JMC program prepares professionals in the field of mass media and communications and combines general education courses with specialized professional courses in journalism, mass media research, public relations (PR), international and political communications. Additionally, JMC offers two concentrations: Concentration in Marketing and Public Relations and Concentration in Data Journalism.
As one of AUCA’s oldest departments, JMC has been training and educating competent journalists and media professionals since 1997.
Journalism and Mass Communications Department graduates work successfully as media managers, media entrepreneurs and professional journalists for local and global media (BBC, Associated Press, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (Radio Azattyk), Times of Central Asia, Eurasianet, The Conway Bulletin, Nikkei Asian Review, Open Democracy, etc). Other alumni work successfully in international organizations and projects (Freedom House, Internews, Institute of War and Peace Reporting, UN agencies, OSCE, Helvetas, the Soros Foundation, the Eurasia Foundation, GIZ, the Deutsche Welle Akademie, etc). Kadyr Toktogulov, ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United States of America, is one of our most distinguished alumni.
Besides professional success, JMC is one of the AUCA departments that offers a dual Bachelor’s degree from Bard College in the United States and the Ministry of Education of the Kyrgyz Republic. As a result, some of our graduates have also had academic success outside Central Asia, at universities in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia. Some have returned to teach at their alma mater.
Since 2017, we have been offering a Master’s degree program. Read more about it on its respective webpage. Our license by the Ministry of Education has been renewed in 2019 for five years, both for Bachelor and Master progams.
Our department is committed to teaching you the skills and tools of journalism and mass communications to meet the highest standards of the industry, whether in Central Asia or anywhere else. We will help you develop abilities to think critically, communicate clearly and understand the ethical dimensions of reporting, as well as to perform mass media research. We will also help cultivate your skills in public relations, data journalism and documentary filmmaking.
Students of our faculty have excellent opportunities to develop skills for media production using computer labs, professional video, photo and audio equipment. Students have at their disposal a fully equipped television studio, editing suites and a recording studio. Professional equipment is renewed on an annual basis.
Through our system of internships, our practical and theoretical coursework, and our media facilities, JMC offers students the chance to really develop themselves for professional work after graduation.
