COMMUNICATION
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The Dordt Difference In Dordt’s communication department, you’ll learn how television, radio, print media, social media, the Internet, and everyday conversation connect us with each other and how they shape our society. Our major will give you background in areas such as speech and body movement, digital media, culture, the printed word, and graphics. Dordt’s program offers a broadly focused Christian perspective on the field. Preparing for a career in communication, including professions such as public speaking, journalism, public relations, or filmmaking, means learning how to make appropriate and sensitive choices about the way you use technology and the way you treat people. The goal is to develop competent decision-makers who have a variety of communication skills. You’ll study people: what they are interested in, what they’re motivated by, and what they aspire to become. Because you, like most people, may change jobs several times in your life, you’ll need a strong base from which you can adapt to different careers. Annual surveys of employers show that communication skills are the number one strength they are looking for. Our strong commitment to a Christian perspective in all aspects of life means you will be prepared not only for the job market, but also for making a difference in the world.
FACILITIES Dordt’s state-of-the-art media lab and array of cameras, jibs, lights, dollies, software, and hardware ensure that you’ll be working with cutting-edge technology. Our Avid Media Composer setup allows video and audio editing, 3D animation, visual effects, and DVD authoring in one convenient package capable of handling both SD and high definition projects.
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES Dordt’s communication majors have entered a wide range of jobs in the past five years, including:
• radio station announcer • television reporter • media consultant • public relations director • videographer
THE PROGRAM The general major offers interpersonal, group, and mass communication courses integrated around a Christian perspective on communication. The public relations emphasis is interdisciplinary. You’ll take business courses as well as communication courses. Public relations departments in organizations are often staffed with people who majored in communication. The digital media production major will give you an edge in the fields of entertainment, documentary production, filmmaking, corporate, and nonprofit work. Professor Mark Volkers helps students master today’s exciting technologies at the same time that he challenges them to see the bigger picture.
• small business manager • marketing director • reporter • pastor • lawyer • fundraising coordinator • college admissions counselor • company spokesperson
“Our graduates can make a difference,” says Volkers. “They can be the best in the business—and be salt and light at the same time.”
HANDS-ON OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities are plentiful for communication majors at Dordt College. A dynamic internship program and real-world clients in need of professional production services means you’ll get plenty of hands-on training. Our internship program covers all communication majors—from public relations to journalism—and provides opportunities locally, regionally, or in metropolitan areas such as Chicago or Seattle. You can do multimedia projects, travel the world making films, win awards in the Prairie Grass Film Challenge, work for the campus radio station, and write for the college newspaper or other publications. Cross-disciplinary learning opportunities include courses from other majors like animation (art), film history (history), acting for film (theatre), script writing (English), and composition (music). In recent years, students have traveled to Africa, Asia, and Latin America, getting practical experience as camera crews, writers, photographers, and video editors. Some of the results can be seen online at www.fourthworldfilm.com.
THE FACULTY Bruce Kuiper, Ph.D. (ABD), Regent University. Public relations and intercultural communication, advises Communication Club, chairs the department Bruce.Kuiper@dordt.edu Kae Van Engen, M.A., Gonzaga University. Communication courses, has listening certification
Kae.VanEngen@dordt.edu
Lee Pitts, M.A., Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Journalism, has served as a journalist in Iraq Charles Veenstra, Ph.D., University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Communication
Lee.Pitts@dordt.edu
Charles.Veenstra@dordt.edu
Mark Volkers, M.A., Wheaton Graduate School. Digital media production, produces professional media productions for international clients, travels with students to give them real-world experience, has won numerous awards for his documentary films Mark.Volkers@dordt.edu August 2015