Major Overview

We will provide you with a combination of digitally-oriented, hands-on training, and a solid, intellectual grounding in theories and issues related to journalism, media, and communications. You will be trained in all aspects of journalism, including news gathering, reporting basics, magazine design and production, television news and video production, and digital journalism. You will acquire a necessary familiarity with digital tools in production, design, and editing and develop professional-level skills in the writing and editing of articles for a news site, producing video for television and websites, and managing a print and online magazine, all working together under a common brand, in a single newsroom setting. 

Featured Course

Media and War

Students explore topics ranging from aesthetics of war in film, news, TV, and print media to...

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The educational goals for this major are as follows:

  • Knowledge: you will understand journalism's relationship to society, power, politics and the international stage; its historical role and its current evolution in a shifting media landscape.       
  • Analysis: you will be able to analyze works of journalism within their historical, geographical, and generic contexts on the basis of responsible and informed awareness of cultural diversity.
  • Research: you will know how to research, sift and prioritize information, and evaluate source credibility.
  • Practice: you will know how to craft a news story that is correct, clear, concise and fit for multimedia distribution. You will know how to work to a deadline.                       
  • Production: you will have familiarity with digital tools in editing, production and will have professional-level skills in developing articles for a news site, producing video and managing a print and online magazine.                           
  • Collaboration: you will have developed an ethical and responsible journalistic practice, and will have learnt to collaborate with others towards common goals.   

Learning Environment

Our student media resources will allow you to take part in workshops that concentrate on a multi-platform approach to journalism production, while courses in social media, fashion journalism, media economics, and media law and ethics will add invaluable resources to your exploration of journalism. Your courses will be taught by seasoned journalists with experience at major international media outlets, as well as digital practitioners and scholars with longstanding teaching experience in media and communications. You will also have access to a state-of-the-art newsroom and video production studio  in our new Thamer Salman Student Media Center. 

Unesco Youth Forum

Student Work

AUP Student Media provided on-the-ground news coverage as the official news source...

Major Components
Build Your Degree

With every single one of our majors, you’ll find a carefully curated medley of core courses and electives, which will provide you with the tools you need to establish an unshakeable foundation in the principles and concepts fundamental to your growth within your disciplines of choice. Many majors also enable you to specialize further within the broader area of study.

Core Courses

Core Courses

We aim to help you develop a range of skills, capacities, and modes of inquiry that will be crucial for your future since employers and graduate schools are looking for the critical thinking and innovative problem-solving skills that are associated with a liberal arts education, including sophisticated writing abilities, willingness to pose difficult questions, and an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts surrounding a topic or decision.  The workshop requirement will also provide practical hands-on experience that will help you refine your professional interests.

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Electives

Electives

Choose 16 credits among the electives suggested for the major and find yourself with a solid foundation in areas of study that will prove crucial to your future endeavors within journalism.  

Note: The workshops need to be listed as part of the core courses, but with the caveat of select 2 from the four

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BROWSE ALL MAJORS AND REQUIREMENTS

Core Courses

The Journalism core courses, which you must take as part of the major requirements, will provide you with the tools you’ll need to ground your present and future studies. Your introduction to the fundamentals of Journalism will help pave the way for your successful completion of other Journalism courses.

 
CM1011 Journalism: Writing & Reporting

The introductory course provides students with basic training in writing and reporting in all forms of journalism, print and online. The course gives students with a grounding in the basic principles and practices of the journalism profession: accuracy, fairness, objectivity. Students will learn journalistic writing techniques as well as style and tone. They will analyze possible sources, define angles, and learn to write a hard news story. The course will provide workshop training for students involved in ASM courses focused on the Peacock Plume website.

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CM1023 Intro To Media & Communication Studies

This course provides a survey of the media and its function in today’s society. It introduces students to the basic concepts and tools necessary to think critically about media institutions and practices. In addition to the analysis of diverse media texts, the course considers wider strategies and trends in marketing, distribution, audience formation and the consequences of globalization. By semester’s end, students will understand the basic structures of today’s media and be able to provide advanced analysis that weighs the social and political implications of its products.

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CM1500 Digital Toolkit: Communication Design Practicum

In this digital tools training course, students will learn skills and gain hands-on experience with a range of digital publishing tools to build and curate a web platform with compelling, sharable content. They will become familiar with key storytelling platforms and technologies including Wordpress, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. They will acquire hands---on experience with essential software including Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator, Encoder, and Final Cut Pro; and they will learn to manipulate HTML and CSS with a basic Integrated Design Environment. In this highly hands---on course, students will learn basic web design and work collaboratively to create and launch a dynamic new digital brand online.

