STRATEGIC STORYTELLER
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a deep and broad understanding of stories and how they can be used in strategic communication. Drawing from a wealth of evidence-based and field-tested work on storytelling from both local and global contexts, students will learn why stories tend to be so powerful and—with a focus on the written, performed, and transmedia aspects of storytelling—gain experience in telling stories to achieve organizational objectives. Your skills will be sharpened through lively seminar discussions, storytelling exercises, workshop-style coaching, and presentations and on-camera practice. By the end, students will walk away with a new mindset and a host of strategies that can be immediately implemented in their everyday work.
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Instructor:
Lauren R Glover
Info - 3 points
INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
Students will learn fundamental marketing concepts and their application. By the end of this class you will know: the elements of a market, company strategy, how to identify customers and competition, the fundamental elements of the marketing mix (product, price, placement and promotion) how to research consumer behavior, and pricing strategies. Students will have extensive use of case study projects. Please note that there are separate online and in-person versions of the course, and the modalities offered may vary by semester. Be sure to check the modalities of the sections offered and enroll in the correct modality for your situation.
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Instructor:
Young Mi Park
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Instructor:
Andrew Blum
Info - 3 points
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION MGMT
This course examines the strategic role for communication in driving organizational outcomes. It covers key aspects of communication management, including how to plan, implement and measure strategic communication initiatives. Students learn to assess organizational needs, identify stakeholders and draft messaging that speaks credibly to a variety of constituencies, both internal and external. We also emphasize fundamental business skills, such as interpreting financial reports and understanding the language of business.
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Instructor:
Andrea Legnani
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Instructor:
Matthew Sawyer
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Instructor:
Cheryl E Hoops
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Instructor:
Matthew Sawyer
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Instructor:
Don Waisanen
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Instructor:
Tim Gingrich
Info - 3 points
MARKETING STRATEGY
Prerequisites: BUSI PS5020 Introduction to Marketing/or Professor Approval is required Students will develop analytical skills used to formulate and implement marketing driven strategies for an organization. Students will develop a deeper understanding of marketing strategies and how to implement tactics to achieve desired goals. Students will work on case study projects in both individual and team based projects. By the end of this course, you will be able to develop a marketing strategy based on market assessments and company needs.
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Instructor:
Sandy Becker
Info - 3 points
THE COMPELLING COMMUNICATOR
The ability to communicate effectively is a key competency for professionals. As emerging industry leaders, understanding the audience, framing the message, and using media channels to achieve specified objectives are critical skills, whether written or spoken. Through a variety of written and oral assignments, students learn to apply foundational communication theory to inform and engage stakeholders. The first part of the course focuses on written deliverables, emphasizing audience-framed messaging and developing simple, clear and persuasive content. The second part transitions to enhancing spoken delivery and presentation skills where students gain experience in speechwriting, storytelling and using data visualization to motivate an audience to act.
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Instructor:
Kevin Visconti
Info - 3 points
THE COMPELLING COMMUNICATOR
The ability to communicate effectively is a key competency for professionals. As emerging industry leaders, understanding the audience, framing the message, and using media channels to achieve specified objectives are critical skills, whether written or spoken. Through a variety of written and oral assignments, students learn to apply foundational communication theory to inform and engage stakeholders. The first part of the course focuses on written deliverables, emphasizing audience-framed messaging and developing simple, clear and persuasive content. The second part transitions to enhancing spoken delivery and presentation skills where students gain experience in speechwriting, storytelling and using data visualization to motivate an audience to act.
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Instructor:
Kevin Visconti
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Instructor:
Gabriel Amor
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Instructor:
Jessica Goldberg
Info - 3 points
THE COMPELLING COMMUNICATOR
The ability to communicate effectively is a key competency for professionals. As emerging industry leaders, understanding the audience, framing the message, and using media channels to achieve specified objectives are critical skills, whether written or spoken. Through a variety of written and oral assignments, students learn to apply foundational communication theory to inform and engage stakeholders. The first part of the course focuses on written deliverables, emphasizing audience-framed messaging and developing simple, clear and persuasive content. The second part transitions to enhancing spoken delivery and presentation skills where students gain experience in speechwriting, storytelling and using data visualization to motivate an audience to act.
- 3 points
THE COMPELLING COMMUNICATOR
The ability to communicate effectively is a key competency for professionals. As emerging industry leaders, understanding the audience, framing the message, and using media channels to achieve specified objectives are critical skills, whether written or spoken. Through a variety of written and oral assignments, students learn to apply foundational communication theory to inform and engage stakeholders. The first part of the course focuses on written deliverables, emphasizing audience-framed messaging and developing simple, clear and persuasive content. The second part transitions to enhancing spoken delivery and presentation skills where students gain experience in speechwriting, storytelling and using data visualization to motivate an audience to act.
