Many universities in Nigeria offer mass communication or communication studies at the undergraduate level. A controversy has, however, developed among academics as to the appropriate location of the department of mass communication – should it be under the Faculty of Arts or the Faculty of the Social/Management Sciences? Using both content analysis and documentary analysis as methods of data gathering, this study examined the location of mass communication and communication studies at the undergraduate level in Nigerian universities. It found that the nomenclature of ‘mass communication’ was significantly more common (83.7%) than ‘communication arts’ (7.0%) or ‘communication studies’ (2.3%). It also found that location of mass communication or communication studies in the faculties/colleges of social/management sciences was significantly higher (58.1%) than the faculties of arts (41.9%). The study concluded that in Nigerian universities, the social/management sciences are more favoured as the appropriate location of the Department of Mass Communication than the humanities.

Key Words:      Mass Communication, Communication Studies, Nigerian

       Universities, Faculty of Arts, Faculty of the Social/Management  Sciences.                                         

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, October 2009,  217 – 229

About the author

Eserinune McCarty Mojaye, Ph.D., is a Senior Lecturer and Head, Department of Mass Communication, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.

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Article Citation

Mojaye, E. M. (2009): Location of mass communication and communication studies in Nigerian universities. Journal of Communication and Media Research 1(2): 217 – 229.