Abstract
This essay presents an optimistic evaluation of the communication discipline, arguing that the field’s institutional growth, intellectual diversification, and expanding public visibility signal long-term vitality. Evidence of strength includes increased student enrollment across subfields, greater institutional funding, steady employment opportunities, growing recognition by industry and government, and a maturing research culture that has moved beyond foundational definitional debates. Nonetheless, the analysis identifies several risks: declining graduate student recruitment due to market competition, internal fragmentation following departmental reorganization, and ideological polarization between professional and theoretical approaches. The forecast anticipates continued growth driven by technological innovation, heightened demand for communication teachers, and renewed humanistic inquiry alongside information processing research. The essay concludes that communication is positioned to emerge as the “liberal arts of the next century,” capable of integrating broad intellectual training with applied relevance.
Recommended Citation
Bettinghaus, Erwin P.
(1987)
"A Prognosis for the Field of Communication,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 59, Article 6.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol59/iss1/6
