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and Society, nor in Survey of Radio, TV and Film, nor in Persuasion, the group course,
any television or radio production course, nor in any of the four public relations
courses, nor in a course called Language and Behavior. Similarly, research processes
and procedures for the discipline are never discussed (according to our majors) in any
of these courses. Students also claim that library-based research is seldom required
of them in any coursework prior to their enrollment in research or theory. Worst of
all, as they struggle to graduate needing to pass both research and theory, they feel as
though they are encountering these subjects and phenomena for the very first time.
So, as we send them off into the world, we present to them theory and research for the
first time and as equally frightening and distinct beasts bearing no necessary or logical
relationship to their career goals. This has yielded (and continues to yield) anxious,
resistant, and sometimes hostile students as classroom members. It has also yielded
students who can articulate neither the reciprocal relationship between research and
theory nor the ways in which they may be applied to resolve common communication-
based problems in the settings where they seek employment. In brief, far too many of
our graduating seniors can neither meaningfully use nor explain to another individual
what their major is about.
Let us hasten to add that such conditions hardly make us unique among other
liberal arts majors; possibly no different even from those graduating with degrees in
business, education, or some sciences. Though we stand in good company in facing
this problem, we would not like to remain members of that club longer than we can
manage to find a way to change and hopefully improve upon the situation.
Consequently, a few of us have argued that our curriculum needs serious
reconsideration. In terms of its goals, the requirements set and maintained by faculty
members teaching each class, important content knowledge missing from the
Convention