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Instructor:
Gabriel Amor
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Instructor:
Lauren R Glover
Info - 3 points
THE AUTHENTIC LEADER
Effective leaders are able to think critically about problems and opportunities, imagine unexpected futures, craft a compelling vision, and drive change. In this course, we study the theoretical underpinnings of leadership communication, relying on empirical evidence as a guide for practice. Students gain important perspective on leadership styles, mastering the competencies required for a variety of contexts.
- 3 points
DIGITAL MEDIA & ANALYTICS
Digital media opens new opportunities for increasingly targeted communications across a variety of channels, which rapidly expands the importance of analytics in tracking and measuring key performance indicators (KPIs). This course prepares students to work within data- and model-driven environments with an emphasis on using analytics to develop insights and support strategic decisions.
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Instructor:
Lilian Ore
Info - 3 points
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS
This course covers the basic elements of crisis communication and the procedures for creating crisis communications plans and for reacting to crises when they occur. How best to develop various plans for different critical audiences and understand the most effective strategies for communicating your organization’s message during a crisis is explored. The course examines various types of crises that can occur with corporations and nonprofit organizations and the differences and similarities among them. How to avoid the classic and common pitfalls of crisis communication are addressed, as are ethical issues that arise during crises. Numerous case studies are discussed in class and exercises both in and outside of class are assigned so students gain experience in crisis communication situations.
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Instructor:
Andrew Whitehouse
Info - 3 points
ADVANCED WRITING PROJECT
In this advanced professional writing workshop, students are guided through the process of crafting a significant publication-ready piece of writing, applying principles of journalism and strategic communication. Whether a book chapter, in-depth feature article, white paper, or policy proposal, each student’s unique project will require mastering a range of communication tools—including storytelling, data presentation, observation, and analysis.
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Instructor:
Edith Hill Updike
Info - 3 points
CRITICAL CONVERSATIONS
Effective dialogue is one of the single most important activities of leaders today. Whether you are confronting a team member who is not keeping commitments, critiquing a colleague’s work, disagreeing with a spouse about financial decisions, or telling someone no, critical conversations are often avoided or handled in clumsy ways. This course will provide the theory underpinning these conversations, diagram their structure, and provide specific strategies for approaching them successfully.
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Instructor:
Jesse L Scinto
Info - 3 points
COLLECTIVE ACTION: MOBILIZING FOR CHANGE
Collective Action: Mobilizing for Change
examines how communication operates as a strategic force in the formation, activation, and coordination of collective action. The course moves beyond individual-level persuasion to focus on how messages, narratives, identities, and infrastructures mobilize groups, networks, and publics. Core topics include theories of collective action and mobilization; strategic communication and audience segmentation; narrative, framing, and collective identity; digital platforms and algorithmic mediation; power, ethics, and accessibility in mobilization; and comparative case studies drawn from social movements, advocacy campaigns, organizational mobilization, and civic action. Throughout the course, students are encouraged to connect strategic communication practices to broader social, political, and technological contexts.
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Instructor:
Devo Probol
Info - 3 points
COMMUNICATION AND GLOBAL BRANDS
COMMUNICATION & GLOBAL BRANDS
This course examines the discipline of global marketing communication, including the environmental factors that enabled global marketing. The course assesses early models of communication management and the current factors that enable global communication programs: the identification of global target audiences; the kinds of products and services that lend themselves to global communication and those that don’t; and the characteristics of leadership brands that are preeminent in global communication today. Students consider how levels of development and cultural values affect communication programs and how local differences can be reflected in global programs. Message creation and the available methods of message distribution are evaluated in the context of current and future trends. Students learn how to approach strategy and develop an integrated, holistic global communication program and how to manage such a program.
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Instructor:
Annemarie Norris
Info - 3 points
VALUE OF BRAND
This course introduces students to the economic importance of brand building activities based on the proven link between brand equity and business performance. Students examine the role that strategy and communication play in building brand equity, and explore how the changing media landscape is causing companies to rethink traditional brand-building practices. Students will use critical thinking, case-analysis, market research, and strategic presentations to persuade a business decision maker to invest in brand building efforts. For students who are interested in building stronger brand cultures within their organizations (for both the profit and nonprofit sectors) and/or for pursuing careers on the brand side of strategy, this course answers the question: Why should businesses and institutions care about branding?
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Instructor:
Christine Wu
Info - 3 points
GLOBAL COMMUNICATION FOR PROFESSIONALS
GLOBAL COMM FOR PROFESSIONALS
The global knowledge economy, cross-border market permeability, and worldwide talent mobility have accelerated the rise of multinational and domestic organizations comprised of individuals from many different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. As these trends strengthen, so, too, does the likelihood that the 21st-century worker will spend a significant part of her/his professional career in a multicultural workplace. While such diversity affords great benefits to organizations, their employees and clients, it is often accompanied by a rise in communication misfires and misunderstandings that can undermine individual, team, and organizational performance.
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Instructor:
Ciara Ungar
Info - 3 points
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
COMM RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
To make informed decisions about communication, we need a clear understanding of our audience and its motivations. We begin by asking the right questions and interpreting the results. This course covers essential market research methods, including quantitative and qualitative techniques. Students gain direct experience in collecting and analyzing data, developing insights and choosing research-driven communication strategies that meet client objectives.
