International Communication Management - English - 3 years - Full-time
How do brands like Patagonia and Toms capture the imagination of consumers? Why has Unilever impressed investors with its belief that ‘sustainable business’ is good for business? On ICM you’ll learn how a sustainable communicator can have a positive influence on creating a better world. You’ll learn how to become a marketing communications specialist who can strengthen relationships with consumers, a PR professional who can win back the trust of stakeholders with action rather than words, or a leader who inspires employees to act with integrity. You’ll learn about various communication disciplines, applied research and creative and critical thinking. The group projects that you complete in the first two years will test your ability to advise real companies on their communication strategy. An optional exchange, a five month internationally orientated internship, and a thesis finalise your development as a communications expert ready for the global workplace.
Structure of International Communication Management - English - 3 years - Full-time
Lectures
20hours per week
Self-study
20hours per week
Projects
10hours per week
Study credits
60in year one
Year 1
The first year is the foundation (propaedeutic) year
At ICM, we do things differently. Most universities solely focus on communication theory in the first year. We sketch out the international, professional environment our ICM students will most likely be exposed to. In the introductory Global Issues course, we focus on how communication can play a key part in addressing today’s social changes. The course Organisational Communication gives an integrated perspective on stakeholder relations and internal, corporate, intercultural and marketing communication. During the second semester of year one, you’ll work on an extensive group assignment called the Design Thinking Project. As part of this project, you’ll be working for an external provider. You’ll try to resolve a communication issue they might be struggling with. Last year, for example, students worked with the National Institute for Traffic Safety to help prevent accidents caused using smartphones on bicycles.
Timetable
Year 2
Delve deeper
The second part of ICM is all about putting your knowledge and critical thoughts into practice. For example, your added value for a large multinational or government body. You’ll take on the role of a communication advisor and further your knowledge through courses such as Media Relations, Advisory Skills and Public Communication. In addition to attending our acclaimed international classroom, we want you to experience adjusting to an unfamiliar international environment on an exchange. After all, it’s quite likely that you’ll actually have to do so after landing your first job. But don’t worry - you won’t have to do all the legwork to arrange the exchange yourself. At THUAS, we have a large network with 100 partner universities in Latin America, Japan, USA, UK, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia and more. You’ll also have the chance to follow minors at THUAS or another educational institution in the Netherlands.
Timetable
Year 3
Internship and graduation
Ah yes, year three! The year when you get to write the ‘dreaded’ thesis. Well, that might be the case if you were to write a 30,000-word literary masterpiece on a subject you don’t find particularly interesting. At ICM, you’ll write your final paper combined with a five-month work placement at an international company. In the first semester, we prepare you for this challenge in courses such as Strategic Thinking, Advanced Writing and Placement Survival Skills. We’ll go to considerable lengths to coach you during your placement - to meet your needs as well as those of your host company. In fact, it’s probably why many ICM students get a job offer after their placement. Last year, for example, a student wrote a dissertation on how to improve Nike’s communication when processing online returns. We’ve also had more marketing inclined ICM students who wrote their final paper about advertising agencies like TBWA and Ogilvy.
Timetable
Minors
Shape your degree
A lot of ICM students enter the workforce with some form of specialisation. This is what minors are all about - giving your ICM degree an edge. The list of minor options on ICM is endless. You might want to learn more about media relations and journalism, because you want to become a journalist, or you’d like to know how to handle questions from the press as a public relations officer. And what about a minor called Entrepreneurship and Innovation, which might help you approach communication issues from an alternative perspective? Other minors include Sustainability in Business, Crisis communication and Cross-Cultural Communication. Over half of ICM students go abroad in the year two to follow two minors at one of our partner universities in countries like Japan, UK, Korea or USA.
Working methods
Lectures, seminars, study visits, self-study, group activities and project work
Many people say ICM is something you study at an academic university because it’s so theoretical. And there may be some truth IN that. But, on THUAS’s ICM programme, you won’t be learning theory for the sake of it. All the theoretical courses can be directly applied to cases that you’ll have to deal with when you start out as a junior communication manager. This means you won’t just learn about general mass communication theories, as is the case with most universities. As an ICM student, you’ll advocate positive change. This means you don’t take existing thoughts and ideas for granted. You could, for example, think that organisations flood consumers’ social media feeds with unnecessary information which they consider to be ‘cool’ viral campaigns. ICM nourishes this critical mind-set and teaches you to find new ways of communicating an organisation’s vision to internal and external stakeholders.
Contact the study
Contact a student
You can email one of our students
Jane Hang Hoang
Hello, my name is Jane Hang Hoang and I am a first year International Communication Management student. Originally, I am from Vietnam. About myself, I love traveling and capture the beauty of the world with my camera. Do you have any questions regarding the application, scholarship, life and study in the Netherlands, feel free to contact me. I'm willing to help and share my experience. I would do my best and email you back as soon as possible!
Assistance during your studies
Study coaching and advice
We assume your time at ICM will run smoothly. However, we do offer personal assistance if you are experiencing any study problems. In the first year, you’ll be allocated a coach who can help you keep track of your study progress. He/she can help you improve your time management skills, or find the right people within the programme to answer more complicated questions. He/she will also support you if you have any personal problems that can adversely affect your schoolwork.
Collect ECTS
Binding Study Advice (BSA)
If you haven’t acquired the basics needed to continue the degree programme of your choice, you will have a hard time completing it successfully. To make sure that you have these basics, you will have to meet an academic progress standard during your first year as a student (the foundation year). If you have earned at least 50 of the 60 credits (or, if relevant, have satisfied a qualitative requirement), the Examination Board will give you a positive binding study advice to continue your degree programme. In most cases, if you earn fewer than 50 credits, you will receive a Negative Binding Study Advice (NBSA) and you will have to leave the degree programme.
But the Examination Board will always consider personal circumstances. These could include illness or participating in elite sports: personal conditions that might have kept you from meeting the required academic standard. In such cases, the Examination Board can postpone giving its study advice. This means that you can continue your degree programme for the time being and that your study advice will be issued later, possibly with additional conditions imposed.
It is important, however, that you inform the Examination Board immediately of any personal conditions that might apply to you.
In conclusion: every student is responsible for his or her own academic progress. For this reason, make sure to contact your academic career coach early on if things are not going well. Read all the rules and requirements for the binding study advice in Chapter 7 of the Programme and Examination Regulations (PER) for your degree programme.