Our strategic communication department is earning national recognition at the 2026 American Academy of Advertising annual conference, with faculty selected to present research alongside leading scholars and industry professionals from across the country. Their inclusion reflects the strength of the department’s scholarship and its growing reputation within the field. From the impact of online communities… Read more »
Holidays like birthdays, anniversaries and Valentine’s Day come with high expectations. And sometimes, despite the best intentions, things don’t go as planned. Whether it’s a forgotten reservation, a misread gesture or a moment that simply falls flat, missing the mark can create tension in even the strongest relationships. Josh Bentley, associate professor and director of… Read more »
Call it a tailgate party. This year, by the time the commercials aired during the Super Bowl, many of them had already been viewed. Catherine Coleman, professor and chair of strategic communication, offered insight into the new trend and the timeless big game. With all the changes in media and television viewing habits, what keeps… Read more »
Students in Instructor Sarah Angle’s Strategic Communication Campaigns class spent the semester creating a research-based, strategically designed campaign to address infant mortality in Tarrant County. On Dec. 9, they presented their work to Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker and community partners from the North Texas Maternal Health Accelerator, an initiative between the Anne Burnett Marion… Read more »
Creativity has always been at the center of who John Walls ‘05 is. As a kid, he was hooked from the moment he opened his first LEGO pirate set, sails and cannons included. That early passion came full circle in summer 2025 when Walls, who goes by brickbuilderjohn on Instagram, took the national stage as… Read more »
TCU professor emerita Jacqueline Lambiase was named Communicator of the Year award from the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Lambiase serves as the co-director of the Certified Public Communicator Program at TCU, which operates in the summer from the Department of Strategic Communication and Schieffer College. The… Read more »
What makes an apology effective, and why does it matter? In this Explained in 60 Seconds video from TCU’s social media team, Josh Bentley, associate professor and director of graduate studies at TCU, breaks down the Four R’s of a meaningful apology. Using his research on brand apologies, Bentley demonstrates how a sincere apology can… Read more »
For the past 13 summers, public communicators from cities, counties, school districts and other government entities spend a week at TCU honing their communication skills as part of the Certified Public Communicator® program. These students brave the Texas heat and enjoy the campus between sessions about leadership, engaging their communities and ethical communication. “What better… Read more »
How can brands show they’re listening to their audiences? It’s a question Sarah Maben has explored throughout her research, leading her to study how brands use emoji. In her latest study, funded by the Page Center, Maben and her co-author, Christopher Gearhart of Tarleton State University, examined whether emoji help or hurt brand communication…. Read more »
Josh Bentley, Ph.D., argues that apologies are losing their meaning in American culture. Instead of being sincere efforts at reconciliation, public apologies are now often used as strategic tools, stripped of their ethical intent. “Apologies are supposed to be a meaningful reconciliation without violence,” the associate professor of strategic communication said. “Instead, they’ve become about… Read more »
