Salem College Promotes Andrew Thomas to Professor of History
May 31, 2023
Thomas came to Salem in 2007 following a ten-month stay as a doctoral research fellow at the Leibniz-Institute for European History in Mainz, Germany.
Communication and Media Studies
Communication and Media Studies
As a communication student, you will focus on critical thinking, writing, and visual literacy. You will gain a broad-based knowledge while honing your specialized skills through writing and video assignments, research projects, internships, independent study, and work on any of our student-run media outlets.
At the heart of Salem’s Communication Program are the ideals of curiosity and exploration. The program fosters a deep-rooted belief that in a changing society where technology becomes antiquated in just a few years, knowledge, determination, and the ability to think critically are essential ingredients in achieving personal and professional success.
Program Faculty
Spring-Serenity Duvall
Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Division Chair
336-917-5009
Shannon Downey
Affiliated Instructor of Entrepreneurship
Overview
Your Program
One of the many aspects that distinguish Salem’s Communication Program is that it focuses on critical thinking, writing, and visual literacy, rather than stressing technical skills with software or hardware that will soon be outdated. You will gain a broad-based knowledge, while honing your specialized skills through writing and video assignments, research projects, internships, independent study and work on any of our student-run media outlets.
Your Experience
As a communication student, you want to be responsive, reflective and responsible leaders and communicators in today’s global society. You are willing to accept challenges and learn from both sides of the brain. You also embrace Salem’s intimate and engaging classroom environment, and strive to become the visionary thinkers, writers and communicators of tomorrow in any number of professional settings.
Your Faculty
Professors in the program are committed teacher-scholars with expertise in the politics of pop culture, the importance of storytelling in communities, and the role of intercultural understanding in effective communication. With decades of teaching experience and respected international research publications, your professors bring cutting-edge perspectives to individualized instruction.
The Results
When you graduate with a communication degree, you are equipped with more than technical knowledge and skills. You will have a professional perspective that is both deep and broad-based—with the ability to think, interpret and communicate clearly and critically. You will join other Salem graduates in such fields as print media, electronic media, public relations, organizational communications, advertising, marketing, television production, broadcast journalism, psychology, documentary filmmaking… we even have graduates who are now successful novelists.
Major/Minor
This undergraduate course of study develops students’ understanding of and practice of oral, written and visual communication. Our disciplinary assumption is that through communication practices, people coordinate social and cultural activity, influence change and define our identities.
In this century, digital media content creation and quickly emerging technologies continually alter human-communication practices. New communication paths have created social, ethical and legal issues. Our curriculum promotes listening well, then transmitting accurately, clearly and fairly, a range of ideas, while avoiding stereotypes. When technologies increase speed and mass of communication, communicators who practice critical listening and accurate speech can ethically and effectively provide ideas and opinions for their communities, nation and world.
Communication and Media Studies Major (BA)
The major in communication and media studies requires nine courses: seven core courses are required of all majors and two Communication and Media Studies electives that allow students to specialize in an area of their choosing. Majors analyze and interpret communication activity, and practice social intervention to prepare for careers, post-baccalaureate learning and participation in a global community.
To graduate, majors demonstrate competency in seven communication learning outcomes through the required COMM 107, Digital Storytelling, and the required 323 and 390 courses, in which majors create a senior project, portfolio and presentation. The program develops hands-on learning and experiential courses, internship, professional and scholarly presentations, community involvement, and media creation –to build skills for future employment, graduate school and global life. Internships and independent studies link student knowledge of communication and liberal arts with practical experiences in institutions and organizations. Students are encouraged to pursue two departmental internships (COMM 250) during their junior and senior years to explore career and research option, develop a résumé, and gain mentoring.
The program contributes to Salem’s liberal arts mission by developing students as reflective and responsible change agents aware of communication as the force underlying social change and continuity.
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs.
