School of  Media and Communication

Founded 1967

Thomas Jacobson, Ph.D., Interim Dean
2020 N. 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-204-8421
www.temple.edu/smc

Goals and Objectives
History
Special Facilities
Special Programs

Goals and Objectives

The mission of the School of Media and Communication (SMC) is to provide leadership in advancing the role of communication in public life.  This mission is pursued through the training of students for leadership careers in media and communications, through advancing research and creative activity in these fields, and through serving the public need for free and open communication. The school is concerned not only with high standards of professional work but also with encouraging the next generation of teachers and media managers to develop an intellectual background and a sense of social responsibility. Toward this end, SMC students are encouraged to take coursework in disciplines outside the school. For some, history and political science are related areas of interest; others choose literature and the arts; still others choose business, economics, or the social sciences. In this way, the school participates in providing not only professional training but also a broad humanistic education for its students.

The faculty of the school comes from diverse backgrounds. Some have extensive professional experience as journalists, television producers, speech writers, advertising executives, and public relations practitioners. Others have come to Media and Communication through academic study, doing graduate work and continuing the practice of research and scholarship while teaching at Temple.

Renowned for their professional experience, research, and teaching, our faculty prepare our graduates for a wide range of careers in communication industries, as well as lead graduate students towards Ph.D., M.F.A., M.A., and M.J. degrees.

Return to menu

History

The study of communication began formally at Temple University with the founding of the Department of Journalism in 1927. It was the first such department in the Commonwealth.

Theater was an extracurricular activity at Temple until 1931, when formal courses were developed.

Radio-Television became an instructional division in 1947, and extensive film offerings were added in 1967. That year, Journalism and Radio-Television-Film joined Theater to form the School of Communications and Theater. In 1987 the highly-respected Department of Speech moved to the school from the College of Arts and Sciences. A year later, Speech became two departments: Rhetoric and Communication, and Speech-Language-Hearing.

The school was restructured in 1995. Radio-Television-Film became the Department of Film and Media Arts and the Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media; Journalism became Journalism, Public Relations, and Advertising; Rhetoric and Communication became Speech Communication. In 1998, the Department of Communication Sciences (Speech-Language-Hearing) moved to the College of Health Professions.

Effective Fall 2004, a change occurred with the Departments of Journalism, Public Relations and Advertising, and Speech Communication.  Advertising became a separate department. The Department of Speech Communication changed its name to Strategic and Organizational Communication and includes Public Relations as one of three concentrations:  Public Communication (formerly Speech Communication), Public Relations, and Organizational Leadership. In 2010, the Department of Strategic and Organizational Communication changed its name to the Department of Strategic Communication.

On July 1, 2012, the School of Communications and Theater was renamed the School of Media and Communication. It houses the departments of Advertising; Journalism; Media Studies and Production (formerly Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media); and Strategic Communication. The Communication Studies program remains a part of the School of Media and Communication. The Departments of Theater and Film and Media Arts will form the Division of Film, Media Arts, and Theater and will join Boyer School of Music and Dance and the Tyler School of Art to form the Center for the Arts. For more information, students and parents may visit: http://sct.temple.edu/web/realignment/.

Also in 2012, the Department of Broadcasting, Telecommunications, and Mass Media changed its name to Media Studies and Production while the Department of Strategic Communication renamed the Public Communication concentration to Rhetoric and Public Advocacy.

Return to menu

Special Facilities

The School of Media and Communication is housed in buildings designed for teaching, research, and production.

The primary location of the School is Annenberg Hall, which houses the Departments of Advertising; Journalism; and Media Studies and Production. Television and film production areas (studios and editing, graphics, and film labs) occupy the first floor. The building also includes extensive video and film editing areas, a 75-seat multimedia screening room, photographic labs, two news writing labs and smart classrooms.

The Department of Strategic Communication is housed in Weiss Hall.

The Joe First Media Center, SMC's newest addition, is located on the first floor, linking Annenberg and Tomlinson Halls. The center is a communications and media hub for the school and includes a cyber-café, a multimedia information center, and a venue for displaying student work. 

