Course information subject to change. Please check back frequently for updates. All courses are at 20 Cooper Square unless otherwise noted. To view a course description and syllabus, click on each course’s Title. Electives are the last tab and are available to all students.
Methods and Practice: Point of View
F 12:20p - 4:00p
James McBride
Methods and Practice: Point of View
Instructor: James McBride
Course ID: V54.0202.001
Days: F 12:20p - 4:00p
Room: 652
Be ready to write longhand. No computers. No cell phones in class. Pencil and
yellow legal sized paper only. Please be on time. Bring a jacket and a metro card.
For the first class, there is absolute silence when you enter the room. No
talking. Not even to say hello to your neighbor. You want to hear a hello? Here it
is: Hello. Now, no talking for the first ten minutes of class. It sounds stupid, but it
is our first exercise.
Good writing is all about finding the right detail or set of details that will show, not
tell, the event to the listener. You are always fighting gravity, always fighting the reader
who will close the paper, book, magazine and tune you out. We will focus on placing you
in the right mental place to find the details that will tell the story, from your perspective, in
a way that is honest to your truth and hold the reader.
There will be some reading aloud in class. There will be no bloodlettings. If
you’re willing to fail, you will be successful. If you’re already a journalistic success, this
isn’t the class for you. Remember, writing is the act of continually failing at excellence,
and uniformity is the ceiling against which great writing will forever bump. The mid term
and final will be your writing.
Before each class, you will be expected to read the following excerpts from “A
Nietzsche Reader” (Penguin) translated by R. J. Hollingdale. They are not long, but they
are important. We may alter this list based on my assessment of your abilities . Reading
assignments in Gary Smith and Micheal Herr’s books, as well as our Marvel Comic
class, will be assigned as we go deeper into the semester and I am able to assess your
abilities.
[x] close.
Methods and Practice: Visual Reporting
W 5:00p - 8:40p
David Handschuh
Methods and Practice: Visual Reporting
Instructor: David Handschuh
Course ID: V54.0203.001
Days: W 5:00p - 8:40p
Room: 655
Learn to use a digital SLR camera. Practice the skills and techniques professionals use to produce story-telling images. Learn to capture fleeting moments, document daily life, and special events. By semester’s end, you should have a basic understanding of the history of photojournalism and the impact photographs have on society, legal and ethical concerns of photojournalists, digital production of photographs, and the importance of captions and text accompanying those photos. You should also have a variety of photojournalistic images suitable for an entry-level portfolio. Many of your images should be suitable for publication.
Develop your own story ideas, cover city and campus events. Edit and scan your own photographs using Adobe Photoshop or any similar image processing program. Share your photos with classmates; critique your own work and theirs in a group setting.
This is NOT a darkroom or basic photography class, but some portion of the class will be focused on teaching basic skills. The emphasis is on taking and editing pictures. A basic understanding of camera operation and exposure is required and recommended.
[x] close.
Elective Reporting Topics: Investigative Reporting and Advanced BS Detection
M 12:00p - 2:30p
Charles Seife
Elective Reporting Topics: Investigative Reporting and Advanced BS Detection
Instructor: Charles Seife
Course ID: V54.0204.001
Days: M 12:00p - 2:30p
Room: 657
A journalist must be able to see through lies -- to shed light on facts that certain people would rather keep hidden. This course is designed to give you the tools to do precisely that.
By the end of the semester, you will be transformed into a powerful breed of journalist: half bloodhound, half bulldog. You'll be able to sniff out lies and find the facts to uncover them; you'll also be relentless -- once you sink your teeth into a juicy story, you won't let go.
In addition, if all goes well, we will perform an investigation of consequence, revealing wrongdoing or exposing lies -- and hopefully creating a stir.
[x] close.
Production & Publication: TV Newscast
T 1:00p - 7:00p
Nancy Han
Production & Publication: TV Newscast
Instructor: Nancy Han
Course ID: V54.0302.001
Days: T 1:00p - 7:00p
Room: 750
Writing and producing TV news programs. During the term, students produce 12 complete broadcasts that are fed live to residence halls and other locations on campus. Many of these casts are also fed to the Internet for online viewing. Responsibilities include all aspects of TV news: story selection and development, field production, anchoring, reporting, operation of all studio and control room equipment, writing, copy editing, and directing. Deadline realities are emphasized as live broadcasts begin on an exact-time basis. This class meets in the 7th-floor Commons from 1-2pm.
[x] close.
Journalism Seminar: Edmund Wilson and the Art of Cultural Criticism
T 3:30p - 6:00p
TBA
Journalism Seminar: Edmund Wilson and the Art of Cultural Criticism
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0401.001
Days: T 3:30p - 6:00p
Room: 657
Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) was the greatest cultural critic that America has ever produced – or so a good many cultural critics of our own time have come to believe. Wilson belonged to a circle of writers from the First World War generation that included John Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. He wrote novels, poetry, plays, and diaries. But mostly he wrote book reviews and essays on literary, political and historical topics, which ran in the New Republic, the New Yorker, The New York Review of Books and other magazines. His reviews and essays, assembled into books, have turned out to be classics – studied and cited by some of the most prominent critics of today.
The seminar will study Wilson’s style of journalistic writing – his emphases on clarity, on conversational ease, and on emotional forcefulness. The seminar will study his criticisms of the academic writing of his time. The students will be asked to apply Wilson’s principles of writing to their own compositions – an extremely useful thing to do for any student who seeks to become a better writer.
[x] close.
Journalism Seminar: The Journalism of Empathy
T 11:00a - 1:30p
Ted Conover
Journalism Seminar: The Journalism of Empathy
Instructor: Ted Conover
Course ID: V54.0401.002
Days: T 11:00a - 1:30p
Room: 700 (7th floor library)
Empathy in narrative has roots in some of the earliest written stories—what is a literary character, after all, if not an imagining of the the world through someone else’s eyes? But empathy is not exclusively the tool of novelists and playwrights. In our time, journalists such as Alex Kotlowitz, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, Anne Fadiman and Susan Orlean (and earlier, John Hersey and others) have used a fiercely empathetic approach to create memorable and powerful nonfiction, often with social justice concerns. This course will survey the history and recent practice of empathetic nonfiction, focussing on seminal readings but looking briefly at links to novel-writing, psychology, neuroscience, and human rights. Along the way, we’ll try our own hand at empathetic writing, with assignments that require original reporting and offer a chance to experiment with fundamentals of narrative writing such as scene-setting, character development, and writer’s voice.
