Courses

• COM CM 721: Advertising Management
  Administration of complete advertising program. Case study method used to explore the marketing mix, budgeting, media strategy, planning, coordinating advertising with promotion, working with client or agency, and the social responsibility of advertisers.
• COM CM 722: Communication Research
  Introduction to the methodology of communication research. Includes both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Attention to the nature of scientific logic, computer literature searches, research design, questionnaire construction, sampling, measurement techniques, and data analysis. Explores the use of focus groups, experiments, surveys, and content analysis.
• COM CM 723: Advanced Communication Research
  Provides an in-depth look at data analysis using the SPSS (the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences). Students get hands-on experience by carrying out actual analyses using real data sets. Techniques covered include descriptive statistics, correlation and regression, t-tests, ANOVA, and factor analysis.
• COM CM 724: Sampling Design and Measurement Techniques
  Discusses various issues related to sampling, such as design, sample size, methods of selection, sampling error, and sampling sources for applied research projects. Also teaches about the various types of questionnaires and measurement procedures commonly used in communication research, including those used for assessing such factors as attitudes, beliefs, media use, and consumer behavior.
• COM CM 726: Strategic Brand Solutions
  Explores the impact of current advertising/marketing issues from business, economic, political, social, legal, and ethical perspectives. Modified case method, with lectures from experts on selected issues.
• COM CM 728: International Public Relations
  Structure and function of public relations and communication organizations in international settings. Consideration of levels of development, culture, and geopolitical variables affecting public relations and communication programs. Cases and examples drawn from the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Rim, South America, the European Economic Community, and the former Soviet Union.
• COM CM 729: Public Opinion and Public Policy
  Examines the components, dynamics, and mutual effects of the U.S. decision-making process and public opinion. Students apply this knowledge to case studies of persuasion campaigns and provide a written policy paper and oral reports. Examines key principles of comparative government, political science, organizational communication, decision making, and group dynamics as bases for measuring and comparing the relationships between public opinion and public policy in the United States and elsewhere.
• COM CM 730: Marketing Communications
  Addresses basic marketing and promotion principles used to increase awareness of and change in attitudes and buyer behavior about products, services, and organizations. Students learn to evaluate appropriate promotional mixes, examine the role of communications, and develop marketing communications strategies through the use of case studies and classroom discussion.
• COM CM 732: Advertising Campaigns
  Provide graduate students with real life, hands on experience replicating the process and procedures typical in the advertising industry. Direct contact with clients will give account and creative groups a first-hand understanding of the realities of the advertising business. Account teams will develop advertising strategy and create ads for clients. 2cr, either sem.
• COM CM 734: Governmental Public Affairs
  Governmental public relations in this century; primary attention to current programs of public relations at national, state, and local levels. Public contact problems, including personnel recruitment, agency purpose, agency publics, and executive direction. Research participation in the field.
• COM CM 742: Media Relations
  Students learn publicity techniques used in media of mass communication, including daily and weekly newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film. Practitioners invited to class to present publicity problems. Case study method and workshop sessions with informal discussion.
• COM CM 744: International Mass Media
  Traces the history, traditions, standards, and goals of the media in various countries; their ownership and marketing strategies; and the effect of different national and organizational cultures on each. Examines how international print and broadcast media and sample multinational companies in the transnational communication business operate globally and in their own countries. Students study VOA and BBC external services, CNN, BBC-TV, ITN, the London Times and Sun, Reuters, AP, AFP and various French media, Der Speigel, ZDF, and Pakistani, Indian, and Japanese media customs and practices. Advertising and public relations experts explain corporate global strategies. (Summer London Program only)
• COM CM 745: Comparative Political Systems
  Analyzes the strengths and weaknesses, similarities and differences of several parliamentary democracies and their political-economic systems, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and Pakistan or India. Using case studies and guest lectures, students will learn new analytical tools to see how the same factors affect governance, decision-making, resource-allocation, and economic and media development in every political system. (Summer London Program only)
• COM CM 750: Advanced Writing for Media Professionals
  Building on the writing skills and formats presented in CM707, students work individually and in-depth on essay writing, analyses/critiques (drawing on The Best American Essays series), online feature editing strategies, blogs, direct mail package, microsite, and a presidential speech. Various writing workshops complete the course requirements. 4 cr, 2nd sem.
• COM CM 751: Advanced Art Direction
  This course builds upon the conceptual and layout skills acquired in the prerequisite classes. The emphasis will be on art direction within the print media, including advertising, colleteral and coporate identity. The role of art director in other media will be discussed. 4 cr, either sem.
• COM CM 752: Advanced Copywriting
  This course builds on the concept development and copywriting foundations learned in prerequisite courses. Emphasis on print and the creation of long and short copy in a variety of categories such as consumer business, technology, financial and medical as well as some briadcast, direct marketing, collateral, and interactive. 4 cr, 1st and 2nd sem.
• COM CM 753: Portfolio Development I
  Course if for graduates students who intend to work in the creative area of the advertising industry. Focus is on the principles needed to understand, conceptualiz, detail and refine the ads comprising a competitive art direction or copywriting portfolio. Emphasis is on print campaigns and single ads with some campaing extensions into interactive or other advertising/ market channels. 4 cr, 2nd sem.
• COM CM 754: Portfolio Development II
  A continuation of Portfolio Development I, this course covers the final stages of portfolio development. Studetns refine concepts, revise and improve the details of the art direction and copywriting and broaden the range of samples to cover a wide variety of products, services and target audiences. Executional strategies, tactics and values for the preparation of comped work, as well as final presentation of portfolios will also be covered. 4 cr, 1st sem.
• COM CM 809: Graduate Internship
  Students are placed in public relations or communication departments of business, educational, philanthropic, or governmental institutions. Fifteen hours per week of supervised work. Students with a comprehensive report evaluating internship experience at end of semester.
• COM CM 824: Technical Writing for Communication Research
  Teaches students to develop clear and concise research proposals and write detailed research reports incorporating appropriate methodological sequences, techniques, and strategies. Teaches students to interpret the results of quantitative analyses in layperson's terms and relate their implications to a client, as well as to analyze the standards and pricing structure of competing agencies and available subcontractors in a given market.

Note that this information may change at any time.

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