- Community of interest
- Social/Behavioral Science & Communication
- Award
- AA Degree
- Program code
- 19042.00AA
- Department
- Communication Studies
- CIP code
- 09.0101: Speech Communication and Rhetoric.
- TOP code
- 1506.00 - Speech Communication
Program detailsAward, code, department, CIP/TOP
Program Snapshot
- Community of interest
- SBSC Social/Behavioral Science & Communication
- Award
- AA Degree
- Program code
- 19042.00AA
- Department
- Communication Studies
- CIP code
- 09.0101: Speech Communication and Rhetoric.
- TOP code
- 1506.00 - Speech Communication
Next Steps
AA Degree — expand to learn about this award
The Associate of Arts is typically awarded for academic areas outside STEM and CTE — humanities, social sciences, arts, language. Like every Butte College associate degree, it has two parts: a general-education curriculum and an academic program of specialization.
About General Education. GE is an integrated program of learning designed to foster intellectual curiosity, cultural understanding, critical thinking, creative reasoning, oral and written communication, and the capacity for ethical reasoning. By graduation, you'll have developed the ability to think critically, communicate clearly, apply quantitative reasoning, understand how the major academic disciplines ask their questions, comprehend diverse cultures and historical periods, and assess ethical problems — alongside the depth you build in your major.
Semester-by-Semester Map
Term 1
Class Schedules
Meets Area 1C.
course details
In this course, students learn and apply foundational rhetorical theories and techniques of public speaking in a multicultural democratic society. Students discover, develop, and critically analyze ideas in public discourse through research, reasoning, organization, composition, delivery to a live audience and evaluation of various types of speeches, including informative and persuasive speeches. (C-ID COMM 110).
course details
This course covers theory, research, and application of ethical one-to-one communication practices in various and diverse interpersonal relationships including in personal, professional, and social situations. Students will examine how communication influences and is influenced by social identities and institutions (e.g. family roles, workplace contexts, etc.). (C-ID COMM 130).
General Education: Area 1A
about Area 1A
English Composition
Baccalaureate-level academic writing — expository and argumentative. The foundation for every other course you'll write in.
General Education: Area 2
about Area 2
Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning
College-level mathematics or quantitative reasoning — the toolkit behind science, business, and informed citizenship.
Elective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.
Term 2
Class Schedules
Meets Area 1C.
course details
This course provides students with the foundational knowledge and practice of speech making in a democratic society, while simultaneously emphasizing theory and research about communication in a variety of small group contexts. This course exposes students to rhetorical theory, small group theory and public speaking fundamentals within the context of their interpersonal interactions, group communication processes, and live presentations (including informative and persuasive speeches). Students will learn historical roots and key rhetorical theories that ground the study and practice of public speaking, and be able to discover, develop and critically analyze ideas and information in public discourse. Students will also explore and evaluate group communication processes, including problem-solving, conflict management, decision-making and leadership. (C-ID COMM 140).
Meets Area 4.
course details
This course provides an introduction to intercultural communication in domestic and/or global contexts. Students will develop knowledge, attitudes, and skills to become more effective intercultural communicators. Students will explore the influence of cultures, languages, and social patterns on how members of groups relate among themselves and with members of different ethnic and cultural groups. The course also focuses on the theory and knowledge of effective communication within and between cultures, as well as the appreciation and comparison of communication among diverse groups within the larger context of American culture. (C-ID COMM 150).
General Education: Area 3
Department recommends CMST 6.
about Area 3
Arts and Humanities
How people and cultures, across time, respond to themselves and the world through artistic and cultural creative production. Visual and performing arts, art history, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, religion.
General Education: Area 5
about Area 5
Physical and Biological Sciences
The physical universe, its life forms, and its natural phenomena — astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, meteorology, oceanography, physics — taught alongside the scientific method that makes them work.
Elective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a Cal-GETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see options.
