The Main Courses

  For your freshman year, it is advised that you plan to take J1100, J1200, J1300 and J1400. J1200 and J1300 should be taken your first semester so that you can take J1400 during the second. All three of these courses are project based; however J1400 is group projects while the other two are are either solo projects or partnered. J1100 is a lecture that pairs with all three classes so it does not matter which semester it is taken in.

  J2000 can be taken at the same time as J1400 as long as J1100 has already been taken. The same goes for J4160 and J2200; however these two courses require having taken 30 credits previously so it is more likely and advised that you take it during your sophomore year. J4160 is a short class, only being 1 credit, and J2200 is 2 credits.

  After J2200 has been taken, J1480 is available. If you want to pair this course with another Journalism class, I would suggest J1460 or J2000 if they have not been taken yet. For a 3 credit course, this class can be a lot of work with three large group projects that have the opportunity to get published. This course is also a four hour block so your schedule needs to be flexable round that time. Around this same time is when J3000 or J4556W can be taken, after both J1100 and J2000 with 45 credit hours already passed. You do not need to take both.

  J4000 should be taken in your junior or senior year, depending on space in your schedule. It is a lecture that pairs well with any class. During these last two years, you will also be taking 15 credits of other journalism courses. These classes will supplement your career path courses and give you a more rounded knowledge of journalism. These classes range from data collection to media design to reporting and more.

Career Path

  The career path courses are a new version of what was "Interest Areas". They allow students to intermix what they are learning. Students are required to take both courses of one path in order to graduate, but if they wish to take another path as part of the 15 credits of "other journalism courses", they are more than welcome to. Picking which of these classes to take is important because they are going to give you the skills you need to prosper in your chosen field.

  The different paths are Television (J4300/J4304), Cross-Platform Editing and Producing (J4830.J4832), Photojournalism and Documentary (J4540/J4560), Reporting and Writing (J4450/J4490) and Social and Audience Strategy (J4829/J4824). Television is going to be geared towards television reporters, producers and photographers, and this include sports as well. Cross-Platform is going to lead you towards careers of producers and editors for any platform and content creation. Photojournalism and Documentary focuses on general photography, directing documentaries, videography and editing and producing photo and video. Reporting and writing is going to be news reporters and editors and writers for various platforms. Finally, Social and Audience Strategy is going to deal with SEO specialists, social media managers and producers, and public editors.

Captstone

  Your capstone will be determined based on the career path that you take both courses in. It will be 3 credits and MUST be taken after you complete your career path requirements. More information on capstones will be released in upcoming semesters.