Advertising & Public Relations
Advertisting and Public Relations
Department of Advertising and Public Relations Head
Dr. Juan Meng
UGA Athletic Association Endowed Professor; Department Head; Professor; Director, Cannes Lions Program
Faculty and Staff
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Carolina Acosta-Alzuru
Professor
About: Carolina Acosta-Alzuru teaches public relations, cultural studies and qualitative methods. Scholarship foci: melodramas (telenovelas and Turkish dramas), culture and society. View Curriculum Vitae Education Ph.D., Mass Communication, University of […]
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Sun Joo (Grace) Ahn
Director of the CACHE Lab; Professor
About: Dr. Ahn teaches undergraduate-level research methods, graduate-level user experience research, communication theory, and advertising and society. Her research examines how social media, video/internet games, and immersive virtual environments influence […]
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Mary Ellen Barto
Talking Dog Agency Manager
Mary Ellen Barto has more than 30 years experience working in advertising and media agencies, client marketing organizations, and as an industry consultant. Prior to joining UGA, Mary Ellen worked […]
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Michael Cacciatore
Co-Director, Center for Health & Risk Communication; Associate Professor; Assistant Department Head
About: Dr. Cacciatore teaches research methodology and introduction to public relations in the Department of Advertising & Public Relations. His research focuses on science and risk communication with an emphasis […]
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Zifei “Fay” Chen
Associate Professor
About: Dr. Zifei “Fay” Chen (MA ’13) teaches public relations and advertising theory and corporate communication. Her research foci include corporate social responsibility and advocacy, startup and entrepreneurial communication, digital […]
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David Clementson
Associate Professor
About: Dr. Clementson teaches undergraduate and graduate-level public relations and mass communication courses. His research examines the effects of public figures and politicians dodging questions. He also serves the Department […]
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Joshua Cloudy
Assistant Professor
About: Dr. Cloudy teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level in advertising and brand strategy. His goal is to prepare the next generation of advertising professionals in theory-informed […]
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Sabrena Deal
Senior Lecturer
Sabrena Deal is a Senior Lecturer in Advertising and Public Relations. She teaches Brand Strategy, Graphic Communication, and Integrated Campaigns courses. She is a UGA Faculty Active Learning Leader and […]
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Ben Deutsch
Executive in Residence
Ben Deutsch retired from The Coca-Cola Company in December 2017 after a 25-year career, the last 11 years of which he served as Vice President, Corporate Communications. In this global […]
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Nathaniel J. Evans
Associate Professor
About: Nathaniel Evans is an Associate Professor of Advertising in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at University of Georgia. His research framework can be applied to regulatory and […]
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Jennifer Griffith
Principal Lecturer
About: Dr. Griffith teaches Advertising Message Strategy and the capstone campaigns course for advertising majors. She is the advisor to Grady’s student-run advertising agency. View Curriculum Vitae Education Ph.D., English, […]
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Neila Grimsley
Program Coordinator, The Center for Children’s Health Assessment, Research Translation, and Combating Environmental Risk (CHARTER); and the Virtual Fitness Buddy (VFB) Ecosystem Project, Advertising & Public Relations
Neila Grimsley (BSFCS ’09, MPH ’11) is an experienced program coordinator dedicated to advancing federally funded research initiatives. She collaborates with Dr. Grace Ahn across multiple projects, serving as the […]
Certificates
Public Affairs Communications Certificate
Public Affairs Communications (PAC) is at the forefront of politics, policymaking and issue advocacy. Grady College is home to the first program in the nation to provide undergraduate students with practical training in this emerging field.
The PAC program provides students with specialized communications skills aimed at educating, shaping or changing public opinion on public policy, legislation, political candidates or issues.
Grady College and the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) jointly offer their students the opportunity to obtain a Public Affairs Professional Certificate. The PAC program and certificate are designed to prepare students for careers in public affairs.
