Journalism Courses
270. Introduction to Journalism. (3h) Fundamentals of news reporting, news writing and news judgment. Digital skills introduced and practiced. Intensive in-class writing.
278. News Literacy. (3h) Exploring the difference between news and propaganda, news and opinion, bias and fairness, citizen reporting and professional journalism with a goal of training more discriminating and thoughtful producers and consumers of news. Included: historical context of the news industry.
310. Editing. (3h) Fundamentals in copy editing and headline writing as it applies to print and online journalism. Applying grammar, adherence to Associated Press style, and use of photos, lay-out and news judgment to improve news and feature stories. Intensive in-class editing. P—JOU 270 or POI.
315. Beat Reporting. (3h) Fundamentals in identifying and developing news and feature beats. Emphasis on interviewing skills, source development, story identification and writing for print and online. Digital skills such as blogging, photography, video production and social media practiced. Highly interactive. P—JOU 270.
320. Community Journalism. (3h) Produce stories in a range of media for an online publication with a growing readership about the people, places and trends that create community in downtown Winston-Salem. Students will break news, explore the arts scene, tell stories about interesting people in town and practice journalism on the ground. P—JOU 270 or POI.
321. Environmental Journalism. (3h) Learn to report on issues related to the environment, from climate change to science to local land use-policy, to produce stories in a range of media. Explore questions at the intersection of climate change, geopolitics, science writing, news coverage, community activism, racial justice, and multimedia journalism, with specific topics and projects determined by the instructor in any given semester. May be repeated once with permission of the instructor.
322. Investigating Innocence, at the Intersection of Journalism, Narrative and the Law. (3h) Learn to write like a journalist and think like a lawyer by investigating and writing about an ongoing case of a wrongful conviction under review by the law school’s Innocence & Justice Clinic. Law students and undergraduates work together with instruction by professors in law and journalism. POI Required. Also listed as WRI 322, LAW 500.
330. Podcasting. (3h) Introduction to audio storytelling. As the world of podcasting and nonfiction audio grows rapidly, students will learn the building blocks and best practices of audio journalism, including sound, editing, interviewing, and story, and will discuss what journalism means in these changing times.
331. On the Air with WFDD. (3h) Learn the fundamentals of audio reporting including interviewing techniques, writing for radio, beat coverage, audio recording and editing, and social media, to produce stories for broadcast on the local NPR affiliate WFDD. P-JOU 270 or POI.
335. Multimedia Storytelling. (3h) Provides concepts and applied skills related to digital news production, digital research, use of search engine optimization and analytics, social media as a reporting and branding tool, navigating content management systems, visual storytelling and web publishing.
340. Magazine Writing. (3h) Learn and practice the skills needed to produce magazine stories for publication. Focusing on a single topic of their own choosing, students learn advanced principles of interviewing, document research, story structure, character development, and explanatory journalism as they read and analyze some of the best magazine stories written over the past thirty years. P-JOU 270. Also listed as WRI 344
345. Sports Journalism. (3h) Introduction to the world of sports, the lives of athletes and the influence both have on American culture and college campuses. Students will keep a blog, conduct regular interviews, cover on- and off-campus sporting events, write opinion columns, produce multimedia stories and profile Wake Forest athletes. P—JOU 270 or POI.
355. Broadcast Journalism. (3h) Introduces students to best practices in broadcast storytelling, including scripting, producing, filming, editing and anchoring a news broadcast. Also listed as COM 215.
370. International Reporting. (3h) Students explore a part of the world as journalists do, interviewing, observing and exploring to produce stories that shed light on the people, culture and issues that define that place. P—JOU 270 or POI.
375. Special Topics in Journalism. (1h-3h) Study and practice of new trends, innovations and subject matters in journalism. May be repeated once for credit, provided the topic has changed. P—JOU 270 or POI.
380. Deep Dive. (1.5h) Provides an intensive exploration of a specific topic in journalism in such areas as photojournalism, investigative reporting, and race and the media. Varies by semester and instructor. May be repeated once with permission of the instructor.
390. Internship. (1.5h) Practical experience in journalism. Students work with a faculty adviser. Cannot be repeated except with approval of the director.
395. Individual Study. (1h-3h) Independent study with faculty guidance. By prearrangement.
Interdisciplinary Electives
The practice of journalism, with its central role in American democracy and culture, requires students to tell compelling stories in a range of media. Increasingly, journalism is also a data-driven field, with some of the most important stories of our time based on the analysis of data. Students may pick one course from the following list to fulfill elective credit in Journalism. With approval of the director, students interested in tailoring the minor to a particular interest have the option of selecting a second interdisciplinary elective from the list below or choosing one upper-level course not listed below.
Please refer to departmental listings for more detail on each course.
Storytelling Courses
ART
114. Introduction to Film and Video Art. (3h)
119. Introduction to Darkroom Photography. (3h)
120. Introduction to Digital Photography. (3h)
214. Film and Video Art: Site Specific. (4h)
224. Film and Video Art: Cyberspace. (4h)
229. Digital Photography. (4h)
COM
247. Media Production I. (3h)
262. Writing for Public Relations and Advertising. (3h)
309. Visual Storytelling. (3h)
310. Media Production II. (3h)
316. Screenwriting. (3h)
325. On Camera Performance. (3h)
365. Imagination Project. (3h)
CRW
287. Literary Nonfiction Workshop. (3h)
387. Advanced Literary Nonfiction Workshop. (3h)
ENV
306. Topics in Environmental Studies. (1h-4h)
HST
367. Public History. (3h)
WGS
326. Telling Women’s Lives: Writing about Entrepreneurs, Activists, and Thought Leaders. (3h) (cross-listed as ENT 326)
WRI
210. Exploring Academic Genres. (3h)
212. Literary Nonfiction: Art of the Essay. (3h)
320. Writing in and About Science: Scientists as Writers and Writers as Scientists. (3h)
Computer, Technology and Information Literacy Courses
CSC
321. Database Management Systems. (3h)
322. Data Management and Analytics. (3h)
361. Digital Media. (3h)
363. Computer Graphics. (3h)
373. Data Mining. (3h)
Media, Democracy and Culture Courses
COM
245. Introduction to Mass Communication. (3h)
319. Media Ethics. (3h)
HST
362. American Constitutional History. (3h)
POL
217. Politics and the Mass Media. (3h)
WGS
271. Making Sense of the News Through a Feminist Lens. (1-3h)