MA Program One of Nation's Top Says PRWeek

PRWeek Magazine gave SOC's MA in Strategic Communication its second-highest honor in the Best PR Education Program of the year category. Judges called it a "great, rigorous program" and one judge said that "American will continue to be a player in this category." Read more

Professor Nisbet's Shorenstein Paper Gets Attention

Professor Matthew Nisbet spent fall 2012 in Cambridge, Mass., for a research fellowship at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government. The result is his Shorenstein paper, which discusses the influence of journalists as public intellectuals on today's most pressing social issues and trends. It sparked discussion in The New York Times and Forbes

"What Would a JFK Say Now?" Speechwriting Contest Winners

SOC, West Wing Writers, the White House Writers Group and Lehrman underwrote awards of $500 to the winner, Ryan Migeed, (SOC and SPA/BA '15), $300 to the second place finalist, Trevor Alford, (SOC/MA '14), and $200 to the third place finalist, Alannah Johnson, (SIS/BA '13,) in honor of speechwriter Ted Sorenson.

Speech by PC Student Wins Speech-Writing Award

The speech was delivered by Iraq War Veteran David Kendrick for the AbilityOne Program.  It was written by part-time PC student Sarah Gray & a colleague. The speech won the 2012 Cicero Speechwriting Award for the Best Speech Written for a Nonprofit Organization. Read More

Media Partnerships Work Towards Solving Global Poverty

Professor Caty Borum Chattoo writes on how the partnerships of media companies such as Oxfam America, ViewChange.org, and others have contributed to solving the problem of global poverty. Read More

PR Class Makes Headlines

Seniors in Professor Gemma Puglisi's public relations class made headlines in the Washington Post on an event they held in Anacostia. Read More

AU Student Named As Student of the Year Finalist

SOC student Brianna Kelley was named as a finalist of PRWeek's Student of the Year award with the possibility of winning $5,000, a paid internship at Hill & Knowlton, and the opportunity to attend the PRWeek Awards 2012. Congratulations Brianna!

Prof quoted in the Associated Press

Professor Matt Nisbet was quoted in the Associated Press commenting on how social networking sites affect the 2012 race. Read More

Tech tAUk SOC Faculty, Students

A special episode of AUTV's "Tech tAUk" focused on the AU Social Media Club's Social Learning Summit, featuring interviews with several SOC students and faculty members. Learn more

Frito-Lay Director of PR Speaks to Comm Class

Chris Kuechenmeister, Director of Public Relations for Frito-Lay North America was the guest speaker in professor Pallavi Kumar's COMM301 Public Relations class. He guest lectured for an hour and a half sharing the Doritos Superbowl Challenge case study and the Tostitos Reunion Campaign.

SOC Professor Selected as Research Fellow by USC

Associate Professor Rhonda Zaharna was selected as a research fellow by the University of Southern California (USC) Center for Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School. The Center is the recognized leader in the emerging field of public diplomacy and the competition for the 2-year research fellowship was intense and international. The goal of her project, “Exploring the Cultural Underbelly of Public Diplomacy,” was to stimulate greater awareness and knowledge of how culture influences public diplomacy and help generate multicultural perspectives of public diplomacy. It includes a research monograph and a monthly interactive blog/discussion forum hosted on the Center's website. Read More 

Quoted in NY Times

Professor Kathryn Montgomery tells The New York Times Business Day that food marketing now woven into fabric of kids' lives. Read more

AUTV's Tech tAUk SOC Faculty, Students

A special episode of AUTV's "Tech tAUk" focused on the AU Social Media Club's Social Learning Summit.  The show featured interviews and appearances with several SOC students and faculty members including Alex Priest, Scott Talan, and Caty Borum Chatoo.

Only in Washington: Students Get First-Hand Analysis of Presidential Speech 

Students in professors Bob Lehrman and Eric Schnure's speechwriting course experienced an “only in Washington” classroom opportunity. They invited Matt Teper, principal White House speechwriter for Vice President Biden to speak on President Obama’s speech on Libya. “He was great,” said Lehrman, who in the 90’s had Teper’s job, writing for then Vice President Al Gore, where he worked with Schnure, a Gore speechwriter as well. "He answered our questions for an hour. Then he hung around during the speech and took part in the discussion afterwards.”    Teper, who wrote speeches for a variety of nonprofits—and was the blogger for Rock the Vote in 2004 before winning the Biden job, hadn’t worked on the speech. But he’d seen the early drafts, and read it on his Blackberry before class in case there were things to point out. Teper seemed to be able to handle every question from the 34-member mix of grad and undergrad students, until SOC Senior Staci Cox asked him to tell the class about his “biggest mistake.” “Wow,” Teper said, “I mean, I’ve made hundreds.” Promising to get back to her, he took till the end of class before, true to his word, owning up to one. Teper's visit excited the class. “It was really remarkable,” said SPA Senior Jacqueline Grill ‘011. “To see someone so close [to our] age doing such amazing work.” "I don't think Matt was prepared to be treated like a rock star," Schnure said afterwards. "But he warmed up to it."

McCormick Grants Opens Opportunity for Political Reporting Specialized Training Session

Thanks to a $35,000 grant from McCormick Foundation, SOC will host a Specialized Training Institute on Political Reporting June 17-18 at American University.  Twenty reporters from around the country will attend to learn best practices in covering poll results, methodology and how to mine data.  Professors Dotty Lynch and Maria Ivancin will present.  Mark Mellman, just chosen "Pollster of the Year" by American Association of Political Consultants, will be the opening luncheon speaker.  Read more