[x] close.
Journalism & Society: Women and the Media
T 2:00p - 4:30p
Carol Sternhell
Journalism & Society: Women and the Media
Instructor: Carol Sternhell
Course ID: V54.0503.001
Days: T 2:00p - 4:30p
Room: 652
Women & the Media is a collaborative seminar designed to examine the complex relationship
(or different, contradictory relationships) between those humans we call “women” and those
forms of discourse we call “media.” We will consider women both as subjects and objects, as
artists and models, as creators of “media” in its many forms and as media’s creations. What
does our culture’s “media” tell us about its ideas of gender? What, if anything, does our gender
tell us about our readings of “media”? Student participation in this seminar is key: students are
expected to attend all sessions, to complete all the reading (there's lots of reading!), to
participate actively in discussion, and to lead one of the class sessions themselves. Leading a
class means opening the day’s conversation with a presentation, critiquing and elaborating on
the assigned reading, bringing in additional relevant material, and suggesting questions or
issues that seem particularly interesting or troublesome. The purpose of the course is to
develop our critical and self-critical faculties as journalists, media critics, consumers of media,
and women or men—to think clearly, challenge our pet assumptions, and have fun.
Along with attendance and informed class participation, students are required to conduct a miniresearch
project and present their findings to the class. I want you to pick a “women and media”
topic that really interests you and then report the hell out of it. If you’re interested in the effect of
music videos on teenage girls, for instance, you would first put together an extensive
bibliography of what has already been written on the subject. You would figure out what the key
questions in the field were: do media images affect teens’ behavior or not, and how can anyone
tell? You might interview some of the leading researchers in the area and tell us what they say.
You’ll certainly want to read the most important books/articles on your subject. A paper is not
required; instead, students will present their findings to the class during our last three sessions.
[x] close.
Journalism & Society: Minorities in the Media
R 1:00p - 3:30p
Pamela Newkirk
Journalism & Society: Minorities in the Media
Instructor: Pamela Newkirk
Course ID: V54.0503.002
Days: R 1:00p - 3:30p
Room: 652
It has been 40 years since President Johnson’s National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders released its findings on the civil unrest that erupted in urban areas across the nation. The panel, commonly referred to as the Kerner Commission, concluded that we are living in two nations, “black, white, separate and unequal,” and devoted an entire chapter to the impact the media had on the nation’s race relations. “We believe that the media have thus far failed to report adequately on the causes and consequences of civil disorders and the underlying problems of race relations,” the report said. It added: “The media report and write from the standpoint of a white man’s world. The ills of the ghetto, the difficulties of life there, the Negro’s burning sense of grievance, are seldom conveyed.”
The report criticized as “shockingly backward” the industry’s failure to hire, train and promote African Americans. At the time, fewer than five percent of the newsroom jobs in the United States were held by African Americans. Today, despite the progress that’s been made in the hiring and coverage of African Americans and other so-called minorities, many critics say that the Kerner Report findings continue to resonate today. With the report as a backdrop, we will examine the portrayals of racial and ethnic minorities in the media, paying particular attention to African Americans – the subject of the Kerner Report – but also others, including Latinos, Asians, women, and gays and lesbians.
[x] close.
Journalism as Literature: Storied New York
W 4:00p - 6:30p
Suketu Mehta
Journalism as Literature: Storied New York
Instructor: Suketu Mehta
Course ID: V54.0504.001
Days: W 4:00p - 6:30p
Room: 659
New York is the most storied city in America; generations of writers have been entranced by it, and have produced masterpieces in tribute. We will look at the city as a character, in journalism, memoir, fiction, poetry, and film. What is the idea of New York in historical and contemporary imagination, and how different or similar are today's chroniclers of the city from their predecessors? What can we learn about urban reportage from the best practitioners of the genre? We will examine the texts for thematic concerns as well as those of craft. We will look at them as a car mechanic looks at a car; see how sentences are structured so that the text provides pleasure as well as information. And along the way, we will discover the broader possibilities and limitations of nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and film.
[x] close.
History of the Media
TR 3:00p - 4:15p
Mitchell Stephens
History of the Media
Instructor: Mitchell Stephens
Course ID: V54.0610.001
Days: TR 3:00p - 4:15p
Room: 653
An attempt to better understand the communications revolution we are undergoing through an investigation of the nature and consequences of previous communications revolutions. Using readings ranging from Plato to Sontag to Kundera, the course will look closely at the history of spoken language, images, writing, printing, photography, radio and television. How were they understood? How were they initially used or misused? What were their effects upon social patterns, politics and thought? What can that tell us about the potential and potential influence of digital communication?
*An access code is required to register, contact the department at 212-998-7994.
[x] close.
Internship
TBA
TBA
Internship
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0980
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
DECLARED JOURNALISM MAJORS ONLY Hours Arranged
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry, The Beat
To enroll:
1) Students must be declared journalism majors who have been offered an internship. The Career Services director must approve the internship. All sophomores must consult the director before applying for a credit internship.
2) No credit will be given for internships in advertising, marketing, public relations or the fashion/accessory closet.
3) Students may take the course for 1, 2, 3 or 4 credits but can earn no more than 4 credits total while attending the institute. Only one internship for credit is allowed per semester.
For moew information go to the Career Services section.
[x] close.
Advanced Individualized Study
TBA
TBA
Advanced Individualized Study
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0997
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
To enroll in Advanced Individualized Study, an interested student must find a full-time faculty member to be a sponsor and then must develop and file a syllabus. The syllabus must be approved by the faculty member and the Journalism Director of Undergraduate Graduate Studies (DUGS). It must list, in week by week fashion, all readings and all writing assignments that the student will undertake for the Advanced Individualized Study. Once approved, this syllabus constitutes your "contract" on the project and the student's work will be judged and graded with that in mind.
[x] close.