Communication Foundations courses:
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 120. Oral Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 170. Intercultural Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 223. Gender, Race and Class in Media (3 hrs)
COMM 275. Health Communication
COMM 323. Research Methods in Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 390. Senior Seminar in Communication (3 hrs)
Choose three electives:
COMM 200. Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 220. Special Topics in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 250. Internship in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 290. Honors Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4hrs)
COMM 321. Community Journalism (3 hrs)
COMM 322. Strategic Communication and Marketing (3 hrs)
COMM 325. Celebrity and Popular Culture (3 hrs)
Additional electives as approved by advisor
Health Communication and Data Visualization Major (BA)
Health Communication and Data Visualization will develop students’ interdisciplinary understanding of health, science, communication, and statistics, as well as develop their skills in the full process of gathering, evaluating, and presenting complex data to audiences. The Bachelor of Arts in Health Communication and Data Visualization will offer students a foundation of STEM, Social Science, Humanities, and Arts courses, as well as the opportunity to specialize by selecting interdisciplinary electives.
Students in this program will engage in data collection, learn statistics, and create communication materials, such as infographics, public service campaigns, and journalistic reporting. Thus, this program seeks to prepare students to understand, evaluate, and enhance the health of persons, communities, and the environment by equipping them to use data-informed processes to identify and evaluate health issues or health-based practices and inform a broader community about their conclusions. Furthermore, a focus on data analytics and effective communication of data will require students to engage in problem-solving approaches and ethical decision making. Students will be asked to forge complex solutions that are grounded in data so that they may become well-respected and effective leaders and change-makers in their professions and communities.
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs.
Scientific Inquiry & Knowledge (4 courses, 13-14 hrs)
PSYC 102. Research Methods in Psychology (4 hrs)
SCIE 050. Medical Terminology (1 hr)
Choose one:
BIOL 010. Principles of Biology (4 hrs)
BIOL 100. Cell and Molecular Biology (4 hrs)
Choose one:
CHEM 050. Modern Chemistry & Society (4 hrs)
CHEM 110. General Chemistry (5 hrs)
Data Analytics (3 courses, 10-11 hrs)
CPSC 100. Introduction to Programming (3 hrs)
CPSC 101. Intermediate Programming (4 hrs)
Choose one:
MATH 107. Statistics with R (4 hrs)
PSYC 201. Statistics with SPSS (3 hrs)
BIOL 205. Biometry (4 hrs)
Design Fundamentals (1 course, 4 hrs)
Choose one:
ARTD 040. Graphic Design and Communication (4 hrs)
ARTD 180. Visual Representation (4 hrs)
ARTD 209. Digital Design (4 hrs)
Communication Principles and Practices (3 courses, 9 hrs)
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 275. Health Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 322. Strategic Communication & Marketing (3 hrs)
Capstone Project (1 course, 3 hrs)
COMM 350. Capstone Health Publication/Production (3 hrs)
Electives (2 courses, 4-9 hrs)
ARTD 210. Web Design and Development (4 hrs)
ARTD 261. Digital Imaging and Graphic Design (4 hrs)
BIOL 070. Issues in Biology for Women (3 hrs)
BIOL 210. Ecology (4 hrs)
BIOL 218. Anatomy and Physiology I (5 hrs)
ENGL 235. Embodied Rhetorics (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
ENGL 250. Introduction to Professional Writing (3 hrs)
ENVS 100. Introductory Environmental Studies (3 hrs)
EXER 210. Nutrition (3 hrs)
MATH 242. Nonparametric Statistical Methods(3 hrs)
HIST/POLI 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
POLI 105. Introduction to Public Policy (3 hrs)
PSYC 010. Introduction to Psychological Science (4 hrs)
PSYC 100. Developmental Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 130. Social Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 140. Abnormal Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 160. Human Sexuality (3 hrs)
SCIE 040. Spreadsheets for Science/Math (2 hrs)
SCIE 110. Scientific Writing with LaTex (2 hrs)
SCIE 150. Introduction to Public Health (3 hrs)
SPAN 207. Translation I: Introduction to Translation (3 hrs)
SPAN 208. Translation II: Translation in the Health Professions (3 hrs)
SPAN 211. Medical Spanish (3 hrs)
Additional electives as approved by the department chair.
