Department Resources

Opportunities to Get Involved

CommuniKats: Speech and Debate is a student organization that encourages practice for public speaking and debate skills. We encourage anyone interesting in networking with other students and refining their public speaking skills to visit a club meeting. Students passionate about speech and debate have the option to travel with the club to tournaments as competitors, judges, and preparers. Along with speech and debate practice, we also offer social events and guest speakers discussing current events and communication studies. 

Students are encouraged to work with faculty members on research projects. Some research opportunities are grant funded, which means student can earn money while learning how to conduct empirical research. Undergraduate and graduate students have presented their work at local, regional, and national conferences and have won top student paper awards.

Communication Studies graduate students have been published in peer-reviewed journal such as the International Journal of Communication and Social Sciences and in book chapters such as Research Handbook on Communicating Climate Change and Handbook of Research Methods in Health Psychology. Undergraduate students have also published their work in The Measure., SHSU’s undergraduate research journal.

Opportunities to Explore

Every semester Drs. Thibodeaux and Weathers bring students to Louisiana to experience the Cajun and Creole cultures of South Louisiana at culture/music festivals in Lafayette over a weekend. They visit museums, dance to Cajun and Zydeco music, eat fantastic native Cajun and Creole cuisines, and encounter some of the friendliest people in the world eager to share their culture.