The Global Tower of Babel?

Sometimes I can't help but feel like communications studies isn't being taken as seriously as it should around the Ivory Tower. Our ability to communicate with one another is one of the fundamental aspects of being human. No great accomplishment or body of work would be possible without clear communication. Industries like advertising succeed best when boiling down communication to it's essentials. Globalization requires a shift in communication to more visual signifiers in order to transcend language and cultural barriers. The global village might have arrived, but how can we do anything but stand and stare at each other across the fence without proper communication models?