The Communication Studies program became the Communication Department on July 1, 2012.

As an academic field, communication is exceptionally diverse. Scholarly influence from the fields of psychology, sociology, cultural studies, economics, library science, rhetoric and language studies, and cultural anthropology can be felt throughout the discipline. The field utilizes a variety of research methods, including quantitative and qualitative social scientific methods, rhetorical and discourse analysis, content analysis, semantic analysis, and critical methods. Despite this wide range of influence, the common thread that defines communication as an academic discipline is the focus on the conveyance of meaning. The study of how humans generate meaning through the exchange of information is, at its core, communication.