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Instructor:
Laura Milewczik
Info - 3 points
COMMUNICATION RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
COMM RESEARCH & INSIGHTS
To make informed decisions about communication, we need a clear understanding of our audience and its motivations. We begin by asking the right questions and interpreting the results. This course covers essential market research methods, including quantitative and qualitative techniques. Students gain direct experience in collecting and analyzing data, developing insights and choosing research-driven communication strategies that meet client objectives.
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Instructor:
Laura Milewczik
Info - 3 points
ETHICAL DECISION MAKING FOR COMMUNICATOR
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Instructor:
Skye Cleary
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Instructor:
Jane M McManus
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Instructor:
Roberto Lara Aranda
Info - 3 points
DIGITAL COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
As digital media increasingly drives the field of strategic communication, leading successful communication efforts also require a platform specific, evidence-based strategic approach. Leaders must know how to use a broad and rapidly changing mix of digital media platforms and tools to connect their message with the right audience. To that end, this course covers major topics in digital media and communication, such as content strategy, digital experience, channel planning, online reputation management, programmatic marketing, audience targeting, artificial intelligence and more. Through in-class lectures, discussion, case studies, guest speakers, group projects and individual writing assignments, students in this course will be introduced to strategic decision-making and communications planning for social media, mobile, digital advertising, search, email, digital out-of-home and interactive media (video, radio, podcasts). Students will also gain an in-depth understanding of how to integrate digital strategies and tactics with traditional communication efforts.
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Instructor:
Lilian Ore
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Instructor:
Mariana Y Pinos
Info - 3 points
AI and the Future of Strategic Communica
AI & the Future of Strat
The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly evolved to become a transformative global force across various industries, with particular significance for strategic communication. This elective course provides a comprehensive exploration of AI’s foundations, its current landscape, and its profound impact on media, journalism, public relations, and marketing communications. The course also addresses critical issues surrounding AI such as ethics, policy, and risk management associated with adoption, while offering practical insights into implementing common AI tools and developing essential AI skills for communication professionals.
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Instructor:
Cecilia Dones
Info - 3 points
AI INFUSION
Artificial intelligence (AI) is swiftly infusing the communication discipline with immediate implications for students and practitioners alike. To stay current with rapidly unfolding developments and create new ties with industry, this 0-credit course presents a biweekly series of speakers and panels comprised of alumni, Advisory Board members, and professionals. Speakers discuss their own AI use in the workplace. Students have the opportunity to interact with communication leaders on the forefront of AI implementation.
Each session aligns with a different Strategic Communication course topic. Among the areas to be explored are synthetic data and synthetic audience testing, event simulation, retrieval augmented generation (RAG), agentic AI, content production, and personalization at scale. Along with current use cases, a core focus of discussion will be AI governance, leadership strategy and decision-making, workforce training, and the development of principles and policies to guide human-centric and ethical AI implementation.
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Instructor:
Brandy N Dawson
Info - 0 points
Internship Experience 2 - COMM
This asynchronous, 1.5-credit elective combines a supervised professional internship with guided analysis of workplace culture, ethics, and feedback practices. Students evaluate organizational values, inclusivity, and ethical decision-making while developing the skills needed to navigate professional environments and identify the workplace cultures in which they will thrive.
- 1.5 points
CAPSTONE
The Capstone Project is an opportunity for students to synthesize and apply learnings from throughout the Strategic Communication program. Under the guidance of expert advisers, you’ll investigate a real-world communication issue, devising solutions and strategies that bridge the gap between theory and practice.
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Instructor:
Mark Truss
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Instructor:
Elyse Hoelzer
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Instructor:
Thomas J Groppe
Info - 3 points
GLOBAL FIELDWORK IN COMMUNICATION
This course gives students a chance to explore topics of global importance while gaining competence in cross-cultural communication and collaboration. The centerpiece is a 10-day study abroad experience, in which students travel internationally to engage with local actors and organizations who are doing strategic communication work. The course focuses on communication related to climate resilience, public health, politics, government, and culture. Students gain global perspective on the impact of strategic communication across sectors. See country brochure for additional details.
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Instructor:
Kristine Billmyer
Info - 3 points
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND CORPORATE COMMUNICA
PR & CORPORATE COMMUNICATION
This elective is designed for students looking to launch careers in public relations and corporate communications across organizations, from corporate, non-profit, start-up and/or governmental institutions. Course content will provide students with a broad overview of the PR and corporate communications function and foundational communication theory, along with hands-on, tactical training in modern public relations practice. Topics covered include strategic messaging and storytelling, working with the press to generate media coverage, leveraging social media and managing reputations online, crisis communication, public relations ethics and media law, engaging internal and external audiences, and evaluating corporate communications efforts.
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Instructor:
Michael Kaye
Info - 3 points