Strategic Health & Risk Communication Certificate
The Strategic Health & Risk Communication certificate offers undergraduate students the knowledge, skills and experience related to applying communication principles to address public health problems. It prepares students to better meet the evolving health needs of society at large and use their health promotion and/or communication skills in an applied manner. The program culminates in a capstone course in which students will create a public health communication campaign for a community client, providing students with valuable experiential and hands-on learning.
The SHRC track requires six courses in a balanced curriculum: two core courses at Grady College, two courses at the College of Public Health, and two elective special topics courses. Students will apply for acceptance into the certificate program. However, students outside the certificate can take these courses, thus broadening the number of students introduced to this discipline.
Graduate Certificate in Crisis, Risk, and Disaster Communication
At the University of Georgia, academics and practitioners from industry, nonprofits and the public sector have worked collaboratively to prepare future leaders and executives in the crisis, risk and disaster communication practices. To educate the next generation of crisis communication leaders, based on the successful CCTT model of bridging academia and industry, this 12-credit graduate certificate program in crisis, risk, and disaster communication provides advanced learning about crisis, risk, and disaster communication through specialized coursework connecting theory and practice across sectors and industries. It is specifically aimed at students interested in obtaining in-depth and integrated education in the interdisciplinary areas of crisis and risk communication, risk management and disaster management.
The 12-credit graduate certificate has its program of study constructed with two core Grady College courses (6 credits). Depending on the desired study of focus and/or career orientation, students will choose one of two additional tracks: (1) business track in partnership with the Terry College of Business or (2) public health track in partnership with the College of Public Health.
Graduate Certificate in Media Analytics
Research and analytics departments in media companies – news, marketing, advertising and public relations agencies – have been called the “brains of the industry.” Research professionals working for media companies interpret big consumer-generated data, such as ratings, marketing and social data, and serve as internal consultants to managers in every department: sales, programming, news, brand strategy, marketing and promotions, and general strategic management. In public relations and advertising in particular, media researchers conduct research for the agency’s clients in such areas as message testing, campaign effectiveness, social media network patterns, and audience reception and behavior. Therefore, the Graduate Certificate in Media Analytics program is to prepare students to work with research units, in-house and externally, so they are able to understand and manage the research tasks, know what type of insights can be drawn from research—including cross-media and cross-platform big data—extract insights from data, draw strategy and interpret that work to senior management. Students take courses in media management, media planning, research methods, and social media analytics as well as a capstone course.
Go Global With Grady
Students are encouraged to study abroad and participate in domestic field studies as a part of their course of study. At Grady College, we feel that students who have a critical understanding of the global scope of Journalism and Mass Communication are set apart in their fields and we take pride in being able to provide these opportunities for students.
From travel writing to industry-leading advertising and entertainment strategies, each of our summer programs offers students an experience that strengthens their understanding of their major and/or helps them gain valuable skills that they otherwise couldn’t in a normal classroom setting.
Join a group of 12 Grady students to participate in eight-week internships in New York City while you learn about the many possibilities for your future in NYC!
The AdPR NYC Maymester program provides students an opportunity to learn what working life is like in the advertising, public relations and creative communications industries. During this on-campus Maymester class, you will travel to New York City to explore advertising, public relations agencies and network with professionals.
Grady DC students are enrolled in a public affairs communications class taught at UGA’s Delta Hall on Capitol Hill and are working at DC area internships for course credit to amplify their learning with real-world experiences, mentoring and networking with public affairs communications professionals in the nation’s capital.
The Grady LA Field Study and Internship Program allows students to gain valuable hands-on experience in the Entertainment industry while earning course credit.
Join us for an exciting eight-week summer internship experience in beautiful and vibrant Chicago, one of the top media and communications cities in the country!
The Cannes Lions study abroad program offers participants a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rub elbows with the top leaders of today’s creative world. This three week program is located in Cannes, France, where students will have access to cutting-edge advertising professionals, designers, digital innovators and marketers while attending the Cannes Lions Festival.
This class will cover a range of international communication topics, including but not limited to global media systems, international reporting and news flow, transnational advertising and international public relations, through both theoretical and practical perspectives.
Please visit the UGA Oxford website for more details.
