The Certificate in Political Communication provides UNC Hussman undergraduates with hands-on experience creating digital ads, designing campaign logos, developing communication plans and organizing events such as press conferences. Students will have multiple opportunities to meet with and learn from political practitioners and political journalists.
Overview
The Certificate in Political Communication offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience, expert guidance and invaluable connections in the field of political communication for those interested in electoral campaigns, issue advocacy, public affairs or political journalism.
Learn how electoral campaigns work to persuade voters, how organizations advocate for policies, how legislators build support for their proposals and how agencies communicate their work to the public.
Join the extensive network of Tar Heel alumni and friends working in political communication in Washington, D.C. and beyond to find opportunities, mentorship, and friendship.
Spend a semester working full time in D.C. as a communications intern with one of our over 400 partner organizations.
Courses Offered
To complete the certificate, students move through a four-course sequence during their time at UNC Hussman. Students should apply to the certificate in the spring semester of their sophomore year stating their intent to complete all four classes. The Certificate in Political Communication is limited to Hussman majors and minors.
This course provides an overview of the various actors, institutions, and processes involved in political communication. Students learn that political communication spans everything from political journalism and public relations to advertising and marketing. And, that it takes place on social media and television, as well as the webpages of new journalism startups and print pages of newspapers. At the end of the course, students have gained a deep understanding of political communication across various fields and platforms.
Through case studies, this course analyzes the actors, technologies, and forms of communication that together constitute public debate. The course focuses closely on processes of political communication, with an eye to how the state, press, political parties, civil society organizations, social movements, campaigns, and the public interact to shape public life and produce political culture.
Students enrolled in the Washington D.C. in-residence semester work full-time as political communications interns. Students are paired with an internship with help from our professors and partners. The internship is accompanied by a practicum course that meets once a week – three times a month virtually, once a month in person. In the practicum, students share their experiences, discuss new insights, workshop challenges related to their internships, and apply what they’ve learned in previous courses to the challenges of professional political communications work.
The Washington Experience is an intensive, semester-long course that introduces students to careers in journalism and political communication and D.C.-based organizations and people. This course provides students with a deep dive into the state of U.S. media and politics. The hallmark of this capstone course is a campaign simulation where students are responsible for running political candidates or covering those candidates. Students also make a trip to Washington D.C. over UNC’s fall break and visit various media and political organizations and meet UNC alumni, as well as learn professionalization skills.
Shannon C. McGregor
Associate Professor
Director, Ph.D. program
Director, M.A. Theory and Research program
Carroll 378
Hear From a PolComm Alumnus
“Washington Experience was easily the best class I took at UNC.
The course helped me sharpen my political writing skills and gave me a deeper understanding of the intersection between politics, public relations and journalism. The class group projects really challenge you to think creatively and allow you to put what you learn into practice. The final portfolio we had to prepare for the end of the course was a great product I could be proud of.
Beyond the coursework, I also learned essential networking skills and tips, which were crucial in my post-grad job search. Meeting with numerous Tar Heels in D.C. really helped me get important perspectives and insight into the journalism field. The advice I received from the UNC alums we met on the D.C. trip was extraordinarily valuable in my job search.
Enroll in the Washington Experience!”
We Value Our Alumni
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