Nastasia takes SIUE global

Sorin Nastasia, assistant professor of speech communication.

Sorin Nastasia, assistant professor of speech communication, is on his way to making his mark at SIUE and globally in the field of public relations. His recent invitation to participate in “The Diaspora’s Contribution to Scientific Research and Higher Education in Romania” conference, in Bucharest, Romania, attests to his growing reputation as an exemplary scholar in his field.

The conference, which took place from Sept. 21-24, was sponsored by the Romanian government. Nastasia, a native of that country, was one of only a few hand-picked Romanian scholars invited to participate.

“Two years ago this initiative was started with a very technical approach—they (conference organizers) were thinking about new technologies,” Nastasia said. “This year, they succeeded in having a workshop related to communication.”

Nastasia’s experience in public relations and communication, working on projects with both the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education in his home country as well as producing a notable dissertation related to public relations and globalization at the University of North Dakota, seemed perfectly tailored for the landmark conference.

“They said ‘you are relevant to our workshop; please come because we want to get some information from you,'” Nastasia said. “Since I was done with my dissertation just this year, I was also interested in showing some of my findings because my dissertation is about the globalization of public communication.”

Nastasia presented as part of a workshop, “Scientific Journalism and Communication.” The workshop, according to Nastasia’s invitation letter, aimed “to examine various evaluation methods of education and research in journalism and mass communication carried out in various countries.”

As Nastasia’s dissertation focused on French, American and Romanian public relations’ practices, his perspectives were particularly appropriate and critical for the workshop.

Nastasia’s experience and accomplishments are also of particular importance to SIUE. The Romanian native brings a valuable, global perspective to public relations curriculum and to communications research in general. He plans on utilizing his knowledge and experience to help students and the University as a whole. Developing a master’s program for public relations at SIUE is high on his agenda.

“Right now, we have a public relations track for undergraduates but we don’t have one for (students seeking a) master’s,” explained Nastasia. “I know that there are students who finish their undergraduate years with a major in public relations. Then, they have to stop their studies or go to another university or switch (majors) because they don’t want to leave the area. There’s clearly a need and there’s clearly an interest. So, I want to try to serve our students.”

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