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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 

Modern Language 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 101INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMMUNICATION4
CMN 102INTRODUCTION TO MASS COMMUNICATION4
CMN 103INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION4
CMN 104PUBLIC SPEAKING4

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.

Modern Language Option

The Modern Language 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. Modern language option  waivers cannot be applied to courses in the Math and Computing Domain or courses in the Scientific Inquiry domain. Modern Languages courses with an E-designation are taught in English and may not be applied to the Modern Language 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.

Plan of Study Grid
First Year ProgramHours
Chicago Quarter
LSP 110
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. The MAT 120 requirement may be waived by passing a dedicated proficiency exam, or by credit earned for advanced math coursework at DePaul (MAT 135MAT 136MAT 147MAT 148MAT 149MAT 150MAT 151MAT 152MAT 155MAT 156MAT 160MAT 161MAT 162MAT 170MAT 171MAT 172, or equivalent) or any transfer, CLEP, IB, or AP Calculus credit. Calculus course(s) may be used to fulfil any of the three QR/MCD requirements.

3

Students declared in the Sports Journalism Concentration have the option to complete SPRTCMN 396CMN 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 251ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION4
JOUR 275INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALISM4
MGT 300PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT4
MGT 340LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS: LESSONS FOR COACHING IN THE WORKPLACE4
MGT 356INTRODUCTION TO SPORTS MANAGEMENT4
MKT 301PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING4
PRAD 255PUBLIC RELATIONS4
SPRTCMN 310SPORTS, MEDIA, AND SOCIETY4

Concentrations, tracks and specializations provide focus to the major. In addition to any college core requirements, liberal studies requirements and major requirements, students are required to choose one of the following: