Students are encouraged to submit original work
By Megan Hughes
For the first time, Kutztown University’s public relations students will have the opportunity to present their original work to a PR panel at the 2024 Kutztown University Composition Conference (KUCC).
The conference, held on April 15, will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the theme “Looking Back, Writing Forward.” Dr. Robert Foschia, assistant professor of public relations at KU, will moderate the panel.
“As a professor, I see my students’ excellence in the classroom,” said Dr. Foschia. “I want this panel to be a comfortable environment where students can showcase their hard work and for others to see the PR students’ achievements.”
Founded in 2015, KU’s Public Relations Program combines three key foundations—writing, design, and technique to provide a practical, skills-based curriculum that teaches students to manage relationships with target audiences and maintain an organization’s good public image. The program allows students to work on projects for real clients in classes and during a two-semester capstone sequence with KU’s on-campus PR agency, The Agency. The interdisciplinary program draws on the skills and expertise of KU’s Department of English and Department of Communication Studies.
Submissions to the panel are not limited to PR majors and minors but to all students who have taken a class within the program and would like to present their PR-related coursework. Contributors can interpret the theme broadly, considering various presentation forms such as scholarly, creative, researched, multimedia, personal, and portfolio.
The KUCC will feature additional panels for all students to submit in any genre. Traditional papers and other forms of composition may include freeform roundtable discussions, digital media projects, readings, and more. Digitally presented projects can also be posted on the KUCC’s Research Commons site with or without an accompanying live presentation.
The due date for all submissions is March 15, 2024. Students can submit here.