While each program offers courses in specific disciplines, students are not limited to participating in courses only within their major. Many of our Study Abroad and Field Study programs are open to students outside of Grady College majors (including undergraduate and graduate students) as well as students outside of the University of Georgia.
Summer Studio Creative Portfolio Program
The Summer Studio Creative Portfolio program is an experiential learning environment for students interested in creative areas such as advertising, public relations, graphic design, social media content creation and related communications industries. Over four weeks, participants build technical skills and formulate ideas from the ground up. Join us June 6 – July 3, 2024.
Talking Dog Agency
Talking Dog is an ambitious student-led advertising and public relations agency that fosters growth for both clients and members through next-generation perspectives. This full-service agency can assist with a wide range of clients and has a Gen-Z focus. Talking Dog promises expertise in everything from market research to creative execution.
Talking Dog staffs UGA students across a variety of majors. You can apply to be an Account Executive, Project Manager, Art Director, Copywriter, Public Relations Specialist, Photographer, Videographer, Digital Media Specialist or Strategist every fall.
Where Our Alumni End Up
Careers
An AdPR degree from Grady is a step towards your dream job. Our graduates have gone on to successful careers at:
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See Where More PR Alumni Are Working
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See Where More Ad Alumni Are Working
Young Alumni on the Job
Grady Career Services
The Grady College Career Services office, located in 239C of the Journalism building, and the UGA Career Center offer individual counseling sessions for students to discuss career options, job and internship search strategies, resumes and cover letters and interviewing skills. They also provide workshops on topics related to career planning and development.
Contact Director of Experiential Learning, Samantha Meyer, at (706) 542-5032 or sam610@uga.edu.
Internships
As part of our experiential learning at Grady, students have the opportunity to earn academic credit while completing an internship. If you successfully complete all of the requirements of an approved internship while concurrently enrolled in ADPR 5010 (Advertising Internship) or ADPR 5011 (Public Relations Internship), you can earn up to three college elective hours of credit.
AdPR Internships
Another unique offering for our AdPR students is the ability to earn internship credit for Talking Dog, our student-run, full-service advertising and PR agency. In order to get this credit, students must complete all requirements and be concurrently enrolled in ADPR 5012 (Talking Dog Agency Internship), where they may also earn up to three college elective hours of credit.
For more assistance and guidance with internships, visit our Careers and Internships page.
Research Spotlight
Brain, Body, & Media Lab
The Brain, Body and Media Lab investigates mechanisms (e.g., attention, emotion) that underlie audience/consumer response to different features of messages (e.g., models in ads) and individual difference variables that are associated with these responses. Equipment in this lab includes peripheral psychophysiological measures (EMG, EDA, ECG) and central measures (EEG). By using these measures, we are able to identify and dissociate between psychological processes that occur in response to media using fluctuations in the activity of the brain and body – without relying on self-reported assessment of these processes. Measurement of implicit processes in a media/advertising context furthers understanding of cognitive and affective processing of media messages which has both theoretical and practical implications.
Center for Advanced
Computer-Human Ecosystems
The Center for Advanced Computer-Human Ecosystems (CACHE) is an interdisciplinary research facility for a human-centered approach to investigating virtual experiences and how they influence the attitudes and behaviors of users. The lab makes forward-thinking inquiries into how interactions in virtual worlds can shift traditional rules and norms of social interactions in the physical world. Our projects apply frameworks of psychosocial and behavioral sciences to explore, test and evaluate the impact of virtual and augmented environments on a wide range of social issues.
Center for Health & Risk Communication
The Grady College Center for Health and Risk Communication is focused on health and risk communication-related research, teaching and service that advances knowledge about effective and understandable messages to help people make better health-related decisions.
Social Media Engagement & Evaluation Suite
The Social media Engagement and Evaluation (SEE) Suite at the Department of Advertising and Public Relations of the Grady College at the University of Georgia is an innovative space, designed for students and researchers to gain the skills, experience and knowledge to become leaders in the changing social communication ecosystems.
