B.S./B.A. in Communication and Media Studies: Public Relations Concentration

This course introduces basic concepts, theories, issues, and routine practices of public relations as a communication management function in both for-profit and nonprofit organizations. It examines how organizations can ethically and scientifically build productive, mutually beneficial relationships with various stakeholders through effective communication.

This course familiarizes students with the toolbox of the public relations industry, particularly the techniques for media relations. Students will become versed in how the traditional mass media and the new media operate in today’s society. Furthermore, students learn to practice basic procedures/tactics in dealing with the media to achieve public relations goals.

This case study course teaches students to use public relations as a four-step problem-solving process to help an organization manage its relationship with various stakeholders. Students learn to critically analyze signature public relations cases using theories, strategies and tactics learned in prior classes. With this knowledge, students learn to conduct formal and informal research to articulate communication goals, flesh out message strategies and design public relations campaigns as a routine management function for organizational effectiveness.

An introductory course focusing on the methods of identifying and interpreting wants and needs of consumers, selecting the particular wants and needs the organization will satisfy and determining the proper mix of product, price, promotion and place. Lecture and readings are blended with problems and cases for class discussion.

Emphasis on professional writing including documents such as reports, proposals, instructions, correspondence and web pages. Includes a community service learning project.

This course surveys the recent development and best practice in social media-based public relations campaigns. Students learn to use the basic tools in digital storytelling techniques and social media platforms to generate publicity and manage the relationship with public stakeholders. More importantly, students learn to use social media to deploy different genres of public relations campaign, such as issue management, crisis communication, employee relations and community engagement.

This course explains legal problems, such as libel, copyright infringement, privacy violation, obscenity, deception and prejudicial publicity, etc., in public communication. Students learn to apply the First Amendment principle to mass mediated communication and how to navigate through legal questions in the context of professional communication. This course examines real-world case studies that have shaped the foundation of modern media law.

This course is the culmination of students’ program of study in public relations with a portfolio presentation based on either an experiential learning project or a graduation thesis. Students apply accumulated knowledge and skill to a real-world public relations problem, developing a workable plan or an insightful analysis of the problem in order to solve it. This portfolio presentation requires students to demonstrate their mastery of the subject matter to potential clients or employers and, thus, help them search for jobs and chart their long-term career in public relations.