2025-2026 Undergraduate General Catalog

JOUR - Journalism

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JOUR 1110 News Reporting and Writing

Students will focus on the theory and practice of reporting and writing news and feature stories for print media. Additional emphasis will be placed on multi-media components, including but not limited to the production and/or use of videos, blogs, photo galleries, and various interactive on-line elements.

Credits

3

Offered

Every Fall and Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 115, ENGL 115

JOUR 1941 Journalism Mirror Participation

Staff work or editing positions on student publications.

Credits

1

Offered

Every Fall and Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 095

JOUR 1942 Journalism EDDA Participation

Staff work or editing positions on student publications.

Credits

1

Offered

Every Fall and Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 095

JOUR 2110 Newspaper Writing: Sports

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.

Credits

3

Offered

Every Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 215, ENGL 215

JOUR 2220 Editorial Skills

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.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

JOUR 1110

Offered

Every other Fall, even years

Notes

Previously: JOUR 243

JOUR 2230 Photojournalism

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.

Credits

3

Offered

Every other Fall, even years

Notes

Previously: JOUR 245

JOUR 2240 Multimedia Storytelling

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.

Credits

3

Offered

Every other Spring, even years

Notes

Previously: JOUR 255

JOUR 2250 In Pursuit of an Ethic of Empathy

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.

Credits

3

Offered

Most Interims

Notes

Previously: JOUR 260, ENGL 260

JOUR 2970 Topics:

Special Topics in Journalism.

Credits

3

Notes

Previously: JOUR 297

JOUR 3110 Advanced Journalism

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.

Credits

3

Prerequisites

JOUR 1110

Offered

Most Fall terms

Notes

Previously: JOUR 239, ENGL 239

JOUR 3111 Writing For Magazines

Conducted as a workshop, this course emphasizes a step-by-step approach to the business of freelance writing. Students will learn how to select topics and study potential markets in an effort to sell research articles and first-person essays. Students will read, analyze, and study a wide range of articles and writers as they develop their writing style.

Credits

3

Offered

Every Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 312, ENGL 312

JOUR 3112 Newspaper Writing: Critical/Editorial

Conducted as a workshop, this course considers the theory and practice of writing reviews and opinion pieces. Students will review a variety of popular art forms, and will develop skills in writing editorial and opinion pieces. The study and critique of local and national reviewers and opinion writers will also be included.

Credits

3

Offered

Every other Fall, odd years

Notes

Previously: JOUR 315, ENGL 315

JOUR 3260 History of The American Press

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.

Credits

3

Offered

Every other Spring, even years

Notes

Previously: JOUR 290, HIST 290

JOUR 3270 Law of the Press

Students in this course will study freedom of the press through the examination of significant court cases, particularly those that have come before the U.S. Supreme Court. Issues to be studied include libel, privacy, prior restraint and free press v. fair trial. In addition, students will study ethical issues, most of which are inseparable from the legal matters to be considered.

Credits

3

Offered

Nearly every Fall

Notes

Previously: JOUR 302

JOUR 3950 Internship

Students will work in a professional setting in the journalistic area of the student's choice, usually involving full- or part-time employment by a cooperating newspaper or magazine, radio or television station, advertising agency or public relations office. Open only to majors and minors. Arranged on an individual basis.  Additional fees may apply.

Credits

3

Offered

Every Fall and Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 395

JOUR 3970 Topics:

Special Topics in Journalism.

Credits

3

Notes

Previously: JOUR 397

JOUR 4950 Internship

Students will work in a professional setting in the journalistic area of the student's choice, usually involving full- or part-time employment by a cooperating newspaper or magazine, radio or television station, advertising agency or public relations office. Open only to majors and minors. Arranged on an individual basis.  Additional fees may apply.

Credits

4

Offered

Every Fall and Spring

Notes

Previously: JOUR 495