Conducted as a workshop, this course considers the theory and practice of sports writing for print media. Students will learn how to write a variety of sports stories while studying and critiquing sports writing at a local and national level.
Every Spring
This course is designed to bring together students interested in distinguishing scientific truth from misinformation and conveying that truth to a general audience not deeply versed in the disciplines of science. The course will allow students in the sciences to develop writing skills that will position them as spokespersons within and beyond their fields, while allowing students in the humanities who have at least an avocational interest in the sciences to develop that interest into serving both a growing niche of the journalistic market and the public’s need to know.
Every other Fall, odd years
This course will consider public affairs through coverage of events such as school board and city council meetings. Additional emphasis will be placed on beat reporting, including but not limited to in-depth coverage of issues emerging from areas such as government, science, and health, the economy, religion, and the legal system. Emphasis will be given to creating and using multi-media components to deliver information. Students will advance their philosophy of freedom of the press through the study of various philosophical orientations.
Most Fall terms
This course addresses the skills in both copy editing and design needed to be a successful publications editor. Students will learn how to shape and edit copy according to Associated Press style, how to write headlines and captions, and how to think and act ethically in an editorial capacity. Students will also learn skills in typography, photo editing, copy and issue fitting,and typesetting and layout using state of the art desktop publishing programs.
Every other Fall, even years
In this course students will seek to illuminate truth through the use of the visual. Students will learn to shoot news and feature subjects with a digital SLR camera. Emphasis will be given to the study of photo composition and to photo editing. In addition, they will create and edit video footage. Students will study and discuss various ethical principles and explore the work of photographers of note. Course requires a digital SLR camera.
Every other Fall, even years
In this course students will produce news and feature stories as they make use of multi-platform strategies that include the following: the gathering and editing of audio and video, photo slide shows that incorporate narration and/or music, blogging via WordPress, and data visualization and presentation. In addition, students will use social media (Twitter and Instagram) and smart phone technology to cover events. Students will deepen their philosophy of the role of a press in a free society as they develop their ability to work toward fair, balanced, accurate, objective, empathetic, and multiperspectival journalism in a digital world.
Every other Spring, even years
In this course students will study the principles of a theory of empathy and will cultivate and practice an ethic of empathy. In order to live fully and deeply human beings must bring all of their human capacities to bear in their daily lives, professional and personal. As students gain a deeper understanding of empathy as an innate human ability, they will find ways to understand better both themselves and others. Students will read and discuss works of nonfiction and will practice empathy through the act of interviewing individuals whose lives or ways of being they believe significantly different from their own.
Most Interims
An examination of the development of American journalism from colonial times to the present. Using primary source readings and films, in addition to textbooks, the course will examine changes within the journalism industry itself, the response of that industry to changes in American society and culture, and the effects journalism has had on American life.
Every other Spring, even years
Special Topics in Journalism.