Communication and Media Studies Minor
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs. The minor consists of five courses in communication:
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 170. Intercultural Communication (3 hrs)
Choose three additional communication electives:
COMM 200. Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 220. Special Topics in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 223. Race, Gender, and Class in Media (3 hrs)
COMM 250. Internship in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 290. Honors Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 321. Community Journalism (3 hrs)
COMM 323. Research Methods in Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 325. Popular and Celebrity Culture (3 hrs)
Students must take at least three of the five courses in the minor at Salem College.
Internships
News Reporter, WFDD-NPR Radio
CBS News Intern, CBS News
HIV/AIDS Video Production, Friends Together, Inc.
Advertising, Indigo Publications
Intern, Cabin Creek Films and Killer Films
Journalism Intern, The Charlotte Observer
News Production Intern, ABC News Productions
Marketing, American Lung Association
Celebrity Publicity, Workhouse Publicity
Sports Marketing, WFU Sports Marketing
“A Dating Story” Intern, Banyan Productions
TNT Latin America, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Magazine/Advertisement, Gotham Magazine
Public Relations Intern, Winston-Salem NC Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Newspaper Reporter, The News of Orange County
Advertising, CBS News
Journalism, The Village Voice
Publishing Intern, John F. Blair, Publisher
Public Relations, Brandon Advertising
Success Stories
In broadcast journalism, on-the-job training is imperative, and Salem’s January Term makes this possible. My internship experience took me to the epicenter of television news: New York City. I was an intern at CBS News where I worked on the set of 48 Hours with Dan Rather and on a biography program based on a famous actress. I liked it so much, I interned at CBS again the following year. This time, I worked their regional breaking news center where I wrote scripts and edited video. It helped that Salem has a great relationship with CBS. During the school year, I interned at WXII 12 News, just down the road from Salem. I invested three years of working nights and weekends to learn how to be a news reporter and producer. The writing skills and independence I was gaining from being a student at Salem shone through and the internship turned into a job. Two days after graduating from Salem, I started working as an associate producer at WXII! My next adventure took me around the world with the U.S. Air Force, working as a broadcast journalist for nearly six years.
Priscilla M. Kaiser
Class Year: 2004
Major: Communication
Career: Freelance news writer and fashion blogger, Washington, DC
Your Program
One of the many aspects that distinguish Salem’s Communication Program is that it focuses on critical thinking, writing, and visual literacy, rather than stressing technical skills with software or hardware that will soon be outdated. You will gain a broad-based knowledge, while honing your specialized skills through writing and video assignments, research projects, internships, independent study and work on any of our student-run media outlets.
Your Experience
As a communication student, you want to be responsive, reflective and responsible leaders and communicators in today’s global society. You are willing to accept challenges and learn from both sides of the brain. You also embrace Salem’s intimate and engaging classroom environment, and strive to become the visionary thinkers, writers and communicators of tomorrow in any number of professional settings.
Your Faculty
Professors in the program are committed teacher-scholars with expertise in the politics of pop culture, the importance of storytelling in communities, and the role of intercultural understanding in effective communication. With decades of teaching experience and respected international research publications, your professors bring cutting-edge perspectives to individualized instruction.
The Results
When you graduate with a communication degree, you are equipped with more than technical knowledge and skills. You will have a professional perspective that is both deep and broad-based—with the ability to think, interpret and communicate clearly and critically. You will join other Salem graduates in such fields as print media, electronic media, public relations, organizational communications, advertising, marketing, television production, broadcast journalism, psychology, documentary filmmaking… we even have graduates who are now successful novelists.
This undergraduate course of study develops students’ understanding of and practice of oral, written and visual communication. Our disciplinary assumption is that through communication practices, people coordinate social and cultural activity, influence change and define our identities.
In this century, digital media content creation and quickly emerging technologies continually alter human-communication practices. New communication paths have created social, ethical and legal issues. Our curriculum promotes listening well, then transmitting accurately, clearly and fairly, a range of ideas, while avoiding stereotypes. When technologies increase speed and mass of communication, communicators who practice critical listening and accurate speech can ethically and effectively provide ideas and opinions for their communities, nation and world.
