McKinley Building Renovated School of Communication

The School of Communication (SOC) at

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was cha ...

is accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. The school offers six undergraduate majors:

communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in different ...

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

and

strategic communication Strategic communication can mean either communicating a concept, a process, or data that satisfies a long-term strategic goal of an organization by allowing facilitation of advanced planning, or communicating over long distances usually using in ...

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is emplo ...

, and communication, language, and culture (the last two jointly administered with the College of Arts and Sciences) along with a minor in communication. In addition, interdisciplinary degrees such as communications, law, economics and government (CLEG, which is housed in the School of Public Affairs), take classes within SOC. SOC offers four graduate programs in film and media arts, public communication, journalism and game design, and a post-graduate program in communication studies. Undergraduates an any major at AU are given the opportunity to complete a combined bachelor's/master's within SOC. The School of Communication is headquartered in the McKinley Building, which was built in 1907 and named after President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

. It was completely renovated in 2012 and reopened in 2014. McKinley houses specialized classrooms, multi-purpose learning spaces, computer labs supporting digital imaging, online content creation, motion graphics, multichannel audio, and full HD video editing.

Divisions

*Journalism *Film and media arts *Public Communication *Communication Studies

Centers within SOC

* Center for Environmental Filmmaking *

Investigative Reporting Workshop The Investigative Reporting Workshop is a nonprofit, investigative news organization focusing on significant issues of public concern. The Workshop is an incubator and laboratory for original, nonpartisan watchdog reporting. As a professional jo ...

* Center for Media and Social Impact * AU Game Lab * Current Media * Internet Governance Lab

Notable alumni

Jarrett Bellini Jarrett Bellini (born October 3, 1978) is an American writer and journalist. Career In January 2004, Bellini joined CNN in Atlanta, and in June 2006 began writing and hosting a video podcast called ''The Gryst'' on CNN.Com. On July 26, 2007, afte ...

, American writer and humorist *

Jim Brady James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American public official who served as assistant to the President of the United States, U.S. president and the seventeenth White House Press Secretary, serving under President R ...

, editor-in-chief,

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado-based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. The company has been growing its portfolio and as of May 2021, owns over 100 newsp ...

* Alisyn Camerota, anchor and correspondent,

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

* Jamie Erdahl, reporter and host,

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS Broadcast Center on W ...

Barry Josephson Barry Josephson (born April 2, 1956) is an American film producer and former music manager. Life and career After attending the McBurney School in New York City, Josephson graduated from American University, Washington DC in 1978, and was an a ...

, president, Josephson Entertainment *

Michael Kempner Michael W. Kempner (born January 31, 1958) is an American businessman. He is the founder and CEO of MikeWorldWide, a public relations firm headquartered in New York, New York. Kempner is also known for his political contributions and fundraising ...

, president and chief executive officer, The MWW Group * Rick Leventhal, senior correspondent, Fox News *

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...

, writer, director, and Producer, Baltimore Pictures *

Giuliana Rancic Giuliana Rancic (; ; born August 17, 1974) is an Italian-American entertainment reporter and television personality. She is a co-anchor of ''E! News'' and resides in Chicago and Los Angeles. Early life Rancic was born in Naples, Italy and immig ...

, host,

E! News ''E! News'', previously known as ''E! News Daily'' and ''E! News Live'', is the infotainment, entertainment news operation for the cable network E! in the United States. Its former on-air weekday newscast debuted on September 1, 1991, and prima ...

* Cecilia Vega, correspondent and anchor,

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

* Susan Zirinsky, president,

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

Notable faculty

* Sanford J. Ungar, former Dean of American University School of Communication and President of

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...

* Sophie Williams II, American production sound mixer, two-time

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winner for Best Sound *

Patricia Aufderheide Patricia Ann Aufderheide is a scholar and public intellectual on media and social change, and an expert on fair use in media creation and scholarship. She is a University Professor at American University in Washington, D.C., where she has worked s ...

, scholar and public intellectual on media and social change, expert on

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

in media creation and scholarship. *

Chris Palmer (film producer) Chris Palmer (born on 25 August 1947) is a Hong Kong-born English environmental and wildlife film producer and director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at American University. He was executive producer for the Oscar nominated film ' ...

, world-renowned environmental and wildlife producer, director of the Center for Environmental Filmmaking at

. * Laura DeNardis, American author and globally recognized scholar of Internet governance and technical infrastructure, tenured Professor and Associate Dean at American University School of Communication. * Charles Lewis, investigative journalist based in D.C., founder of

The Center for Public Integrity The Center for Public Integrity (CPI) is an American nonprofit investigative journalism organization whose stated mission is "to reveal abuses of power, corruption and dereliction of duty by powerful public and private institutions in order to c ...

, and current executive editor of the

at American University School of Communication.

References

External links

American University School of Communication
{{authority control American University Film schools in the United States Journalism schools in the United States