Necessity of Communication Studies (Def Blog)

The modern studies of communication has continued to evolve since 1910. Boxing Plato's Shadow recognizes the process communication studies had to undergo in order to establish itself as an academic discipline; there were several prerequisites that were essential for the discipline. "First, the content [of the the course] must represent a substantial and discrete subject area that is not covered by any other discipline," (Dues 34). This requirement displays that the topic of study should be unique with an established foundation. "Second, the discipline must have a methodology of its own - that is, an accepted set of systematic methods for developing new knowledge about its subject.," (Dues 34). However, this criteria established difficulties because scholars used several different methods to study communication depending on the form of communication they were studying. 

On the other hand, two relevant advantages existed in which scholars employed to help gain awareness of the necessity of communications as part of the liberal arts discipline. For example, the subject of communication "had an enormous practical value" because communication is present in everyone's daily life whether one chooses to recognize it or not (Dues 35). Communication is present in people's lives in more forms than one can imagine; therefore, it is essential for people to study it, so humans can properly understand the way individuals in society think. Nowadays, the National Communication Association is able to recognize that, "The range of communication research and its implications for improving the world are breathtaking," (Communication). Although an another advantage to the establishment of communication as a study was the fact that it "had deep roots," (Dues 35). The basis for the study of communication began with the well known scholars that we previously learned about: Plato, the sophists, and Aristotle. 

After much work, "In December 1915, a group of 17 scholars met to address these defining issues and to find common ground for a twentieth-century discipline to address spoken communication." Finally, from this meeting created the "Department of Speech," or the "Department of Speech and Education," (Dues 36-37). 

Works Cited

"Communication Research." NCA. National Communication Association. 12 Feb. 2009 .

Dues, Michael, and Mary Brown. Boxing Plato's Shadow : An Introduction to the Study of Human Communication. New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities, Social Sciences & World Languages, 2003.