Bridgewater, Va.- The Bridgewater College Department of Communication Studies and Theatre will be adding a new major that gives current students the option to pursue a Communications, Technology and Culture (CTC) major or Strategic Communications (STC) major.
The STC major will prepare students to focus on the way that we analyze messages, context, create messages and evaluate them while reaching different target audiences. The two majors are similar in the requirements, having similar courses to graduate, but the STE major has a more international approach.
“From what I’ve been hearing about this new major, it seems very interesting, being it deals with engaging with different audiences and evaluating the success of those targeted audience members,” said senior Jaylin Hertz.
The Strategic Communications major includes classes in communication research methods, persuasive rhetoric, digital media production, campaign development and evaluation, media law and ethics, digital storytelling, data analytics for writers, diversity and inclusion in media, intercultural communication, digital communication technologies and organizational,Interviewing class and group dynamics.
There are a few differences the STC major will offer this upcoming semester, including a revised research methods course, completely focused on qualitative digital analytics, that helps the student understand the effectiveness of social media and other online campaigns. Students have the opportunity to obtain a Google Analytics (GA4) certification in the research methods course.
The GA4 certification shows the person’s knowledge by being able to demonstrate the properties when it comes to using different features and tools to analyze user data across apps and websites. This certification is only available with the new strategic communications major which is different from the previous major for those students interested in pursuing the GA4 certification.
The requirements for each major are similar, and most of the classes for the STE major will still be required for the STC major as well.
“The main difference is the research methods course,” said Dr. Michele Clark, Associate Professor of Communication Studies. “This course will be revised in a way that will be different on how students will analyze information.”
What makes strategic communications so important is it effectively targets specific messages, goals, values and builds support for an initiative for creating public opinion.
“The new major sounds very interesting in the way its purpose is targeting different audiences,” said senior Alex Jensen. “Too bad it couldn’t come sooner for the seniors.”
