Nov 21, 2024  
2020-2021 University Catalog 
    
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2020-2021 University Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Communication: Public Relations and Strategic Communication, BA

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About the Program

Studying communication at Purdue allows you to learn what to do in order to be an effective communicator, but it also allows you learn why those things are effective. So yes, you might learn how to think and write critically, how to speak persuasively, how to work in organizations and with teams, and how to produce media packages and public relations documents. But you’ll also learn why “best practices” got to be that way. You’ll gain not only skills, but also the theories that help explain and grapple with how persuasion works (and doesn’t work), the ethics of communication, and the nature of communication processes.

All students are required to take the same three foundational courses, and all students must take a writing class and a class focused on experiential learning. Students then choose one concentration that allows them to specialize.

The Public Relations and Strategic Communication concentration prepares students for careers in areas including public relations, advertising, fundraising and development, politics, and nonprofit work. This concentration provides students with the fundamentals of public relations writing and persuasion, as well as social media strategy, campaigns, dealing with controversy, theory applied to practice, crisis management, and generally how to manage relationships between organizations and their audiences.

Please visit the Brian Lamb School of Communication for more information.

Degree in 3

The College of Liberal Arts offers the opportunity for students to complete their degree in three years. Degree in 3 majors allow students to enter the work force or graduate school a year earlier than traditional plans of study while also providing a cost-effective way to complete an undergraduate degree.

Students can complete the three-year option with or without AP credit by adding summer sessions to traditional coursework in Fall and Spring semesters. Degree in 3 offers a great combination of cost-savings and the opportunity to accelerate your future and achieve your goals.

Degree Requirements

120 Credits Required

Communication: Departmental/Program Major Courses (28 credits)

A. Pre-Com Requirements (9 credits)

B. Introductory Courses (7 credits)

C. Research Methods (3 credits)

D. Communication Writing (3 credits)

E. Experiential Learning (3 credits)

F. Additional Communication Courses (3 credits)

  • Additional COM courses - Credit Hours: 3.00

Communication: Public Relations and Strategic Communication Concentration (15 credits)

Required Course (3 credits)

​

Choose Four (12 credits)

Public Relations and Strategic Communication Concentration Selective List  

Other Departmental (31-55 credits)

The College of Liberal Arts Other Departmental area is designed to be experiential, informative, and relevant to life in a rapidly changing universe. It combines courses that fulfill University Core foundational outcomes, discipline diversity, social diversity, and other languages to produce a well-rounded background for students. Coursework is integrative and collaborative and fosters insight, understanding, independence, initiative, and the desire to reach across divides and redefine our relationship to the peoples and the worlds that surround us.

Core I: Disciplinary Diversity (6-18 credits)

Choose 1 course in 6 different disciplines within the College of Liberal Arts.

Note: Disciplines are differentiated by course prefix. Undistributed credit does not count to satisfy this requirement.

Core II: Social Diversity (1-3 credits)

Culture, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity all play a role in how others perceive us and how we experience the world, and as such, are meaningful categories for analyzing social change and social problems past and present. The purpose of this category is to acquaint students with the pluralistic nature of the world and foster an appreciation and awareness of the diverse range of lived human experience. Courses in this list will expose students to important aspects of human diversity and foster understanding about different world views.

Choose one course from the Social Diversity Selective List.  

Core III: Linguistic Diversity (3-4 credits)

Proficiency through Level IV in one world language. Courses may be required to reach Level IV proficiency; these courses will be counted toward electives.

Foundational Requirements (21-30 credits)

Students must complete approved coursework that meet the following foundational outcomes. Many of these can also be used to fulfill Core I, Core II, or Core III.

  • Humanities - all approved courses accepted.
  • Behavioral/Social Science - all approved courses accepted.
  • Information Literacy - all approved courses accepted.
  • Science #1 - all approved courses accepted.
  • Science #2 - all approved courses accepted.
  • Science, Technology, and Society - all approved courses accepted.
  • Written Communication - all approved courses accepted.
  • Oral Communication - all approved courses accepted.
  • Quantitative Reasoning - all approved courses accepted.

Notes

  • Double counting of courses is allowed across the various categories.
  • All accredited programs whose accreditation is threatened by CLA Core requirement, both professional BAs and BFAs, are exempt from Liberal Arts Core I & II in order to meet accreditation standards and requirements. Liberal Arts Core III: Linguistic Diversity is still required for such programs.
  • “Degree +” students (students with a second major outside of Liberal Arts) are exempt from the CLA Core.

Electives (22-46 credits)

University Core Requirements

For a complete listing of University Core Course Selectives, visit the University Senate Website.
  • Human Cultures: Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)
  • Human Cultures: Humanities (HUM)
  • Information Literacy (IL)
  • Oral Communication (OC)
  • Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
  • Science #1 (SCI)
  • Science #2 (SCI)
  • Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
  • Written Communication (WC)

Prerequisite Information:

For current pre-requisites for courses, click here.

 

Program Requirements

Fall 1st Year

16 Credits

Spring 1st Year

  • ♦

  •  

  • Written Communication - Credit Hours: 3.00-4.00 (CLA Core I: 4 of 6)
  • World Language 10200 - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Science - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Information Literacy – Credit Hours: 3.00 (CLA Core I: 5 of 6)

15 Credits

Fall 2nd Year

15 Credits

Spring 2nd Year

  • Area F: Additional COM Course - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • World Language 20200 - Credit Hours: 3.00 (CLA Core III)
  • Science - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Fall 3rd Year

15 Credits

Spring 3rd Year

15 Credits

Fall 4th Year

  • Required Concentration Course - Credits Hours: 3.00
  • Area E : Experiential Learning Course - Credits Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00

15 Credits

Spring 4th Year

  • Required Concentration Course - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Required Concentration Course - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 3.00
  • Elective - Credit Hours: 2.00

14 Credits

Notes

  • Students must earn a “C-” or better in each Communication major course, including pre-com.
  • 2.0 Graduation GPA required for Bachelor of Arts degree.
  • 32 credit hours of Purdue coursework at the 30000 level or higher required for Bachelor of Arts degree.

World Language Courses

World Language proficiency requirements vary by program. The following list is inclusive of all world languages PWL offers for credit; for acceptable languages and proficiency levels, see your advisor.

ASL-American Sign Language

 ARAB-Arabic CHNS-Chinese FR-French
GER-German GREK-Greek (ancient) HEBR-Hebrew (Biblical) HEBR-Hebrew (modern)
ITAL-Italian JPNS-Japanese KOR-Korean LATN-Latin
PTGS-Portuguese RUSS-Russian SPAN-Spanish  

Critical Course

The ♦ course is considered critical.

In alignment with the Degree Map Guidance for Indiana’s Public Colleges and Universities, published by the Commission for Higher Education (pursuant to HEA 1348-2013), a Critical Course is identified as “one that a student must be able to pass to persist and succeed in a particular major.  Students who want to be nurses, for example, should know that they are expected to be proficient in courses like biology in order to be successful.  These would be identified by the institutions for each degree program”. 

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.

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