One of six departments in the College of Communication and Fine Arts, the Department of Communication includes 20 full-time faculty members, approximately 50 graduate students (MA and PhD), and 300 undergraduate majors. At the BA level, we offer concentrations in communication studies (on campus and online) and film & video production (on campus only). We offer graduate degrees in film & video production (MA) and in communication (MA & PhD). Communication graduate students may choose an emphasis in rhetoric, health, or media, and we encourage students to bridge these areas as they design their own programs.

Latest News

U of M COMM Faculty Member Develops New Health Communication APP

The Clinical Communication Collaborative has released an iOS APP for healthcare clinicians and students. Built from the COMFORT communication curriculum, an acronym that stands for the seven basic principles of palliative care communication, Drs. Joy Goldsmith (University of Memphis), Elaine Wittenberg-Lyles (University of Kentucky), and Sandra Ragan (University of Oklahoma) have translated health communication theory and research into the first ever communication studies driven tool to assist clinicians with difficult conversations. Feel free to download the APP as a discussion tool for coursework in health communication, end-of-life care, communication and technology and the like – or better yet, pass it on to a clinician who may be teaching clinical communication.

The Clinical Communication Collaborative (CCC) advances palliative care by fostering clinical communication practices for healthcare professionals, including nurses, physicians, social workers, chaplains, students, and other members of interprofessional healthcare teams.  

Presented by Indie Memphis and sponsored by The Department of Communication at The University of Memphis, the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers will present six independent feature and documentary films from September through April – each with the filmmaker in attendance for a post-screening conversation with the audience about the film and their work.

August 2013 Commencement

Cicely Wilson, PhD, Maggie Parrish, MA, and Melody Lehn, PhD, celebrate commencement on August 11, 2013 at FedEx Forum.

This fall, Wilson will join the faculty of Chicago State University, Parrish will stay at the University of Memphis to pursue her PhD, and Lehn will join the faculty of the University of South Carolina.

Communication Department and Nursing School Launch "Let's Talk Health" Radio Spots

Let's Talk Health is a production of the University of Memphis' Department of Communication and the Loewenberg School of Nursing (LSON) to empower you to communicate and make healthy choices. Produced at the WUMR studios on the campus of the University of Memphis, Let's Talk Health is hosted by Lisa Beasley, MSN, NP-C, RN, family nurse practitioner and clinical assistant professor in LSON, and Christine Platt, a health communication doctoral student in the department of communication. 

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