Curricular Fidelity, Diversity with Connection: The Duquesne Experiment

Authors

• Janie M. Harden Fritz, Duquesne University

Abstract

This article presents information on a conceptual scheme detailing the functions of a communication curriculum applied at the University of Duquesne in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From an organizational systems perspective the excellence of any academic department is shaped by its relationship to its field, its position and role with regard to the mission of the university setting that forms its particular context, and how it relates to the outside world-the community and larger society that it serves. The nature of the undergraduate curriculum is important not only for disciplinary maintenance but also because it concerns a primary enabling public of the university to whom the organization, and the field, must deliver a high-quality service in order to survive as an institution. The Department of Communication at Duquesne University merged the fields of speech communication, journalism and media. To maintain uniqueness in the midst of commonality, the faculty associate in disciplinary teams, each with an academic major: the Division of Communication Studies, the Division of Journalism, the Division of Media Studies. Each division supports and requires the common core of 15 hours while also supporting its own major of from 15 to a maximum of 30 additional hours.

Recommended Citation

Harden Fritz, J. M. (1997). Curricular fidelity, diversity with connection: The Duquesne experiment. Journal of the Association for Communication Administration, 26(1), 24–31.