The Integrated Media Department is among the newest in the College of Arts & Sciences. The department brings students majoring in the Public Relations, Journalism and Broadcast Studies together to produce content appropriate for the array of media platforms.
Students in Integrated Media majors thrive in an experiential learning environment. Many of the courses meet in the media computer lab equipped with Macs and Adobe software for editing video, audio, photos and other media applications.
Students have opportunities to create media content for Gonzaga’s television station, GUTV, streamed live on its YouTube channel, and the student newspaper Gonzaga Bulletin / gonzagabulletin.com. A team of Gonzaga Bulletin sports writers and editors secured press passes for the NCAA playoffs as well as the Final Four Championships in Phoenix, and covered GU games for gonzagabulletin.com. Bulletin journalists cover both the men’s and women’s teams in the WCC Tournament in Las Vegas every year.
Most Integrated Media Department courses require students to create media as part of the classwork. Examples:
- In the introductory course for INMD majors, Media Literacy, students learn to be good media consumers as well as media producers, in part by creating a website for research projects focusing on the media.
- Students in the Emerging Media create social media content suitable for professional environments. Last year Emerging Media students chose a local hospice organization and built a website for the Horizon Hospice with profiles, information about hospice, and client stories via video, text, blogs and tweets.
- Students in the Public Relations Research course design and conduct focus groups for on-campus clients each semester, arming them with well-honed skills valued in the PR field.
- Students in a documentary film class, TV & Social Justice, spend the semester making a short film focused on a local social justice issue, such as the shortage of shelters for homeless people during the winter months.
- Students in the Entrepreneurial Journalism course write a business plan and create a website for their formal business proposal.
Upon graduation, Integrated Media Department graduates are well prepared to land prestigious jobs and internships. For example, May 2017 Journalism grads accepted paid internships at the Associated Press Global Sports headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.; at Sports Illustrated in New York City, at the Tacoma (Wa.) News Tribune, and covering the Seattle Mariners full-time for MLB.com. Public Relations graduates accepted job offers at Nike, Amazon and Glassdoor, as well as major PR corporations. In addition, a significant number of Integrated Media grads are accepted by graduate programs in writing and by law schools.
The Integrated Media faculty look forward to meeting you and answering all of your questions about the Media Department at the Freshman Orientation Department Fair on Aug. 28.
Susan English is an Associate Professor in the Integrated Media Department and also serves as the Integrated Media Department Chair.