Program Mission
As readers and writers we are concerned with stories–who tells them about whom, how they are told, how they arrive at an audience, and what happens to them when they become “public”. Journalism at LMU connects the educational values of the Jesuit and Marymount traditions and the core creative and critical practices of the English Department to the rapidly changing future of global communication. Our program directly engages LMU’s mission of the promotion of justice by critiquing media representations and their immediate social and political impact, and also by exploring the history of community journalism. Journalism at LMU is not merely theoretical; we offer hands-on instruction in the reporting, writing, editing, and technological skills across multiple platforms that students need to become professional journalists. The journalism program has as its pedagogical foundation the hands-on approach pf project-based learning, which connects our students to communities and lives whose stories transmit issues of social, political, cultural, and moral import. It is also rigorously interdisciplinary, incorporating instruction in film, television, photography, and radio production; communication studies; digital media; social media; and modalities not yet known or articulated. Ethical discussions suffuse the entire curriculum, first in the traditional sense of a basic professional ethics and also in the larger frame of an ethics of representation; who is reporting about whom, and why and how. Telling people’s stories is our mission.
Learning Outcomes
- To acquire fluency in journalism’s fundamental reporting and writing skills
- To instill information and media literacy
- To practice and critique digital modes of journalism
- To employ an interdisciplinary lens to critique the journalist’s role in the media and the media’s role in society
- To produce journalistic narratives through project-based learning e.g.; Los Angeles as subject
- To understand the ethical guidelines and laws that govern journalism
- To understand the history of literary practices and the history of journalism as a unique field of writing
- The ability to analyze and create within one or more literary and journalistic modes or genres
For more information about the Journalism program, please contact Director Evelyn McDonnell, Evelyn.McDonnell@lmu.edu.
Major Requirements
Students can begin their Major their first year or declare it later. They learn the foundations of reporting and writing journalism in their first two years, and explore journalism as a literary practice through foundational English courses. In their third and fourth year they learn new technological tools for storytelling, explore the ethical and critical issues that affect journalism, and begin heir specialization in modes of practice or content focus. They also begin to develop specific projects drawing on LA-based subjects, culminating in a long-form capstone project their senior year. The Major also requires hands-on experience via either an off-campus internship or work with campus media.
A student wishing to declare the Journalism major must be in good academic standing with a minimum GPA of C (2.0).
Lower Division Requirements (16 semester hours):
Upper Division Requirements (27 to 28 semester hours):
- JOUR 3300 Critical and Ethical Issues in Journalism 4 semester hours
Experience: - JOUR 4402 Writing Internship in Media 4 semester hours or
- JOUR 4469 Practicum in Journalism 1 4 semester hours or
- JOUR 4470 Practicum in Journalism 2 4 semester hours or
- ASPA 3998 Special Studies 1 TO 4 semester hours (can take twice as Asia Media Practicum for 4 semester hours each)
- JOUR 4468 Journalism: Capstone 4 semester hours
- One Reporting in a Genre course: JOUR 3303 , JOUR 3310 , JOUR 3998 , JOUR 4465 , JOUR 4471 , JOUR 4998 , JOUR 5511 , JOUR 5590 , JOUR 5591 , JOUR 5592 , or JOUR 4407 .
- One Specialization Elective: ENGL 3374 , ENGL 3376 , ENGL 5582 or JOUR 4400 , JOUR 4401 , JOUR 4403 , JOUR 4405 , JOUR 4406 , JOUR 4408 , JOUR 4409 , JOUR 4460 , JOUR 4463 , JOUR 4464 , JOUR 4467 , JOUR 4472 , JOUR 4473 , JOUR 4998 , JOUR 5566 , JOUR 5567 , JOUR 5574 , JOUR 5575 , ASPA 3600 ; IDAP 400 ; PHIL 3125 ; CMST 2500 , CMST 3410 , CMST 3440 , CMST 3455 , CMST 3460 , CMST 3480 , CMST 3510 , CMST 3520 , CMST 3530 , CMST 3540 , CMST 3590 ; FTVS 1020 , FTVS 2130 , FTVS 2137 , FTVS 3310 , FTVS 3320 ; PROD 398 (Euro Culture and Media, Documentary for Non-Majors, and Editing for Non-Majors) or approved courses to fit student interest 3 or 4 semester hours
- JOUR 3310 The Human Condition: A Long-form Journalism Practicum 4 semester hours or
- JOUR UD Elective or either FFYS 1000 Writing in LA or RHET 1000 Speaking Out 4 semester hours
- Production/Media Skills Courses: Four one semester hour; offerings include video editing, audio editing, photography, Flash, coding, etc.; 4 semester hours
Total lower division and upper division: 43-44 semester hours (3-4 hours double-counted with Core)
A minimum grade of C (2.0) must be obtained in each course in the major.
Journalism Model Four-Year Plan
The normal course load is 16 semester hours (4 classes). By following the model below, a student will complete all lower division core requirements by the end of the sophomore year as well as most major prerequisites. Note that core areas are suggested to provide a distribution of various disciplines every semester. Please be flexible implementing these suggestions, given your own interests and course availability. In four years, this plan meets all common graduation requirements.
Fall Semester
- FFYS 1000 First Year Seminar 3 OR 4 semester hours (Recommended: Writing Los Angeles)
- University Core 3-4 semester hours
- University Core 3-4 semester hours
- Elective 3-4 semester hours
Total: 12-16 semester hours
Spring Semester
- RHET 1000 Rhetorical Arts 3 OR 4 semester hours (Recommended: Speaking Out)
- University Core 3-4 semester hours
- University Core 3-4 semester hours
- Elective 3-4 semester hours
Total: 12-16 semester hours
Total: 14-16 semester hours
Total: 14-16 semester hours
Total: 14-16 semester hours
Total: 14-16 semester hours
Total: 14-16 semester hours
Spring Semester
- JOUR 4468 Journalism: Capstone 4 semester hours
- Upper Division Elective 3-4 semester hours
- Upper Division Elective 3-4 semester hours
- Upper Division Elective 3-4 semester hours
Total: 13-16 semester hours
Note:
Upper division courses are open to juniors and seniors only. With the permission of the Chairperson, upper division courses may be open to sophomores who have taken or are concurrently enrolled in the required lower division, pre-major English courses.
Students who wish to double major in English and Journalism may double-count up to three courses. Students who wish to major in Journalism and minor in English may double-count one course.
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