanced theory, research methods, and pedagogy, guided by caring faculty. You study through seminars, electives, and a culminating experience like a creative project or thesis. The program prepares you to teach, research, or work ethically in public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Program Curriculum and Requirements

Master's

What you can do

Employment Opportunities

A Master of Arts in Communication Studies degree prepares you for careers such as: management, sales, public relations, advertising, marketing, broadcasting, teaching, law, human resources, training, lobbying, labor negotiations, mediation, event planning, fund raising, campaign management

Program Scope

The Master of Arts program in Communication Studies prepares students for communication-related careers that require an advanced degree. We invite students into a life of engaged scholarly inquiry in communication with a focus on social justice.

Across diverse contexts, graduates of the program are able to critically read, produce and apply communication research in order to practice collaborative dialogue, to understand differences and to honor unheard voices. Students and faculty work in communities where curriculum and scholarship span the breadth of human interaction and performance.

We practice humane approaches to complex human problems in both local and global communities and attempt to discern ethical choices.

Our program and its students mirror the diversity and cultural richness of the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduates with an M.A. in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University follow a diverse range of career paths. While some students focus on developing teaching skills and find jobs teaching at community four-year colleges, others aim to continue their studies in Ph.D. programs. Still others focus on advancing in communications-related careers in the public and private sectors in areas such as human resources, sales, customer service, public relations, nonprofit, community organizing, political activism and more.

Seminars in the following topic areas are offered on a rotating basis: Communication and Culture, Communication Theory, Conflict and Communication, Contemporary Theory, Environmental Communication, Gender and Communication, Health Communication, Intercultural Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Language and Social Interaction, Organizational Communication, Performance Theory and Practice, Rhetoric, Sexual Identity, Social Criticism, Teaching Communication and Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods.

Program Learning Outcomes

Graduates of our program will emphasize social justice and ethical perspectives by:

  1. Reading, evaluating and synthesizing primary scholarship.
  2. Applying, critiquing, and/or extending communication focused theory and scholarship.
  3. Actively engaging in, reflecting upon and analyzing communication processes in their local and/or global communities.

Admissions Information

Graduate courses vary in character and scope. Much of the coursework in the graduate program will be in seminars style courses where students will conduct original scholarship with faculty support. A graduate seminar is not primarily a lecture course, but instead involves student-faculty interaction in a cooperative search for knowledge, relying principally on findings contributed by students. The faculty member acts as a facilitator and helps to synthesize concepts in the course and support student projects. 

Typically, students will be required to:

  1. Locate and read primary sources, i.e., original research studies and theoretical essays.
  2. Select, organize and evaluate materials that reflect both the discipline’s historical and cutting-edge scholarship.
  3. Identify, analyze and synthesize principles, concepts and theories.
  4. Formulate a problem in independent inquiry, gather, record, analyze and report data and conclusions both orally and in writing.

Coursework for the degree is intended to take 4 semesters if a student is taking a full time courseload. 
The degree requirements consist of:

  • Introduction to Graduate Studies: COMM 700  (4 units)
  • A Graduate Methods course: COMM 870, 871, 872, or 873 (4 units)
  • 4 Graduate Seminars: Select from COMM 701 - COMM 797 (16 units)
  • 2-4 courses of electives (8 units)
  • A culminating experience (thesis, written exams, or creative project) taken in the last  semester of enrollment in the program

    Depending on the student's choice of culminating experiences, completing the degree requirements may extend beyond 4 semesters.

Fall Priority Deadline: March 15
Fall Secondary Deadline: April 15
No Spring Admissions

Ready to apply? Visit the Graduate Students page to get started.

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