The Master of Arts program in Communication Studies prepares students for communication-related careers that require an advanced degree. We invite students into a life of engaged scholarly inquiry in communication with a focus on social justice.
Across diverse contexts, graduates of the program are able to critically read, produce and apply communication research in order to practice collaborative dialogue, to understand differences and to honor unheard voices. Students and faculty work in communities where curriculum and scholarship span the breadth of human interaction and performance.
We practice humane approaches to complex human problems in both local and global communities and attempt to discern ethical choices.
Graduates with majors in Communication Studies choose careers in a wide-variety of fields, including: management, sales, public relations, advertising, marketing, broadcasting, teaching, law, human resources, training, lobbying, labor negotiations, mediation, event planning, fund raising, campaign management, as well as many others.
About our Master of Arts Graduate Program
Our program and its students mirror the diversity and cultural richness of the San Francisco Bay Area. Graduates with an M.A. in Communication Studies from San Francisco State University follow a diverse range of career paths. While some students focus on developing teaching skills and find jobs teaching at community four-year colleges, others aim to continue their studies in Ph.D. programs. Still others focus on advancing in communications-related careers in the public and private sectors in areas such as human resources, sales, customer service, public relations, nonprofit, community organizing, political activism and more.
Seminars in the following topic areas are offered on a rotating basis: Communication and Culture, Communication Theory, Conflict and Communication, Contemporary Theory, Environmental Communication, Gender and Communication, Health Communication, Intercultural Communication, Interpersonal Communication, Language and Social Interaction, Organizational Communication, Performance Theory and Practice, Rhetoric, Sexual Identity, Social Criticism, Teaching Communication and Quantitative, Qualitative and Mixed Research Methods. Please note that the department does not offer courses that focus on the study of mass media or journalism. (Please see the Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts program for its Master of Arts program.)
Requirements for a Graduate Degree in Communication Studies
Graduate courses vary in character and scope. Much of the coursework in the graduate program will be in seminars style courses where students will conduct original scholarship with faculty support. A graduate seminar is not primarily a lecture course, but instead involves student-faculty interaction in a cooperative search for knowledge, relying principally on findings contributed by students. The faculty member acts as a facilitator and helps to synthesize concepts in the course and support student projects.
Typically, students will be required to:
- Locate and read primary sources, i.e., original research studies and theoretical essays.
- Select, organize and evaluate materials that reflect both the discipline’s historical and cutting-edge scholarship.
- Identify, analyze and synthesize principles, concepts and theories.
- Formulate a problem in independent inquiry, gather, record, analyze and report data and conclusions both orally and in writing.
Coursework for the degree is intended to take 4 semesters if a student is taking a full time courseload.
The degree requirements consist of:
- Introduction to Graduate Studies: COMM 700 (4 units)
- A Graduate Methods course: COMM 870, 871, 872, or 873 (4 units)
- 4 Graduate Seminars: Select from COMM 701 - COMM 797 (16 units)
- 2-4 courses of electives (8 units)
- A culminating experience (thesis, written exams, or creative project) taken in the last semester of enrollment in the program
Depending on the student's choice of culminating experiences, completing the degree requirements may extend beyond 4 semesters.
Written English Proficiency Requirement
In accordance with the Graduate Studies Written English Proficiency Requirement,
each graduate student must demonstrate, in an independently written format, the ability to write English correctly and effectively to explain, defend, or argue discipline-specific issues.
Level One
During the application process, prospective applicants to the Communication Studies department are asked to submit a writing sample of academic writing from their undergraduate work. Written competency is further evaluated in the first semester of coursework for writing level one proficiency.
Level Two
Students satisfy writing Level Two proficiency in subsequent graduate seminars. This requirement should be passed before signing up for any of the culminating experience options.
Advancement to Candidacy
A student advances to candidacy when all courses are complete and a proposal for a culminating experience has been approved.
The ATC form describes the student’s coursework and planned culminating experience. This form is filed one semester before the student plans to graduate. For example, the ATC must be filed in fall if graduation is planned for the following Spring. The ATC form is approved and signed by the department graduate coordinator and the student’s primary adviser for the culminating experience.
Students generally file the ATC and Culminating Experience forms at the same time; this may be as early as their third semester. Any changes in the courses made after filing the ATC will require an ATC Substitution form to reflect the updated courses. Students admitted to the program conditionally must have satisfied any conditions before an ATC from can be approved.
While the Division of Graduate Studies has specific filing dates listed for the ATC and culminating experience each semester, the department’s deadline for filing is always two weeks before the Graduate Studies’s deadline. All University forms must be typed.
A student is advanced to candidacy (ATC) once approved by the Division of Graduate Studies. To complete a Master’s degree, every candidate must complete a culminating experience and the corresponding course.
Students have three culminating experience options:
- Written Comprehensive Examination and COMM 896
- Creative Work Project and COMM 894
- Master’s Thesis and COMM 898
There are five steps, regardless of which option is chosen.
View more information about the culminating experience options, the steps to get there, and past projects from our graduates.
Visit our Resources section to find out valuable resources about applying to the Master of Arts program, preparing for graduation, what courses to take, graduate teaching opportunities and more.
Western Regional Graduate Program
The Department of Communication Studies at San Francisco State is proud to belong to Western Regional Graduate Program (WRGP).
With this program, graduate students who are residents of 16 Western states and territories (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawai’i, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming) to enroll in our graduate program as non-California residents and pay the California resident tuition.
For more info please check WRGP's website.