Gannon University has announced the creation of the School of
Communication and the Arts in the College of Humanities, Education
and Social Sciences. The School will co-locate and integrate
current and emerging programs in human communication studies, media
studies, and the digital and performing arts. Hands-on,
co-curricular programs will be joined in the building including
90.5 WERG, the University radio station, the Schuster Gallery, the
Gannon Knight, the Collins Institute for Archaeological Research
and the Erie Chamber Orchestra.
The School will be dedicated to providing artistic and
educational opportunities to enhance and expand the cultural lives
of the Gannon family as well as the Erie community at-large. With a
wide variety of exhibitions, broadcasts, performances, concerts and
readings, the combination of theory and practice within the School
of Communication and the Arts will provide students with enriching
experiences that can make the difference between obtaining a degree
and getting an education, between knowing and understanding.
The School of Communication and the Arts will launch with the
grand opening for the Fall 2014 semester. Joining the new School
are programs in advertising communications and journalism
communication.
"Bringing these programs into the School of Communication and
the Arts creates exciting synergies," said Linda Fleming, Ph.D.,
Dean of the College of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.
"The opportunity for curricular development and collaboration
increases when you put some of our more creative and innovative
programs and people under the same administrative umbrella and
under the same roof. New programming for the school is already
being created."
Co-location in the building at W. Seventh and Peach Streets
formerly occupied by the Loyal Christian Benefit Association and
other tenants will provide quality aesthetic experiences and
contribute a deeper appreciation of the liberal arts
experience.
Fleming pointed out that a person entering the building will see
the Schuster Gallery (which will be relocated from the third floor
of the Nash Library) to her or his left, directly across from the
Archaeology Museum Gallery with its collection of 5,000- year-old
Bronze Age objects from Jordan.
The creation of the new School was announced soon after the
beginning of a fall semester that saw Gannon's total enrollment
increase by more than 200 students, a five-percent increase at a
time when many institutions are reporting flat or declining
enrollment.