Abstract
This essay argues for the unification of the fragmented academic fields that study human communication, contending that the separation among speech, journalism, mass communication, and related disciplines weakens their collective intellectual and institutional standing. The author identifies three revolutions reshaping the field: the communication revolution, driven by interactive technologies that collapse distinctions between interpersonal and mass communication; the intellectual revolution, which demands integrative theoretical frameworks; and the campus revolution, which pressures academic programs to justify their disciplinary coherence and relevance to liberal education. The discussion critiques the persistence of outdated departmental divisions and vocational curricula, emphasizing the need for convergence in research, teaching, and administrative structures. The essay proposes the establishment of comprehensive departments of communication that integrate interpersonal, mediated, and organizational dimensions of the field while retaining institutional flexibility. Such integration, it concludes, would strengthen communication’s identity as a foundational discipline within higher education and ensure its adaptability amid technological and pedagogical change.
Recommended Citation
Blanchard, Robert O.
(1986)
"Why a Department of Communication? Hanging Together or Hanging Separately,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 57, Article 2.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol57/iss1/2
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