IE University - BA in CommunicationIE University has reinvented university education with its new degree communication, one of the international universityâ??s flagship programme for the academic year 2008-2009. The new degree runs in English and Spanish and will combine online and onsite training with internships whereby students can gain work experience in other countries and learn languages. The new degree programme comprises forwardlooking course content and comply with the requirements of the Bologna process, which is set to align the European university map by 2010. IE University will be competing with leading international universities, with a student body set to comprise 80% international students in two yearsâ?? time.

The degree in communication is a four-year programme run in English covering corporate, institutional and commercial communication, as well as the role of communication in the media advertising sectors. In the last year of the degree students will specialize in journalism, corporate communication or audiovisual communication. The faculty will comprise academic experts and practitioners from countries that include the U.K., U.S., Switzerland and Japan. They include Marc Smith, member of Microsoftâ??s Community Technologies Group in Palo Alto, CA.; Bernardo Hernández, Worldwide Director of Geomarketing, from Google; Francis Pisani, journalist for media agents like Le Monde, El País and La Reforma; Monroe Price from the University of Pennsylvania; Colin Sparks from the University of Westminster; Adrian Monck from City University of London; Benjamin Detenber from Nanyang Technological University; and Daniel Dayan from CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique) National Scientific Research Centre.

Students will use a revolutionary learning model that will enable their integration into media, think tanks, lobbies, multilateral organisms, foundations, public sectors and NGOs. The innovative study plan takes students up close to analogical and digital realities in the communication environment. Areas covered include globalization, public diplomacy, philanthropy, pressure groups, minorities, e-governance, virtual communities, brand management, and freedom of expression.

â??The learning process is less subject to assimilation and more to knowing how to make sense of the subjects at hand using simulations and practical case studies. This method is known as ELM or Exclusive Learning Method®â?, says Samuel Martín Barbero, Dean of IE School of Communication, faculty of Communication at IE University. â??High levels of diversity among students and professors make for a rich blend of content and experiences, which enables a break with the traditional aspects of communication. The humanistic, corporate, organizational, digital and civic dimensions are an essential part of our school of Communication. They represent a return to the history workshop style, or Pulitzer News at the beginning of the 20th century. They also entail learning to handle documentation, information, intelligence and knowledge of private firms and NGSs to forge better communicators.â?

In the field of postgraduate programmes, IE School of Communication will be offering a Master in Peace and Security Management as from 2009. This Master moves away from the action-reaction approach of defense departments and military powers to adopt an approach based on intermediation, negotiation and the resolution of crises and armed conflict though the â??soft powerâ? of channels like communication and media agents.