Bachelor of Science in Advertising and Public Relations

Program Contact

Jillian Pandor

Chair of Liberal Arts Department, and Assistant Professor of English and Spanish

Liberal Arts

Accredited by the UAE Ministry of Education

Design impactful campaigns and shape powerful brands across traditional and digital media, driven by real-world projects and strong industry ties.

Overview

Smartphones, smart tech, data capturing, social media, and the ever-evolving internet landscape have changed every facet of how an audience can be reached and influenced. Connecting the right message, the right timing, and the right communication channel has never been more complex or more data informed. For the advertising and public relations leaders of the future, being highly skilled in both the theories of persuasive communication and the tools to support it will be critical to success.

To prepare graduates for successful careers in two dynamic fields, RIT Dubai’s advertising and public relations major builds a broad range of essential skills to:

Use data and technology to inform advertising strategy and track performance toward goals.

Apply research methods and data analysis to identify and understand the needs of target audiences.

Make data-informed decisions to select the right media platforms for reaching the right target audiences.

Create and deliver messaging that persuades and compels action.

Plan and manage campaigns to support advertising and public relations goals.

Typical Job Titles

Advertising Account Manager	Social Media Manager	Digital Media Specialist/Content Creator
Brand Manager	Copywriter	Public Relations Specialist/Manager
Director of Communications	Customer Marketing Specialist	Marketing Content Specialist
Media Buyer	Events Manager	Internal Communications Director

Advertising, PR, and Marketing

Higher Education

Healthcare

Media and Publishing

Manufacturing

Non-profit

Internet and Software

K-12 Education

Fall 2026 Intake!

Fall 2026 applications are now open! Apply today and get ready to begin an exciting Tiger journey.

Click here to apply

Program Learning Outcomes

PLO 1: Distinguish between advertising, public relations, and marketing.
PLO 2: Apply theory and methods appropriately in completing a research project.
PLO 3: Present and publicly defend research and present compelling speeches, pitches, or presentations.
PLO 4: Prepare comprehensive professional written materials, including public relations content, a strategic plan, advertising copy, a thesis, and/or portfolio.
PLO 5: Design a series of visual publications.
PLO 6: Perform successfully as a communication specialist in a professional office.

Curriculum

Typical Course Sequence

Total Credit Hours - 120

Course		Sem. Cr. Hrs.
First Year
COMM-212	Public Relations An introduction to the practice of public relations. Topics include history, research areas, laws, ethics, and social responsibilities as they relate to the theory and practice of public relations.	3
COMM-105	Foundations of Communication An introduction to the discipline of communication and the fields of advertising, journalism, and public relations. Topics include: the history and evolution of the discipline, major theories, principles of ethics, methods of research, writing styles, digital portfolio development, professional organizations, and potential careers. Students meet professors in the School, explore opportunities to engage with the professional and academic community beyond the classroom.	3
	General Education – Ethical Perspective	3
	General Education – Artistic Perspective	3
	General Education – Elective	3
YOPS-010	RIT 365: RIT Connections	0
COMM-211	Principles of Advertising	3
COMM-201	Public Speaking	3
	General Education – Natural Science Inquiry Perspective	3
MATH-101	General Education – Mathematical Perspective A: College Algebra	3
	General Education – First Year Writing (WI)	3
Second Year
COMM-202	Mass Communications The history and development of U.S. media, theoretical aspects of mass communications, the composition of media audiences, law and regulation of mass communications and how the media affect and are affected by society are presented.	3
COMM-221	Public Relations Writing (WI-GE, WI-PR) This course covers a variety of forms of writing for public relations, including news releases, newsletters, backgrounders, public service announcements, magazine queries, interviews, coverage memos, media alerts, features, trade press releases, and public presentations. Students will write for a variety of media including print, broadcast, and the web.	3
COMM-223	Digital Design in Communication	3
	General Education – Scientific Principles Perspective	3
COMM-272	General Education – Elective: Reporting and Writing for News Media	3
COMM-304	Intercultural Communication	3
	Open Elective	3
	General Education – Global Perspective	3
	General Education – Social Perspective	3
STAT-145	General Education – Mathematical Perspective B: Introduction to Statistics I	3
Third Year
COMM-301	Theories of Communication An introduction to human communication theory, including a history of the field and major theories from the intrapersonal, language, interpersonal, small group, public, organizational, mass, visual, and computer-mediated communication contexts. Theories based both in the humanities and the social sciences are covered. This course should be taken during the student's second year.	3
COMM-321	Copywriting and Visualization An opportunity for undergraduates to learn the verbal and visual skills utilized in the creation of advertising messages. To create an effective strategy for an advertising campaign, the advertising copywriter/art director team needs to combine linguistic and visual metaphors into a persuasive message. Students will develop creative advertising messages by researching and writing a creative brief and then implementing the plan by transforming concepts into actual advertising messages and campaigns.	3
MKTG-230	Principles of Marketing An introduction to the field of marketing, stressing its role in the organization and society. Emphasis is on determining customer needs and wants and how the marketer can satisfy those needs through the controllable marketing variables of product, price, promotion and distribution.	3
	General Education – Immersion	3
COMM-342	General Education – Elective: Communication Law and Ethics	3
COMM-401	Quantitative Research Methods	3
COMM-322	Campaign Management and Planning	3
	General Education Elective	3
	General Education – Immersion	6
COMM-499	Communication Co-op	0

