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The words "Communication & Public Advocacy: An Undergraduate Minor Designed to Complement Any Major," in black, superimposed over a photograph of the Sample Gates on the IU Bloomington campus.

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Why Add a Communication Minor to your Degree?
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Employers consistently list "excellent communication skills" as among the most valuable attributes of their ideal employees. This minor, offered by the English Department, is designed to help you develop these skills. This minor pairs very well with a wide variety of majors, including those in the Kelley School of Business, the O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, The Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies,   the Media School, and many others. This minor also helps to prepare students for law school and graduate school. Students who have declared their intention to pursue the Minor in Communication and Public Advocacy or the Undergraduate Concentration in Public and Professional Writing are eligible for one of several scholarships awarded each academic year.
For more information about this Minor, or about other courses or degrees offered by the English Department, please contact us!
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There is meaning in everything. We have so much information in this world and we silo it, we divide it into subjects and topics but we never connect them. With the Communication & Public Advocacy minor I learned to make meaning out of all the information available to us. This minor helped me become the activist and scholar that I am today by giving me the skills to listen in more ways than one. The courses that I took not only taught me how to use communication for resistance but also how to find the deeper meaning behind what our society is saying and how it says it. I have gone on to work in non-profits all over Africa in the name of solidarity and I am currently earning my Masters in Human Rights at Columbia University.

The Communication & Public Advocacy minor was the most impactful program I participated in during my time at Indiana University. The ability to communicate effectively and persuasively is one of the most important skills admissions officers and employers alike consider when evaluating candidates. Both as a student at the University of Iowa College of Law and an intern in the United States Senate, the skills I developed in the minor have proven invaluable to me in my writing, research, and understanding of the law and the forces that shape it. The study of past social movements and their rhetoric is essential to understanding and overcoming the challenges in society today that stand in the way of achieving meaningful change and justice for all individuals

In the pediatric intensive care unit, communication is absolutely crucial. It is a skill that seems so simple but we often take it for granted. In my case, without communication, patients die. However, the Communication & Public Advocacy minor is so immersive, whether it be writing, speaking, or simple body language, I learned how to successfully communicate and advocate so I am now able to do so for both my patients and their family members with ease. Without the skills that I gained in this minor, I would not have been able to excel in the healthcare setting, especially for the duration of a global pandemic.


 -Yassmin Fashir -
BA International Studies & Near Eastern Cultures and Languages (Arabic), 2019
- Dylan Sears -
BS Public Policy Analysis, 2021
- Emily Hunter -
BS Psychology, 2019





Requirements

Choose a total of 5 courses from the following list, including 3 courses at the 300 level.

R201: Professional Speaking R339: Freedom of Speech
R209: Topics in Rhetoric & Public Culture R340: Rhetoric of Social Movements
R210: Introduction to Digital Rhetoric R342: Rhetoric & Race
R211: Rhetoric & Sports R348: Environmental Communication
R212: Communicating Sustainability R355: Public Memory in Communication & Culture
R214: Feminist Rhetoric & Public Issues R396: Study of Public Advocacy
R222: Democratic Deliberation R397: Visual Rhetoric
R223: Group Communication R398: Culture, Identity, & Rhetoric of Place
R224: Persuasion W231: Professional Writing Skills
R228: Argumentation & Public Advocacy W240: Community Service Writing
R301: Advocacy & Debate W241: Collaborative Digital Writing
R305: Rhetorical Criticism W270: Argumentative Writing
R321: Rhetoric, Law, and Culture W321: Advanced Technical Writing
R323: Speech Composition W350: Advanced Expository Writing
R330: Science, Advocacy, and the Public

Note: If you began at IU Bloomington before fall of 2017, you will need an adviser to make exceptions to your record to reflect the current requirements for this minor.