UMCOM: Strategic Communications Management

The course is designed to develop United Methodist Church (UMC) Strategic Communication Managers with skills that are compatible with and fit seamlessly within the dictates of the 21 st century’s highly fluid information and communication ecologies. These ecologies are punctuated by massive information disorders, misinformation, fake news, disinformation, hoaxes and the ever-evolving role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in communication management. These call for robust digital and techno-savvy communicators who can adapt to the ever-changing competencies in the infosphere. The course seeks to capacitate communication actors with indispensable craft competencies in the following key areas: Ethics and Cultural Sensitivities; Effective Storytelling Techniques; Crisis Communication Management; Digital Story Telling, Branding, Identity and Resource Mobilisation; AI and Digital Information Management; Data Analytics and Internal Communication Strategies; and Diplomatic Communications, Protocol and Etiquette.