COURSE SYLLABUS
Public Relations
MSPC\MPA 3093
Fall 2013
Course Description
This course expands the students’ knowledge in the sphere of public relations, develops
leadership skills, provides understanding of social status of PR companies in business and
management. As a result students learn the peculiarities of the course PR such as theoretical
approaches, techniques for conducting research and writing within key public relations contexts.
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the theory and practice of public relations.
The focus of the semester will be on practical guidelines for selecting appropriate media for
specific public relations needs, writing for those media in standard public relations formats, and
producing written materials suitable for media kits—all within the context of managing
successful public relations campaigns in corporate settings.
Main objects of the course:
- to expose communicative, social and administrative role and conceptions of PR;
- to learn functional duties, peculiarities of PR professionals, which are necessary for
activity in this sphere;
- to understand the role and importance of PR service in social-economy and state
managing;
- to learn the methods of connection with mass media, state authorities and target audience;
- to study technologies and methods of image making.
As a result, students will get knowledge in:
-
Public relations theory;
Legal and ethical regulation of PR activity;
Organization and planning of public relations;
To study:
-
connections with external;
connection with internal public (staffs in organization);
peculiarities of connection with public in Russian societies;
methods of collection and processing of information and preparing materials for public
informing and rise image of company and company’s chief;
designing of PR strategy.
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Reading materials
Text Books
Public Relations: Strategies and Tactics, Wilcox, Ault, Agee (WAG)
Becoming a Public Relations Writer, Smith (Smith)
Public Relations, Frank Jefkins
The Challenge of Effective Speaking, Rudolph F. Verderber , Kathleen S. Verderber
Кривоносов А.Д. ПР-текст в системе публичных коммуникаций
Шарков Ф.И. Пособие по управлению без слов. Невербальные средства менеджера
Черногрудова Е.П. Основы речевой коммуникации
Гундарин М.В. Теория и практика связей с общественностью: основы медиарилейшинз
Иванова К. Копирайтинг: Секреты составления рекламных текстов и ПР-текстов
Гундарин Н.В. Книга начальника отдела ПР. Практические рекомендации
Тульчинский Г.Л. ПР Фирмы: технологии и эффективность
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Weekly Assignment Schedule
Date
09\17
Class
Class 1
Topic
Introduction to the course and to
its requirements.
Lecture: “Maximizing the Impact
of Public Relations Campaigns”
Workshop: Video:
“Communications That Count”
Assignment: Chapters 1-5
(WAG); chapters 1-4 (Smith)
Hours
4
09\24
Class 2
Lecture: “PR Plans & Their Link
to Media”
Workshop: Case Study 1:
Message Media Plans
Video: “Manufacturing Consent,
Part I”
Assignment: Chapters 6-9
(WAG); chapters 5-6 (Smith)
4
10\1
Class 3
Lecture: “Motivation to Action”
Workshop: Case study 2:
Motivation
Video: “Manufacturing Consent,
Part II”
Assignment: Chapters 10-12
(WAG); chapters 7-8 (Smith)
Quarterly paper #1 is due.
4
10\8
Class 4
Lecture: “Designing & Writing
Press Releases”
Workshop: Case Study 3: Press
Releases
Video: “Psychology of Mass
Persuasion”
Assignment: Chapters 13-19
(WAG); chapters 9-10 (Smith)
4
10\15
Class 5
Lecture: “The PR Strengths &
Weaknesses of Broadcast Media”
Workshop: Case Study: “Public
Service Announcements”
Video: “Deadly Deception”
Assignment: Chapters 20-23
4
Page 3
(WAG); chapters 11-13 (Smith)
10\22
Class 6
10\29
Class 7
11\5
Class 8
11\12
Class 9
11\19
Class 10
11\26
Class 11
12\3
Class 12
12\10
Class 13
12\17
Class 14
Lecture: “Interviews & Media
Relations”
Workshop: Case Study:
Interview Query Letters
Video: “Toxic Sludge is Good
for You”
Assignment: Self-study in ethics;
chapters 14-15 (Smith).
