The importance of the basic communication course is underscored by a somewhat overused but decidedly meaningful phrase—it’s our discipline’s front porch! While serving as the president of the National Communication Association, Beebe (2013) coined that phrase in reference to the basic course serving as the critical point-of-entry to the communication discipline, introducing students to communication studies for the first time. More recently, others (Bertelsen & Goodboy, 2009; Morreale et al., 2022; Myers et al., 2021) have pointed to the increasing presence of the basic course in general education and the fact that it is one of most frequently taught courses in most communication departments. Against this backdrop, it may be time for communication scholars to engage in public conversations about the need for reflection and dialogue about the most promising future for this critical course in the communication curriculum. At the core of these conversations would be a concern for the basic course changing with changing times in order to make its finest contributions to the discipline, to higher education, and, more importantly, to our students