Journalism as Literature: Learning form the Best to be the Best
M 10:30a - 1:00p
Michael Norman
Journalism as Literature: Learning form the Best to be the Best
Instructor: Michael Norman
Course ID: V54.0504.02
Days: M 10:30a - 1:00p
Room: 654
Learning from The Best To Be The Best is a survey of some of the most entertaining and well-written literary journalism of the last two centuries. We will read these articles and book excerpts carefully - "deep reading," it is called - to discover how good writers take basic journalism and enliven it with literary technique. We want to catalog as much of that technique and structure as we can so that we can "steal it," appropriate the devices for our own work. Students will work in teams; each week a team will "present" the readings and incite a discussion with the rest of the class. There will be some three to five formal academic papers in which students will be asked to demonstrate their understanding of the material, and there will be a number of "creative" assignments as well. The main text for the course is an excellent anthology of non-fiction: The Art of Fact by Kerrane and Yagoda..
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
T 8:00 - 9:15
TBA
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0502.02
Days: T 8:00 - 9:15
Room: 657
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
W 8:00 - 9:15
TBA
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0502.03
Days: W 8:00 - 9:15
Room: 654
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
R 8:00 - 9:15
Mary Staub
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Mary Staub
Course ID: V54.0502.04
Days: R 8:00 - 9:15
Room: Room 655
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
F 11:00 - 12:15
Joscelyn Jurich
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Joscelyn Jurich
Course ID: V54.0502.05
Days: F 11:00 - 12:15
Room: 653
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
W 1:30p - 2:45p
Maria Sliwa
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Maria Sliwa
Course ID: V54.0502.06
Days: W 1:30p - 2:45p
Room: 654
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
F 9:30a - 10:45a
Joscelyn Jurich
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Joscelyn Jurich
Course ID: V54.0502.08
Days: F 9:30a - 10:45a
Room: 653
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
R 1:00p - 2:15p
Mary Staub
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Mary Staub
Course ID: V54.0502.07
Days: R 1:00p - 2:15p
Room: 653
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
W 5:00p - 6:15p
Maria Sliwa
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Maria Sliwa
Course ID: V54.0502.09
Days: W 5:00p - 6:15p
Room: 657
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
R 4:00p - 5:15p
TBA
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0502.10
Days: R 4:00p - 5:15p
Room: 652
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
R 2:00p - 3:15p
TBA
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0502.11
Days: R 2:00p - 3:15p
Room: 657
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
T 2:00p - 3:15p
Priya Jain
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Priya Jain
Course ID: V54.0502.12
Days: T 2:00p - 3:15p
Room: 652
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 10:00p - 1:150p
Keith Kloor
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Keith Kloor
Course ID: V54.0101.02
Days: MW 10:00p - 1:150p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 12:00p - 1:50p
Judith Schoolman
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Judith Schoolman
Course ID: V54.0101.03
Days: MW 12:00p - 1:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 9:00a - 10:50
Phil Rosenbaum
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Phil Rosenbaum
Course ID: V54.0101.04
Days: MW 9:00a - 10:50
Room: 652
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 3:30p - 5:20p
Frankie Edozien
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Frankie Edozien
Course ID: V54.0101.05
Days: MW 3:30p - 5:20p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 9:00a - 10:50p
Cora Daniels
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Cora Daniels
Course ID: V54.0101.06
Days: TR 9:00a - 10:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 11:00a - 12:50p
TBA
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0101.07
Days: TR 11:00a - 12:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 1:00a - 2:50p
Fran Stern
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Fran Stern
Course ID: V54.0101.08
Days: TR 1:00a - 2:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 6:30 - 8:20
Kenneth Paulsen
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Kenneth Paulsen
Course ID: V54.0101.010
Days: MW 6:30 - 8:20
Room: 657
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 6:20 - 8:10
David A. Kaplan
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: David A. Kaplan
Course ID: V54.0101.011
Days: TR 6:20 - 8:10
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
The Beat: God and the City: Covering Religion in Post-911 New York
M 11:00a - 2:40p
Jill Hamburg Coplan
The Beat: God and the City: Covering Religion in Post-911 New York
Instructor: Jill Hamburg Coplan
Course ID: V54.0201.001
Days: M 11:00a - 2:40p
Room: 652
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
--
The Park51 mosque controversy is only the latest example of religion’s looming presence in city life. From the popularity of yoga to the rise of the Tea Party, the marriage equality movement to stem-cell research, religion plays a role in many major stories. Yet since 9/11, the media has struggled to cover religion knowledgeably and without bias. It’s got a long way to go: studies show readers’ knowledge of religion is generally poor. As the gods of the city multiply with globalization, the cost of that ignorance grows. So covering religion for a diverse audience is a beat that can have real impact.
In this course, you’ll take many field trips; past sites have included a mosque, Hasidic synagogue, Hindu temple and Sufi center. You’ll learn to make sharp observations and to combine sensitivity with skepticism. You’ll learn new terminology, meet leading authors and religion writers and read award-winning religion journalism, classic and contemporary. You’ll choose a beat-within-the-beat in an area that intrigues you (“Young Buddhist New York,” “NYU’s Evangelicals,” “The Eastern Orthodox of Queens,” “Rap and Religion,” etc.) to explore all semester. You’ll find, pitch and write several shorter stories and a longer final piece that we’ll tackle in stages. You’ll receive continuous individual coaching.
The class offers a rich, varied, powerful experience exploring new subcultures and settings that will leave you with a deeper understanding of religion, a portfolio of work, and stronger research, reporting and writing skills.
[x] close.
The Beat: The City
W 9:30a - 1:10p
Frankie Edozien
The Beat: The City
Instructor: Frankie Edozien
Course ID: V54.0201.02
Days: W 9:30a - 1:10p
Room: 654
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
Metro reporting has long been a solid foundation for reporters, regardless of specialty. Covering a geographic area, a municipal government entity, social services and more in the Big Apple affords us the opportunity to fine tune and further develop reporting skills in this most competitive of media markets.
Our beat will be developed from life in this city. You will have an opportunity to delve into how residents interact with their government, examine issues on neighborhood and citywide levels, and seek to unearth untold stories. We will mine the entire city for feature stories, trends, issues and more.
[x] close.
