| Abstract: | This article charts the vast multiplicity of phenomena that can be brought under the ‘communication’ umbrella. The author denies that these can be integrated within a framework of communication regarded as a discipline in its own right. He then considers successively the possibility of tackling communication from the perspective of some single established discipline (sociology, political science, etc.) and that of treating it as the meeting ground of several disciplines. Criteria for designing multi‐disciplinary courses are advanced and illustrated in the mass communication field. Finally, a number of structurally based obstacles to further progress are identified in the lack of effective linkages between the chief sectors concerned with communication study ‐‐ researchers, teachers and media professionals. |