Fourth Year
COMM-430	Advertising and Public Relations Agency I Ad and PR Agency I is the first session of a full-year, hands-on experiential learning course. Students work at Technically Speaking, a student advertising and public relations agency, managed by the School of Communication with support from RIT Marketing and Communications. Students will hone their advertising and public relations skills while working with their instructor and mentors in RIT Marketing and Communications, College of Liberal Arts and others on real-world campaigns and projects. Students will execute an array of projects reaching across the marketing communications spectrum, from public relations and advertising to social media and digital design. Upon registration, students must complete an application to determine their role within the student agency. The course will also include instructional time covering advertising and public relations skills and industry case studies.	3
COMM-431	Advertising and Public Relations Agency II Ad and PR Agency II is the second session of a full-year, hands-on experiential learning course. Students work at Technically Speaking, a student advertising and public relations agency that is managed by the School of Communication with support from RIT Marketing and Communications. Students will hone their advertising and public relations skills while working with their instructor and mentors in RIT Marketing and Communications, College of Liberal Arts and others on real-world campaigns and projects. Students will execute an array of projects reaching across the marketing communications spectrum, from public relations and advertising to social media and digital design. Upon registration, students must complete an application to determine their role within the student agency. The course will also include instructional time covering advertising and public relations skills and industry case studies.	3
COMM-421	Media Planning An introduction to developing, executing, and managing media plans for advertising and public relations. This course covers the characteristics and uses of advertising media, media terms and calculations, media strategies and tactics, and media plan development and implementation.	3
COMM-497	Communication Portfolio Communication, advertising, and public relations majors create a portfolio comprised of projects, papers, and related professional materials; Journalism majors complete a senior project. Near the end of every semester, the department hosts a portfolio review day when department of communication seniors present their portfolio or project work in a public space for review and comment by faculty, staff, and peers. The presentation constitutes completion of the course.	0
	Professional Core	3
	Open Elective	9
	General Education – Elective	6
	Professional Core	3

Notes:

(1) All students pursuing a bachelor’s degree are also required to complete two different Wellness courses.
(2) Students choose two of the following courses for the Professional Core requirement:
MKTG-320 Digital Marketing
MKTG-350 Consumer Behavior
MKTG-360 Professional Selling
MKTG-430 Social Media Marketing
MKTG-489 Seminar in Marketing
MKTG-370 Advertising and Promotion Management
MKTG-330 Global Marketing

Website last updated: January 27, 2026

Overview

Typical Job Titles

Industries

Program Learning Outcomes

Curriculum

Typical Course Sequence