Prof Dutta, who is now Dean's Chair Professor of Communication at Massey University in New Zealand, urged prospective communications students to "research the school as you would when making the major decisions of life", observing that picking a university programme is "one of the greatest commitments" in people's lives.
"Don't be seduced by the glossy marketing materials," he added.
#adviceforstudents Finally, this is the key, research the school as you would when making the major decisions of life. This is one of the greatest commitments of your life. Research. Find the information. Don't be seduced by the glossy marketing materials.— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
On what to look out for, Prof Dutta suggested that students should research the profiles of the staff members teaching strategic communications.
Strategic communications is an umbrella term for the public relations, advertising and corporate communication sectors.
#adviceforstudents You want to go to school to study Communication to do Advertising, PR, or what are called Strategic Communication jobs. Look at Communication departments that have faculty in the strategic communication area. #strategiccommunication— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
"Often, Schools tend to use Strategic Communication as a cash cow to generate student numbers but don't invest into the area in terms of active researchers and teachers," Prof Dutta wrote.
#adviceforstudents Ask how the School spends its resources on allocations to different areas in Communication. Often, Schools tend to use Strategic Communication as a cash cow to generate student numbers but don't invest into the area in terms of active researchers and teachers.— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
He was referring to a common practice among university departments. Because strategic communication courses tend to be popular, universities offer them with the motive of attracting more students. But they fail to hire adequately trained instructors for those courses, and students do not benefit.
"Ask whether the people that are teaching you have the competence to teach you? You can figure this out by looking at their publications. Are they publishing in Advertising, PR, Communication Campaigns? These are the skillsets you will need from Communication," Prof Dutta wrote. "Do they have applied or practice-based experience?"
#adviceforstudents Ask whether the people that are teaching you have the competence to teach you? You can figure this out by looking at their publications. Are they publishing in Advertising, PR, Communication Campaigns? These are the skillsets you will need from Communication.— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
Prof Dutta has both research and practical experience in communication campaigns. He created the culture-centred approach, which emphasises consulting the disadvantaged when crafting policies to help them. He also ran the No Singaporeans Left Behind campaign to raise awareness of the poor in Singapore.
ALSO READ: The "No Singaporeans Left Behind" Facebook page and White Paper.
#adviceforstudents Research who will be teaching you. Do the people placed in the classroom teaching you have the expertise in the areas to teach you? Do they have applied or practice-based experience?— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
"One of my favorite Schools for Strategic Communication is the Missouri School of Journalism. It comes pretty close to being the model School for studying Strategic Communication," said Prof Dutta as he called on students to use its faculty composition as a guide to what an ideal communications programme should look like.
ALSO READ: The Missouri School of Journalism online staff directory.
Another plus point of the Missouri School of Journalism is that it is a standalone school, not a department within a larger humanities, arts and social sciences faculty.
Mocking traditional humanities disciplines, he wrote: "If you think you need four years of college to learn how to read Shakespeare or how to read a map, you need much more, a very basic training in communication science to learn how to communicate. When you hire a geography major or a literature major to do your communication, you demonstrate your naïveté."
Urging employers to take communications seriously by reserving communications jobs for candidates with formal training in communications, he said: "You shit on your brand when you take communication as comms, treat it as some silly sideshow that any incompetent loser from whatever disciplinary training can do."
He advised students that they should "study Communication, not English, Cultural Studies, Geography, History, or Sociology (because there) is a whole discipline that trains you in the science of communication."
For students, if you want to find a job in the Communication industries, study Communication, not English, Cultural Studies, Geography, History, or Sociology. There is a whole discipline that trains you in the science of communication.— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
On why students would "want to ideally pick a School of Comm", he said: "This is key because the large student numbers and industry relevance of Communication often makes other less relevant disciplines such as English, Geography etc. insecure ... You will also hear nonsense from the less relevant disciplines about how Communication is not rigorous. This is BS. Not backed by evidence. Driven by envy from disciplines in Liberal Arts that are increasingly irrelevant and struggling."
#adviceforstudents Is Communication located in its own School? This is key because the large student numbers and industry relevance of Communication often makes other less relevant disciplines such as English, Geography etc. insecure. You want to ideally pick a School of Comm.— Mohan J Dutta (@mjdutt) April 21, 2019
In Singapore, three of the six autonomous universities offer undergraduate communications programmes: the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore Management University (SMU), and NUS.
Only the communications programme at NTU is run as a separate school known as the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI). SMU offers its communications programme as a major in communication management under the Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB); the communications programme at NUS, known as the major in Communications & New Media (CNM), is part of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS).
ALSO READ: Analysis of the differences between NTU WKWSCI and NUS CNM including a comparison of curriculum and administrative structure.
Prof Dutta resigned as CNM department head in March 2018 shortly after making the news for inviting Professor Cherian George, former associate professor at WKWSCI and outspoken critic of the Singapore establishment, to give a presentation in NUS about censorship in authoritarian regimes.
The presentation was pushed back by more than two weeks as an administrative oversight within NUS caused a delay in approvals being granted for the event, according to an NUS statement in response to the incident.
ALSO READ: Coverage of the Professor Cherian George incident.
Prof Dutta then commented on the importance of academic freedom to local mainstream news outlet TODAYonline.
ALSO READ: Professor Dutta's comments on academic freedom.
In May that same year, he signed an open letter from academics to Charles Chong, chairman of the Select Committee on Deliberate Online Falsehoods, which protested the harsh treatment that historian Dr Thum Ping Tjin was subjected to during a six-hour hearing as part of public consultations on the problem of fake news.
ALSO READ: Coverage of the open letter to Charles Chong which Professor Dutta signed.
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