About the Department of Communication at Tel Aviv University

It is not surprising that Communication is a highly sought-after area of study at Tel Aviv University and other academic institutions. Communication is a broad and vibrant academic discipline that encompasses a multitude of topics that touch upon all areas of human life. Communication studies pertain both to interpersonal and to mediated processes and how these profoundly affect people’s intimate social relations, work, politics, social policy, culture, the economy, public opinion and global affairs. Communication studies include language and social interaction, visual communication, journalism and news, television programming, advertising, new media and social networks, digital communication, communication and gender, political communication, development communication, organizational communication, risk communication, environmental communication, health communication, history of communication, law and communication, ethics of communication, and the philosophy of communication. Communication is an area of study that is always relevant and influential. This is particularly evident with the recent accelerated developments in communication technologies.

The dramatic developments in the past decade in new media have transformed not only the way people communicate with each other, but the way business is conducted, news is gathered and disseminated, products and services are marketed, and health care is provided, the way people obtain information, learn and express their views. New media channels have affected how governments communicate with citizens as well as a myriad of globalization processes. Further, these developments concern people, regardless of their age and place of residence; children, youth, the elderly and minority populations. For example, in Israel over the past five years, the number of cellular phones has exceeded the number of residents and these phones now fulfill a wide range of sophisticated communication functions, such as receiving news information, electronic mail, driving directions, entertainment, and others. However, alongside the increased access to information for diverse populations enabled by new media technologies, social inequities persist and are even amplified. This has resulted in what has been called “the digital divide” that can be found, in particular among low-income, immigrant and minority populations and poses an important challenge to democratic and egalitarian ideals.

At the heart of communication scholarship and journalistic practices is the commitment to exposing and analyzing critical issues pertaining to society, democratic processes and human relations. Communication studies provide theoretical frameworks that explain how certain social groups or organizations obtain power and gain control of media-related institutions, communication channels and content. Therefore, our curriculum, starting with the first year in undergraduate studies, includes the acquisition of skills for critically studying the ‘communication map’ as well as media content and communication technologies, language and culture. Our MA program is titled Communication and Social Responsibility, and it is the first program with this emphasis in the country. Our conception of social responsibility is broad and includes the wide array of areas in communication and society.

The Department of Communication was established in 1995 and offers a diverse curriculum to enable students to obtain a firm grounding in communication studies and current research methodologies. The department offers a BA in Communication, a Master’s degree, and a doctoral program. Graduates of the department have been accepted to distinguished academic institutions abroad for continuing studies and have been successful in entering a wide range of occupations, including the media industry, the high-tech industry, and the public sector. The department benefits from its location in Tel Aviv, the center of communication, economic, and cultural activity in Israel and from the resources of the largest academic campus in Israel. It also maintains numerous collaborations with academic institutes within and outside the university and with other departments on campus, as well as with civic and government organizations.