April 12, 2023
Communication minor has major applications
By Michael Hagan ’15, ’19G
When Providence College established a new minor in communication in the fall of 2021, Sean Dufresne ’23 was one of the first students to enroll. He approached Andrea McDonnell, Ph.D., associate professor of political science and director of the communications minor, at the Major/Minor Fair. A psychology major from Tuckahoe, New York, with an interest in radio, he was worried that the requirements of his major would make the minor impossible.
“Is this something I can realistically pick up?” Dufresne asked McDonnell.
“Yes,” she said — and went further, adding that a communication minor was not merely compatible with his major, it would enhance it.
Today, the minor is a popular option for students studying many different academic subjects. Communication has long been one of the most inquired-about fields of study among prospective students.
“As our staff travel the country and meet with prospective students, we are often asked about the opportunity to study communication more than any other subject,” said Owen Bligh ’10, ’14G, senior associate dean of admission. “Students searching for colleges today have grown up surrounded by and immersed in media and communications. Studying communication is a way to better understand the world around them.”
Providence College’s minor in communication produces graduates prepared for meaningful and ethical participation in contemporary discourse in community and civic life, and for jobs in advertising, art, broadcasting, community organizing, project management, public relations, and journalism. It entails seven rigorous courses focused on theoretical and historical underpinnings and practices of communication as a field and its relationships with social trends and current events.
McDonnell said, “My goal as a teacher of communication and media studies is to foster media literacy, to help students understand where they’re getting their media from. We study the structures in place that shape that content, and we consider historical context.”
For McDonnell, part of the excitement of teaching communication to undergraduates is that students are consumers and creators of media and often more aware of or even more caught up in the latest trends than their professors. Much of McDonnell’s own scholarship concerns media discourse and its intersection with gossip, celebrity, gender, and politics — a discourse many students consume and participate in.
“I am deeply aware that students are in many ways the experts on contemporary platforms. I always look to see what they are doing and how they are experiencing technology and media,” she said.
The minor complements and draws from adjacent disciplines, including English, history, marketing, and political science. It draws students from these and other majors. Its courses complement the college’s core curriculum’s emphasis on written, oral, and visual communication and satisfy core requirements and proficiencies.
Experiences outside of the classroom prompted Dufresne’s academic interest in communication. As a first-year student, he discovered a love of broadcasting as a host on WDOM, Providence College’s FM radio station, where he now is sports director. He launched his show, Offsides with Kyle Meyer ’23, a marketing major from Cooperstown, New York, in the fall of 2019. He was enamored with the WDOM studio in Slavin Center.
“The big soundboard, the microphones — it was all so real, so professional. My interest in radio and broadcasting clicked right away,” Dufresne said.
The communication minor fit naturally with that interest, and under McDonnell’s guidance and the supervision of station sponsor John H. Smith, assistant dean of the School of Continuing Education, Dufresne was able to complete his program-required internship through WDOM. Through the internship, he expanded WDOM’s live coverage of Friars athletics, including women’s basketball and men’s and women’s soccer.
Dufresne enjoys providing color commentary on live broadcasts, including for his favorite sport, hockey. He was able to broadcast live with Meyer from TD Garden in Boston when the men’s team played Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals in March 2023, an experience he describes as “a dream come true.”
“My communication classes went hand-in-hand with the work I was doing for the radio station. What we’re discussing in class is always relevant to my current work and my goals,” Dufresne said.
For Caroline Lewers ’23, from Wayne, Pennsylvania, the communication minor is an appealing complement to her major in political science.
“In politics and political science, communication is more important than ever. Conflicting information is everywhere. The evaluative skills from this minor are ones I will carry with me into my professional and personal futures,” Lewers said.
Beyond the ability to confidently evaluate media and analyze rhetoric, Lewers has overcome a fear of public speaking and become more aware of the impact of media on her own and others’ choices and behavior. She calls her studies “eye-opening.”
Lewers interned in the fall of 2022 with Ocean House in Watch Hill, Rhode Island, writing news releases promoting hotel events, managing social media, and coordinating influencer visits. She enjoyed close mentorship from her Ocean House supervisors and from McDonnell.
“Dr. McDonnell is the best, she’s been a wonderful director and advisor. The relationships I’ve had with faculty are special because they want to help me develop as a student and communicator. They challenge me in ways that have pushed me beyond the limits I perceived for myself,” Lewers said.
A lifelong Philadelphia sports fan, Lewers aspires to a career in sports media.
“As a poli sci student, I’m often asked when I’ll apply to law school. But political science is a broad major and my communication minor broadens it further. The skills I’ve learned are important in any career,” she said.
This semester, Jezel Tracey ’24, a sociology major with a minor in creative writing, took her communication studies abroad to Amsterdam, where she is studying race in the Netherlands, cross-cultural psychology, and intercultural communication, among other topics.
“What I’ve learned in sociology is made more effective by my studies in communication. Communication studies gives me the tools to put learning into action, to achieve my mission of elevating the voices of marginalized people and communities,” Tracey said.
Tracey practices persuasive communication as an opinion writer for PC’s student newspaper, The Cowl, writing mostly about the experiences of people of color at Providence College.
“That work is very important to me, and it intersects with one of my other passions, which is learning and sharing the stories and perspectives of others. A lot of people are bottled up. Communication is how I help them share and relate,” she said.
In her Introduction to Oral Communication course, Tracey learned how words, tone, cadence, and body language impact a speaker’s relatability and how audiences receive messages.
“Imagine you’re just talking to your friend, you’re just talking to your roommate,” McDonnell, who taught the course, would tell her as she practiced speaking to an audience.
“This program is tuned into the human and emotional side of communication. I’ve learned many technical skills, I’ve learned how to communicate to achieve an effect, but more importantly I’ve learned how to communicate to connect with people,” Tracey said.
Providence College has a history of producing leaders in communications industries, including broadcasting, journalism, acting, and filmmaking. Distinguished alumni working in communications include Doris Burke ’87, ’92G, ’05Hon., NBA analyst for ESPN; Academy Award winning producer and director Peter Farrelly ’79; and Cayleigh Griffin ’14, host/reporter for Bally Sports Ohio and pre- and post-game host of Cavaliers Live.
Interested first-year and sophomore students may apply to minor in communication at the beginning of each semester.
