Do you know enough about the academic departments or the facilities and services of our university? Bilkent News is starting a new series of articles to provide more information on the core of Bilkent. This week, you will read about the Department of Communication and Design in the Faculty of Arts, Design, and Architecture. Mahmut Mutman, Chair of the Department, who just came back from Columbia University after a year's stay o a Fullbright scholarship, told us about the new department.
New Department Shows Progress in its Third Year
The Department of Communication and Design has started it sthird year of classes with a total of 141 students. Bilkent's young department aims to give a Communications and Design degree, with an emphasis on modern and especially visual media. Students take classes in various areas such as basic media, public relations, and web-page design. Mahmut Mutman says that the mission of the department is to educate knowledgeable and responsible professionals in visual media and design.
Student are provided with a wide range of courses, both theoretical and practical, on communication theories and principles, interpersonal communications, media, popular culture and society, computer and webpage design, visual design and visual studies, advertising, marketing, journalism and public relations. Since they take a wide range of courses, they can choose to work in public relations and advertising, TV or print journalism, or in a company dealing with web-design after graduating. One of the strongest aspects of the education in Communication and Design is the hands-on experience provided for the students in a very well-equipped production studio.
Two one-month internships are part of the program at the end of the second and third year of the curriculum. Students find their own companies to do their internships, and so far have worked for many companies such as Anadolu Ajansı, TRT, CNN Türk, ATV, NTV, Star, Cumhuriyet, several foreign and national advertising agencies in Ankara and İstanbul, public relations offices at well-known companies such as Tepe Holding and İş Bank, film studios, and webpage design offices within companies. To complete their internships successfully, students are required to write up their experiences in the form of a report.
The department's approach, with its broad study of the field, together with the opportunities it offers for specialization and hands-on experience, will no doubt make graduates of this exciting new department well-prepared for rewarding careers in this increasingly important and global field.
