Welcome to Speech Communication at Oregon State University. We offer undergraduate programs leading to BA or BS degrees, or students at OSU can complete a minor in speech communication. At the graduate level we participate in the Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) program, allowing students to continue to pursue an education in communication.

Students in Speech Communication focus on aspects of human communication through courses developed around two themes: interpersonal communication and rhetoric.  Within the area of interpersonal communication, our faculty engages in scholarship and teaches courses in organizational, small group, health, and intercultural communication, along with courses in mediation and conflict management. Within the area of rhetoric and social influence, our faculty engages in scholarship and teaches courses in argumentation, persuasion, propaganda, visual rhetoric, social movements, pop culture, media criticism, political campaigns, and environmental rhetoric. Students can also practically apply their knowledge through participation in internships, our nationally-ranked Speech and Debate team, and our award-winning chapter of the national honorary fraternity in communication, the Alpha Beta Theta chapter of Lambda Pi Eta.

Our graduates have gone on to work in a variety of fields that emphasize communication: public relations, training and development, education, nonprofit corporation development, mediation and conflict management, politics, advertising, and sales and management opportunities. Our graduates have also excelled in outstanding graduate programs and law schools, and have pursued careers from higher education to law.