The Beat: Reporting Downtown
R 9:00am - 12:40
TBA
The Beat: Reporting Downtown
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0201.03
Days: R 9:00am - 12:40
Room: 654
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
---
Whether you're based in Paris or Los Angeles, Beijing or Wyoming, covering a geographic beat is a unique experience because you need the confidence and skills to write about everything. For this class, our territory is the world situated south of 14th Street. Each of you will be based in a specific neighborhood, where you'll cover a wide range of stories. Whether you're reporting on crime or culture, politics or hot parties, you'll learn what it takes to parachute into a new locale and find your bearings. This class will unleash your inner adventurer by strengthening your interviewing/writing abilities while you're developing a reportorial voice. Guest speakers and field trips will be essential to our journey.
[x] close.
The Beat: NY Characters
R 2:30pm - 6:10pm
Vivien Orbach-Smith
The Beat: NY Characters
Instructor: Vivien Orbach-Smith
Course ID: V54.0201.04
Days: R 2:30pm - 6:10pm
Room: 654
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
---
Whether you're based in Paris or Los Angeles, Beijing or Wyoming, covering a geographic beat is a unique experience because you need the confidence and skills to write about everything. For this class, our territory is the world situated south of 14th Street. Each of you will be based in a specific neighborhood, where you'll cover a wide range of stories. Whether you're reporting on crime or culture, politics or hot parties, you'll learn what it takes to parachute into a new locale and find your bearings. This class will unleash your inner adventurer by strengthening your interviewing/writing abilities while you're developing a reportorial voice. Guest speakers and field trips will be essential to our journey.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Sexistentialist NY
M 4:55p - 8:35
Jessica Seigel
Advanced Reporting: Sexistentialist NY
Instructor: Jessica Seigel
Course ID: V54.0301.001
Days: M 4:55p - 8:35
Room: 655
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
Unlike academic approaches to sex and gender, this course is hands-on, jargon-free and very real, emphasizing you-are-there reporting in long-form magazine style. Sexistentialism is an open state of mind, but getting there involves old-fashioned journalistic technique. Learning how to illustrate larger issues through vivid characters and scene-setting, past students have delved into sex myths and realities, LGBT(QIA) themes, feminists and femmes fatales, pornography and abstinence, beauty and bodies, fetishists and faddists, dudes with ‘tudes and much more. What’s your passion and interest? What if the word “gender” irritates you? (We’ll explore why and what it means.)
[x] close.
The Beat: TV NY Neighborhoods
M 9:00 - 12:00
Jane Stone
The Beat: TV NY Neighborhoods
Instructor: Jane Stone
Course ID: V54.0201.05
Days: M 9:00 - 12:00
Room: 750
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
---
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Fame: From the Past to the Pursuit
T 10:00a - 2:40p
Mary W. Quigley
Advanced Reporting: Fame: From the Past to the Pursuit
Instructor: Mary W. Quigley
Course ID: V54.0301.02
Days: T 10:00a - 2:40p
Room: 652
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
Our culture is obsessed by fame, from celebrities to neon names in business, sports, education, medicine, encompassing virtually every field. The media help drive fame, from magazine covers—People’s celebs-of-the-moment, New York magazine with Best Doctors, Esquire's "75 Best People in the World"--to television with countless reality shows where anyone can be a “star” for a week or two or more.
Andy Warhol famously predicted that everyone will get 15 minutes of fame. He could not have forecast how quickly that can happen in the 21st century on the Internet with viral YouTube videos, Facebook and Twitter. Social networking has made fame more accessible than ever and transformed fans into amateur paparazzi, thanks to digital cameras.
This course will focus on fame in all its manifestations including the cult of celebrity. We'll begin by reading Leo Braudy's "History of Renown," which covers the subject from Alexander the Great to modern times. We'll consider the question of how fame has evolved from being based on achievement to what historian Daniel Boorstin calls "well-knownness," which is people famous simply for being famous.
Course requires include a 1,000-word analysis of a person's climb to fame, a 1,500-word profile of a reality show contestant or viral video "star," and a 3,000-word heavily researched and reported piece on a "big fish" in a small pond or, conversely, a small fish a big pond.
A major part of the course is polishing your work so it can be posted on the class webzine http://fameology.net/, where students can experiment with text, photos and video. All students are all required to write a weekly blog on a subject area related to their final piece.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting - On the Road in the City
T 3:30p - 7:10p
David Dent
Advanced Reporting - On the Road in the City
Instructor: David Dent
Course ID: V54.0301.03
Days: T 3:30p - 7:10p
Room: 655
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
In On The Road in the City, students will go on a series of journeys throughout the city in search of snippets of ordinary life that say something extraordinary about the city and humanity. In the process, students will be in pursuit of the seeds of cultural change. The mission and challenge will be to present those seeds and portraits of life with prose that gives the reader a sense of making the same discoveries. You will also read three books that employ "road" journalism in different ways. The semester will culminate in your own major project that will require you to journey with a social or cultural world of New York.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting - Culture Wars
W 11:00 - 2:40p
Carol Sternhell
Advanced Reporting - Culture Wars
Instructor: Carol Sternhell
Course ID: V54.0301.04
Days: W 11:00 - 2:40p
Room: 652
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
“There is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America. It is a cultural war, as critical to the kind of nation we will one day be as was the Cold War itself.”—Pat Buchanan, Republican National Convention, 1992
“The culture war: It's back!” — Salon, 2008
For decades we've heard about the culture wars tearing our country apart, red vs. blue, believer vs. heretic, Hillary vs. Sarah. In this course, students will dig beyond and beneath the rhetoric to get to know the people on both sides of the divide. As we examine the usual hot-button issues—abortion, gay rights, the role of religion in public life, notions of class (both economic and cultural) and their historical context—students will develop their own beats among these issues. The heart of the course is reporting, not opinion writing. It is assumed that you have strong opinions about many of these topics—and in no way is the course suggesting that “all opinions are equally valid”—but one goal of great journalism is to illuminate how people think.
