The Bachelor of Arts degree in Sports Communication prepares graduates for careers that merge foundational communication skills with expertise in areas such as sports sales and marketing, public/community/media relations, media production in digital graphics, video editing, and social media analytics and management. The Sports Communication BA provides students a strong academic foundation analyzing the economic and societal impact of the sports industry to prepare them to make positive change in their communities as socially responsible communication professionals. DePaul Sports Communication majors will develop oral, written, and visual communication skills that will enable them to research, design, present, and evaluate messages across diverse contexts and from a variety of platforms, including social media and digital communication technologies. The combination of communication and business skills offered by the Sports Communication BA prepares students to enter new and emerging career paths in the sports industry.
| Program Requirements | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|
| College Core Requirements | 16 |
| Liberal Studies Requirements | 84 |
| Major Requirements | 32 |
| Concentration Requirements | 16 |
| Open Electives | 44 |
| Total hours required | 192 |
Learning Outcomes
Students will be able to:
- Apply knowledge and critical thinking about sports in relation to culture, business, ethics, and communication theory to students' intellectual and professional communication work.
- Engage critically with sports and its relationship to the communication pathways in the community, including formal societal power structures such as the law, government, politics, and private economic interests.
- Generate sports media content using a variety of modes and media in an ethical, meaningful, deliberate, and socially responsible manner in service to their communities.
- Analyze how sports and sports communication influence and are influenced by how people form, maintain, and manage a range of relationships, networks, and organizations.
College Core Requirements
Modern Language Requirement
Language for Liberal Studies Option
All majors in the College of Communication consist of a four-course common core plus an additional combination of program requirements and electives.
College Core Requirements
Four core courses are required of all College of Communication students:
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CMN 101 | INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION | 4 |
| CMN 102 | INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION | 4 |
| CMN 103 | INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION | 4 |
| CMN 104 | PUBLIC SPEAKING | 4 |
Students are encouraged to complete all four prior to taking additional coursework in the major.
Modern Language Requirement
Students who intend to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Communication will be required to demonstrate a measure of competence in a modern language, as defined by the college. Such competence may be demonstrated in one of several ways:
- completing the last course in a second year high school course work in a modern language or Latin
- completing the last course in the first-year college sequence of any language
- completing a college course beyond the first-year level in any language
- achieving a satisfactory score on any of the Modern Language placement examinations administered at DePaul
- achieving a satisfactory rating in a proficiency examination accepted by DePaul
- achieving a score of 3 or higher on the Advance Placement (AP) test for any language (must be completed during high school)
- achieving a score of 5 or higher in the Language B assessment from a Standard or Higher Level International Baccalaureate (IB) program
- achieving a satisfactory score on the CLEP examination.
Modern Languages courses with an E-designation are taught in English and may not be applied to the Modern Language Requirement. Students with some modern language training should consult with the Modern Language Department about the course with which they should begin. Students with little or no previous work in the language will be required to complete the entire three-course introductory sequence.
Language For Liberal Studies Option
The Language for Liberal Studies Option is available to all BA students who wish to study a modern language beyond the level necessary to meet the College’s modern language requirement. Students selecting the option may substitute a three-course language sequence for three learning domain courses, or two upper-level courses in the same language for two learning domain requirements. Language for Liberal Studies waivers cannot be applied to courses in the Math and Computing Domain or courses in the Scientific Inquiry domain. Modern Language courses with an E-designation are taught in English and may not be applied to the Language for Liberal Studies Option.
Any substitutions must be consistent with the principle that students complete at least one course in each learning domain.
Liberal Studies Requirements
Honors program requirements can be found in the individual Colleges & Schools section of the University Catalog. Select the appropriate college or school, followed by Undergraduate Academics and scroll down.
| First Year Program | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| Chicago Quarter | ||
| LSP 110 or LSP 111 | DISCOVER CHICAGO or EXPLORE CHICAGO | 4 |
| Focal Point | ||
| LSP 112 | FOCAL POINT SEMINAR | 4 |
| Writing | ||
| WRD 103 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC I 1 | 4 |
| WRD 104 | COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC II 1 | 4 |
| Quantitative Reasoning | ||
| MAT 120 | QUANTITATIVE REASONING 2 | 4 |
| Sophomore Year | ||
| Race, Power, and Resistance | ||
| LSP 200 | SEMINAR ON RACE, POWER, AND RESISTANCE | 4 |
| Junior Year | ||
| Experiential Learning | ||
| Required | 4 | |
| Senior Year | ||
| Capstone | ||
| SPRTCMN 396 | SPORTS COMMUNICATION CAPSTONE 1, 3 | 4 |
- 1
Students must earn a C- or better in this course.
- 2
Readiness for MAT 120 is determined by the math placement test taken online after admission. Students may need to take developmental coursework prior to MAT 120. Students who complete MAT 120 and both a Computational Reasoning course and a Statistical Reasoning course in the Math and Computing Learning Domain take one less Learning Domain course. Students may not apply the course reduction to any Domain where only one course is required, and cannot be applied to the Scientific Inquiry Learning Domain. The MAT 120 requirement may be waived by passing a dedicated proficiency exam or it may be fulfilled by credit for advanced math coursework earned in-residence at DePaul (MAT 135, MAT 136, MAT 147, MAT 148, MAT 149, MAT 150, MAT 151, MAT 152 MAT 155, MAT 156, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 162 MAT 170, MAT 171, MAT 172, or equivalent) or earned externally either as transfer credit from another college/university or as test credit through AP, CLEP, IB, or International A and A/S Level exams. Calculus course(s) may be used to fulfill any of the three QR/MCD requirements.
- 3
Students declared in the Sports Journalism Concentration have the option to complete SPRTCMN 396, CMN 396 or JOUR 396 to fulfill the Senior Capstone.
Learning Domains
Arts and Literature (AL)
- 2 Courses Required
Historical Inquiry (HI)
- 2 Courses Required
Math and Computing (MC)
-
2 Courses Required
[1 CR Course and 1 SR Course]
Philosophical Inquiry (PI)
- 2 Courses Required
Religious Dimensions (RD)
- 2 Courses Required
Scientific Inquiry (SI)
- 2 Courses Required
[1 Lab Course and 1 SWK Course]
Social, Cultural, and Behavioral Inquiry (SCBI)
- 2 Courses Required
Note
Courses offered in the student's primary major cannot be taken to fulfill LSP Domain requirements. If students double major, LSP Domain courses may double count for both LSP credit and the second major. Students who choose to take an experiential learning course offered by the major may count it either as a general elective or the Experiential Learning requirement.
In meeting learning domain requirements, no more than one course that is outside the student’s major and is cross-listed with a course within the student’s major, can be applied to count for LSP domain credit. This policy does not apply to those who are pursuing a double major or earning BFA or BM degrees.
Major Requirements
All Sports Communication majors must complete the major core curriculum consisting of eight classes (32 hours) and a 4 course (16 hour) concentration in Sports Journalism, Sports Promotion and Publicity, or Sports and Society.
Sports Communication Core Requirements
| Course | Title | Quarter Hours |
|---|---|---|
| CMNS 251 | ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION | 4 |
| JOUR 275 | INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM | 4 |
| MGT 300 | PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT | 4 |
| MGT 340 | LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS: LESSONS FOR COACHING IN THE WORKPLACE | 4 |
| HSB 356 | SPORTS MANAGEMENT | |
| MKT 301 | PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING | 4 |
| PRAD 255 | PUBLIC RELATIONS | 4 |
| SPRTCMN 310 | SPORTS, MEDIA, AND SOCIETY | 4 |