Why Study Communication

Because communication is a growing and expanding area of activity, today, large digital corporations are among the world’s biggest firms in terms of turnover that occupy the top positions, to the extent that their CEOs have become public figures and almost heroes. Politicians use the most advanced communication tools and techniques to convey their messages and to obtain and maintain consensus. Billions of people worldwide work in the information sector and spend their free time entertaining or exchanging messages with various communication tools. There is, therefore, no doubt that communication is now a pervasive presence in everyday life. An industry that is also growing rapidly: few other industries are more relevant than communication today.

Because communication is at the very heart of major economic and cultural transformations. Macro phenomena such as climate change, migrations, new local and global geopolitical structures, or the growth of new inequalities can all be interpreted only thanks to the tools provided by the disciplines of communication. Communication has also produced new opportunities and challenges for today's world. The ongoing digital transformation, for example, has enabled forms of global interconnection unthinkable until a few decades ago, fostered collaboration between people geographically dispersed, speeded up the production, distribution and consumption of information, and democratised access to knowledge. But all these opportunities have also generated new challenges and problems: the growing (and worrisome) misinformation also performed by public institutions, the issues of privacy and control of private data, and the development of forms of dependence on communication tools. This increasingly complex and fragmented landscape, which is difficult to read in its entirety, must be studied and understood to be managed and guided in the best possible way.

Because communication is a complex discipline and requires professionals. Studying communication and its complex economic and social implications means being able to interpret and understand the transformations taking place in our society, acquiring awareness and a capacity for action and guidance of contemporary culture and society. For these reasons, communication professionals are among the most sought-after, they play an increasingly important role in companies and institutions, and they must adapt to the constant changes in society. If communication is now central to society, studying communication allows being at the heart of the labour market and, in fact, to be among the best-equipped professionals to drive political, economic and social change.