2022-2023 Catalogue

Advertising & Marketing Communication

The interdisciplinary major in Advertising & Marketing Communication prepares students for careers in advertising, graphic design, marketing, and media sales. It includes courses in business, communication, and graphic design and culminates in a capstone course that integrates the liberal arts and the interdisciplinary major.

The overarching goal of this curriculum is to provide the student with a thorough understanding of the advertising and marketing communication field, including a firm foundation in the application of visual and textual thinking in actual projects and presentations, as well as a broad understanding of the content and principles of business, communication, and graphic design.

The student learning outcomes of the major are for the student to:

Major Requirements: Advertising & Marketing Communication. The major program requires a total of 39 hours of course work from the following:

Integrative Experience. The integrative experience is achieved through the AMC 470 course, Senior Project/Integrative Experience in Advertising & Marketing Communication. In this course, the students are asked to draw on their General Education and major experiences as they work as a team to develop a written marketing plan and supporting graphic design materials for a local business or nonprofit organization. The final plan, market research, and supporting designs are presented to the client in a formal presentation at the end of the semester.

Professional Development. Throughout her Wesleyan education each student is given opportunities to explore professional and career choices, and to develop and demonstrate the knowledge and skills essential for professional success. Each student will complete PDE 400 Professional Development Experience and PDE 401 Professional Practice Seminar.

The AMC 470 capstone course in the Advertising Marketing and Communication major is designed to function as a working ad agency. This provides professional development by giving each student a real world marketing experience through the development of a marketing project for a real business or nonprofit organization. Professional aspects of this project include: working within a team atmosphere, learning to work for and meet the needs of a client, and employ learned theory and skills of graphic design, marketing research and planning, and public relations. These criteria are met by developing a researched based marketing plan, supporting graphics materials, and culminate with a professional presentation to the client.

Find out more about this program.