传播课程是一门高度跨学科的学习课程，与人文科学和社会科学都有联系。该部门的特色之一是综合了来自不同学科的观点，强调将传播理论与实践相结合，着眼于全球和历史观点，并关注民主，社会变革，权力和不平等以及媒体和传播过程在塑造这些社会现实中的作用。博士 加州大学圣地亚哥分校的交流专业被誉为创新奖学金的中心。在美国国家传播协会最新的博士课程声誉调查中，它在关键文化/媒体研究领域的美国博士课程中排名第二。
In the Communication Department at UCSD we vigorously engage in the social investigation and transformation of communication practices, weaving together perspectives, theories, and methods from sociology, psychology, education, political science, anthropology, philosophy of science, history, media studies and production, computer science, cultural studies, and critical legal theory. Our department grew out of an inter-disciplinary undergraduate program jointly sponsored by the departments of drama, political science, psychology, and sociology. It became an autonomous department in 1982 and instituted a Ph.D. program in 1986. Our expansion into old and new disciplines reflects our faculty's shared commitment to innovative work, crossing disciplines, media forms and social contexts. The graduate program blends two traditions: critical communication research and empirical interdisciplinary scholarship. Study is organized around the following three analytic perspectives: communication as a social force, communication and culture, and communication and the person. In addition, the Department believes that investigation into communication requires a blending of theory and practice, hence our attention to media practices.