During this course, each student will be required to spend much of the semester reporting on people on the “other side” of an issue you feel strongly about. Students will write a series of short pieces in several genres, including query letters, profiles, and at least two drafts of a final carefully reported 3,000-word story—or interlocked series of shorter stories—all growing out of your beat. In addition to these writing assignments, students are responsible for two oral presentations, one on your target magazine (print or online) and another on the key political/social issues surrounding your particular beat. Throughout the semester you’ll be expected to keep the class updated on any breaking news or controversies on your beat.
The heart of this workshop is intensive reporting, writing, editing, and rewriting. Students will all be expected to participate in the editing of their colleagues’ work. Attendance and participation are required. Deadlines are real.
Required Reading
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting - Reporting Greenwich Village
W 1:00 - 4:40p
Pamela Newkirk
Advanced Reporting - Reporting Greenwich Village
Instructor: Pamela Newkirk
Course ID: V54.0301.05
Days: W 1:00 - 4:40p
Room: 655
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
Using Greenwich Village as our laboratory, this class will build on the reporting, research and writing skills you’ve acquired in Inquiry and other reporting and writing classes. During the course of this semester students will engage in a host of daily and long-term assignments derived from enterprise and from the Associated Press Day schedule. Your stories will be informed by an exploration of the history, politics, culture and character of this legendary neighborhood that is a global symbol of protest, artistic expression and style. While your stories will all emanate from Greenwich Village, you will be asked to define a beat from which you can develop sources and break news. You may wish to focus on art, education, or business, but you must treat your area of interest like a well tended field. You’ll develop a source list and regularly draw on it to develop story ideas.
The majority of class time will be devoted to deadline reporting and writing, and to the development of compelling and publishable news features related to Greenwich Village. By the end of the semester, you will have completed one publishable 1,200 1,500-word news feature and at least a half-dozen shorter articles.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Poverty, Politics and Immagration
R 9:30p - 1:10p
William Serrin
Advanced Reporting: Poverty, Politics and Immagration
Instructor: William Serrin
Course ID: V54.0301.06
Days: R 9:30p - 1:10p
Room: 654
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Advanced TV Reporting
R 2:00p - 5:40p
Marlene Sanders
Advanced Reporting: Advanced TV Reporting
Instructor: Marlene Sanders
Course ID: V54.0301.08
Days: R 2:00p - 5:40p
Room: 750
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
In previous classes, students have learned the rudiments of story selection, writing and shooting. This class advances those skills, with the added pressure of meeting real deadlines; i.e., producing pieces that air on a live, weekly news broadcast. Stories will gradually grow in complexity over the semester.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Culture and Media
R 9:30p - 1:10p
Katie Roiphe
Advanced Reporting: Culture and Media
Instructor: Katie Roiphe
Course ID: V54.0301.07
Days: R 9:30p - 1:10p
Room: 657
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
This course will be a survey of cultural criticism over the last century. The central question it will address is how one reports on the elusive spirit of the times. How have critics done so in the past? How did they comment on the media itself; and how did they process the production of news, in newspapers, magazines, television etc.? How did they reflect on the style and content of cultural comment over the decades? The course will be both an intensive reading and writing class, and will culminate in a long original work of cultural reporting, which will be edited and workshopped in class.
[x] close.
Honors Seminar: Broadcast, Multimedia & Print Convergence
W 10:00a - 12:30p
Jason Samuels
Honors Seminar: Broadcast, Multimedia & Print Convergence
Instructor: Jason Samuels
Course ID: V54.0352.001
Days: W 10:00a - 12:30p
Room: 750
SENIORS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry, The Beat
Honors is a year-long research, writing and reporting course for seniors in which students choose and develop a senior thesis subject of their own choosing in the first semester and complete the project in the second. Students take Honors Advanced Reporting, followed by Honors Senior Seminar. Honors students must have a 3.65 average.
---
[x] close.
Honors Seminar: Print Long Form Bias
W 2:00p - 4:30p
Brooke Kroeger
Honors Seminar: Print Long Form Bias
Instructor: Brooke Kroeger
Course ID: V54.0352.002
Days: W 2:00p - 4:30p
Room: 657
SENIORS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry, The Beat
Honors is a year-long research, writing and reporting course for seniors in which students choose and develop a senior thesis subject of their own choosing in the first semester and complete the project in the second. Students take Honors Advanced Reporting, followed by Honors Senior Seminar. Honors students must have a 3.65 average.
---
[x] close.
Journalism Ethics and First Amendment Law - Main Lecture
M 6:20-8:50
George Freeman
Journalism Ethics and First Amendment Law - Main Lecture
Instructor: George Freeman
Course ID: V54.0502.01
Days: M 6:20-8:50
Room: Silver 703
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
The Beat: TV-NY Neighborhoods
M 12:30p - 3:30p
Jane Stone
The Beat: TV-NY Neighborhoods
Instructor: Jane Stone
Course ID: V54.0201.06
Days: M 12:30p - 3:30p
Room: 750
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry
This course is designed to hone the student journalist's ability to research and report deeply and to be able to imagine and develop fresh ideas, test them with the strength of his or her reporting and resarch, and then to present them in story form. Students will be expected to keep weeky beat notes or blogs, exploring what is current in the topic and demonstrating week after week the shoeleather they have worn in pursuit of their subject matter. Out of this work will come four or five stories in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, depending on the instructor and the specific assignment. Syllabi differ by content of the course but all sections emphasize idea development, interview technique, reporting, background research and writing skills across genres. Broadcast sections vary only by medium.
---
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: TV Magazine
F 9:30am - 1:10pm
TBA
Advanced Reporting: TV Magazine
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0301.09
Days: F 9:30am - 1:10pm
Room: 750
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
In previous classes, students have learned the rudiments of story selection, writing and shooting. This class advances those skills, with the added pressure of meeting real deadlines; i.e., producing pieces that air on a live, weekly news broadcast. Stories will gradually grow in complexity over the semester.
[x] close.
