What are the communication sciences?

We explain what they are and what the Communication Sciences consist of. In addition, what are its subspecialties.

1. What are the communication sciences?

When referring to the Sciences of communication or, also, to communicology , we speak of a set of disciplines whose object of study is, mainly, human communication , understood as a complex, diverse phenomenon, and around which a series are given of social phenomena worthy of interest.

In less words, we talk about sciences that undertake the study of the communicative act , its mechanisms, means and sets of meaning, generating for this its own tools and methods of analysis.

It should be noted that not only the Communication Sciences deal with the communicative process, but other nearby disciplines such as social anthropology , cybernetics and social psychology do so, but from their particular points of view.

His field of study is extremely extensive, so it is difficult to define his areas of interest; but in broad strokes they are distinguished from the social sciences in that the latter are interested in the communication process as a way towards the determination of a specific reality, such as a historical or political process.

2. What are the communication sciences?

The communication sciences date, or at least their background, since ancient times, when Greek philosophers wrote the first Rhetoric (Aristotle). However, as a specialized discipline it is considered relatively recent

 , since its birth and global importance emerged in the twentieth century, when mass production allowed the spread of the media in society .

This discipline aims at the analysis of communication from different angles , proposing typologies, analytical tools and adapting to the different areas of human life in which the communicative act occupies the central place, such as corporate or organizational communications, personal relationships, politics , etc.

Those who study communication specialize in the transmission of messages , in the composition of meanings, the contexts that influence the exchange and in every aspect of the complex act of communication, which although it is related to all living beings , reaches its Summits of expression with humans.

3. Subspecialties of Communication Sciences

Although this structure of classification of knowledge can vary greatly from one university to another or from one country to another, in broad strokes we can say that the communication sciences cover most of the following disciplines:

• Semiotics
• Social comunication
• Journalism
• Graphic design
• Photography
• Marketing
• Public opinion
• Audiovisual communication
• Multimedia
• Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
• Telecommunications
• Radio
• Cinematography
• Theater
• Rhetoric
• Oratory