M.A of Communications Unveiled in Ceremonious Event

Faculty, students and alumni were in attendance for the much anticipated unveiling of the newest Masters of Arts in Communication program offered at Texas A&M International University on Nov. 20. The ceremony was held at 6pm that evening at the Helen Richter Watson Gallery located inside the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library.

Dr. Jose Carlos Lozano was the master of ceremonies for the evening and introduced key points for the M.A. in communications program such as application, enrollment, and course information. TAMIU communication faculty in attendance included TAMIU professors, Marcella Moran, Ariadne Gonzalez, Dr. Maria Flores, and the newest faculty addition Dr. Daniel De la Miyar.

As previously mentioned in our last story, Master of Arts in Communication Now Offered at TAMIU, the graduate program will focus on two areas of practical and applied knowledge to enable students to get first hand experience in their field of study. Both areas of concentration include Border and Latin American Media Studies and Organizational Communication in Transnational Settings.

Communication faculty in attendance each went up to the podium to give a formal introduction and brief summary of the skills and knowledge they hope to pass on during the course of the program.

Among some of the night’s speakers TAMIU professor Marcela Moran stated that, “I am very excited to be teaching Latin American cinema at the graduate level, and also ethnographic cinema filmmaking. I’m particularly excited about [this] because this is [what] my scholarly work has been focusing on [over] the last couple of years…” Moran is an accomplished filmmaker who focuses on ethnographic research through film and the border cultural landscapes that surround us all.

Dr. Daniel De la Miyar, the newest adjunct professor at TAMIU, had a few words about the courses he will be teaching come Spring 2014. De la Miyar explained that his course will focus on “Inter-cultural communications and inter-cultural studies; specifically here in our border cities.” He continues to mention that, “The kind of culture we are receiving now through TAMIU is all these different nations and of course how we apply that in our border cities.” Dr. De la Miyar will be teaching Inter-Cultural Communications and its practical and academic applications over the course of the 2 year program. “One of the courses I will be teaching is Inter-Cultural Training in Organizations”. Dr. De la Miyar is the branch director of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Texas and is heavily involved in Latin American cultural studies.

As the event concluded, closing statements by Dr. Lozano included the announcement that 3 of the courses offered for the M.A program will be available to undergraduate and graduate students in the Spring. The courses outlined according to the department chair are,  “Communication Theories, Media Culture and Identity in the U.S Mexico Border, and Organizational Communication”.

In the Question and Answer section of the night’s ceremony Dr. Lozano took answers from the students and alumni in attendance.

Questions included inquiries about admissions and the BA/MA program.  According to the department chair, in regards to admissions, “No prerequisites would be required as long as graduate applicants have received their degrees in any Humanities field”.  In relation to the BA/MA option Lozano stated, “There is an option for senior students called BA/MA, the Bachelor in Art and Master in Arts. It means that [in their last year as a senior] seniors can take up to 9 hours of graduate work and they can keep those hours for the graduate degree requirements.”

After the reception the master of ceremonies made himself available to take questions from The Bridge.

“This is the first time that an attempt has been made to start the graduate program. The conditions were not right; the number of students and the faculty mainly” said Dr. Lozano. He continued to mention, “[However], we are very excited and very glad that this was possible! It took a short of amount of time considering that first the program needed to be approved by the dean and provost, then it was sent to College Station, then from there they had to send it to the Texas Higher Education Board.” The person who made this possible was all smiles after the interview and justfully so.

2011 TAMIU Communications graduate, Monica Santillana, was among the alumni who attended the event that evening. The Bridge had the chance to speak to the former TAMIU student.

Santillana mentioned that with her degree she was able to get her foot in the door in the job market. Her first job out of TAMIU was at The Laredo Morning Times. “I was a Spanish assistant and translator, and thankfully I am fluent in Spanish”, said Santillana. Her plans for her continuing education in the M.A program include being able to fine tune her skills and helping her get a further jump into the communication profession.

The former TAMIU alumni enthusiastically mentioned that this program is something that she is actively pursuing. “I already applied on applytexas.org, however I am currently polishing up my personal essay and gathering all my recommendation letters”.

For more information on the new program Dr. Lozano, Professor of Communication Chair, can be reached in his office at Canceso Hall 301-A or by calling (956) 326-2465.

For questions, comments, or concerns about this article, readers can reach out to Tina Gomez at cristinagomez@dusty.tamiu.edu