Ethics - Recitation
T 5:00p - 6:15p
Priya Jain
Ethics - Recitation
Instructor: Priya Jain
Course ID: V54.0502.13
Days: T 5:00p - 6:15p
Room: 659
SPRING SEMESTERS ONLY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This course is designed to acquaint students with the basic protections and restrictions of the law as they apply to the media, as well as the ethical problems and dilemmas journalists face. First Amendment rights and legal and ethical responsibilities and limitations will be examined and discussed. The course will look at these questions from five viewpoints: from (i) the practical view of a journalist doing his job with (ii) heavy consideration of ethical imperatives, and (iii) from a legal prospective, all the while (iv) considering the rules in a public policy context- are they fair and appropriate in our society? -- while (v) noting the historical context in which they arise. Significant court cases and fundamental legal rules as well as past ethical scandals and issues will be explored in the context of political and historical realities, and in terms of journalistic standards and practices; contemporary media law issues and ethical problems and guidelines will also be focused on. Among the basic First Amendment issues which will be examined are libel, invasion of privacy, prior restraints, newsgathering and newsgathering torts, and the reporter's privilege; some of the ethical issues to be explored include objectivity in reporting, bias and transparency, conflicts of interest, and fair dealings with subjects, sources and advertisers.
STUDENTS MUST ALSO REGISTER FOR RCT SEC 002 - 013
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 3:00a - 4:50p
TBA
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0101.09
Days: TR 3:00a - 4:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalism Seminar: Edmund Wilson and the Art of Cultural Criticism
T 3:30p - 6:00p
TBA
Journalism Seminar: Edmund Wilson and the Art of Cultural Criticism
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0401.001
Days: T 3:30p - 6:00p
Room: 657
Edmund Wilson (1895-1972) was the greatest cultural critic that America has ever produced – or so a good many cultural critics of our own time have come to believe. Wilson belonged to a circle of writers from the First World War generation that included John Dos Passos, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Edna St. Vincent Millay. He wrote novels, poetry, plays, and diaries. But mostly he wrote book reviews and essays on literary, political and historical topics, which ran in the New Republic, the New Yorker, The New York Review of Books and other magazines. His reviews and essays, assembled into books, have turned out to be classics – studied and cited by some of the most prominent critics of today.
The seminar will study Wilson’s style of journalistic writing – his emphases on clarity, on conversational ease, and on emotional forcefulness. The seminar will study his criticisms of the academic writing of his time. The students will be asked to apply Wilson’s principles of writing to their own compositions – an extremely useful thing to do for any student who seeks to become a better writer.
[x] close.
History of the Media
TR 3:00p - 4:15p
Mitchell Stephens
History of the Media
Instructor: Mitchell Stephens
Course ID: V54.0610.001
Days: TR 3:00p - 4:15p
Room: 653
An attempt to better understand the communications revolution we are undergoing through an investigation of the nature and consequences of previous communications revolutions. Using readings ranging from Plato to Sontag to Kundera, the course will look closely at the history of spoken language, images, writing, printing, photography, radio and television. How were they understood? How were they initially used or misused? What were their effects upon social patterns, politics and thought? What can that tell us about the potential and potential influence of digital communication?
*An access code is required to register, contact the department at 212-998-7994.
[x] close.
Internship
TBA
TBA
Internship
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0980
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
DECLARED JOURNALISM MAJORS ONLY Hours Arranged
Prerequisites: Foundations, Inquiry, The Beat
To enroll:
1) Students must be declared journalism majors who have been offered an internship. The Career Services director must approve the internship. All sophomores must consult the director before applying for a credit internship.
2) No credit will be given for internships in advertising, marketing, public relations or the fashion/accessory closet.
3) Students may take the course for 1, 2, 3 or 4 credits but can earn no more than 4 credits total while attending the institute. Only one internship for credit is allowed per semester.
For moew information go to the Career Services section.
[x] close.
Advanced Individualized Study
TBA
TBA
Advanced Individualized Study
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0997
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
To enroll in Advanced Individualized Study, an interested student must find a full-time faculty member to be a sponsor and then must develop and file a syllabus. The syllabus must be approved by the faculty member and the Journalism Director of Undergraduate Graduate Studies (DUGS). It must list, in week by week fashion, all readings and all writing assignments that the student will undertake for the Advanced Individualized Study. Once approved, this syllabus constitutes your "contract" on the project and the student's work will be judged and graded with that in mind.
[x] close.
Advanced Reporting: Culture and Media
R 9:30p - 1:10p
Katie Roiphe
Advanced Reporting: Culture and Media
Instructor: Katie Roiphe
Course ID: V54.0301.07
Days: R 9:30p - 1:10p
Room: 657
Prerequisites: Foundations, The Beat
This is the Capstone course. Subject matter varies from section to section, but the basic skeleton of the course is the same across sections: the emphasis is on development of the ability to produce writing and reporting within a sophisticated longform story structure. The course involves query writing, topic research and reading, interviewing, and repeated drafts and rewrites, leading to a full-length piece of writing aimed at a publishable level and the ability of the student to present the reporting orally.
---
This course will be a survey of cultural criticism over the last century. The central question it will address is how one reports on the elusive spirit of the times. How have critics done so in the past? How did they comment on the media itself; and how did they process the production of news, in newspapers, magazines, television etc.? How did they reflect on the style and content of cultural comment over the decades? The course will be both an intensive reading and writing class, and will culminate in a long original work of cultural reporting, which will be edited and workshopped in class.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 10:00p - 1:150p
Keith Kloor
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Keith Kloor
Course ID: V54.0101.02
Days: MW 10:00p - 1:150p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 12:00p - 1:50p
Judith Schoolman
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Judith Schoolman
Course ID: V54.0101.03
Days: MW 12:00p - 1:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 9:00a - 10:50
Phil Rosenbaum
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Phil Rosenbaum
Course ID: V54.0101.04
Days: MW 9:00a - 10:50
Room: 652
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 3:30p - 5:20p
Frankie Edozien
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Frankie Edozien
Course ID: V54.0101.05
Days: MW 3:30p - 5:20p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 9:00a - 10:50p
Cora Daniels
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Cora Daniels
Course ID: V54.0101.06
Days: TR 9:00a - 10:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 11:00a - 12:50p
TBA
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0101.07
Days: TR 11:00a - 12:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 1:00a - 2:50p
Fran Stern
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Fran Stern
Course ID: V54.0101.08
Days: TR 1:00a - 2:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 3:00a - 4:50p
TBA
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: V54.0101.09
Days: TR 3:00a - 4:50p
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
MW 6:30 - 8:20
Kenneth Paulsen
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: Kenneth Paulsen
Course ID: V54.0101.010
Days: MW 6:30 - 8:20
Room: 657
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
Journalistic Inquiry
TR 6:20 - 8:10
David A. Kaplan
Journalistic Inquiry
Instructor: David A. Kaplan
Course ID: V54.0101.011
Days: TR 6:20 - 8:10
Room: 659
JOURNALISTIC INQUIRY
Prerequisites: Foundations
This is the first-level reporting, research and writing course, which emphasizes in-depth research and interviewing technique as it introduces a variety of journalistic forms, including the reported essay, the newspaper pyramid style, magazine and newspaper feature style and broadcast newswriting style. The course focuses heavily on the critical and impartial examination of issues through research and reporting. Research methodology is key, as are observation and interview preparation and techniques. Research and reporting projects will include interviews, off- and on-line research, including books, government and non-governmental documents, interviews and databases, scholarly journals and other sources. This course provides a strong foundation in basic journalistic forms, issues and responsibilities.
