The American University of Paris

The American University of Paris has a well noted major in Global Communications. There is a Bachelors program as well as a masters degree offered in this field of study. 

 It strives to provide students with understanding in current research with practical skills to understand and be involved in communications at global, local, and individual levels.  Graduates of this major understand the new rapid trends such as new media and new cultural forms.

Students also learn a solid liberal arts background necessary for success in the communications field.  The program also focuses on research methods, including historical, textual, socio-cultural, and empirical approaches and procedures for writing and presenting research.

The Global Communications program also has the opportunities for students to specialize in different areas.  These include: Production, Media Convergence, Integrated Marketing Communications, and Journalism. 

 Each specialization has a group of related courses in which if the student takes 3 of the classes, that specific specialization will be complete.

The American University of Paris is a non-profit educational institution incorporated in the State of Delaware and licensed by the State Board of Education as a Delaware institution of higher education.

Bournemouth University in England

Bournemouth University has 17,000 students and 2 campuses in the UK. They offer over 40 courses of study including public relations.

Bournemouth University offers a masters program for public relations. In order to receive the degree students must take 3 terms which takes one year at full time.

Term 1 – Core

Focuses mostly on theories and principles of public relations. Some written and oral communication is emphasized as well.

Public Relations: Principles and Foundations

Corporate Public Relations

Public Relations Communication Skills

Term 2 – Core

These courses focus on how to be an effective public relations practitioner. Each course gives students experience to utilize the theories and principles they learned in the past term. There is an emphasis on new media, research, and campaigning.

Public Relations Programmes

Interactive Media Strategies

Research Principles and Practice

Term 3 – MA Stage
Students who successfully complete the first two terms of the course will be entitled to the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Public Relations. Those who proceed to Term 3 will undertake the Integrated Campaign Planning unit AND either the Academic or Consultancy Project.
Core Unit
Integrated Campaign Planning
This class is assessed through a live brief, usually from a UK advertising agency, that will allow students’ knowledge to be used to address a current and “real” marketing communications situation. In collaboration with students from the MA in Advertising and Marketing Communication degree, students will work as part of a team of advertising, marketing communications and public relations specialists.

Independent Project
To complete the MA stage of the degree, students must choose and undertake ONE of the following independent projects:

Academic Project
The academic project consists of a 10,000 word research paper or book chapter of publishable standard designed for a publication in an academic journal or book of the student’s choice. Students will write on a subject of interest to them from the public relations field.

Consultancy Project
This project is a 10,000 word report/proposal wherein the student acts as a consultant for a selected organisation, company or individual. Within the report, students will identify and define a communication problem or situation and develop appropriate public relations solutions. Students will be expected to engage in research in order to justify their recommendations.

Information found at: www.bournemouth.ac.uk

Symbiosis Institute of Media & Communication in India

SIMC is a university in India with three separate campuses; Lavale, Viman, and Bangalore. These campuses are spread out around India but Lavale is home to the communication program. 

There are several different graduate level programs offered by SIMC. There are programs in mass communication, which includes journalism, audio-visual communication and visual communication. There is also a program in communication management, which includes advertising. Public relations falls under the communication management umbrella. 

The communication management program offers courses in advertising and public relations. Advertising courses include client servicing, account planning, media & creative, and art & copy. Public relations courses include public relations, corporate communication, and event management. This program also requires six minor industry projects, one major industry project, one social communication project and dissertation writing. This program of study will take two years, spread over 4 semesters with 16 credit hours in each. 

All information was adapted from: http://www.simc.edu/pgp_curriculum.aspx 

Deakin University of Australia

About Deakin University
Established in the 1970s as one of the new generation of Australian universities, Deakin combines a university's traditional focus on excellent teaching and research with a desire to seek new ways of developing and delivering courses.
Deakin has recieved nine Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning in the 2007 Carrick Awards (now the Australian Learning and Teaching Council awards).


Course structure for a focus in Communication and Media
Students complete 24 credit points of study which comprises a major sequence
of 8 credit points in Professional and Creative Writing and a sub-major of 4 credit
points in Anthropology, Australian Studies, Film Studies, History, International
Relations, Journalism, Language and Culture Studies, Literary Studies, Philosophy,
Public Relations, Politics and Policy Studies or Sociology. The remaining 12 credit
points enable students to make unusual study combinations with the freedom
to choose from a wide range of electives and major sequences. This flexibility
ensured depth in promotional and creative writing – essential for developing
writers.

For those concentrating in Public Relations
This course is accredited by the Public Relations Institute of Australia (PRIA),
granting graduates automatic eligibility for membership. You will have the
opportunity to establish links with professionals in industry through the
PRIA Young Practitioners’ program.

The course has a strong industry work experience component, enabling you
to gain valuable skills and experience within a public relations organisation in
Australia.



‘The lecturers have all been heavily involved in the
industry and were able to give a real perspective of
what kind of environment we would be working in’.
Caitlin Stonehouse
Bachelor of Arts (Public Relations), graduated 2007
Research Communications and Partnerships Officer,
Heart Foundation

Information found at http://www.deakin.edu.au/

IULM University of Languages and Communication

Libera Università di Lingue e Comunicazione (IULM) was the first university in Italy to formally offer undergraduate courses in public relations. Around 40,000 students now take public relations as either part of their major or as an elective. There is confusion in Italy over the function of public relations, especially the disciplines of public relations. IULM wants to explore the confusions in public relations and come up with a mutual understanding over the functions of PR. 

The website highlights the education levels of students taking public relations courses. "The levels of education for those working in public relations include 23.2 percent with a high school degree, 56.3 percent with a bachelor’s degree and 20.4 percent with a master’s degree."(http://www.prssa.org/prsic/italy.aspx) Clearly more students work in public relations with a bachelor's degree but there are less working with a masters degree, mainly because there are limited programs available for a masters degree in public relations. 

IULM offers an exchange student program, however all courses are taught in Italian. 

All information was adapted from http://www.iulm.it/?idPage=960

University of Texas travels to Ireland

After sending out emails to many public relations professionals around the world, I received very little information back. Making phone calls and sending more emails didn't seem to work, so now we need to work with the information we can find.

I found a great study abroad program from the University of Texas: Austin to University College Dublin. This is solely a public relations study abroad opportunity. The website for this opportunity is as follows: http://communication.utexas.edu/students/international/ip-maymester.html 

Students have the opportunity to study in Ireland during a summer session. They will enroll in two courses that are equivalent to courses offered at the University of Texas. Students will stay in the dorms to gain a better perspective on international education. 

This is a great opportunity to study abroad in Ireland for undergraduate students. I have done a lot of researching and this is one of the study abroad programs that really stood out!

University of Leicester

"Elite without being Elitist" stated the Times Higher Education Winners Brochure when discussin the University of Leicester when it named the University THE University of the Year in 2008.

Although the University does not have a specific degree in Public Relations, the Department of Media and Communication offers an extensive list of communication and media classes. The University website states that "Graduates from a degree such as this tend to find employment in the communication mix in the widest sense, that is, in all areas from public relations and advertising, through to media production itself". This is much like the program offered here at James Madison: a student takes many communication courses with only a few specialized Public Relations Courses, and from graduation they can go into a wide variety of fields.

In order to be accepted to the program, a student must apply and be offered a position, but once accepted, students learn about the changing nature of communications and the impact of media on individual and societies (locally, regionally, and globally). Students leave the program with a broad social and scientific understanding of the roles media and communications play in Britain and around the world. The program lasts three years with 6 modules (courses) per year. In their final year, students are required to complete a 12,000-15,000 word dissertation within the field of media and communications.

http://www2.le.ac.uk/