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Journalism
Undergraduate Program
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.
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.
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
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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.
- Electives
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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
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.
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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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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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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This course examines how the media industries – from movies and television to music and magazines – have been transformed by the disruptive impact of the Internet and new forms of consumer behavior. Economic terms such as “creative destruction” will help students understand how the Internet disrupted old media business models and shifted market power to consumers. Case studies include Apple’s impact on the music industry, the emergence of “streaming” services such as Netflix and Spotify, the decline of traditional print-based journalism with the emergence of online platforms, and Amazon’s transformation of the book industry.
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This course is a workshop that will focus on training students for digital journalism. Students will learn writing, editing and curating skills for an online environment, notably in news, reviews, and opinion writing. Emphasis will also be placed on using online tools for researching and sourcing, as well as digital tools for graphics and big data.
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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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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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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. A Senior Project is an independent study representing a Major Capstone Project that needs to be registered using the Senior Project registration form. (Download: https://fd10.formdesk.com/aup/SeniorProjectApplication)
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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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Choose one of the following four genres:
An advanced feature-writing workshop focused on techniques for long-form and investigative journalism. Students will gain experience in story ideas, researching, interview techniques, structuring feature articles. Emphasis will be placed on researching and data gathering for in-depth magazine and investigative reporting. This workshop will develop writing skills for careers in magazine style and investigative journalism on subjects selected by students. Articles can be published on the Peacock Plume website.
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This course will focus on approaches to writing about travel and cultures of places. Emphasize will be place on developing unique writing styles and “voices” and contributing articles to the Peacock magazine and Peacock Plume website Travel page. Students will gain insight into the changing set of processes linked to the practice of commodified travel and the way space for tourist use is represented and used. Urban place-making and branding strategies are examined as part of the journalistic approach to travel writing.
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Fashion journalism is undergoing a major shift with the advent of new technology. In order to understand this revolution, we shall consider the larger context in which fashion coverage is being played out. We shall look at newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, and the web. How fashion can be presented: as spectacle, as image, as art, as craft, and as commercial, industrial entity will be given consideration. An introduction to the major players and characters in the fashion world will also be a part of this course.
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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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Journalism Workshops
Select two different workshops from the following list:
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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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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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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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.