Term 3
Class Schedules
course details
This course prepares students for intercollegiate speech and debate tournaments and/or community events. Preparation includes practice, research, writing and participation in a variety of public presentations and intercollegiate speech and debate tournaments. Community events, as well as forensics events, such as debate, platform, limited preparation, oral interpretation, and readers' theatre are emphasized. This course may be repeated 3 times. (C-ID COMM 160B).
Meets Area 1B.
course details
This course emphasizes critical thinking, for purposes of constructing, evaluating and revising written essays in preparation for debate, grounded in the rhetorical foundations of argumentation. Students will employ argumentation theory and critical reasoning to draft and revise a sequence of argumentative essays based on inquiry-driven research, methods of analysis, evidence use, and ethical advocacy (minimum 5,000 words). This writing instruction will enable students to prepare persuasive cases that advance, defend and refute reasoned positions, which will also be delivered through debate and public address. (C-ID COMM 120).
Prerequisite: ENGL C1000 or ENGL C1000E
General Education: Area 6
about Area 6
Ethnic Studies
The histories, experiences, and contributions of the four autonomous disciplines: Black / African American / Africana studies, Native American studies, Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x studies, and Asian American studies.
Graduation Requirement Choice (See GE Guide)
Elective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a CSU or IGETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see CSU options.
Term 4
16 unitsElective (any course numbered 1-199 or C1000-C2999)
Only necessary if the 60 units needed to graduate have not been completed. Consider taking a CSU or IGETC General Education course. Visit www.assist.org to see CSU options. Department recommends CMST 12 (may be taken four times).
Career Connections
2-Year Degree Paths
Entry points students may pursue after associate-level study, technical preparation, or licensure pathways.
No locally mapped occupations in the current dataset point cleanly to an immediate 2-year outcome for this program.
4-Year Degree Paths
Roles that more often open up after transfer and a bachelor's degree.
Example roles: 5
- Writers and Authors
- Public Relations Specialists
- Public Relations Managers
Graduate School Paths
Advanced roles commonly associated with graduate, professional, or post-baccalaureate study.
Example roles: 1
- Communications Teachers, Postsecondary
Local Job Market
Writers and AuthorsSOC 27-3043no nearby openings indexed
No nearby openings matched any of: writers and author. Browse this occupation on Adzuna for postings outside the mapped keyword set.
Public Relations SpecialistsSOC 27-30311 nearby opening
Top employers in sample
- GHD 1
Where the postings are
- Sacramento, Sacramento County 1
Sample current postings
Public Relations ManagersSOC 11-20324 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- Superior Court of California, County of Butte 3
- Butte County 1
Where the postings are
- Thermalito, Butte County 2
- Chico, Butte County 1
- Oroville, Butte County 1
Sample current postings
Media and Communication Workers, All OtherSOC 27-30995 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- CORA 3
- Ahtna 1
- Laco Associates 1
Where the postings are
- Oregon, Butte County 3
- Chico, Butte County 2
Sample current postings
Broadcast Announcers and Radio Disc JockeysSOC 27-30112 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- State of Nevada 2
Where the postings are
- Mound House, Carson City 2
Sample current postings
Communications Teachers, PostsecondarySOC 25-11222 nearby openings
Top employers in sample
- KAISER 1
- Kaiser Permanente 1
Where the postings are
- Lincoln, Placer County 2
Sample current postings
Posting counts come from Adzuna's index of US job boards, covering the last up to 90 days within up to 100 miles of ZIP 95965. Coverage and salary visibility vary by employer. Empty searches expand the radius and posting window before the section gives up.
Source Notes
Course sequencing is generated from the Acadia Program Mapper cache. Career groupings use local CIP-to-SOC mappings and BLS occupation data when available. Confirm education plans with Counseling and Advising.
Live wage data was not available from the BLS helper for the mapped occupations, so some pay fields may be blank.
Last generated 2026-07-05T16:52+00:00