School of Mass Communication

INTERIM DIRECTOR : Robert A. Thomas, Office: 332 Communications/Music Complex
PROFESSORS: A.L. Lorenz, David M. Myers, Robert A. Thomas
ASSOCIATE PROFESSORS: S.L. Alexander, Leslie G. Parr, J. Cathy Rogers
PROFESSOR EMERITUS: John H. Pennybacker
INSTRUCTORS: Les J. East, James R. Hashek, Rachel Hatley, Eric Morgan, Liz B. Scott, Lisa Martin, Robbie Vitrano, Kelly Fogarty, Amy Ferguson, Ryan Pastorek, Angie Brocato Hoffer, Michael Giusti, Cheryl Dejoie-Lacabe
VISITING PROFESSORS: Michael Perlstein

WEB PAGE: css.loyno.edu/masscomm

MISSION

The School of Mass Communication educates students to have a critical understanding and comprehensive body of knowledge of the techniques, theories and social consequences of our complex national and global communications system. In our technologically intense fields in which method and form are major concerns, we educate students to become intellectual, artistic and ethical professional leaders in the rapidly changing information environment.

In the Jesuit tradition, we are committed to understanding and advancing social justice through service to our university, our communities and our disciplines. As scholars, staff, student, and alumni, we value the media as social instruments and are committed to the ethical integration and application of communication skills, knowledge and values in the interconnected and diverse world around us.

STRUCTURE OF THE SCHOOL

The School of Mass Communication offers three areas of study: advertising, journalism, and public relations.

Each area has communication electives, and this policy reflects the convergence of media in our time; communication professionals often shift from one communication field to another. Thus a journalism student might take courses in public relations, or a public relations student might seek out a course in advertising to be better prepared for professional life.

All Mass Communication majors take a core of four communication courses: Introduction to Mass Communication, Communication Writing, Mass Communication Theory and Research, and Law of Mass communication.

The school is also home of the Loyola Chair for Environmental Communications, an endowed professorship whose purpose is to foster comprehension of the difficult process of communicating environmental issues to the public.

FACILITIES

The School of Mass Communication is housed in an impressive building specifically designed for its purpose. The school ’s equipment is outstanding for an undergraduate mass communication program and represents a sizable investment. Because of the nature of the field, equipment updates are a regular occurrence.

Advertising and public relations students have access to state-of-the-art, powerful graphic computers to work on design projects and campaigns. Students interested in advertising and public relations can work on projects for actual clients in the Shawn M. Donnelley Center for Nonprofit Communications.

Students in the school work on The Wolf yearbook, and The Maroon in both print and online edition. Each year a team of students is selected to compete in the American Advertising Federation National Student Competition and the Public Relations Student Society Bateman Competition. Both of these teams have an impressive record of national awards.

Also housed in the School of Mass Communication are the Center for Environmental Communications and the Shawn M. Donnelley Center for Nonprofit Communications.

AWARDS

Mass Communication students have achieved distinction in numerous national competitions. For example, a graduate won a 1998 Academy Award for the best short non-fiction film. The ad team has won its district award in the American Advertising Federation Competition five out of the past ten years and has also won the National Competition. In recent years, our public relations team has won the annual National Bateman Competition, the premier student public relations competition in the country, more times than any other university in the nation.

The Maroon, our student newspaper, continues to win a large number of awards at the Southeast Journalism Conference. One of our graduates was part of the team that won The New Orleans Times-Picayune’s first Pulitzer Prize, and several other graduates were part of their post-Katrina Pulitzer team.

INTERNSHIPS

Students can obtain credit for supervised internships in any of the media or public relations/advertising agencies. Many media companies contact the School of Mass Communication for interns, and these openings are posted on the internship board in the school. Some students secure an internship on their own, and they can also receive credit provided the internship meets the standards listed in the school’s Guide to Internships.

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC SOCIETIES

The school holds memberships in the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, the American Advertising Federation, and Public Relations Society of America. Student organizations include Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society in journalism and mass communication; Society of Professional Journalists; Advertising Club and Public Relations Student Society of America.

FACULTY

The makeup of the faculty reflects the philosophy of the school: a group of professors and instructors who combine doctoral degrees with years of professional experience.

CURRICULUM

Total number of hours required: 120
Communications hours required: 33

Required courses:

CMMN A100 Introduction to Mass Communication
CMMN A101 Communication Writing
CMMN A400 Mass Communication Theory and Research
CMMN A401 Law of Mass Communication

Sequences:

In addition to completing the core requirements, each student must complete a coherent sequence of courses established by the school for a particular communication field. Sequences include advertising, journalism, and public relations.

Graduation Requirements:

Majors in Mass Communication must have a minimum 2.0 GPA in communication courses in order to graduate.

Minors in Mass Communication must have at least a 2.0 GPA in communication courses in order to graduate with a minor in communication.

General Requirements:

Any student wishing to take an advanced communication course must have at least a C in CMMN A101.

MINORS

Each Mass Communication major must also complete a minor, a set of courses in another field of study outside the school. Requirements for minors are specified elsewhere in this bulletin.

 

BACHELOR OF ARTS– MASS COMMUNICATIONS

LIMITS

1. No more than 42 hours in Mass Communication courses may be counted toward the 120 hours required for the degree.

2. Only three hours of internship may be counted toward the 120 hours required for the degree.

3. No Mass Communication course offered in the Common Curriculum (CMMN W or X130 — CMMN 199) may be used to meet major requirements for a degree or to meet Common Curriculum requirements.

View Mass Communication Course Descriptions