Public Relations, BA

Chairperson: Nathan Gilkerson, Ph.D.

The major in public relations is designed to give students knowledge and skills to help organizations and brands accurately communicate their strategic messages to customers, employees, investors and the media. Students learn how to apply an integrated and creative approach to promote products and services by mastering public relations strategies and tactics, using both traditional and emerging technologies and social media. Students also need to understand the role of public relations in helping organizations or clients build and maintain ethical leadership as well as be a key driver in solving social issues, crisis mitigation and advance worthwhile causes to improve quality of life and society as a whole.

Our curriculum is both conceptual and applied with courses in writing, strategies, design, campaigns, social media, crisis communication and sports promotion, to name a few. A required internship lets students specialize in a chosen area and helps develop professional networks.