THE LAWRENCE HERBERT SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION

The mission of the Journalism, Media Studies, and Public Relations program is to develop students who possess a strong liberal arts background, think critically and understand the concepts and skills that will equip them for meaningful communication careers that can advance civic life globally and across cultures.

Students in the program will:

• receive an education that combines professional skills with a liberal arts emphasis, to attain the core values and competencies of the profession, as defined by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications;
• be guided by a dedicated and diverse faculty with the proper mix of academic and professional backgrounds to ensure excellence in teaching and advising;
• experience a required internship program that affords them the opportunity to work with some of the nation’s leading professionals while matching classroom learning with on-the-job reality;
• be trained in classrooms and with equipment that reflect the converging world of communications and that are updated regularly to help students adapt to developments in the field;
• be enriched by a faculty who are actively involved in research and professional involvement that contributes to advancing the body of information available in the fields of journalism, media studies, and public relations.

Students in our programs should demonstrate the ability to

1. apply the principles and laws of freedom of speech and press, in a global context, and for the United States
2. demonstrate an understanding of the multicultural history and role of professionals and institutions in shaping communications;
3. demonstrate culturally proficient communication that empowers those traditionally disenfranchised in society, especially as grounded in race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation and ability, domestically and globally, across communication and media contexts;
4. present media and information effectively and creatively, using appropriate tools and technologies;
5. write correctly and clearly in forms and styles appropriate for the communications professions, audiences and purposes they serve;
6. demonstrate an understanding of professional ethical principles and work ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness and diversity;
7. apply critical thinking skills in conducting research and evaluating information by methods appropriate to the communications professions in which they work;
8. effectively and correctly apply basic numerical and statistical concepts;
9. critically evaluate their own work and that of others for accuracy and fairness, clarity, appropriate style and grammatical correctness;
10. apply tools and technologies appropriate for the communications professions in which they work.