Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 University Catalog 
    
2017-2018 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Public Relations and Strategic Communication, BA


About the Program

Public Relations and Strategic Communication includes topics in public relations (persuasion, public relationships, and image repair); advertising theory and practice; reasoning, persuasion, and controversy; and the inter-related public relations and advertising areas of a public communication campaign. Public Relations includes instruction in persuasion, campaigns, writing, and image repair. Advertising courses give undergraduates an understanding of the theory and practice of mass media advertising. This area emphasizes the planning, creation, and evaluation of advertising messages.

Please visit Public Relations and Strategic Communication for more information.

Three Year Major Option

The Brian Lamb School of Communication now offers all five majors in schedules that can be completed in just three years. These new schedules have the same number of total hours (120), and the same number of major hours (42 or 30), but compress them into three years. The three-year plan requires two summers, with the following distribution of semester hours (fall/spring/summer):

Year One:  15/18/9
Year Two:  18/18/9
Year Three:  18/15/graduation in May

These new three-year plans are in addition to the existing four-year programs, which will all still be available.  And of course, if students enter the program with any Advanced Placement or transfer credit, meeting the three-year calendar becomes even simpler.

Visit the Brian Lamb School of Communication website for more information.

Degree Requirements


120 Credits Required

Liberal Arts Core Curriculum


Each liberal arts major is designed as a four-year plan of study and includes three types of courses: Major, Core, and Elective. Most students take five courses per semester, with some of each type.

Professional academic advisors meet individually with each of our students on a regular basis to help with course selection, academic planning, and career development, as well as to help students find additional resources on campus.

For the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum click here .

Departmental/Program Major Courses (42 credits)


Students must complete COM 11400  and achieve a GPA of 3.0 or above on a 4.0 scale in the three Pre-Communication courses before declaring this or any major in communication. NO additional communication courses from the plan of study can be taken prior to admission. Only one Pre-Com course may be repeated one time for admission purposes.

B. General Communication course (3 credits)


D. Choose ONE of the following areas of specialization (12 credits)


Choose one area (Advertising or Public Relations) and take the FOUR courses.

E. Choose TWO additional 30000-level or above courses in COM that are NOT listed in areas A through D (6 credits)


Choose TWO additional 30000-level or above courses in COM that are NOT listed in areas A through D

Other Departmental/Program Course Requirements (57 credits)


  • (UCC: Written Communication)
  • or

  • (UCC: Written Communication)
  •  

  • (UCC: Oral Communication)  
  • Other Languages (Proficiency through Level IV in one language) (UCC: Humanities) - Credits Hours: 12.00
  • Mathematics (UCC: Quantitative Reasoning) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Statistics (UCC: Quantitative Reasoning) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Western Heritage - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • United States Tradition (UCC: Behavioral Social Science - if POL 10100  was taken) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Other Cultures (UCC: Behavioral Social Science - if ANTH 20500 was taken) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Aesthetic Awareness - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Racial and Ethnic Diversity - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Gender Issues - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Social Ethics (UCC: Science, Technology & Society - if PHIL 27000  or POL 22300  was taken) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Individual and Society - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Global Perspective (UCC: Science, Technology & Society - if HIST 38400  or HIST 38700  was taken) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Natural Sciences (UCC: Science - requires 6 credits) - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Natural Sciences Lab - Credit Hours: 3.00

Electives (21 credits)


University Core Requirements


  • Human Cultures Humanities
  • Human Cultures Behavioral/Social Science
  • Information Literacy
  • Science #1
  • Science #2
  • Science, Technology, and Society
  • Written Communication
  • Oral Communication
  • Quantitative Reasoning
  • For a complete listing of course selectives, visit the Provost’s Website.

Prerequisite Information:


For current pre-requisites for courses, click here.

Program Requirements


Fall 1st Year


15 Credits


Spring 1st Year


15 Credits


Fall 2nd Year


15 Credits


Spring 2nd Year


15 Credits


Fall 3rd Year


15 Credits


15 Credits


Fall 4th Year


15 Credits


Spring 4th Year


  • COM Course - Area D - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • COM Course - Area E - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • COM Course - Area E - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Global Perspective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Individual & Society - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits


Notes


Students must earn a “C-” or better in each Communications major course, including pre-com.

2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

32 credit hours at 30000 level or higher required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

Foreign Language Courses


Foreign Language proficiency requirements vary by program.  For acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor:

American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, (ancient) Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Critical Course


The ♦ course is considered critical. A Critical Course is one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.

Disclaimer


The student is ultimately responsible for knowing and completing all degree requirements.

The myPurduePlan powered by DegreeWorks is the knowledge source for specific requirements and completion.