Words travel fast; it's the world we now live in. AU’s communication department prepares you to handle the lightning-quick arena of transmitting ideas via words, videos and more. As a Communication major, you can earn a concentration in Digital Media or Public Relations. Whether you're running a multi-channel content campaign or putting out the proverbial PR fires, you'll be prepared to excel.
Communication Courses
Your degree requires 120 credit hours of comprehensive study, whether you earn a concentration in Digital Media or Public Relations. Three of the degree's popular courses include:
COM 420 – Public Relations Crisis Management
Companies and organizations aren't perfect; mistakes are inevitable. With a good PR team, however, the wounds suffered in the wake of missteps don't have to be crippling. In this course, you'll immerse yourself in case studies of recent individual and organizational crises through which you learn where PR teams went right and where they went wrong.
COM 230 - Rhetoric
Good communication is the art of connecting with your audience. COM 230 trains you in sound rhetorical technique and execution. You'll learn how to take an issue and present it in a way that communicates your intentions and captures the attention of your listeners.
COM 351 - Corporate Video Production
Video production is no longer the costly, complex endeavor it once was. Phones that fit in your pocket can now do the work it took bulky equipment and well-trained experts to do. In this course, you'll learn the principles of video production and work with real companies to create content they'll actually use.
Communication Minors
You can choose between three different 18-credit-hour minors in the communication program. To earn minors in Communication Studies and Public Relations you take the department's core courses, which dovetail well with most majors and careers. The Department of Communication also offers the Coding and App Development, which AU developed with insight from Apple and AU’s Center for Innovation and Digital Learning. The minor trains you in the building blocks of mobile communication. You'll use Swift and Xcode to teach you the basics of website and app development. As a capstone project, all students who complete the minor will develop their own app.
- Communication Studies
- Digital Media
- Public Relations
- Coding and App Development
Study Abroad: Printers and Protestants
Before the Internet, broadcast and cable media reigned, paper was the preferred medium of communication. Our Printers and Protestants program takes you to Europe so you can walk in the steps of Johannes Gutenberg, Martin Luther and John Calvin.
You'll learn how the emergence of printing technology changed the way we communicate and how Luther and Calvin leveraged existing technology to express their theological and social ideas and foster the Protestant Reformation.
This AU Abroad course to Switzerland, Germany and France provides you in-the-flesh experiences of the intersection between history, technology and faith, three factors as pertinent now as they have ever been.