Our mission is the creation, application, and dissemination of a systematic body of knowledge about human communication. The department’s instructional program and research activities emphasize a well-rounded study of communication with the dual goals of understanding the structure, patterns, and effects of communication and of facilitating high quality, ethical communication for individuals in an increasingly diverse society. As one of the oldest disciplines in the academy and one connected to the latest communication technology, the department is central to the mission of the university. We are committed to maintaining our position as one of the communication discipline’s most prestigious programs.
Since the inception in the 1920s, the University of Oklahoma Department of Communication has been committed to a social scientific approach to the study of the nature, process and effects of human communicative behavior.
The OU Department of Communication provides a broad-based liberal arts education and promotes communication research and development.
Communication courses explore the process of human interaction in interpersonal, intercultural and political contexts. Graduates from the OU Department of Communication find challenging careers in higher education, management, public relations, consulting and government.
Our graduate program is ranked among the finest in the country and is considered to be one of the major centers of communication research in the world. Our faculty and graduate students take pride in the department's excellent reputation among peer doctoral-granting departments throughout the United States. The department offers both a master of arts program and a doctor of philosophy program.
Through grants, publications, honors, and research projects, the faculty represents the finest combination of excellence in teaching and research. Professors in OU's Department of Communication have won numerous awards, including severaI prestigious university teaching awards. The department also is home to three Fulbright Scholars. OU communication scholars have produced a prolific amount of research, with more than 50 books, nearly 200 journal articles and book chapters, and more than 250 convention papers in the last ten years-ranking them among the top 20 programs in the nation.
To be eligible for enrollment for graduate study in the Department of Communication, the student must be admitted to the University, the Graduate College, and the Department of Communication. Students seeking admission in full standing must meet the admission requirements of the Department of Communication as well as the requirements established by the Graduate College.
Master's students may follow one of the two options in planning their program: (1) the non-thesis program requiring a minimum of 32 hours of course work and a comprehensive examination or (2) the thesis program requiring a minimum of 26 hours of course work and a thesis with oral examination. Students are encouraged to take course work outside the department; however, a minimum of 24 hours must be in Communication.
The Ph.D. in the Department of Communication requires at least 96 semester hours beyond the baccalaureate degree. The 96 or more hours must be in a planned course of study approved and overseen by the student's advisory committee. The student's planned program will often contain more than the minimum 96 hours. Additionally, completion of a minimum of six to nine semester hours in each of two research tools normally is required.
The Office of Admissions and Records has charge of all matters pertaining to general admission to the University. Admission and enrollment in the Graduate College are governed by the college's dean, and in most cases, students also must be recommended for admission by the Department of Communication. The application deadline is December 15th of each year for full funding consideration. If December 15th falls on a weekend, materials will be due on the following business day. Funding is unlikely for applications after December 15th. You may also apply by April 1st for fall admissions but with limited opportunities for funding.
Graduate admissions and requirements for the application process are available via the Graduate College's Website.
All admission materials for the Department of Communication must be submitted to the Graduate College's online system.
The University of Oklahoma opened its classrooms in the fall of 1892. David Ross Boyd, the first OU president, hired three faculty members to undertake teaching responsibilities for the new school. There is no record of these early OU professors teaching any classes in communication; however, there are accounts indicating first year students participated in a preparatory program that included “drills in the art of public speaking.” Coursework closest to a modern communication class was first offered in 1896. Remarkably, the instructor was 16-year-old Grace Adelene King. Miss Grace, as she was known, was the head of the school of music and offered classes in oratory and elocution until she left the university in 1901. In 1904 the university established the Department of Public Speaking and Dramatic Art. The first Department chair was Mary Louise Guelich (1904-1908).
The department was renamed to the Department of Public Speaking in 1912. At the same time, Burton Frank Tanner took over as department chairperson and maintained the title until 1915. Joshua Bryan Lee became the new chair and remained so until he was elected to serve in the U.S. Congress in 1934. In 1937, the chair, Charles P. Green, worked to have the unit renamed yet again to the Department of Speech. The department started offering a B.A. Degree in 1935, M.A. degrees in 1937, and Ph.D. degrees in 1971. It continues to offer all three degrees. The department became the Department of Speech Communication in 1971 and the Department of Communication in 1977.
The department was located in Kaufman Hall for many years. Today it is housed in Burton Hall. The current building was added to campus in 1952 and was named for the long serving director of the School of Home Economics, Dr. Helen B. Burton. Home Economics was housed in Burton Hall until the school was closed in 1984. Classrooms in Burton Hall were updated with the latest educational technology in 2009.
Several factors mark important points in the department’s history. One such factor was the affiliation with the United States Department of Defense. Starting in 1970, the department taught graduate courses to various military personnel on campus. In the main, the military personnel were from various public affairs position across the service branches. The goal of the curriculum was to expose students to the modern communication theory and research, and its application to the military public affairs setting. The affiliation continued until the Department of Defense discontinued the program due to budget cuts in 2007.
Another important point in the department’s history was the 1985 purchase of the world’s largest collection of political radio and political television commercials. The state purchased the collection from Julian Kanter, also the first archivist of collection. Mr. Kanter started collecting political advertisements as an executive at a local television affiliate. When Mr. Kanter sold his collection to the University he had over 25,000 commercials. Today, the archive is named in Mr. Kanter’s honor and houses over 90,000 advertisements. Over the years, researcher from universities across the country and internationally have made use of the archive holdings in an effort to better understand the communication that takes place in political campaigns. The collection has also served as a resource for a large number of media organizations and political campaign consultants over its nearly 30 years of existence. Due to consolidation of resources on campus, the Kanter Collection is now associated with the Carl Albert Center although it is still housed in Burton Hall.
The department has continued to grow and prosper. It began the 2020-21 academic year with the largest number of tenure track faculty in its history. It is consistently one of the largest departments in the College of Arts and Sciences based on the number of undergraduate majors each year.
| Year | Chair Name |
|---|---|
| 1904-1908 | Mary Louise Guelich |
| 1908-1915 | Burton Frank Tanner |
| 1915-1934 | Joshua Bryan Lee |
| 1935-1951 | Charles P. Green |
| 1957-1958 | Sherman P. Lawton |
| 1959-1969 | Roger E . Nebergall |
| 1970-1980 | Wiliam D. Brooks |
| 1982-1987 | Gustav W. Friedrich |
| 1987-1988 | H. Wayland Cummings |
| 1990-1992 | Robert W. Norton |
| 1992-1993 | Sandy Ragan |
| 1993-1994 | H. Wayland Cummings |
| 1994-2000 | Dan O'Hair |
| 2000-2001 | Larry Wieder |
| 2001-2009 | Michael W. Pfau |
| 2009-2010 | Kevin B. Wright |
| 2010-2021 | Michael W. Kramer |
| 2021-2023 | Amy Janan Johnson |
| 2023- 2024 | Ioana Cionea |
| 2024-2024 | Elena Bessarabova |
| 2025 - present | Timothy Levine |
