New Classes Being Offered in the Communication Department
By Chelsey Hisenkamp, Ryan Anderson, and Matt Rud
RESEARCH FOR ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
"Speech 496- Research for Advertising and Public Relations" is a new class offered for the first time in Spring 2010. It is classified as a special studies course and is being taught by Professor Edward Frederick. The class focuses mainly on giving students a head start to what they might see if they go into a field of research in advertising or public relations.
"The class is to give advertising and public relation majors experience with information gathering for the purpose of planning," Frederick stated. "In these professions there are different databases people use to put together their plan and this class will help students understand how to use these databases, while coming up with the strategies and goals."
Frederick will be using two textbooks for this course: Strategic Public Relations Management 2nd edition by Erica Weingtraub Austin and Bruce E. Pinkleton and Mass Media Research: an Introduction eighth edition (9th edition will not be out until January, 2010) by Roger D. Wimmer and Joseph R. Dominick.
The course will be the standard project and test based design; also there will be a paper to write. Frederick also mentioned that his goal was that he would like to see his Speech 496 class soon become a necessity in the curriculum for all advertising and public relation majors.
DIGITAL JOURNALISM
Another new class being offered this semester is "Digital Journalism 496". It's classified as a special studies course, and taught by Professor James Kates, a grizzled veteran of the journalism world. Because of the constant, vertiginous evolution of journalism, a course like this has become paramount. Many other classes are hopelessly dated, and incapable of catching up. While it would be impossible to stay ahead of the curve, this class aims to remain hot on the heels of all the new trends. Kates acknowledged this, remarking, "There is no learning curve. It's a learning slope that may never get any less steep."
The current fall semester is the first time the class has been offered, and response has been enthusiastic. 17 students enrolled, and the capacity is capped at 20. This allows for plenty of one-on-one interaction and personal instruction. The course is basically divided into three aspects of the webvideo, audio, and still photography. Roughly two-thirds of the class is hands-on projects, while the remaining third is lectures on new developments in web-writing.
Additionally, Kates mentioned that this class received a "strategic initiative grant" from the Chancellor. This provides funding for students "web gear kits." These "go kits" are checked out by the students to use at their discretion for the entire semester. The kit is composed of a flip video camera, a zoom audio recorder, and a Kodak still camera. Or, students can use their own devices. Further, students will utilize Windows Movie Maker, and "Audacity" for audio software. Fortunately, "Audacity" is free software.
As this course is designed to be timely, students do need to buy the textbook, which is up-to-date. Online Journalism by James Foust, is $40. However, Prof. Kates is planning to establish a list, so that students can sell back the book to the new class. There are tests and quizzes on the book and on lectures. In addition, Kates maintains a class blog, and every week he'll post a short article germane to the class. Then, students must read and write a short, thoughtful commentary on the piece.
The class is mostly project-based. There are 5 projects total, two news projects in audio and video, two feature projects in audio and video, and then a portfolio of student pictures.
"We're all learning together. It's a work in progress," said Kates. These words apply to the class, and to the field of journalism, as well.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND WEB OPTIMIZATION
Jour/Speech 496 is a special studies course and this spring will be offered under the instruction of Spencer Stuart as a study in Social Media and Web Optimization. Stuart is a young and ambitious professor who has set out to make clear the vast importance of one's 'internet presence' in today's changing career market. This class in particular has a set agenda to teach students the how-tos on promoting one's self on the web.
This spring will be the first time the class is offered here on the Whitewater campus and it is proving to be a popular choice among students, with the course already at its enrollment cap. The class focuses on social networking, predicting web trends, webmetrics, as well as monetizing and promoting one's self or one's brand. If these things sound like a foreign language, don't worry, as long as you have rudimentary web skills in tact, the rest will be a breeze.
Homework in this class will mostly focus on applied projects like working on one's internet presence as well as learning to track developing internet patterns, i.e. google analytics. A few books will be integrated in to the class as well. In an interview, Spencer Stuart stressed that Tribes by Seth Godin would be a main focus. Also included will be The Facebook Era by Clara Shih, among others related to the subject matter.
When asked about the class's practical applications, Stuart was quick to discuss the importance of one's web influence. He mentioned that the first thing a potential employer does in today's world is "google someone". Building a strong web presence with original content and proper networking can help build one's employable skills, resume, and assist one in becoming truly valuable to a future employer.
"This class will genuinely help you to build your web presence and become a power user of social media sites it will get you wired."