The Department of Communication Studies offers a strong curriculum that embraces a range of traditions in the discipline. Humanistic, aesthetic and social scientific methods are used to examine communication processes and patterns in a variety of contexts and the promises and challenges people experience when they use language and other symbolic systems to work with and influence others. Students are provided with instruction in the knowledge and skills people need to communicate and function effectively in business, law, government, the ministry, teaching, the performing arts, politics, international relations and numerous other areas. The knowledge and skills offered in the department help students to build satisfying and productive relationships in their careers, as well as in their personal lives, and to become active and reflective global citizens. Communication is central to the ongoing processes of culture and society and, thus, is vitally important to study. The field has a rich and diverse foundation of specializations, ranging from public address to critical and cultural studies to interpersonal and small-group communication to organizational communication to intercultural and international communication to performance studies.