Mass Communications Minor Requirements
2024 - 2025 Catalog
Journalism and Strategic Communications minor
A minor in journalism and strategic communications requires at least six regular three- or four-credit JOUR courses. Minors will also be asked to write a short paper and attend a group assessment conversation during winter term of their senior year. This is not a minor in journalism. It offers liberal-arts breadth in mass media as a discipline and thorough exposure to the practice or craft but not professional preparation for a career. A student may not complete both a major and a minor in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communications. In meeting the requirements of this discipline-based minor, a student may not use more than nine credits that are also used to meet the requirements of another major or minor.
1. Required Courses: JOUR 101, 201
2. Values and Theory: one course chosen from JOUR 221, 240, 296, 301, 318, 319, 325, 330, 338, 344, 345
3. Media Practice: one course chosen from JOUR 220, 227, 273, 280, 341, 351, 357, 365, 371, 372
4. Two additional courses in journalism and mass communications
5. Short paper and group assessment
- Required courses
- JOUR 101 - Introduction to Mass Communications
Credits 3 Prerequisite first-year or sophomore class standing This course serves as a gateway for both majors and non-majors to examine the role that the mass media play in society. The course examines the pervasiveness of mass media in our lives, and the history and roles of different media and their societal functions, processes, and effects. Students learn to tell the difference between fact and opinion and examine the links among theory, research and professional experience, while analyzing the ethics, methods, and motivations of the media and the expectations of their audiences. We discuss how media cover diversity issues and evaluate the policies and freedoms that guide and shape the mass media and the news media in the United States. Students complete the course as better informed consumers and interpreters of mass media and their messages.
- JOUR 201 - Introduction to News Writing
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 101 Students are taught the principles and techniques of information gathering and news writing, with emphasis on fulfilling the role of the news media in a democratic society. Extensive laboratory work enables students to prepare assignments for online and other digital media, while stressing accuracy, clarity and skepticism in reporting and writing.
- Values and Theory
- JOUR 221 - Communication in Global Perspectives
Credits 4 Prerequisite JOUR 101 Addressing a series of debates centered on the media, power and globalization, locating these in their historical and cultural perspective. In doing so, we explore ways in which media power is contested, and consider whether opportunities for resistance provided by new technologies represent a significant break with the past. A critical appraisal of the relationship between media and power at the level of culture, institutions, and social processes by examining the impact of technology on local and/or national media and communications industries in emerging democracies.
- JOUR 240 - Poverty in the Media
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least sophomore class standing An in-depth examination of portrayals of poverty, chiefly in the United States, from the late 19th century to the present through an intensive review of distinguished print journalism, nonfiction books, documentary film, and movies. By consulting social science literature as well, students gain a deeper understanding of the various conceptual paradigms through which poverty has been understood and explained.
- JOUR 301 - Law and Communications
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least junior class standing An examination of the development of First Amendment jurisprudence, the law of defamation, privacy, access, free press-fair trial, journalists' privilege, obscenity and pornography. The case study approach is used, but the emphasis is on the principles that underlie the landmark cases. This course can serve as an introduction to and preparation for further studies in communications law and/or the legal system in general.
- JOUR 325 - Crisis Communications
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 and at least junior class standing A case-study approach to current methods of forecasting problems and responding effectively to crises and consequences in the public and private sectors. Topics include identifying and communicating effectively with stakeholders during crises, effective media-relations strategies during emergencies, building an effective crisis-response plan, regaining public credibility following a crisis, and avoiding public relations mistakes during litigation.
- JOUR 330 - Communication Theory and Research Methods
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 101; major or minor in Journalism, Strategic Communication, or Mass Communications; and at least sophomore class standing An examination of the major bodies of communication theory within a media framework and the process of conducting research within that framework. Regarding theory, we cover both social/behavioral and cultural/critical perspectives and their historical development. Regarding methods, we cover both the general process of forming and measuring a research question or hypothesis in communication research as well as the particulars of some of the central methods of communication research.
- JOUR 338 - The Documentary
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least sophomore class standing A critical study of the documentary in film and television, with analysis of prominent directors and genres.
