Abstract
This article describes the development of a common core curriculum in communication at Eastern Washington University designed to unify undergraduate study across both liberal arts and applied degree tracks. The initiative sought to establish a shared instructional philosophy and foundation of courses that would equip students with essential knowledge, skills, and conceptual abilities for professional communication. The article explains the conceptual bases guiding the design, which included rhetorical theory, social cognition, and action theory, and how these perspectives were integrated into a sequence of five courses. The curriculum emphasizes progression from information processing and observation to interaction strategies, message design, message delivery, and critical thinking as a capstone. The program is structured as a spiral, with concepts recurring at increasing levels of complexity. It concludes that this approach fosters coherence, reduces redundancy, and produces students with stronger, more adaptable communication competencies.
Recommended Citation
Gilbert, Reta A. and Cornelius, David L.
(1988)
"The Professional Communicator: Developing the Speech Communication Core,"
Association for Communication Administration Bulletin: Vol. 66, Article 10.
Available at:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/aca/vol66/iss1/10
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