International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

There is general agreement that the communication discipline, as we know it today, began in the US. There is, however, a degree of disagreement as to how to trace the origins of the discipline. Arguably, the organizational roots of the communication discipline could be divided into two traditions: the “speech” tradition and the “journalism” tradition. Both traditions can be linked to the development of academic departments in US universities as they began to turn away from a single approach to higher education and to diversify and specialize. The development of land-grant public institutions after 1862 opened up higher education to students from a much wider range of economic backgrounds than before. This, along with a commitment to serve agricultural and technological interests, created a demand for specialized areas of study and thus spurred the creation of academic departments. The University of Maryland, College Park claims to have established the first department to teach speech, in 1900, while the University of Missouri, Columbia, claims to have created the first School of Journalism, in 1908. Classes in speech and journalism had been taught prior to the establishment of departments, however.Speech had been a part of the US university curriculum since Harvard University was founded in 1636 (Friedrich 1985). Speech could trace its lineage back to ancient writings on the subject ... log in or subscribe to read full text