Reminder: Fall 2026 Course Registration Will Take Place in Workday!

Please Speak with Your Primary Advisor BEFORE Your Registration Appointment Time to Get the Hold Released on Your Account. Information and Trainings on Student Registration in Workday Are Found Here: https://wakeday.wfu.edu/workday-student-support-for-students/.

 

Journalism Program Courses

Please note that the course information below is subject to change. For the most up-to-date information, please reference JOU course sections in Workday. Course sections for Fall 2026 will be published in Workday on Friday, March 13, 2026.

JOU 270 A/B/C
Introduction to Journalism (3 credit hours)
A: MWF 9:00-9:50am – Instructor To Be Announced
B: MWF 10:00-11:50am – Instructor To Be Announced
C: MWF 11:00-11:50am – Prof. Justin Catanoso
The gateway to a minor in journalism, this rigorous, skills-based course emphasizes how to independently find stories, select sources, verify information, conduct interviews, strengthen observation skills and write compellingly in journalistic styles. We will learn and apply Associated Press Style. And along the way, we consider vital questions about objectivity, the media landscape, equity, bias, facts and Truth. We develop our cultural competency – how to relate to and understand people different from ourselves so that we can convey their stories truthfully. This course is foundational to all other courses in the journalism minor.
Class size: 14

 

JOU 278-A
News Literacy (3 credit hours)
Instructor To Be Announced
MWF 1:00-1:50pm
The mission of the course is to teach students to become informed and discerning consumers of news in a media landscape that is flooded with both information and misinformation. Students learn how to evaluate news coverage; how to read for bias, fairness, integrity, and accuracy; how to use new media to increase their knowledge of world events; how to research their own facts as a way to check the accuracy of the media outlets they rely upon; what happens when governments and media owners try to control news coverage; and the dangers of both censorship and media outlets run amok.
Class size: 18

 

JOU 315-A
Prof. Justin Catanoso
Beat Reporting (3 Credit Hours)
W 2:00-4:30pm
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.
Class Size: 16

 

JOU 321-A
Prof. Lisa Sorg
Environmental Journalism (3 Credit Hours)
M 2:00-4:30pm
Learn to report on science, law, policy, nature and people to write compelling narratives in environmental journalism. Dig into environmental data and public records to uncover hidden stories. Interview community members disproportionately harmed by pollution. Explore issues of air, water, waste, and climate change to help readers make sense of what’s at stake: locally, regionally and worldwide. This class will require several out-of-class writing assignments.
Class Size: 12

 

JOU 330-A
Prof. Ivan Weiss
Podcasting (3 Credit Hours)
TR 9:30-10:45am
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.
Class Size: 12

 

JOU 340-A/WRI 344-A
Prof. Michael Venutolo-Mantovani
Magazine Writing (3 Credit Hours)
M 2:00-4:30pm
Students in this class will learn and practice the skills needed to produce magazine stories for publication. Focusing on a single topic of their own choosing all semester, they will be encouraged to write creatively and often. They will learn advanced principles of interviewing, document research, story structure, character development, and explanatory journalism. They will also read and analyze some of the best magazine stories written over the past thirty years.
Class size: 12

 

JOU 345-A
Prof. Justin Catanoso
Sports Journalism (3 Credit Hours)
MW 12:30-1:45pm
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.
Class size: 12