Communication

Head's Welcome Message

Zizi Welcome Message — Zizi Papacharissi, Head of Department

We focus on communication technologies and media, including legacy, digital, and AI-driven. The Department of Communication offers courses that cover mass media and popular culture, social media and society, interpersonal communication and relationships, politics and the media, as well as topics that include digital influencers, gaming studies, journalism, advertising, public relations, and digital storytelling. Our curated pathways focus on:

Digital Journalism
Public relations, Advertising, Digital marketing
Media, Entertainment, Culture
Data Analytics + Media Literacy

Our students get internships and jobs in journalism, human resources, marketing, public relations, consulting, law, business, and many similar fields. We prepare our students for a rapidly changing world and a marketplace always evolving. Explore our pathways and the careers they lead to below!

Additional links

Alumni quote

My time in the Communication Department was life-changing. The professors I worked with were deeply invested in my growth and supported my goals of pursuing both academic and tech industry opportunities. The courses were cutting-edge, equipping me with the skills to launch a successful career in tech. More specifically, the program prepared me to study the broader values that drive effective platform design and to specialize in user privacy. After completing my doctoral degree, I began working as a UX Researcher at Facebook. I continue to draw on my UIC education in my current role as a Research Director at Meta, where I work in Reality Labs on augmented and virtual reality environments and wearable technologies.

Stacy Blasiola, PhD, Research Director at Meta.

Communication | Alumni

Communication Statistics

Research This research environment provides an institutional home for leading peer-reviewed journals, including New Media and Society, Social Media and Society, and Mobile Media and Communication. The department collaborates with leading professional organizations such as the NCA, ICA, and IAMCR, and engages in interdisciplinary research through the EVL, which advances visualization and networking technologies.
Curriculum What to do with a COMM degree? Click the links to explore our flexible, innovative undergrad major and minor programs, courses, and Pathways, and our grad programs and courses.
Diversity Our commitment to diversity reflects our faculty, staff, students, and curricula's deep engagement with DEIB-informed practices and knowledge-sharing.