Communication is about:

Self-awareness ~ Connection ~ Choice-making ~ Communities ~ Change

In the Speech Communication program, classes are small and interactive. You will engage in self reflection, dialogue, and high levels of interpersonal interaction with faculty and other students. Your classroom experience will include challenging discussion, self reflection, peer feedback, group work, experiential and service learning, and opportunities to contribute your own thoughts and hear from others.

In the Speech Communication program, your ideas and involvement directly affect your own learning and those around you.

You will strengthen your abilities in leadership, teamwork, critical and ethical thinking, public expression, conflict management, cross-cultural communication, workplace communication, consulting, relationship building and the analysis of complex ideas and decisions. Communication is the study of how we make and interpret meaning—as individuals, in groups, when we agree and disagree, during specific interactions and at broad levels of society.

The group of students pictured above were working on a project for their Organizational Communication course. They presented ideas for a community initiative in the Student Life Centre and asked for peer feedback regarding a cafe that fosters youth and community involvement in the Kitchener- Waterloo area.

The Speech Communication program at the University of Waterloo is the only one of its kind in Canada to offer a specific university degree in Speech Communication.  An interdisciplinary program in the Faculty of Arts, it offers eight academic plans (four Honours plans, two General Plans, and a Minor and Option Plan). Courses in Speech Communication provide students with valuable communication knowledge and skills that are transferable to both professional and personal areas of life. Students develop greater understanding of theories related to interpersonal communication, leadership, intercultural communication, organizational communication, conflict management, public communication, persuasion; and develop skills related to listening, interviewing, team communication, and public speaking.

With a diverse and caring faculty the Speech Communication program at the University of Waterloo is preparing students for the future challenges of communicating in a globalized and pluralistic world. The program is also involved in exciting research regarding the qualities, characteristics, and importance of spoken communication in its many different forms, including topics such as leadership, innovation, spirituality, performance, intercultural communication, ethics, and race.

To find out more about the Speech Communication program at the University of Waterloo, click on the links to your left. Join us, and find out . . .

What kind of meaning do you want to make?