Director’s Welcome
The Master of Science in Communication program is proud to continue 41 years of innovation in managerial education. The first program of its kind in the discipline of communication studies, MSC has grown and developed through consistent adaptation to change. While engaging with significant developments in the global economy, political environment, and media technologies, we have emphasized bringing state of the art research into the classroom, fostering collaborative learning that integrates theory and practice, and preparing students to be both effective and ethical leaders.
Communication platforms, services, and practices are the core of the post-industrial society. Our students draw on communication theories and methods to develop capabilities that apply across a wide range of organizational and topical domains. Our students thrive in both for-profit and non-profit settings, in local, national, and global networks, in human services, IT services, marketing, public relations, design, data management, and other corporate, governmental, and NGO positions. They do so because they have studied widely distributed media and management challenges while working with students and faculty representing a broad range of experiences.
That curriculum is carefully designed to develop core competencies and provide opportunities for engaging with more specialized expertise and application. Our Custom Leadership Program ranges from Leading and Leveraging Networks to Brand Management, Digital Storytelling, and many other options, including Professional Development Practicums. Students also can drill down further in our Concentrations in Organization Leadership, Strategic Communication, and Artificial Intelligence. Our Online Leadership Program provides a shared experience of a larger set of core courses and practicums in key areas of interest. In every case, the curriculum is orientated toward preparing students to navigate a complex world of change.
This curriculum is supported by a community. Our faculty have academic and professional backgrounds in the communication arts and sciences, engineering and design, film and other media arts, journalism, law, and marketing. Our staff are dedicated professionals, some with long experience in the program, and committed to student success. Our students come from universities across the country and around the globe to spend an intensive year together. Our alumni continue to maintain contact with and invest in the program, and they provide a network for ongoing association in the region, around the US, and internationally.
The MSC program is designed for students who are willing to invest in themselves on behalf of life-long learning, personal development, professional success, and societal benefit. Modern societies are highly complex, relentlessly dynamic, and more precarious than had been assumed. They require highly educated managers, bold yet thoughtful entrepreneurs, and responsible communicators, and they do not suffer from an overabundance of leadership. The students who take up these challenges today can become the leaders of tomorrow. Northwestern University always has been committed to conducting research, developing educated citizens, and nurturing creativity on behalf of a better world. The MSC program is proud to be part of that tradition, and we look forward each year to welcoming another cohort of students to that end.
Robert Hariman
Faculty Director