McDaniel College - COM1103 Introduction to Mass Communication (Online) - R. W. Dillman
Paper Assignment #2

Studying Communication

The Writing Assignment

Few "on air" media stars have undergraduate degrees in Communication. The following, for example, are typical:

• Brian Williams, NBC - Left college without a degree, a decision that he terms "one of my great regrets." [Wikipedia]
• Katie Couric, CBS - Graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in American Studies [Wikipedia]
• Wolf Blitzer, CNN - Received a B.A. degree in History from the University at Buffalo (and an M.A. degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies)[Wikipedia]
• Barbara Walters, ABC - B.A. in English from Sarah Lawrence College. [Wikipedia]
• Tony Snow, formerly with FOX ... and later White House Press Secretary - Received a B.A. in Philosophy from Davidson College [Wikipedia]
• Anderson Cooper, CNN - After graduating from high school at age 17, Cooper went to southern Africa in a "13-ton British Army truck" during which time he contracted malaria and required hospitalization in Kenya. He continued his education at Yale University, where he ... studied both Political Science and International Relations and graduated in 1989. [Wikipedia]

So ... a degree in Communication is not needed for a career in the broadcast media, or in fact for jobs in the media industries in general.

Why, then, would someone study Communication? And what does a McDaniel College degree in Communication prepare its graduates to do?

Those are the two questions that you need to answer in your paper. Why would you want to study Communication? For what does a McDaniel College degree in Communication prepare its graduates to do?

This is a research paper. I am interested in your opinions, but only if they are backed up by facts. It is really important that you do reasearch on this subject and present the facts in your paper. Be sure to cite your sources. The length of the paper should not exceed 2500 words. Please send the paper to me as a PDF file attached to an email.

My Goals For This Assignment

In order to answer the question you will have to find sources of information beyond the reading that you have been assigned in class. I am interested in how you handle this research, and your success in finding facts will be a major part of your grade..

We have spent four weeks discussing the basic ideas of Communication theory. Something in the study of communication theory is valuable. I want to see what you think that is. I expect to hear about the study of Communication theory in your paper.

The questions are rather fuzzy. While they have no single best answer, some answers are better than others. I am interested in seeing how you clarify the questions in your own mind and choose your answers.

This assignment is worth 15 points - 10 points on content; 5 points on format and style.

Tips and Hints

• I used the TV news anchors as an example on purpose. Do not waste time trying to convince me that Communication is a really good major for people who want to work in the mass media - because I have evidence that it is not.
• Figuring out "what the assignment is" is part of the assignment. People who can do what they are told to do are a dime a dozen. The good jobs go to people who, when faced with an ambiguous assignment, can think their way through to a reasonable result. I told you what I want in the "My Goals" section above ... I won't make it any clearer than that. But ... Read the My Goals section over carefully. Years of schooling have socialized you to have certain expectations for writing assignments. I may be after something different. Don't assume - analyze my goals and give me what I'm looking for.
• Probably someone, somewhere (perhaps at a college or university?) has tried to answer these questions. A Google search might yield results. Try "communication studies", for example. Or go to Ask.com and ask: "why should I study communication?"
• Most graduates of liberal arts colleges (McDaniel College is one of these) do not go to work in the area that they majored in. Biology majors do not become biologists; history majors do not become historians, and so on. Most college professors will tell you that it makes no difference what you major in, the value of a liberal arts education is not in the contents of the courses but in the process. What does that mean? (Maybe you could ask one of your professors … research is research … it's not cheating to get help from other people on campus as long as you cite your sources in your paper.)
• A good college will have professionals on staff to help students think about their careers. McDaniel has a good Career Services Center. In fact they have a web page devoted entirely to matching majors to careers. The people in the Career Services Center are very nice, very outgoing, and paid to talk to you about this subject. Maybe you should go over to their office and set up an appointment to meet with one of them.

Good luck.

What I Expect From You - Or, How I Will Grade Your Writing

1. As always, you will need to provide quotations and cite your sources. If you do not provide evidence, then no matter how good your ideas are, your grade will be poor.

2. Format and style as are they were for the first paper. You can find the example paper at this web address: Sample Paper.

3. Please send the paper to me as a PDF file attached to an email. If you have difficulty with that, contact me ASAP.