The Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma, in conjunction with the Department of Defense, has hosted the Department of Defense Communication Graduate Program since the 1970s (see http://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/overview.htm ). The program has been part of the Military Public Affairs Community for over 37 years and draws public affairs professionals from all branches of the Defense Department as well as the Coast Guard. The goal of the program is to equip students with the basic principles of communication theory and research, and the ways in which these principles might be applied toward public affairs strategies and tactics. The nine hours of fully accredited coursework offered over a two-month period introduces students to the different areas of communication studies and culminates with a final project that seeks to resolve a military affairs problem. The capstone project emerging from the course has explored topics such as public perceptions of the military, de...
Questions that Challenge, Voices that Change