Bachelor of Science in Communication - Interpersonal Communication

at Northwest Missouri State University USA

Recreation majors at Northwest is the study of play and leisure in an individual’s life and methods to improve quality of life. Student can emphasize in:

• Recreation and Park Management which prepares students for program leadership and development, and budget and facility management;
• Corporation Recreation/Wellness which involve programs related to a person’s physical well-being;
• Therapeutic Recreation which prepares students with the skills to assess and evaluate the needs for individuals with special needs; and
• Sport Management prepares students for leadership roles in professional, collegiate and community sports organizations.

Agricultural Business majors at Northwest gain the knowledge and experiences of agriculture as well as business foundations. Faculty focus on four core areas: agriculture finance, agricultural marketing, agricultural policy and economics of agricultural production.

Agricultural finance teaches students tools to plan expenditures on assets that extend beyond one year; agricultural marketing provides a method of determining the value for land in order to ensure a profitable investment; agricultural policy, students are exposed to tools the government uses to modify free market outcomes associated with the production and marketing of specific crops and livestock; and economics of agricultural production describes the importance of farmers and agribusinesses reliance on factors and events that occur internationally and determine price.

The comprehensive major in strategic advertising focuses on the business side of advertising. Students learn about creating and selling advertisements, as well as study marketing, management, consumer behavior and business-focused topics. Faculty ensure students are skilled in the areas of writing, designing, communicating and understanding the impact of the location of a message.

When students graduate, they will be capable of working in marketing or advertising departments of large brand and media companies. They’ll have well-rounded business skills focused on marketing, with the specific skill-sets related to planning, buying and creating advertisements.

Comprehensive communication majors emphasizing in rhetoric at Northwest learn to research, create and deliver persuasive messages and listen critically to these messages. In this major, students study the core areas of communication theory, public speaking, writing, group behavior, persuasion and interpersonal communication. Additional areas of study include intercultural communication, argumentation and classical, modern and postmodern rhetorical theory and method as applied to an American issue.

Professionals in the field are civically engaged, critically analyze how people develop persuasive messages as well as how those messages affect public perception of the subject. They identify logical and ethical problems within persuasive messages, or with their effects on particular groups or communities and intervene to increase awareness and understanding.

Chemistry is the study of the science of matter and it’s transformations from one form to another. At Northwest, students majoring in chemistry will gain practical laboratory experience and foundational knowledge in organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, physical chemistry and analytical chemistry.

The medicinal chemistry emphasis focuses on the synthesis of drug substances, the influence of properties and chemical structure on the activity and potency of drug substances, and how different classes of drugs work in the body. The program gives students the flexibility to tailor their curriculum to various career paths in research and development or admission into pharmacy, medical or graduate school.

Earth Science Education majors at Northwest study the earth science curriculum and learn methods to applying it in the classroom. This major prepares students to teach all earth science courses at the secondary education level (grades 9-12).

Writing majors at Northwest learn skills and techniques in composing content that inspires, communicates, solves problems and seeks truth. Students in Northwest’s writing majors work across the spectrum of writing studies—from writing professional reports to writing poems. Northwest students are not canalized strictly into writing for news media like in a journalism program, to courses in fiction and poetry like in creative writing programs or to vocationally focused genres like technical writing programs. Rather, we’ve designed a major to help and challenge students to grow into flexible, effective, communicative writers.

When employers make hiring decisions, they seek smart people who write well. Northwest’s writing major is like cross-training for today’s job market. You will receive professional training without an expiration date—a liberal arts degree that prepares you for your first job after college and every job you decide to do after. We think studying writing is excellent preparation for life as an artist, scholar, citizen and professional—all the things that you should be when you finish a rigorous undergraduate education at a supportive university, and all the things you need to succeed in contemporary life.

Theatre performance majors engage in a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to performance. Students learn through improvisation and script analysis; acting techniques that include knowledge through a variety of historical and physical styles including Greek, Elizabethan, restoration and 20th century “isms”; as well as techniques to increase vocal and physical awareness of the actor. Students gain hands-on experiences through classroom work, work-shopping, internships and on-stage productions from seasoned professionals in performance theatre.

Geography is a holistic discipline that studies the relationship between humans, the unique cultures of construct and the environments in which they live. This major prepares students for a wide range of careers in varied areas of geography and culture. This major offers three different areas of focus:

• Culture and Society
• Environmental Geography
• Geographic Information Science

Each emphasis allows students to specialize in one of these fields and tailor classes within that emphasis to fit their interest beyond the core courses within the program.

As a student majoring in geography at Northwest, you learn the importance and impacts of space, the uniqueness of places and regions, and how humans and environment interact.

The major focuses on culture and regional geography with a wide range of tropical and regional courses available. Students will develop physical geography expertise in areas like geomorphology, atmospheric processes and sustainability. The major also teaches skills in analyzing, planning and critical thinking to prepare you for success in your career.

Mathematics with an emphasis in data sciences is the study of mathematical tools to analyze data for the purposes of modeling and prediction. Students learn to

• Extract and clean data
• Manipulate data
• Visualize data
• Identify patterns in data
• Use the model for prediction and forecasting
• Use models to summarize and describe values