Communications

As a student in our program, you'll first gain a thorough understanding of sport, media, and communications. Then you'll deepen your field of study with courses in advertising, public relations, digital marketing, sports information, sports publications, television and radio, and sports journalism. You’ll also receive immediate, hands-on experience working with Ithaca College Athletics, Cornell University Athletics, the campus television station (ICTV), the campus radio stations (WICB and VIC), and the campus newspaper (Ithacan).

You’ll collaborate with your professors and advisor to secure a required internship at prestigious sites such as ESPN, NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, NCAA, PGA, MLL, WNBA, USTA, Madison Square Garden, Barclays Center, CBS Sports, Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports, MLB Network, NBA Entertainment, IMG, or Octagon—or at many other outstanding companies and organizations.

Our dedicated alumni often return to campus as student mentors, offering expertise and experience in mini-courses, in-class guest lectures, networking nights, and careers in sport symposiums.

Sports media graduates work as media planners, event marketers, producers, sports information/media relations directors, on-air talent, sports journalists, publicists, social media strategists, and community relations coordinators.

But classroom experience is only half the story. By volunteering for the news operations at the television and radio stations and the student newspaper, you can apply what you learn right on campus. There are also internship opportunities in East Coast cities including Boston, New York, and Washington; in Los Angeles; and even at the BBC in London (if you choose to study abroad at the College's London Center).

Our multidisciplinary approach creates a broad range of options for you upon graduation. Our alumni have found work in television and radio news as reporters for publications as diverse as the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Los Angeles Times, and the Prague Post, and with Internet news organizations. Others have gone on to graduate school in law, economics, history, and business.

Our emphasis on fundamental skills—research, critical thinking, the ability to explain information clearly and concisely under intense deadline pressure—will serve you well wherever your career path leads.

This degree program blends coursework in advertising and public relations from the Roy H. Park School of Communications with coursework in marketing from the School of Business. In your first semester, you'll take foundation courses that teach you how to write and speak clearly, concisely, and persuasively to target audiences. Later, you will learn to design and create advertisements, publicity materials, and entire marketing communications plans. You'll also learn how market research, strategic positioning, promotions, and customer relationship management increases customer loyalty and brand awareness.

Capstone courses give you the chance to put these skills to the test by researching and developing promotional campaigns for real businesses. Ad Lab students have developed national communications campaigns for Nissan, JC Penney, Coca-Cola, and State Farm, which were presented to a panel of top advertising and brand executives at the American Advertising Federation's annual National Student Advertising Competition. Public Relations Lab students developed a campaign for Chevrolet as part of the Bateman Competition sponsored by the Public Relations Society of America. Brand Design and Communication students take on the role of graphic designer as they develop visual brand identities for companies and their products, culminating in the student's production of their on-brand book.

If you seek further real-world experience, you may also take advantage of the excellent internship opportunities offered through both schools. The Park School regularly places interns at a number of national brands, media outlets, and top agencies, including Ogilvy (advertising), Ruder Finn (public relations), NBC, Discovery Communications, Sony, IBM, Disney, and Atlantic Records.

The unique combination of real-world campaign development and forward-thinking curriculum will prepare you for a career on either the client (brand) or agency side of marketing communications and give you a competitive edge. Students typically become advertising and public relations account executives, art directors, graphic designers, copywriters, digital/social media specialists, promotions coordinators, or media relations directors.

Students in our B.A. in documentary studies and production take courses in journalism, television production, and cinema and photography. Our interdisciplinary curriculum prepares students to produce their own documentaries and to understand the growing and complex world of documentary film development. Open electives enable you to tailor your own program.

Our curriculum emphasizes hands-on learning with authoritative scholars and award-winning documentary makers, both in the classroom and in the field. You’ll also have access to the school’s broadcast studio, professional-grade video cameras, and digital still cameras for your work. Many students choose to study a semester in the school’s Los Angeles program, while others opt to study abroad in Australia, London, and Spain. The Park School’s extensive internship and alumni network opens doors at top media companies, ranging from Mark Burnett Productions and MTV to Authentic Entertainment and National Geographic.

By the time you are ready to graduate, you will have the broad knowledge and technical skills that will allow you to thrive in a variety of industry-based careers —producing, directing, cinematography, film and video editing, news reporting, sound mixing and recording, researching, writing, photography, and production management. You will also possess the critical thinking, research foundation, and analytical tools that will allow you to succeed if your chosen route is graduate study.