Welcome to the International Communication Program.
This year marks the fortieth anniversary of our inaugural entering class! I welcome you to the International Communication Program Portal on behalf of the IC Program community worldwide. In 1968, Professor Emeritus Hamid Mowlana founded our Program, the first such program in the United States and a program ahead of its time.
Professor Christine Chin with IC students at ICSF Welcome Back event, Jan. 2008
This program has always emphasized the complex and distinctive connection among culture and communication. Grounded in this key nexus, the IC Program's focus also includes communication technologies, media, and related policies in global perspective. It has a history of many firsts. It is first in the profession in terms of faculty leadership. Founding Director of the Program, Professor Emeritus Hamid Mowlana is a former President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. I currently serve as Chair of the Global Internet Governance Academic Network, a worldwide network of scholars researching internet governance related issues; I am also is the Past Chair of the International Studies Association's International Communication Section. The IC Program is the home to the Intercultural Management Institute (IMI) with its widely read Intercultural Management Quarterly under the leadership of Professor Gary Weaver, a pioneer in studying and teaching cross-cultural communication. This spring 2009 will mark the tenth anniversary of IMI.
The IC program is first in opportunities inside and outside the classroom. Former program director Professor Shalini Venturelli's class on the Global Knowledge Economy is the first class to work together as a research team to map the knowledge economy at both regional and country levels. Under Professor Venturelli's leadership, and working with our School of Communication, the IC Program designed an innovative Masters degree program in International Media, launched in 2007. Professor Christine Chin just designed a new course on Tourism, Culture and Globalization. (The IC program has other numerous firsts in course offerings; please see the web page listing our newest courses including those offered during 2008-2009.) Additionally, the IC Program has always emphasized faculty members as mentors. Professor Chin, for example, works with American University's Office of Merit Awards, to provide one-on-one mentoring for our students who pursue fellowships and research abroad opportunities.
With extraordinary internship and graduate study abroad opportunities as well as a dedicated Career Center team, program graduates continue to make a difference working in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in a wide range of countries. The International Communication Student Forum (ICSF), working with the program's faculty, staff, and alumni craft an array of co-curricular workshops, conferences, and networking events. In sum, I invite you to explore the special spirit of the SIS IC Program, linking students and faculty in path breaking scholarship and public dialogue that shapes emerging issues for the next forty years of our field and beyond, continuing to place the IC Program ahead of its time.
Director
Professor Nanette Levinson with IC students at ICSF Welcome Back event, Spring 2008