B.A. Journalism

These Communication majors are designed to prepare the student for a successful pursuit of professional and personal goals. An individual graduating from this program will also be equipped to function well in the larger setting of society. Each major combines traditional coursework with practical application in the field of choice. This has proven to be invaluable to students and may take the form of internships, private employment, or work assignments (or a combination of all three).

Students looking to pursue a photojournalism education or a journalism undergraduate degree in Missouri can take advantage of multiple journalistic opportunities throughout the course of their education, including working for academic credit on school publications such as The Stylus, the century-old Park newspaper. Similarly for broadcasting majors, students can supplement their broadcast journalism classes with work at KGSP-FM, the Park University radio station, or in the production of programs for the Northland News. Students who select the public relations major often have specific occupational goals in mind, as this major serves a broad spectrum of professions in contemporary corporate, government, and non-profit environments.

The Communication Arts Program at Park University combines theoretical learning, skills mastery and practical experience for students who want to excel in five areas of human communication – journalism, photojournalism, broadcasting, public relations and communication theory and human relations.

You will be guided in your studies by faculty members who share this philosophy and have built expertise in the same manner, by combining professional experience with theoretical learning. This combination is critical for success in the many arts of communication. In other words, you will learn from journalists, photographers, broadcasters and scholars.

The faculty includes an award-winning practicing journalist, a two-time Fulbright Fellowship winner, and an impressively collected photographer who complement serious communication scholars who double as community activists.

The program places a real emphasis on student involvement in publications, radio and television broadcasting, public relations and team-building leadership activities. We want you to see these activities as opportunities for self-expression. Equally important, we strongly encourage you to find the niche for your career as you try out the possibilities. You will develop your academic career by working on the award-winning student newspaper, the annual magazine, KGSP radio and The Northland News, and serving the community or planning for public relations contests as a member of the Communication Connection.

The lines have blurred in the field of professional communications in recent years. Reporters for print also make video. Broadcasters write news stories for Web pages. Public relations specialists do everything. This trend is often called convergence, but Park University was ahead of the curve on convergence long before the term was coined. Our experienced faculty knew two decades ago communicators needed as many skills as possible to succeed and they designed the curriculum to fit that belief. We think of our department as a community of scholars and learners working together to improve our professions.

We are also committed, as professionals and scholars, to the importance of a liberal arts education for communicators. We have seen this value in practice and we know it makes an important difference in the profession. Whether you are interested in writing for newspapers, photographing magazine covers, covering assignments for television or radio stations, or becoming a leader or building teamwork in organizations, we believe the liberal arts – the study of writing, art, philosophy, history, science and ethics – are the place to get started.

What We Believe

• Excellence in craft improves professions and communities.
• Communication is a skill necessary to people and society; understanding the nature of communication prepares graduates to participate on a high level in community affairs.
• Curious, open-minded professionals utilize a broad education, sound principles, reason and human empathy to make good decisions.
• Professions and communities desperately need citizens and practitioners who understand the connectedness of society and place the well-being of others before personal achievement.
• Those with less power in society need advocates for change.
• Free-speech, open inquiry, and a responsible, unfettered press require strong guardians willing to shoulder democratic responsibility.
• The history and cannon of a profession inform practitioners and scholars and provide a solid grounding for innovation and creation.
• Awareness of the nature of communication and the symbolic environment - its potential effects on people, culture, political entities, and global societies - is essential knowledge for modern citizens, scholars, journalists and other communication practitioners.

Park, a four-year, private, nonprofit, liberal arts institution has helped students break barriers to education since 1875. Our motto, fides et labour (Latin for “faith and work”) is as relevant today as it was in the 19th century. A Park University education is an opportunity to find faith in yourself — by discovering your potential and working to realize it.

Park University’s core values are academic excellence, inclusivity and social responsibility. Diversity is in our DNA — Park’s first graduating class included four women. Today, we welcome more than 260 international students from 60 countries.