The university began offering journalism courses in 1938. In 1980, it issued its first degree in radio/television, and in 1982 became the first university in the world to offer an undergraduate degree in political communication.[2]
In 1991, the National Center for Communication Studies was founded within Columbian College. The NCCS offered programs in journalism, political communication, radio/television and speech communication.
The center was renamed and transformed into the School of Media and Public Affairs in 1996, at the request of faculty who thought the new name better reflected the center's focus on teaching. At this time, the center's speech communication offerings became part of the Department of Organizational Sciences and Communication, while the new school continued to offer undergraduate degrees in journalism, political communication and radio/television within the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.[3] In 1997, the radio/television program became the now-defunct Electronic Media program.[2]
SMPA began offering graduate degree programs in 1998 with the creation of the Master's in Media and Public Affairs program.[4] It has since expanded its graduate program offerings to include a master's degree in global communication. In 2014, the original degree was renamed the Master's in Media and Strategic Communication.
In 2001, the university dedicated the new School of Media and Public Affairs building at the corner of 21st and H Streets after nearly two years of construction. The building included state-of-the-art facilities, including a TV studio, editing rooms and audio suites for the Electronic Media program and the 260-seat, soundproof Jack Morton Auditorium.[5][6]
The Richard Eaton Broadcast Studio includes four cameras, teleprompters, news and interview sets, a greenscreen and a professional control room.[7]GW-TV, the university's student-run television station, broadcasts from the studio.[20]
SMPA students have 24/7 access to the building's suite of editing facilities, which include Adobe Creative Cloud video editing software, and students in video production classes have the ability to check out professional video and audio recording equipment.[7]
Along with the Elliott School of International Affairs, SMPA administers the Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication, which is housed in its building. Established in 2005, the IPDGC studies such topics as new media, national security, and public diplomacy; U.S. foreign policy priorities; challenges to public diplomacy and strategic communication; and gender issues in security and diplomacy. The IPDGC administers the MA program in Global Communication, hosts a public diplomacy fellow, and runs a blog, TakeFive, which features student and faculty contributors.[23][24]
Other research-based institutes and centers of SMPA include the American Communities Project, The Documentary Center, the Media and Peacebuilding Project, and the Project for Media and National Security.[25]
Academics
Undergraduate programs
SMPA offers undergraduate majors in journalism and political communication, as well as a five-year BA/MA program with George Washington's Graduate School of Political Management.[26] The school is highly competitive within the university, and offers facilities and opportunities to SMPA students not accessible to other students, such as invitations to attend lectures and taped events filmed within the Jack Morton Auditorium and access to top-of-the-line filming/editing equipment. SMPA was ranked in 2014 as the 5th best journalism school in the country by USA Today in 2014.[27]
Unlike students in other programs, such as the Elliott School of International Affairs, SMPA undergraduates are part of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences. They have the same core curricular requirements as liberal arts majors and use CCAS's registration and advising services. Undergraduates can either apply directly to their chosen major as a freshman or transfer in during their sophomore year.[28] Dual-degree program candidates apply during their junior year.[29]
Stephen Krupin (director of speechwriting for President Obama's re-election campaign, chief speechwriter for former Secretary of State John Kerry, chief speechwriter for former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid)[31]
^"TakeFive Blog". Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication. Archived from the original on 2018-02-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)