Contact: Geoffrey Baum, (213) 821-1491
LOS ANGELES, September 15, 2006 – With support from the Annenberg Foundation, the USC Annenberg School for Communication is launching a pioneering new program in the management of online communities.
The
Charles Annenberg Weingarten Program in Online Communities is now accepting applications for its first cohort of students, scheduled to enroll in January 2007.
In the program, students will learn from researchers and industry professionals about the phenomenon of online communities, and they will learn how to build, operate, guide, and manage these vital new communities, which transcend geography, age, ethnicity, gender, income and other barriers. The program will blend traditional academic education with hands-on projects and experiential learning.
“If I was a young student today and wanted to develop my voice, I would choose the Internet over traditional media,” said Annenberg Foundation trustee
Charles Annenberg Weingarten, explaining why the group funded the initiative. “The Internet allows the individual to define his or her value system and seek other minds who share such beliefs.”
The Charles Annenberg Weingarten Program on Online Communities (APOC) will bring together a select cohort of graduate students who will learn how to build communities that foster personal and professional relationships, provide social support and vital information for people faced with medical or personal challenges and crises, create networks of people who share personal interests and offer effective tools for advocacy and promotion for politics, entertainment and business. Students will study both the technology and the social science that underlie this communications revolution. They will learn from USC’s world class scholars and from industry professionals and “gurus” in a most exciting and dynamic, hands-on learning environment. Students who complete the one-year program will earn a master’s in communication management from USC Annenberg.
“This is the kind of innovative program that Charles’ grandfather, Walter Annenberg, helped launch when he first began funding communications programs,” said
Geoffrey Cowan, dean of the USC Annenberg School. “We expect online communities to quickly become one of the areas of study for which USC Annenberg is best known.”
The program has a board of advisors of industry leaders and researchers who will help guide the program’s development and work closely with students. The group includes
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist.org;
Omar Wasow, founder of BlackPlanet.com;
Howard Rheingold of Rheingold.com;
danah boyd of danah.org; and
Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing.net.
Jeffrey Cole, Ph.D., director of USC Annenberg’s Center for the Digital Future, will serve as academic chair of the program. For the past seven years, Cole has directed the World Internet Project (WIP), a longitudinal study of the social, political, and economic impact of the Internet and Wireless in more than 20 countries.
A detailed module on the growth and impact of online communities has been added to this year’s World Internet Project and serves as the inaugural project for the broad research agenda of APOC.
Cole sees USC Annenberg as “the logical intersection of the traditional and new media worlds and uniquely able to join together both pioneers of emerging communities and academics able to understand the ways in which our world is constantly changing.”
Research will be distributed to various constituencies through academic journals, books and other channels, especially online. Beyond academia, much of the research will be directed at the political, journalistic, business, government, nonprofit and policy communities.
“We’ll be looking for ways to create opportunities for collaboration and cross-fertilization between research and industry,” said communication school director
Larry Gross.
Karen Kovacs North, Ph.D. has joined USC Annenberg as director of the program. A psychologist and former assistant dean of the UCLA School of Public Affairs, she previously worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and for Rep. Edward Markey, then chair of the US House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Finance.
“Online communities are revolutionizing our economic, political, and social lives,” she said. “At Annenberg, we are not merely observing this revolution, rather we are jumping in at the earliest possible opportunity to train the next generation of leaders and managers.”
According to North, APOC seeks students who wish to lead the way in the development and management of effective and first rate online communities. These students will be the first master’s students trained specifically in the production, development, use, power, and effective management of online communities.”
Applications for the program are due Nov. 15, 2006. To apply, visit
annenberg.usc.edu/onlinecommunities or email inquiries to ascadm@usc.edu.
Located in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California, the USC Annenberg School for Communication is among the nation's leading institutions devoted to the study of journalism and communication, and their impact on politics, culture and society. With an enrollment of more than 1,900 graduate and undergraduate students, USC Annenberg offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in journalism, communication, public diplomacy and public relations. For more information, visit
www.annenberg.usc.edu.
back to top