Degree Requirements • Public Relations • Carthage College

Carthage offers a major and minor in public relations. To earn a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from Carthage, students must complete the Carthage Core, Distribution Requirements, and the public relations major requirements listed below.

Major Requirements — 44 credits

CDM Fundamental Courses (12 credits) — Required

CDM 1150 Human Communication (4 credits)
CDM 1200 Public Speaking (4 credits)
CDM 1300 Visual Communication (4 credits)

Public Relations Core Courses (24 credits) — Required

CDM 2200 Principles of Public Relations (4 credits)
CDM 3350 Public Relations Writing (4 credits)
CDM 3420 Communications Management (4 credits)
CDM 3565 Public Relations Skills Assessment (0 credits) *
CDM 3810 Public Relations Campaigns (4 credits)
CDM 3820 Crisis Communications (4 credits)
CDM 4030 Public Relations Senior Seminar (4 credits)

Choose Two (8 credits)

CDM 1925 Basic Adobe Creative Cloud (4 credits)
OR CDM 1950 Advanced Adobe Creative Cloud (4 credits) (only one may be used toward the Public Relations major)
CDM 2300 Interpersonal Communication (4 credits)
CDM 3000 Rhetoric and Persuasion (4 credits)
CDM 3310 Journalistic Writing (4 credits)
CDM 3400 Social Media (4 credits)
CDM 3570 PR Internship (4-8 credits)
CDM 3700 Organizational Communication (4 credits)

Skill Assessment

The assessment specific to your major must be taken in the spring of a student’s third/ junior year. It will be pass/fail, and the student will have to repeat the assessment with a pass to be cleared to register for an Internship and/or Senior Seminar. Students double majoring in CDM must pass the skills assessment in each major

Requirements for majoring and minoring within the department

In order to major and minor in the Communication and Digital Media Department (communication, graphic design, public relations, photography, and film and new media), overlap of courses between any major and minor in CDM must be at or below 50 percent.

Minor Requirements — 20 credits

For students majoring in communication or graphic design, the overlap between majors and minors must be at or below 50 percent.

Required (8 credits)

CDM 2200 Principles of Public Relations (4 credits)
CDM 3350 Public Relations Writing (4 credits)

Choose Three (12 credits)

CDM 3420 Communications Management (4 credits)
CDM 3570 Public Relations Internship (4-8 credits)
CDM 3810 Public Relations Campaigns (4 credits)
CDM 3820 Crisis Communication (4 credits)

Current students: You should follow the official College Catalog from the year you entered Carthage and work with your advisors and the department chair to ensure all requirements are met.