Thank you for your interest in Tennessee State University and its Department of Communications.  We offer three areas of concentration: Mass Communication (news and production), Theatre and Speech Communication. 

      The field of communications is constantly transforming itself. You need to prepare yourself to work in careers that have not yet been invented. Yet, you'll want to graduate with the skills and connections that will land you an immediate job or a spot in a top graduate program. We're the place for you.   At TSU we stress a hands-on approach to learning.  This practical approach may come in the form of theater set design to covering a news story.  Full-time faculty bring a blend of scholarly activity and creative professional work to the classroom.  Our part-time faculty work in the vibrant city of Nashville.  Students also learn from each other through their work in extra-curricular and co-curricular activities that complement formal instruction. 

         TSU TV News is shot, produced, and edited by students. TSU TV News students work in a state-of-the-art studio with two sets and a multi-level control room.  Students can edit digital video using Avid or Final Cut Pro video edit applications. WTST, Tennessee State University Campus Radio, is our student-run radio station and is open to all students. The station will soon move into brand new facilities. The Meter is a student news organization now publishing twice a week with print and online versions. All three traditional media have combined to win hundreds of awards in recent years.   In new media, the TSU News Network is a new entity involving converged student media. 

          The theatre faculty and students produce three major productions per year.  Theatre was selected for national recognition for its Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and received rave reviews for its version of Romeo & Juliet.  The theatre program is rich in its history and uses the beautiful Cox-Lewis theatre as its centerpiece. 

          Speech Communication promotes the responsible use of communication as a tool in a variety of situations: interpersonal, small group, intercultural, and corporate settings.  Students gain an understanding of how communication serves as the organizing feature of relationships:  interpersonal, work, societal and more.

           At the TSU Department of Communications, we're small enough to know you, big enough to challenge you and diverse enough to stretch you. We've been in the communications education business for many years, not only adapting to, but leading the changes in our remarkable field.   I look forward to meeting you and hope you will join us in your journey.

Terry Likes, Ph.D.

Department Head

Department of Communications

Tennessee State University

3500 John A. Merritt Blvd., Nashville, TN 37209

(615) 963-5804

tlikes@tnstate.edu