The mix between industry technology and a media lab allows us to train our students for examining cross platform social data, analyzing engagement, identifying actionable insights and prepare them for jobs in a wide range of industries and providing our graduate students and faculty with the data, software and hardware to conduct cutting-edge research at the University of Georgia.
Crisis Communication Think Tank
The Crisis Communication Think Tank (CCTT) was established in 2018 at the University of Georgia as a thought leadership entity. It is designed to further discussions and understanding of crisis communication and strategic conflict management, with an emphasis on evolving technologies.
Housed at UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication and led by the C. Richard Yarbrough Professor in Crisis Communication Leadership, the CCTT aims to build collaborations among leading crisis scholars and practitioners globally, through dialogue on emerging topics and co-creation of evidence-based advice for next-generation crisis research and practice. Our overarching goals are:
- To connect crisis communication experts from the segmented worlds of academia and industry practice.
- To reshape and refine how crisis communication is understood and practiced.
- To advance crisis communication knowledge via academic-practitioner collaborative research.
- To educate the next generation of crisis communication scholars and practitioners.
- To design protocols for handling “sticky crisis” challenges effectively and ethically at the top decision-making level via crisis preparedness and resilience.
AdPR Connection
AdPR Connection is an annual student-run networking event that includes workshops, a career fair and networking socials to help students connect with future employers and build skills needed for their job search. AdPR Connection is sponsored by UGA’s PRSSA and AdClub and takes place each fall.
Cox Center CAM Fellows Program
In the constantly changing global media environment, professionals and researchers alike must stay current. Continuous research, knowledge updating and practice are essential. To meet this critical need, the James M. Cox, Jr., Center for International Mass Communication Training and Research (Cox International Center) designed the Communication and Media (CAM) Fellows Program.
The CAM program provides experienced communication and media professionals with opportunities to update and develop their knowledge. Leaders across business, government, non-profit sectors and the press can access a world-class educational and research setting through the Cox International Center.
Executive Advisory board
Photo: Sarah E. Freeman
The ADPR Executive Advisory Board is a diverse group of leading and outstanding professionals in advertising, communications, marketing, media, and public relations who are committed to supporting the mission and vision of the Department of Advertising & Public Relations. Members of the Board assist the department with activities that align with the Grady College’s strategic plan to support the research, teaching and service goals in both the commercial and public sectors worldwide.
Angela Alfano (ABJ ’10)
Trebor Banstetter
Deisha Barnett
Peter Bunarek
Whit Clay
Maureen Clayton (ABJ ’80, MA ’84)
Devrie DeMarco (ABJ ’96)
Ben Deutsch
Brian Easter
Nancy Elder (ABJ ’88)
Katie Gohman (AB ’00)
Susan Goodenow (ABJ ’90)
Trevor Guthrie
Lauren Hitchins (ABJ ’99)
Craig Hodges
Keith Hughes (MA ’85)
Natali Johnson (ABJ ’05)
Sean Jones
Brian Kaiser
Allison Kolber (ABJ ’04)
Evan Levy
Karen Mawhinney (ABJ ’96)
Joli Murtha
Tucker Sarkisian (ABJ ’00)
Julie Saxon (AB ’97)
Marni Schapiro (ABJ ’96)
Brittany Thoms (ABJ ’04)
Robin Kendric Triplett (ABJ ’05)
Carrie von der Sitt
PAst AdPR Executive Advisory Board Members
We are grateful for the service of the following former Board members:
- Ron DeFeo
- Brian Elliot
- Joe Erwin
- Daryl Evans
- Kim Getty
- Greg Guest
- Annie Hou
- Tom Landrum
- Ellen Ryan Mardiks
- Andrew McLean
- Mark McMullen
- Engenio Mendez
- Carole Munroe
- Matt O’Oconnor
- Ciro Dias dos Reis
- Manny Rodriquez
- DeShele Taylor
- Karen White
The Latest
Read the newest headlines, get updates and discover events happening at Grady.
Events
Application details
Your media career starts here. Choose from four majors: Advertising, Entertainment and Media Studies, Journalism and Public Relations.