Communication

Study Communication at PLU Transcription (slide 1)

(upbeat music)

[video: Dr. Young’s voice comes in over clips. A student adjusts the settings on a video camera. A clip of a debate, a professor at the podium with two tables on either side, each with two students.]

Dr. Amy Young, PLU Chair of Communication: This program we think is really great for students who are interested in media, in strategic communication and in community engagement.

[video: Dr. Young sits in a classroom, a whiteboard with notes behind her.]

Dr. Young: But you really just need to have an interest in applied communication,

[video: Dr. Young’s voice continues over clips. A woman sits in front of a backdrop as she is recorded for a media program. A woman speaks at a panel discussion held by PLU’s medialab.]

Dr. Young: In creative media making and in how communication can help solve problems here and around the world.

[video: Alex stands on PLU’s campus at night, the lights of campus behind him.]

Alex Domine ‘12, Director of Communications, Charles Wright Academy: When you’re working in the field, when you’re working in communication, whether, whether it’s at an organization like a school, or whether it’s working on a campaign or working for a particular issue,

[video: Alex’s voice continues over clips. Dr. Young on stage at a TED conference, giving a speech. Another PLU communications professor speaks at a conference. A student gives a speech over his computer. Another student presents a slideshow. ]

Alex: you have to be able to come at a specific idea or a specific issue from alternative perspectives. Being able to relate and being able to communicate with whoever you’re trying to connect with in that way is going to make you a lot more successful when you’re trying to position yourself or your organization.

[video: Isaiah sits in front of the Camera, a blue wall behind him.]

Isaiah Shim, ‘21: Communications, you can honestly do so many things, after you graduate you can go PR, HR, marketing, which is my concentration and public speaking and all these other sorts of classes.

[video: Isaiah’s voice continues over clips. Students present a slideshow in front of a class.
Isaiah: And I think communication sort of ties every other major together.
[video: Clips continue, Alex’s voice comes in. A student gives a speech in a lecture hall. A student in a white room works on a laptop.]

Alex: You go into jobs, you go into roles that you didn’t necessarily study in the classroom,

[video: Return to Alex speaking to the camera.]

Alex: but PLU and the communication department specifically has at least given you the tools to learn it.

[video: Dr. Young’s voice continues over clips. A man stands in front of a set of cameras, a body of water behind him. A student takes notes as a woman talks to him in front of a waterway. Two students monitor a broadcast on computer screens. Two students record audio on a microphone between them. Two students and a professor look at a computer monitor.]

Dr. Young: Three reasons why the communication department is great is one, you can come in and hit the ground running by joining our student media organizations, including LASR which is our student radio, the Mast, which is our paper, Mast TV and showrunners.

[video: Return to Isaiah in front of a blue wall.]

Isaiah: I joined the Mast newspaper, my sophomore year fall semester.

[video: Isaiah’s voice continues over clips. A student types notes on a computer.]

Isaiah: I mentioned I liked screenwriting and so they’re like, hey, come write for the Mast. So I’ve been involved with them ever since

[video: Clips continue, Dr. Young’s voice comes in. A student edits graphic design work on a desktop computer. A speaker is interviewed by a student.]

Dr. Young: You come in and you start building a portfolio of work
right away, within media, within strategic communication and within community engagement.

[video: Return to Isaiah.]

Isaiah: I definitely have a lot of opportunities that I can try and go into. I mean, the Mast specifically, if I ever wanna try any sort of reporting or journalism I have so much experience because of it.

[video: Dr. Young’s voice comes in over a series of clips. Students speak at a debate. A student is interviewed on the set of PLU’s Late Knight show. A student takes a video of a mountain range.]

Dr. Young: We have a commitment to what we call applied context courses, debate, which is pretty self-explanatory, but is one of the sites that we use as a community engagement tool
to help people learn how to make arguments and to advocate for courses, student media and then MediaLab, which is essentially an in-house consultancy. They do work in journalistic writing,

[video: Return to Dr. Young speaking to the camera.]

Dr. Young: in event planning and promotion and advertising and public relations.

[video: Dr. Young’s voice continues over clips. A student videotapes a speaker who gestured to the background of buildings behind him. A speaker is interviewed by students who videotape. A professor interviews a panel for medialab.]

Dr. Young: They also make one long form non-fiction documentary a year. And in the last eight years have been nominated four times for Emmys in the college division.

[video: Return to Isaiah in the classroom.]

Isaiah: Hearing about what MediaLab did just pretty much delving into every sort of type of media graphic design, video, photography, audio, all that sort of stuff, it just really intrigued me. And so I applied and I got in and it’s the first time I’ve really worked

[video: Isaiah’s voice continues over clips. A man is interviewed in his home on a couch in front of a wall of photos and heirlooms. Students fly a drone on a hillside.]

Isaiah: in a like pseudo professional environment and with actual clients.

[video: Return to Isaiah.]

Isaiah: And so that kind of experience can only be beneficial to me.

[video: Return to Alex speaking to the camera at night on PLU’s campus.]

Alex: When you think about communication and you think about how to relate

[video: Alex’s voice continues over clips. A professor projects an icon design in front of a class. A line of video cameras are manned by students. A student flips and adjusts switches on a colorful light up board controlling sound. A press prints sheets of paper. A professor looks onto a computer monitor with a student. A student writes on a tablet with a stylus.]

Alex: or express ideas to someone else. I think the department does a really great job of illustrating. You need to be able to engage and wield the discipline in such a way that takes into account for exceptions. The department, when I think about my time here really did a wonderful job of teaching me what rules there are and how to break them.

[video: Return to Alex.]

Alex: Communication has to do with people and it has to do with the moment and leaning into the moment to be able to communicate and express yourself in a specific way. And that’s just not possible without the ability to also explore different perspectives.
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