Study Abroad for PR Students

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By: Jackie Sears

Studying abroad is a great way to understand how PR works across the world.  There are many opportunities that studying abroad will help with learning more about public relations, on an international scale.

Each country varies on how its communication is involved with the public and stakeholders but in the end, PR has a similar meaning across borders. The more a PR professional knows about other countries and cultures, they will be able to correctly do business or seek job opportunities outside of the United States. It is good to keep in mind that a lot of corporations are international, meaning that there are multiple locations that are planted throughout the world. With this said, it is important for PR professionals to research and understand a culture before releasing information and speaking with the public when it comes to two-way communication, crises and promotion.

It only means so much to learn cross-cultural PR, but if a student actually experiences living abroad for a certain amount of time, they can benefit in their career by learning to grow with public relations and networking across the world. Not only will it make someone a stronger communicator, it will give you a diverse personification of yourself whenever looking for jobs.

I get to experience this by studying abroad in Japan. In five weeks of time I will be able to pitch stories to media outlets, research a cultural topic and write a blog. These opportunities will allow me as a PR student to learn more about a culture and apply it to every day writing and grow my horizon as a journalist. The studies that will take place are cross-cultural reporting and international PR. These classes will help with further understanding how to communicate in Japan. By doing this experience, I feel that as a PR professional I will be able to differentiate myself.

Public relations is the factor that keeps loyal followers towards a brand. By having an international experience and learning how to adjust to a new culture will help any student learn how to communicate with new publics and from that be beneficial to a brand.

Sources Cited

CIS Abroad. (n.d.). Why Study Communication, IT and Design Abroad. Retrieved from http://www.cisabroad.com/study-in-your-major/study-in-communication-it-and-design

UNT Study Abroad. (n.d.). Mayborn in Japan. Retrieved from https://studyabroad.unt.edu/index.cfm?FuseAction=Programs.ViewProgram