[x] close.
WRRII - BER
M, 10am-3:50pm
Leslie Wayne
WRRII - BER
Instructor: Leslie Wayne
Course ID: G54.1022.001
Days: M, 10am-3:50pm
Room: 655
Writing, Research & Reporting II: BER is designed as a feature writing class that focuses on business, and which builds on skills you acquired in WRRI. Over the course of the semester you’ll study the craft of magazine writing, come up with story ideas, participate in editorial meetings, write multiple drafts of feature stories and a column, read and discuss classic business books and articles and create and update your own business-centric blogs. To keep your deadline news skills fresh, you’ll also at times be assigned hard news business articles in class. In addition, I’ll invite magazine editors from some of the big books to come in and relate their experiences.
Open to BER students only.
[x] close.
Investigative Reporting
T, 6:20-10pm
Mike McIntire
Investigative Reporting
Instructor: Mike McIntire
Course ID: G54.1182.001
Days: T, 6:20-10pm
Room: 657
Your objective will be to master basic investigative tools and techniques, as well as how to apply them to everyday reporting and major enterprise pieces. We will explore how to take advantage of the two main sources of information—documents and people—and discuss when and how to use computer data to both enhance a story or provide the foundation for a major project. Throughout the course, the goal will be to constantly delve beneath the surface. Going deep is the essence of investigative reporting, which pulls together all publicly available information, as well as harder-to-find material, to present the fullest possible picture. Corporations and powerful individuals employ armies of PR experts, lawyers and lobbyists to ensure that only their version of reality prevails, and it is the lonely duty of journalists to dispel this fog of self-interest. At least as important as mastering the technical skills will be learning to think critically and skeptically. The relentlessly upbeat press release, the carefully worded SEC filing or the late-Friday-afternoon earnings statement each, as a matter of course, should be probed for accuracy and omission. What important development went unsaid? Did the company chairman really resign to “spend more time with his family”?
Open to BER students only.
[x] close.
Critical Profile
R, 10am-1:40pm
TBA
Critical Profile
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1182.007
Days: R, 10am-1:40pm
Room: 700
The most ambitious—and rewarding--profiles tell the story not just of a person but of an idea. Such portraits, by urging us to consider their subjects in the context of a body of work or professional discipline, give human form to abstract concepts. The reader comes to understand the profile subject as the embodiment of a culturally significant idea. Realizing such pieces is as difficult as it sounds! The best profiles combine extensive quotation with first-hand observation; salient biographical anecdotes; meticulously researched analyses of the subject’s writings, art work, performances, or public appearances; along with illuminating comments by friends, colleagues, and adversaries—all melded into a single, gripping narrative.
In this course, we’ll tackle the challenges of producing successful profiles, with an emphasis on practical solutions to frequently encountered problems. (Topics will include composing a seductive yet brainy lede, translating jargon and technical arcana for lay readers, wresting vivid scenes from dull subjects, and handling uncooperative subjects.) We’ll study how various journalists, writing about figures in a broad range of fields, from politics and finance to scholarship and the arts, have negotiated the profile’s challenges. We’ll read pieces by the genre’s most talented practitioners and meet some of those journalists in class (including several journalists from The New Yorker). Along the way, students will acquire a sense of the idea profile’s historical trajectory, from its antecedents among New York intellectuals in the 1940s and 1950s and the New Journalism of the 1960s, to its flowering in recent decades, in magazines like Lingua Franca, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker.
There will be two assignments. The first is a tightly focused, Talk of the Town-style mini-profile (800-900 words), in which students will interview a figure of current cultural importance and, with concision, eloquence, and wit, tell us why this person matters now. The second assignment is a full-length profile (3,500-4,000 words), whose subject will be determined early in the semester and to which students will devote several weeks.
CRC priority; others with permission of instructor.
[x] close.
Advanced Critical Essay
T, 6-9:40pm
Ben Ratliff
Advanced Critical Essay
Instructor: Ben Ratliff
Course ID: G54.1281.001
Days: T, 6-9:40pm
Room: 700
This is an advanced course in the reading and practice of the long-form essay, which means nonfiction-with-a-thesis on a cultural topic that is longer than a brief review and shorter than a big book: essentially, swimming in a lake, as opposed to in a pool or an ocean. It consists of the readings below, class discussions, and the production of one long essay by the end of the semester, for which you will do two drafts.
We will be reading various kinds of work—a critical reading of a single artist; commentary and New Journalism on cultural-social-political themes; personal essays; lyric essays; polemics. Among the names below are famous critics, as well as writers known primarily as journalists, novelists, historians or poets. I have made an effort to include some very recent writing here as well as what’s old and established. Our focus here is “criticism,” in a broad sense, but through the term we will be looking at how a writer can turn an argument and thesis into a narrative that makes a reader want to keep reading. We will separate and identify the qualities that make all these pieces sing: thesis, tone, rhythm, rhetorical style, counterintuitive thinking, vocabulary, confidence, authority, evidence, tight or loose focus, trustworthiness, daring.
CRC priority; others with permission of instructor.
[x] close.
