The Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications is the undergraduate and graduate college dedicated to the study of journalism, mass communications and media at

The Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

in the USA. Re-established in 2017 under its new name after the producer, screenwriter and benefactor

Donald P. Bellisario Donald Paul Bellisario (born August 8, 1935) is an American television producer and screenwriter who created and sometimes wrote episodes for the TV series '' Magnum, P.I.'' (1980), ''Tales of the Gold Monkey'' (1982), ''Airwolf'' (1984), ''Quan ...

, the Bellisario College is home to four departments: Advertising/Public Relations, Journalism, Film Production and Media Studies, and Telecommunications and Media Industries. Offering five undergraduate majors, a master's degree in media studies, and a Ph.D. program in mass communications, the college is the largest accredited program of its kind in the United States. The college's facilities are located on the University Park campus.

Undergraduate programs

Undergraduate majors *Advertising/Public Relations **Advertising option **Public relations option **Strategic communications option (World Campus only) *Film Production *Media Studies *Journalism **Broadcast journalism option **Digital and print journalism option **Photojournalism option *Telecommunications and Media Industries Undergraduate minors * Digital Media Trends and Analytics * Entrepreneurship and Innovation * Film Studies * Information Sciences and Technology for Telecommunications * Media Studies * Sports Journalism Certificate

Graduate programs

*Ph.D. in mass communications *M.A. in media studies **Integrated undergraduate-graduate degree 5 year program for students to earn a B.A. and M.A in media studies **JD-MA Joint Degree—In collaboration with Penn State Law, students can earn a J.D. and M.A. in Media Studies *Master of Professional Studies in Strategic Communications — online only

History

The college dates to 1911, when the first journalism course was offered at Penn State. Though the Department of Journalism was first founded in 1930 under the School of Liberal Arts, initial course offerings eventually led to the establishment of the School of Journalism in 1955. This new school brought together the advertising program, which dates back to 1936, and the journalism program to form what became the School of Communications in 1985. Joining the advertising/public relations and journalism programs to form a more comprehensive communications school were programs in film-video, media studies and telecommunications. The film-video program, originating in the College of Arts and Architecture, and the media studies program, previously a communications studies major housed in the College of Liberal Arts, were both introduced at Penn State in the 1960s. The telecommunications major was born in the College of Liberal Arts, dating back to the mid-1970s. After its establishment in 1985, the School of Communications was upgraded to the College of Communications in 1995, followed by the departmentalization of the college in 2000. On April 21, 2017, the college was renamed the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications, after the acclaimed writer, producer, director and alumnus Donald P. Bellisario committed $30 million to support students and faculty in the college and to establish the Donald P. Bellisario Media Center, which opened in 2021. The college is the largest accredited mass communications program in the United States.

Research

*Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication *Newspaper Journalists Oral History Program *John Curley Center for Sports Journalism *Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) *Don Davis Program in Ethical Leadership *Institute for Information Policy *Media Effects Research Laboratory *Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment *Science Communication Program *Children, Media & Conflict Zones Laboratory *The Prison Journalism Program

Student organizations

The college has more than forty media opportunities and student organizations, both on and off campus. These include CommAgency, CommRadio, and Centre County Report.

Facilities

The college has state-of-the-art facilities, located in several buildings on the University Park campus. The Donald P. Bellisario Media Center (or Bellisario Media Center) opened in 2021. The media center is located in the Willard Building, and brings many of the college's facilities under one roof. The 63,000 square-foot (5,853 sq m) media center contains classrooms, offices, television studios, and spaces for film and video creation, and houses student-media operations. Funding for its construction was supported by University funds and a $30 million dollar gift from Donald P. Bellisario. Construction began in 2019. Classes were first held in the media center in August 2021.

Alumni

There are some 30,000 alumni. The program's more prominent graduates include: *

, creator of award-winning and popular television series *

Michael Fimognari Michael Fimognari (born June 26, 1974) is an American cinematographer and director known for his collaborations with Mike Flanagan. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University before receiving a ma ...

, cinematographer *

Don Roy King Donald Roy King (born October 9, 1947) is an American television director, and also a producer, writer, and actor. He served as the director for ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2006 until 2021. He has "directed more hours of live network television th ...

, director, ''Saturday Night Live'' *

Paul Levine Paul J. Levine (born January 9, 1948) is an American author of crime fiction, particularly legal thrillers. Levine has written 22 mystery novels which include two series of books known by the names of the protagonists. The ''Jake Lassiter'' ser ...

, novelist and TV writer *

Mary Beth Long Mary Beth Long is an American foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, and former U.S. Government official. From 2007–2009, Long served as the first woman confirmed by the U.S. Senate as an Assistant Secretary of Defense, and as such, was the first f ...

, foreign policy expert, entrepreneur, government official *

Lisa Salters Lisa Salters is an American journalist and former college basketball player. She has been a reporter for ESPN and ESPN on ABC since 2000. Previously, she covered the O. J. Simpson murder case for ABC and worked as a reporter at WBAL-TV in Balt ...

, reporter, ESPN/ABC *

Lara Spencer Lara Christine Von Seelen (known professionally as Lara Spencer; born June 19, 1969) is an American television presenter. She is best known for being the co-anchor for ABC's ''Good Morning America''. She is also a correspondent for '' Nightline ...

, co-host, ''Good Morning America'' *

Ron P. Swegman Ron P. Swegman (born August 12, 1967) is an American angler, artist, and author. His work includes the illustrated essay collections ''Philadelphia on the Fly: Tales of an Urban Angler'' (Frank Amato Publications, 2005) and ''Small Fry: The Lure o ...

, angler, artist and author *

Tom Verducci Thomas Verducci (born October 23, 1960) is an American sportswriter who writes for ''Sports Illustrated'' and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a reporter and commentator for Fox Major League Baseball and ...

, award-winning writer and reporter, Fox Sports and ''Sports Illustrated'' *

Andrew Kevin Walker Andrew Kevin Walker (born August 14, 1964) is an American screenwriter, producer and script doctor. He is known for having written ''Seven'' (1995), for which he earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, as well as s ...

, screenwriter (''Se7en'') *

Michael Weinreb Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian an ...

, author

References

External links

*
Pennsylvania State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penn State College Of Communications Pennsylvania State University colleges 1914 establishments in Pennsylvania