Communication and Media Studies Major (BA)
The major in communication and media studies requires nine courses: seven core courses are required of all majors and two Communication and Media Studies electives that allow students to specialize in an area of their choosing. Majors analyze and interpret communication activity, and practice social intervention to prepare for careers, post-baccalaureate learning and participation in a global community.
To graduate, majors demonstrate competency in seven communication learning outcomes through the required COMM 107, Digital Storytelling, and the required 323 and 390 courses, in which majors create a senior project, portfolio and presentation. The program develops hands-on learning and experiential courses, internship, professional and scholarly presentations, community involvement, and media creation –to build skills for future employment, graduate school and global life. Internships and independent studies link student knowledge of communication and liberal arts with practical experiences in institutions and organizations. Students are encouraged to pursue two departmental internships (COMM 250) during their junior and senior years to explore career and research option, develop a résumé, and gain mentoring.
The program contributes to Salem’s liberal arts mission by developing students as reflective and responsible change agents aware of communication as the force underlying social change and continuity.
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs.
Communication Foundations courses:
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 120. Oral Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 170. Intercultural Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 223. Gender, Race and Class in Media (3 hrs)
COMM 275. Health Communication
COMM 323. Research Methods in Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 390. Senior Seminar in Communication (3 hrs)
Choose three electives:
COMM 200. Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 220. Special Topics in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 250. Internship in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 290. Honors Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4hrs)
COMM 321. Community Journalism (3 hrs)
COMM 322. Strategic Communication and Marketing (3 hrs)
COMM 325. Celebrity and Popular Culture (3 hrs)
Additional electives as approved by advisor
Health Communication and Data Visualization Major (BA)
Health Communication and Data Visualization will develop students’ interdisciplinary understanding of health, science, communication, and statistics, as well as develop their skills in the full process of gathering, evaluating, and presenting complex data to audiences. The Bachelor of Arts in Health Communication and Data Visualization will offer students a foundation of STEM, Social Science, Humanities, and Arts courses, as well as the opportunity to specialize by selecting interdisciplinary electives.
Students in this program will engage in data collection, learn statistics, and create communication materials, such as infographics, public service campaigns, and journalistic reporting. Thus, this program seeks to prepare students to understand, evaluate, and enhance the health of persons, communities, and the environment by equipping them to use data-informed processes to identify and evaluate health issues or health-based practices and inform a broader community about their conclusions. Furthermore, a focus on data analytics and effective communication of data will require students to engage in problem-solving approaches and ethical decision making. Students will be asked to forge complex solutions that are grounded in data so that they may become well-respected and effective leaders and change-makers in their professions and communities.
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs.
Scientific Inquiry & Knowledge (4 courses, 13-14 hrs)
PSYC 102. Research Methods in Psychology (4 hrs)
SCIE 050. Medical Terminology (1 hr)
Choose one:
BIOL 010. Principles of Biology (4 hrs)
BIOL 100. Cell and Molecular Biology (4 hrs)
Choose one:
CHEM 050. Modern Chemistry & Society (4 hrs)
CHEM 110. General Chemistry (5 hrs)
Data Analytics (3 courses, 10-11 hrs)
CPSC 100. Introduction to Programming (3 hrs)
CPSC 101. Intermediate Programming (4 hrs)
Choose one:
MATH 107. Statistics with R (4 hrs)
PSYC 201. Statistics with SPSS (3 hrs)
BIOL 205. Biometry (4 hrs)
Design Fundamentals (1 course, 4 hrs)
Choose one:
ARTD 040. Graphic Design and Communication (4 hrs)