Quarterly paper #2 is due.
Lecture: “Planning & Managing
News Conferences”
Workshop: Case Study: Media
Memos
Lecture: “Ethics & Public
Relations”
Workshop: Case study: Ethical
Public Relations
Video: “Faces of the Enemy”
Assignment: chapters 16-17
(smith)
Quarterly paper #3 is due.
Lecture: “Writing Feature
Articles for Public Relations”
Workshop: Evaluating
Specialized Business Press
Activities
Lecture: “Managing a Public
Relations Campaign”
Workshop: Public Relations
Project
Lecture: Public Relations and
New Media Technologies
Workshop: Public Relations
Project
Lecture: Developing Professional
Presentations
Workshop: Public Relations
Project
Final Project Presentations
Quarterly paper #4 is due.
Final Project Presentations
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
4
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Grading Procedure
1) Participation in class
20%
Attendance is assumed in graduate courses; students should let the teacher know in advance if
they have to be absent.
Note: In-class workshops include design and writing activities related to public relations situations.
Each will begin during the workshop and be due at the beginning of the next class.
2) Quarterly papers (individual effort)
30%
Four times during the semester, students will write a paper which is based on their interpretation of
the assigned readings. While the subject of these papers is entirely up to the student, the papers will
address issues of conflict in public relations, for example: ethics, professional reputation, etc. Each
paper will be a maximum of one page, double-spaced and typed or word-processed. The papers
should state an assertion or belief and support it logically with well-chosen examples or illustrations.
Organization, logical development, unity, coherence, grammar, and spelling count. Any student who
feels weak in the area of crafting logical argument should speak with the professor regarding advice
on additional reading.
3) Final project & presentation (group work)
50%
The final project will be researched, designed and presented in groups which will emulate small
entrepreneurial public relations firms. The project will include researching a client’s internal and
external public relations problems and opportunities, designing an appropriate campaign for the
client, writing associated public relations materials (press releases, public service
announcements, media memos, brochures, feature article are the minimum), and presenting the
campaign to the class at the end of the semester. A formal written campaign report will
accompany the presentation.
Grading is based on the following factors:
Organization of material
Application of course content and material
Utilization of outside course resources
Creativity of class presentation
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When converting “letter grades” to “numeric grades (or visa versa),
the following values will be used.
Number to letter
A+
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
Failing
98-100
93-97
90-92
87-89
83-86
80-82
77-79
73-76
72 and below
Letter to number
98
95
92
88
85
82
78
75
72
Academic Policies
Academic integrity is highly valued at Clark. Research, scholarship and teaching
are possible only in an environment characterized by honesty and mutual trust.
Academic integrity requires that your work be your own. Because of the damage
that violations of academic integrity do to the intellectual climate of the University,
they must be treated with the utmost seriousness and appropriate sanctions must be
imposed. The maintenance of high standards of academic integrity is the concern
of every member of the University community.
Several ways in which academic integrity may be violated are outlined below.
Cheating has three principal forms:
1. Unauthorized use of notes, text, or other aids during an examination or in
performance of course assignments.
2. Copying the work of another.
3. Handing in the same paper for more than one course unless the faculty
members involved give their explicit permission to do so.
Plagiarism refers to the presentation of someone else’s work as one’s own,
without proper citation of references and sources, whether or not the work has
been previously published. Submitting work obtained from a professional term
paper writer or company is plagiarism. Claims of ignorance about the rules of
attribution, or of unintentional error are not a defense against a finding of
plagiarism.
Unauthorized collaboration refers to work that students submit as their own but
which was arrived at through a process of collaboration without the approval of the
professor. Since standards on appropriate or inappropriate collaboration may vary
widely among individual faculty, students should make certain they understand a
professor's expectations before collaborating on any class work.
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Alteration or fabrication of data includes the submission or changing of data
obtained by someone else or not actually obtained in the performance of an
experiment or study, except where allowed by the professor. It also includes the
changing of data obtained in the performance of one's research.
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