The interpersonal and rhetorical communication area provides a thorough understanding of communication theories, principles, and applications. Students will be required to complete courses which provide a solid grounding in the theories of communication, the nature of rhetorical principles in communication, and the role of communication in creating, maintaining, and changing human relationships.

This area's courses also provide a minor concentration for students in business, English, journalism, foreign languages and literatures, and the social sciences.

Primary focus in this area is interpersonal, small group, organizational, and public communication. Students take coursework in some of the following areas:

• listening
• semantics
• nonverbal communication
• interviewing
• business and professional speaking
• persuasion
• speech criticism
• interpersonal communication theory
• organizational communication theory

Internships can be arranged in such areas as personnel management, public relations, and sales for students planning careers in business and industry.