The Department of Communication Studies and Theatre offers students the opportunity to study human communication practices in a variety of contexts. The department offers two majors-Strategic Communications and Theatre-and two minors-Communication Studies and Theatre-that each balance theoretical understanding with practical skills. The Strategic Communications major focuses on ways in which ever-changing technological advances are impacting communication practices. The program provides a strong theoretical understanding of communication processes in a technology-based culture, including practical training that will allow students to become effective media practitioners. Courses examine both practical and theoretical approaches to the study of communication such as historical developments, policy implications, the influence of mass media and communication technologies, interpersonal relationships, and connections between communication and power relationships. Students will learn how the methods of social science help us adapt messages across a variety of rhetorical situations. Communication courses are taught in an interactive manner combining lectures, discussion, in-class activities and hands-on experience. Students conduct theoretical and field research, write various types of academic and professional papers, design public relations campaigns, create blogs and deliver public presentations. In addition to working on their own, students in communication courses work in collaboration with other students gaining valuable teamwork skills. Students majoring in Strategic Communications are prepared for careers in a diverse group of occupations, such as public relations, advertising, sales, management, journalism and human resources. The major also helps prepare students for graduate studies. The Theatre major incorporates both theoretical and practical application of theatrical study and theatrical practice. The major in Theatre seeks to foster a sense of wonder and excitement in students and community members, while continually asking: what is the role of the theatre and theatre artist in society, whether it be campus, a city, the nation, or the world? A fundamental keystone is that lessons learned in the classroom and on the stage have application in the "real world". Students learn how to take ideas and realize them through application of theatrical production and presentation. As an interdisciplinary field of study, the Theatre major draws from many sources and disciplines and seeks to highlight how they can inform each other, along with a vigorous schedule of productions that put theory into practice.