A new course offered this fall is designed to help students strengthen one of the most valuable and overlooked skills—the ability to self-advocate.

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By Idara Ibanga
10-15-2025
This story originally appeared in News@TheU.

When life hands you oranges, do you negotiate for the juice or the peel?

For graduate student Vanessa Bonilla, that question changed how she views conflict and problem-solving. It came up during a classroom lecture in the new JMM 465/665: Media Negotiation course, and it stuck with her long after she left the room.

“We learned that two sides can want the same thing but for different reasons,” she said. “One person may want the juice, and the other wants the peel. Instead of arguing, they both get what they want. It showed me negotiation isn’t just about one party winning. It’s about finding value through understanding.”

That mindset is exactly what adjunct professor Eddy Arias, who teaches the class, wants his students to take away. Offered for the first time this fall through the University of Miami School of Communication, Media Negotiation is designed to help students strengthen one of the most valuable and overlooked skills in the professional world: the ability to advocate for themselves.

Arias brings more than 20 years of experience in global media leadership, including work with Pluto TV, Paramount, and Sony Pictures. His course pulls directly from real-world deal-making, with students diving into cases from Harvard Business Publishing that mirror the kinds of negotiations that happen at major media companies every day.

“Most courses focus on what you create. This course focuses on how you secure the resources, rights, and opportunities that make those creations possible,” Arias explained.

Students take on roles as executives, producers, journalists, or talent managers, simulating the pressures of high-stakes decisions. “The role-plays are transformative because students stop being ‘students’ and start being decision-makers. Suddenly, they feel the pressure of what’s at stake,” Arias said.

Both Bonilla and Victoria Gonzalez, a senior majoring in media management and communication studies, said the lessons go far beyond business.

“Everything in life is a negotiation,” Bonilla said.

Gonzalez agreed. “Negotiation shows up everywhere,” she said. “Negotiation is conversations, relationships, friendships, and building any type of networking. It plays a really large role in all of our everyday lives, and I think that’s what I had not completely recognized prior to taking the class.”

Arias intentionally designed the course to connect with every major in the School of Communication, whether students plan to work in film, journalism, advertising, or public relations.

“I think I was surprised to see how interconnected all the industries are with media. Even though it’s a media-focused class, we talk about a larger scope of business in general, understanding marketing, and then sales strategies. I’m constantly figuring out how they can connect, and negotiation is a part of every single business,” Gonzalez explains.

Adding to the appeal, Arias brings in guest speakers each week from some of the biggest names in media, including TikTok, Netflix, and Disney.

“It’s incredible hearing directly from people who negotiate deals every day,” Gonzalez said. “It truly is getting firsthand experience and understanding the core principles.”

For many students, those conversations bridge the gap between classroom learning and career application. “To me, knowledge translates to confidence,” Gonzalez said. “Knowing the attitude that goes into negotiation really can translate into success, and it allows you to be more prepared as someone who’s looking to enter the workforce.”

For Arias, the real goal isn’t just to create skilled negotiators. It’s to help students see the power they already have. “I want them to carry a mindset of curiosity, preparation, and adaptability,” he said. “Whether they’re closing a media deal or negotiating a salary, they’ll have the confidence to walk in prepared, read the room, and find solutions others miss.”

Bonilla said the course completely shifted how she views her future. “[Before this,] I was always good at negotiating, but I didn’t know the exact tools or skills,” she said. “Now, I’m next level at it, and I feel powerful.”

In an industry where connections, clarity, and confidence often determine success, Media Negotiation might just be the hidden gem of the School of Communication, a class that doesn’t just prepare students for their next deal but for every decision that follows.