SOC at a glance

The 2008 Princeton Review named SOC one of the 25 best places in the country to study journalism.  

The Hollywood Reporter chose SOC as one of the nation’s top 12 film programs, noting that its strength in documentary made it an ideal place for “politically active storytellers.” Read more.

The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) selected SOC as the site for its regional conference for four consecutive years, and has awarded its 2010 national conference to a team of schools including SOC, Howard University and Thee University of Maryland.  These events give our students the opportunity to plan a major event involving DC’s top PR professionals and other students from schools across the country.

We’ve been teaching interactive media for a decade—long before most schools integrated it into their curricula.

Students in our Public Communication (PC) program—one of DC’s largest—have polled young voters for Gallup, crafted strategic communication plans for nonprofits and deconstructed campaign spin for Fox.

We’re making media everywhere! Our students’ and faculty’s work takes them to Prague, Alaska, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Galapagos, Rwanda, India, Lebanon, Egypt, New Hampshire and the Florida Everglades, to name just a few locations.

Our Journalism and PC programs have been fully accredited since 1976 by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Our Film program is one of only 14 in the US invited to join CILECT, the International Association of Film and Television Schools.

Our Talent

SOC is a hub for people working at the forefront of their professions.

Charles Lewis, founder and executive editor of the Investigative Reporters Workshop, is a New York Times best selling author, winner of a MacArthur genius award, and former at 60 Minutes and ABC News.

Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Jan Schaffer leads J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism, which helps journalists and citizens use digital media to find new ways of participating in public life.

Distinguished producer-in-residence Chris Palmer won two Emmys and produced almost a dozen IMAX movies before launching SOC’s Center for Environmental Filmmaking, which runs our popular Classroom in the Wild course. His new book, Shooting in the Wild, comes out in May 2010.

Professor Patricia Aufderheide, who launched and directs SOC’s Center for Social Media, was honored by the International Documentary Association for creating new industry practices that let filmmakers make fair use of copyrighted material in their work.

Two-time Oscar winner and artist-in-residence Russell Williams, leads our Summer in LA and Executive Suite classes, which immerse students in the business of entertainment.

Laura Waters Hinson, MFA ’07, won the 2008 Student Academy Award for her thesis documentary about reconciliation in Rwanda.

In testimony before the Federal Trade Commission, Professor Kathryn Montgomery urged policymakers to protect children from online marketing that promotes childhood obesity.

Artist-in-residence and backpack journalist Bill Gentile took a Sony high-definition camera to Afghanistan, where he shot—solo—an Emmy-nominated documentary for NOW on PBS. He is also the director of the Backpack Journalism Project.

SOC students won a regional Emmy for Eco-Views, a documentary about Chesapeake Bay conservation produced by and shown on Maryland Public Television stations.

The Columbia Journalism Review calls Professor Matt Nisbet’s blog, Framing Science, one of the best resources for reporters covering scientific controversies.

Our Supporters

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded $2.4 million to J-Lab to expand its operation at “a place as full of energy and focus on innovation as AU’s School of Communication,” noted J-Lab executive director Jan Schaffer.

USA Today selected SOC as the principle Washington site of its 25th anniversary celebration, recruited us to train to its editorial staff and created an annual USA Today fellowship for an SOC grad student.

Ford Foundation provided $4 million to the Center for Social Media to serve as the intellectual hub of its five-year multi-million dollar effort to re-think public broadcasting and other public media.

The Newseum, our long-time partner, helped us recruit George Clooney, Carl Bernstein, George Stephanopoulos and other high-profile professionals for Reel Journalism. Now in its fifth year, the series features movies and conversation about journalists, their work and its results.

The Center for Public Integrity and the Bureau of National Affairs have created graduate fellowships for investigative and business reporting.

Our Equipment/Facilities

SOC’s state-of-the-art technical facilities are the best on campus.

They are available exclusively to SOC students, along with a team of almost 70 technical support staff.

Labs are usually open from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and equipment can be checked out for your projects.

Check out highlights are below. Read the details here.

Third floor, Mary Graydon Center

• Four Windows and Mac-based computer labs equipped with the latest releases of Microsoft Office and Adobe’s Creative suite—After Effects, DreamWeaver, Fireworks and Flash.
• Two audio-visual enabled classrooms
• An intimate 109-seat multi-format theater with video conferencing capacity
• Two traditional photography darkrooms and a print finishing room

• 13 private digital video editing suites
• Four digital radio production suites
• A large, three-camera television studio and control room