Crisis Communication

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Crisis communication is the process of "verbal, visual, and/or written interaction between the organization and its publics (often through the news media) prior to, during, and after the negative occurrence." Organized by the pre-, during, and post-crisis phases, this course explores the strategies for communicating with various stakeholders and the dynamics of managing a crisis in a digital communication era with an integrated crisis communication plan. Students will examine major scholars and crisis resources, and document their understanding of crisis communication through writing assignments and a crisis simulation. Students will recognize the major concepts and theories of crisis communication, be able to list 3-5 scholars relevant to crisis communication, identify best practices for writing crisis messages, and articulate the meaning and practice of crisis communication for various crisis events.