- JOUR 344 - Ethics of Journalism
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least junior class standing A study of the moral issues arising from the practice of modern journalism and communications. Includes examination of philosophical and theoretical foundations of ethics, the place and role of journalism in the larger society, and moral choices in the newsroom. Topics include: First Amendment freedoms, privacy, confidentiality of sources, conflicts of interest, cooperation with law enforcement, free press/fair trial, photojournalism, and issues of accountability.
- JOUR 345 - Media Ethics
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 and at least junior class standing This course enables students to explore ethical challenges that arise within the various communication practices of contemporary media: journalism, public relations, advertising, documentary film, blogging and fictional programming. The course offers a grounding in moral reasoning and an understanding of professional ethics as an evolving response to changing social and industrial conditions in the media industries.
- Media Practice
- JOUR 220 - Social Media: Principles and Practice
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 In this course, students dive deep into social media, learning how to use it as thoughtful and ethical professionals, and examining its growing roles in society, politics, identity, and relationships. Students get hands-on experience in producing news for social media by running a multi-platform social news service. They also learn how to plan a strategic social media campaign, how to use metrics to analyze social media effectiveness, and how to use social media in reporting.
- JOUR 227 - Public Relations Writing
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 A writing course to teach the many forms of persuasive writing used by public relations practitioners to reach diverse audiences. Through frequent writing assignments and revisions, students master the art of press releases, media pitches, media alerts, features, public service announcements, newsletters, press kits, backgrounders, and coverage memos for appropriate media outlets. Students are exposed to social media and video skills as well as writing.
- JOUR 273 - Principles of Public Relations
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 227 This class focuses on understanding what public relations is and what those who practice public relations do. Students examine the origins of public relations, the nature and role of public relations, the major influences that affect organizational behavior, the ethics of public relations, and the professional development of public-relations professionals. Emphasis is placed on the planning, writing, and management functions, working with media and developing effective public-relations strategies.
- JOUR 280 - Covering Courts and the Law
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least sophomore class standing Courthouses make the best beats by providing a window on what is important to the American people. This course introduces students to the U.S. court system, its players, language and impact on the public at large. Students learn how to identify newsworthy legal stories, read court documents, and make sense of them in order to write clear, compelling, fair and accurate news stories for mass audiences.
- JOUR 341 - Multimedia Storytelling Design
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least junior class standing Have you ever wondered how news organizations put together their Pulitzer Prize-winning interactive stories? This course introduces students to tools that help them imagine, design, and create powerful interactive features with audio, video, graphics, and words on the cutting edge of journalism and mass communications. Students learn web design and programming skills using HTML CSS and JavaScript. This course is for students with little or no coding experience but who want to know how they did that.
- JOUR 351 - Editing for Print and Online Media
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 The principles and techniques of editing copy for digital and print media, with emphasis on clarity of thought, legal and moral responsibilities, and effective communication. Classroom work and assignments includes production of publications for both journalism and strategic communication majors, using InDesign, among other applications and software.
- JOUR 365 - The Broadcast News Magazine
Credits 3 Prerequisite JOUR 201 The principles and techniques involved in developing and creating enterprising longer-form journalistic work for a converged environment, principally television and digital media. Students research, write, and produce news and feature packages similar to those of network television news magazines for broadcast on the local cable-access channel.
- JOUR 371 - Financial News
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least junior class standing Required for the business journalism sequence and appropriate as an elective for journalism, strategic communication, and business administration majors. Reporting and writing techniques for journalists who cover Wall Street and publicly-traded companies. Students learn reporting fundamentals of financial statements, researching corporate documents, and data analysis using the Bloomberg terminal, and how to write industry analysis and narratives.
- JOUR 372 - Reporting on the Economy
Credits 3 Prerequisite at least junior class standing Reporting and writing techniques used by journalists who cover global economics. Students learn basics of the reporting and analysis of Federal Reserve reports, economic indicators, and data via the Bloomberg terminal and other resources. Writing emphasizes storytelling about people behind the numbers of the wealth and wage gaps, consumer trends, and worker issues in the global supply chain.
- Two additional courses in journalism and mass communication
- Short paper and group assessment
Take one course chosen from:
Take one course chosen from: