The Communication major provides students with the opportunity to develop personal and professional communication skills that can be applied to a wide variety of media, organizational, and business settings. Students also study communication media as a social, political, and cultural force in contemporary society.
A unique feature of the program is the emphasis on project-based, hands-on learning that facilitates students’ growth as both producers and consumers of communication media. Communication students gain “real world” experience in the Annenberg Communication Center’s television studio and radio station, as well as in the College computer publishing and newspaper labs.

The faculty serve as mentors for students in and out of the classroom. Faculty contribute a wealth of experience from a variety of professional backgrounds, including radio, television, public relations, journalism, advertising, publishing, theatre, and film.

Six core courses, five additional courses in one of two concentrations, and one elective are required for a major in Communication. Students choose to specialize by selecting a concentration in Electronic Media Programming and Production or Advertising and Public Relations. The Electronic Media Programming and Production concentration offers students an opportunity to blend theory and practice in the study of radio and TV programming and production, as well as digital moviemaking, film industry, theory and aesthetics, Internet and Web-based technologies, and the history, ethical, and legal aspects of mass communication. Students who choose this concentration create their own media productions, using state of the art audio and video technology.

The Advertising and Public Relations concentration offers an opportunity for students to gain valuable skills and knowledge in the fields of advertising, public relations, print, and Internet communication. Students who choose this concentration will create advertising and public relations campaigns, as well as study the policies and practices of the field. This concentration is available to both Communication and English majors and offers an interdisciplinary selection of courses from the Communication, English, and Business programs.

All Communication majors apply their knowledge in the senior year through internship placements in Boston-area radio and television stations, advertising agencies, publishing houses, newspapers, magazines, theatre groups, film production companies, and other organizations. They also produce a creative senior project and a senior portfolio, which presents their accomplishments during their years at Pine Manor. Communication program graduates have gone on to find employment in network and local television, radio, advertising agencies, publishing houses, public relations firms, newspapers, film production companies, businesses, and nonprofit organizations.

Requirements for Communication major: 12 four-credit courses are required; six of these are required core courses. The requirements for the remaining six courses are satisfied through a choice of a concentration in either Electronic Media Programming and Production or Advertising and Public Relations. Each concentration consists of five required courses. Additionally, each student must choose one focusing elective from the list of focusing electives in the catalog.