Professional MA Courses & Curriculum

Degree Requirements

The strategic communication master's degree requires 30 graduate credits to be completed within 24 calendar months. All students take the same 24 course credits in communication and complete a three-credit individual project. In addition, students complete three credits of supporting study at the graduate level. Three of these credits may be taken outside of the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

Strategic communication students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0, and achieve a grade of B or higher on their three-credit project. Student progress is evaluated by the graduate program director, director of graduate studies, and program faculty. Students must progress each semester to continue in the master's degree in strategic communications. 

There is no final thesis or final MA oral examination required.

Program Curriculum

Please click on the year below to discover the strategic communication courses you can take. 

Year 1

First Semester

• JOUR 8200: Strategic Communication Research and Evaluation
• JOUR 8201: Business Fundamentals for Strategic Communication

Second Semester

• JOUR 5251: Strategic Communication Theory
• JOUR 8202: Brand Management 

Summer Term

• JOUR 8208: Digital Planning, Strategy and Analytics

Year 2

First Semester

• JOUR 8203: Writing and Planning for Converged Media
• JOUR8212: Strategic Communication Leadership 

Second Semester

• JOUR 8205: Strategic Communication Cases and Campaigns
• JOUR 8290: Crisis Communication 

Summer Term

• JOUR 8206 - Capstone Project

Program Courses

Below is a brief overview of the strategic communication courses. Students must complete the following courses in sequence:

JOUR 8200: Strategic Communication Research and Evaluation
Concepts and methods for identifying consumer insights and social trends that affect communication strategy will be emphasized, as will legal and ethical considerations. This course will review best practices in qualitative and quantitative techniques, including laboratory, online, and market approaches.

JOUR 8201: Business Fundamentals for Strategic Communication
Identification and analysis of issues that affect communication strategy development, coupled with background on how organizations develop strategic plans. Factors will be examined with a view to understanding their implications for the development of effective strategic planning. Attention will be given to both the analytic and predictive skills required in this area.

JOUR 8202: Brand Management
Effective brand building can provide organizations with the competitive advantage needed for success. From helping drive stakeholder engagement to building overall brand value, Brand Thinking is central to how today’s most dynamic organizations build brands people can believe in. This course is designed to help students: 
• Understand the various dimensions of Brand Thinking, including approaches for defining brand purpose, brand culture, brand positioning, brand architecture, brand assessment and brand impact. 
• Learn and apply the key elements of Brand Thinking to a brand you choose. Increase your understanding of market segmentation and communicating the brand. 
• Become familiar with priorities in contemporary brand building, including sustainability, social responsibility, and diversity and inclusion. 
Students will select a brand to follow throughout the semester. They will study and apply Brand Thinking principles to assess the brand’s overall effectiveness and impact.

JOUR 5251: Strategic Communication Theory 
This course introduces contemporary psychological, media, intercultural and ethical theories and their applications for strategic communication. The course will provide opportunities to apply theoretical concepts to critically evaluate strategic communications and to use theory to inform the development of communication strategies. The course will examine how these theories help us understand communication processes in digital media environments and how they inform relationship-building areas of strategic communication. The course should help students use theory to communicate with diverse audiences in a globalized world and how ethical theories may be used to guide principled communication practice.

JOUR 8208: Digital Planning, Strategy and Analytics
This asynchronous class will give students a theoretical understanding of the internet marketplace and the skills necessary to adapt to its many changes while equipping them with the skills needed to perform vital digital strategic communication functions. Students will learn the basics of web design, determining key performance indicators for websites, principles of search engine optimization, and the return on investment on different digital marketing techniques. By the end of the course, students should be able to walk into any company with an online presence and improve its digital marketing performance.

JOUR 8203: Writing and Planning for Converged Media
In this course, students will master the core qualities of excellent strategic communication writing and develop the skills to build communication materials for employers and clients. Students will develop common external and internal communication materials (such as news releases, backgrounders, speeches, etc.) that effectively and strategically meet organizational objectives. Students also will learn the purpose of such materials, how to strategically use them, and how to tailor communications based on target audiences. Ultimately, the class is designed to help students develop and apply critical thinking, listening and professional skills through assignments that mimic industry work with clients and peers.

JOUR 8212: Strategic Communication Leadership
This course is designed for aspiring leaders responsible for managing communications teams in various organizational contexts. The course brings students face-to-face with leaders in business, non-profit and higher education who share real-world experience and knowledge.  Students learn to build and manage teams, interact with executive leadership, analyze AI-driven communication tools, manage crises, and enhance writing skills for leadership communication. Emphasis is placed on ethical leadership, transparency, diversity and inclusion. Through guest lectures, practical exercises and theoretical discourse, students gain insights into stakeholder relationships and the impact of generational differences on organizational behavior.

JOUR 8205: Strategic Communication Cases and Campaigns
The course integrates strategic communication theory, research, and techniques by focusing on the planning and execution of campaigns and the analysis of existing cases. The class requires active learning by students with an emphasis on strategic thinking, creativity, and unpacking the implementation of communication campaigns. Ultimately, the course is designed to help students bridge concepts from the academic to the professional environment. As such, this course is also a practicum. The culminating project is for students to create a communication proposal for a real-world organization and present it to the client. Students will also make significant headway on their personal capstone project, which will be completed in the summer semester.

JOUR 8290: Crisis Communication
This course teaches the concepts and strategies of effective crisis communication. Crisis communication is an essential and integral part of an organization's strategic communication repertoire. Effective crisis communication can save lives, reduce adverse outcomes, and protect an organization's employees, reputation, and brand image. Topics taught in this course include crisis-type identification and evaluation, forming a crisis management team, planning and executing crisis communication strategies, and post-crisis communication evaluation. Case studies will be used to teach and analyze crisis communication concepts. Students will participate in a crisis communication simulation to gain experience planning and executing the concepts and strategies learned in this course. 

JOUR 8206: Directed Study: Capstone Project 
This course is designed to support the completion of an individual strategic communication campaign project demonstrating mastery of the entire curriculum in the Master’s Degree in Strategic Communication. Students select an organization of their choice and create an in-depth communications plan to solve a specific challenge the organization is facing.