Return to menu

Special Programs

TUTV - Temple University Television

In Fall 2010, the university launched TUTV, a new regional cable television channel with associated new media platforms, which will showcase the innovative work done by Temple students, faculty, and alumni.

TUTV offices and master control are located on the first floor of Annenberg Hall and is a part of the Kal & Lucille Rudman Media Production Center.  The Rudman Center also features a broadcast studio and a computer-equipped classroom.  The station features news, sports, music, comedy, and documentary programs. TUTV presents content from many of the university's other professional schools, plus programs produced in association with community cultural groups and professional broadcasters.  Student volunteers are also accepted. For more information, contact the TUTV General Manager at paul.gluck@temple.edu.

Temple Update

Temple Update is a production course in which students can gain experience producing, reporting, and editing for a half-hour weekly news magazine format.  The program airs on a cable outlet.  The course gives students the opportunity to produce material for a résumé tape and provides students with valuable experience in field work, news writing, video editing, and the pressure of a live program.

Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD)

The Student Affairs Office within the School of Communications and Theater launched a new Center for Student Professional Development (CSPD) during the Fall 2010 semester.  The CSPD offers professional development programming in a newly renovated space, which includes computers for job searching, résumé writing, cover letter writing, and job-related research; reference books; and a space for small group professional development workshops.  The CSPD partners with the Career Center to offer specialized programming for School of Media and Communication students.  Programming will include a variety of offerings related to job search preparation, the graduate school application process, and undergraduate research opportunities.  For more information, please contact the manager of the CSPD, Patrick Gordon, at pgordon@temple.edu.

Internship Program

Although the requirements may vary, internships are available to junior and senior students of every department in the school.  Internships are for academic credit and must involve professional activity related to the student's course of study.  The internships must be approved by the administrator or faculty member charged with supervising internships.

Study Away

The School of Media and Communication offers several programs for students who are interested in studying away and strongly encourages students to participate in these programs.

The school offers a program in London for undergraduate and graduate students. Students spend either the fall or spring semester in London studying British theater and media as well as journalism and advertising with an international faculty. 

Enrollment in the London program is also open to qualified students from other universities and colleges to foster an intellectual exchange among students of varied collegiate backgrounds.  Courses are designed to make the best use of the uniqueness of London and the United Kingdom.

Summer Study Away programs are also an important feature of the school's special programs.  Realizing the inestimable value of direct contact with professionals and other experts, the School of Media and Communication offers an annual summer seminar in London on British Mass Media.  These seminars are offered for graduate and undergraduate credit and can be an integral part of a student's coursework. 

Temple Dublin is a month-long program offered by the School of Media and Communication which allows students to experience the old and the new Dublin within a challenging academic experience.   The two-course program includes a foundational course on Irish Identity taught by a Dublin professor and a course on Irish media and arts taught by the school's faculty director. 

Temple South Africa is a new 6-week program as of summer 2011.  This program offers students an opportunity to produce journalistic and documentary narrative or to conduct media research.  The journalism option will allow students to experience what it would be like to work as a foreign correspondent in South Africa.  The research option will offer students an opportunity to conduct research on topics related to mass media, communication technologies, politics, culture and economics in southern Africa. The program was suspended in 2012, but it is expected to continue in 2013.

Temple New York is a new program as of summer 2012. This program investigates the communicative components of New York City by focusing on its neighborhoods, organizations, and institutions. Students may also undertake an internship or academic experience component as part of this study-away experience and attend regular events and excursions.

The summer programs, like the academic year programs, are open to qualified students from other universities and colleges and to others who choose to continue their education in a less formal manner than in a prescribed program of study, although in South Africa program, preference may be given to Temple students.

SMC is also in the process of developing new Study Away programs.  Check with the Study Away advisor for information on these developments. Current information on the SMC programs listed here is available from SMC Study Away at 215-204-2677 or 215-204-6535.

See Education Abroad for more information about University Study Abroad options.

Return to menu