Basic principles of public relations and media relations for academics

Premises:
"Do it well and let people know about it”. This should be one of the basic motto for academics but, sadly, sometimes the best papers or researches are hardly read outside academia, especially in Italy. Why? Often academics lack the basic principles of the science of Public relations (PR) and media relations, and think that journalists, bloggers, press office’ and media centers’ managers are individuals who are not “relevant” for those who work in academia. In this course, learners are exposed to an overview of public relations principles and theories relevant to scholars and researchers. You will also explore classical PR tools (from press release to mailing list management to visit cards) case-studies relevant to social and natural sciences in academia. Some of the lessons will be dedicated to analysing the sociological concept of “habitus” of Pierre Bourdieu and its 3 capitals (social, economic, and cultural), reflection upon one’s own habitus.
Students will be asked to do a group or individual exercise to design a PR campaign aimed at increasing their social capital inside and outside the academia and to discuss the project in front of their classmates.

Objectives:

• acquire basic knowledge about principles of Public Relations (PR)

• reflect upon one’s personal habitus and how this affects one’s academic career in terms of PR;

• design a PR campaign to increase their social capital inside or outside the academia using some PR tools (press release, mailing list, personal webpage)