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CM2014 Comparative Journalism : Gutenberg To Google

Studies will study the production of journalism in different historical, political and cultural contexts. Theoretical approaches to media and journalism (for example, authoritarian vs liberal models) will be studied to understand the relationship between politics and journalism – and, more generally, the media that operate as industries regulated by states. The course also examines the transformation of the journalism profession by new technologies, notably the impact of the web and social media on newsgathering and other journalistic practices. Issues such as censorship and surveillance will be examined through case studies such as Google and Facebook and new “gatekeepers” of news.

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CM3046 Media Law, Policy, & Ethics

Examines how constitutional and statutory law define and protect media in different countries. Introduces students to libel law, copyright and author's rights, commercial rights issues, and variations across countries. Examines the role of government institutions and regulatory bodies in formulating policy on matters such as children's television and advertising regulation. Explores the process of self-regulation and issues of journalist's ethics.

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CM3098 Internship

Students may undertake an internship in an advertising agency, film company, or television company. Internships may be taken for 1 or 4 credits. Students may do more than one internship, but internship credit cannot cumulatively total more than 4 credits. The internship must be registered for 4-CR if the student decides to do an internship instead of the senior seminar. Students have taken internships at CNN, Harpers, Societe Francaise de Production, Le Courrier International, Sixty Minutes, European Broadcasting Union, amongst many others.

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OR
CM4090 Senior Thesis Seminar

The senior thesis research seminar allows students to work in a small group setting with a professor,where they draw from and hone research methods and theories they have learned in the Global Communications major and across their entire BA education. It culminates in a major piece of primary research that the student presents to an audience of peers and faculty.he seminar is designed to demonstrate cumulative knowledge, while teaching advanced research skills valued in the workforce and necessary for graduate school. The thesis is required for students seeking honors in the major.

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OR
CM4095 Senior Project

In consultation with a faculty member, the student undertakes a senior project related to the field or pratice of journalism and media production. Written projects are normally 25-30 pages. The project can take the form of a feature-length magazine article, a long-form piece of video or audio journalism, a multi-media production including iconography and illustrative material, or a strategic business plan for a journalism or media product such as a magazine or online platform. (https://aupforms.formstack.com/workflows/senior_project)

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CM4075 Portfolio

Taught as a directed study, this course enables senior students to assemble as a whole their own work for the Journalism Major in order to reflect, to evaluate, and to critique its coherence.

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Journalism Workshops

Select three different workshops from the following list:

CM1850 Magazine Journalism Practicum

This workshop trains students in magazine writing and production through hands-on experience working on a high-quality student magazine, the Peacock. Students participate in a newsroom setting in a variety of roles -- from writing and editing to pagination and layout -- to produce the Peacock in both print and online versions. Students will learn researching and writing techniques as well as how to interview and source stories for magazines. They will gain pre-professional experience preparing them for entry-level positions in magazine journalism – whether print publications or online magazines. Note: Up to 8 credits for Journalism Practica can be applied toward the degree. May be taken twice for credit.

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CM1851 Online News Practicum

This workshop trains students in online news writing and website curation through hands-on experience working on a news site in the style of Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, Daily Beast and similar sites. Students will participate in a variety of roles -- from editing and assigning to writing in specialized areas – to manage and curate an online news site in real time. Students will gain practical skills using different tools, including social media, while working a real digital newsroom setting. The course will prepare students for entry-level positions in digital journalism. Note: Up to 8 credits for Journalism Practica can be applied toward the degree. May be taken twice for credit.

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CM1852 Video Journalism Practicum

This hands-on workshop trains students in video journalism in a real-time newsroom and production studio setting. Students will gain skills working with video production equipment and editing tools including Final Cut Pro. Students will contribute video journalism pieces to “PTV”, the video platform linked to the student media website where their video work contributes to the content mix of news pieces, video work, and magazine stories. Students will produce short video stories, narratives and interviews for the site. They will edit video pieces, post on YouTube, and use social media to promote their stories. The course will prepare students for entry-level positions in video journalism and for more advanced AUP courses in video and broadcast journalism. Note: Up to 8 credits for Journalism Practica can be applied toward the degree. May be taken twice for credit.

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CM1853 Audio Journalism Practicum

This hands-on workshop trains students in audio journalism in a real-time newsroom and production studio setting. Students will gain skills working with audio production equipment and editing tools. Students will contribute radio journalism and podcast pieces to the Peacock student media platform.

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CM3850 Editorship

This course is designed for students working in the journalism workshops – magazine, online news, video production. The student will work in one of the journalism workshops under the guidance of a faculty member. The student will be actively engaged in the newsroom activities for the workshop selected. The faculty member will mentor, monitor and evaluate participation and work produced.

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