Communications & Public Policy

Social media within the communications environment is becoming the most important way organizations communicate with their publics. In this course we will consider social media platforms, theories of media communications, critical understandings of social media including ethics, as well as practical application of analytics and measurement of social media including search engine optimization, Google Analytics and social media management. This course provides a review of current and emerging digital media, with particular emphasis on social media and its impact on a variety of industry sectors such as marketing and advertising, government and public policy.

Policy-making in the Information Age will explore how policy decisions are made and communicated in the information age both in theory and in practice. The course will examine the various approaches to citizen engagement and communication in the public and private sectors.