“Students overwhelmingly have come to view general education as an irritating interruption — an annoying detour on their way to their degree. They all too often do not see how such requirements will help them get a job or live a life” (Boyer 217). I too, often, take for granted the basic level courses such as statistics and environmental that teach the fundamentals of learning. What I have come to realize though, is the importance of those basic level courses. They teach elements of real-life keystones that are later on valuable knowledge. As a communications major, there is a multitude of options for me even in introductory courses to find valuable information. For example: Introduction to communications, offers a survey of everyday as well as formal communication principles and contexts. Topics include the history of communication as an academic discipline, communication as identity and relationship construction, nonverbal communication and listening, communication media and technology, and communication in a variety of interpersonal, familial, group, and workplace settings
“Therefore, what we propose, as a centerpiece of the undergraduate experience, is the enriched major. By an enriched major we mean encouraging students not only to explore a field in depth, but also to help them put their field of special study into perspective”(223). In the communications field, and specifically at UNE, disciplines are explored though roughly in order to prepare students for the real world. This is by having multiple courses in one area, examining it from multiple cultures perspectives and in detail. Take communication itself, students explore the idea of communication through different mediums and cultures. A class chosen for this would be, oral communications: This course provides an introduction to the principles of oral communication with particular emphasis on speaking in public and working in small groups. Not only is it focusing on communicating, but specifically in the idea that it will be in public setting. It also is separate from taking a public speaking class. In order to apply to to Boyer’s idea of the enriched major, communications encourages students to explore the major for the ideas of the future. Students must be ready to have multiple jobs, and work within multiple job fields. It encourages the idea of the enriched major and knowing how to interact with your major in depth.