ARTD 180. Visual Representation (4 hrs)
ARTD 209. Digital Design (4 hrs)
Communication Principles and Practices (3 courses, 9 hrs)
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 275. Health Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 322. Strategic Communication & Marketing (3 hrs)
Capstone Project (1 course, 3 hrs)
COMM 350. Capstone Health Publication/Production (3 hrs)
Electives (2 courses, 4-9 hrs)
ARTD 210. Web Design and Development (4 hrs)
ARTD 261. Digital Imaging and Graphic Design (4 hrs)
BIOL 070. Issues in Biology for Women (3 hrs)
BIOL 210. Ecology (4 hrs)
BIOL 218. Anatomy and Physiology I (5 hrs)
ENGL 235. Embodied Rhetorics (3 hrs)
ENGL 255. The Rhetoric of Health and Medicine (3 hrs)
ENGL 250. Introduction to Professional Writing (3 hrs)
ENVS 100. Introductory Environmental Studies (3 hrs)
EXER 210. Nutrition (3 hrs)
MATH 242. Nonparametric Statistical Methods(3 hrs)
HIST/POLI 224. History of U.S. Health Policy (3 hrs)
POLI 105. Introduction to Public Policy (3 hrs)
PSYC 010. Introduction to Psychological Science (4 hrs)
PSYC 100. Developmental Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 130. Social Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 140. Abnormal Psychology (3 hrs)
PSYC 160. Human Sexuality (3 hrs)
SCIE 040. Spreadsheets for Science/Math (2 hrs)
SCIE 110. Scientific Writing with LaTex (2 hrs)
SCIE 150. Introduction to Public Health (3 hrs)
SPAN 207. Translation I: Introduction to Translation (3 hrs)
SPAN 208. Translation II: Translation in the Health Professions (3 hrs)
SPAN 211. Medical Spanish (3 hrs)
Additional electives as approved by the department chair.
Communication and Media Studies Minor
This is an example of course requirements. Actual requirements depend on the year declared and can be found in the academic catalogs. The minor consists of five courses in communication:
COMM 107. Digital Storytelling (3 hrs)
COMM 170. Intercultural Communication (3 hrs)
Choose three additional communication electives:
COMM 200. Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 220. Special Topics in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 223. Race, Gender, and Class in Media (3 hrs)
COMM 250. Internship in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 290. Honors Independent Study in Communication and Media Studies (1-4 hrs)
COMM 321. Community Journalism (3 hrs)
COMM 323. Research Methods in Communication (3 hrs)
COMM 325. Popular and Celebrity Culture (3 hrs)
Students must take at least three of the five courses in the minor at Salem College.
In broadcast journalism, on-the-job training is imperative, and Salem’s January Term makes this possible. My internship experience took me to the epicenter of television news: New York City. I was an intern at CBS News where I worked on the set of 48 Hours with Dan Rather and on a biography program based on a famous actress. I liked it so much, I interned at CBS again the following year. This time, I worked their regional breaking news center where I wrote scripts and edited video. It helped that Salem has a great relationship with CBS. During the school year, I interned at WXII 12 News, just down the road from Salem. I invested three years of working nights and weekends to learn how to be a news reporter and producer. The writing skills and independence I was gaining from being a student at Salem shone through and the internship turned into a job. Two days after graduating from Salem, I started working as an associate producer at WXII! My next adventure took me around the world with the U.S. Air Force, working as a broadcast journalist for nearly six years.
Priscilla M. Kaiser
Class Year: 2004
Major: Communication
Career: Freelance news writer and fashion blogger, Washington, DC
News Reporter, WFDD-NPR Radio
CBS News Intern, CBS News
HIV/AIDS Video Production, Friends Together, Inc.
Advertising, Indigo Publications
Intern, Cabin Creek Films and Killer Films
Journalism Intern, The Charlotte Observer
News Production Intern, ABC News Productions
Marketing, American Lung Association
Celebrity Publicity, Workhouse Publicity
Sports Marketing, WFU Sports Marketing
“A Dating Story” Intern, Banyan Productions
TNT Latin America, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Magazine/Advertisement, Gotham Magazine
Public Relations Intern, Winston-Salem NC Convention and Visitor’s Bureau
Newspaper Reporter, The News of Orange County
Advertising, CBS News
Journalism, The Village Voice
Publishing Intern, John F. Blair, Publisher
Public Relations, Brandon Advertising
See our Academic Catalog for all of our course offerings.