Race and Class
W, 3-6:40pm
Susie Linfield
Race and Class
Instructor: Susie Linfield
Course ID: G54.1281.002
Days: W, 3-6:40pm
Room: 700
This seminar examines the ways in which some of the major writers of the 20th and early 21st-centuries have reported on the key and ever-controversial issues of race and class. We will look at how these issues have, historically, been written about, and at how some of today's best reporters and essayists are approaching them; and we will explore how concepts of class and race have changed over the last century. Among the writers whose works we'll study are W.E.B. Du Bois, James Agee, George Orwell, James Baldwin, Jamaica Kincaid, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., William Finnegan, Anthony Lewis., and Orlando Patterson. We'll explore controversial issues such as affirmative action, the increasing polarization of wealth, and the legacy of slavery. This is an intensive reading course with a major final project.
CRC priority; others with permission of instructor.
[x] close.
WRRII - GloJo
T, 5-8:40pm
TBA
WRRII - GloJo
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1022.007
Days: T, 5-8:40pm
Room: 653
The staff foreign correspondent, once the elite of the newspaper profession, may be a creature on the verge of extinction. But it means that the opportunities to become a foreign journalist by going freelance are greater than ever. This course will give you the tools you need to get the facts in a foreign country and turn them into compelling stories for a domestic audience.
We will cover basics like making contacts, identifying reliable sources, and ensuring personal security; look at how to deal with cultural differences like norms of truth and social roles; study how the relationships between officialdom, business, and the media abroad differ from those in the US; learn how to navigate government bodies, NGOs, and international corporations and organizations; discuss the ethics of reporting abroad and the impacts it can have on you, your subjects and your audience; and explore the different skills needed for political, business, social, and war reporting. We’ll read some of the finest foreign journalism together, and the practical assignments will work on honing the reporting and, above all, the writing that will be essential whether you work for print, television, radio or the web, in a local, national or foreign beat.
But wait, you say: isn’t there a little problem here? How can we practice foreign reporting while stuck in New York City? Answer: you’ll report on New York as if you were a correspondent from a foreign country. If that sounds silly, it isn’t. This city is home to Byzantine politics, major industries, vibrant culture, a diverse population, and tough social problems, just like the best foreign assignments. It fascinates the world, and people everywhere know something about it, yet few understand its complexities—again, like the best foreign beats. It overloads you with information to be judged, sifted and made sense of. Reporting on New York for outsiders will serve as superb training for reporting distant places to a home audience.
This course will force you to set aside assumptions about what both you and your readers know; make you see New York with fresh eyes and report it from a cross-cultural perspective; and encourage you to flex your writing muscles in a wide range of styles.
Open to GloJo students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - LitRep: The Six Secrets to Creating Great Narrative
T, 3:30-7:10pm
Michael Norman
WRRII - LitRep: The Six Secrets to Creating Great Narrative
Instructor: Michael Norman
Course ID: G54.1022.008
Days: T, 3:30-7:10pm
Room: 654
The course, in effect, is six two-week modules. The first week of each module we will read articles and selections from books that illustrate one of the six secrets. Then we will, as a class, attempt to codify from the readings the techniques for creating that literary effect. The following week, or second week of the module, the class will workshop an assignment. Class will be divided into teams -- 2-4 depending on enrollment. Each team will be responsible for a detailed line edit of the other team members’ papers. The professor will also edit every paper. For the first hour of the second week, the teams will meet and exchanged edits. Second hour the professor will give a detailed exegesis on four to six of the papers. During the third hour of the class, students will sit down at computer and begin to rewrite their papers, incorporating the edits, while the professor looks over their shoulders.
Six secrets: 1. Description/setting; 2. Creation of Persona (speaking voice on the page);
3. Action sequence that includes both simple narrative and dramatic narrative; 4. Theme/thesis/argument/digression or how to turn exposition into narrative discourse; 5. Developing Character -- both in thumbnail and in full; 6. Using history as a tool to enrich the narrative; 7. Dialog
Grading: Each student will produce six exercises 500-750 words. Each will be rewritten. Each student’s workshop edits of the other students will also receive a grade and that grade will carry as much weight as the writing grade.
Open to LitRep students only.
[x] close.
Ethnography for Journalists
R, 9am-12:40pm
Ted Conover
Ethnography for Journalists
Instructor: Ted Conover
Course ID: G54.1182.003
Days: R, 9am-12:40pm
Room: 653
Long-form journalism is often concerned with the story of people's lives over time, and the work of many celebrated journalists has strong ethnographic components, whether pursued consciously or not. Adrian LeBlanc's Random Family is one example. Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm and War are two more (and Junger, who majored in anthropology, more than once has cited his debt to the discipline). Leon Dash, William Finnegan, and Alex Kotlowitz are other writers who believe in the payoffs to their journalism of immersive, in-depth research that is essentially ethnographic.
Using that kind of research to do journalism is what this course is about. We'll start with a look at some classic studies and learn how the ethnographic tradition arose. Next will be a short course in ethnographic fieldwork: How is it different from traditional journalistic research, and how does one do it? Finally, students will identify a person (it could be a bodega owner or a skateboarder), or small group of people (it could be a girls' soccer team, a group of Masons, or political activists) whose lives they will study over several weeks and then write about.
Literary Reportage priority.
[x] close.
Portfolio
W, 9am-12:40pm
Suketu Mehta
Portfolio
Instructor: Suketu Mehta
Course ID: G54.1182.004
Days: W, 9am-12:40pm
Room: 657
Description to come.
Literary Reportage priority. Instructor permission required.
[x] close.
WRRII - Magazine
W, 3-8:50pm
Caroline Miller
WRRII - Magazine
Instructor: Caroline Miller
Course ID: G54.1022.003
Days: W, 3-8:50pm
Room: 654
This course will essentially put you to work as a magazine writer. You will try your hand at a range of magazine pieces: a Q&A, a narrative feature, a service piece, a trend piece, a personal essay, a profile. In each case, we’ll read some examples of the genre, exploring what makes them exciting pieces of writing, and effective for a particular publication, whether print or online. We’ll focus on structure, voice, point of view, the money quote, the kind of detail that effectively invokes character and makes pieces memorable. You’ll pitch ideas before you tackle each piece; we’ll talk about reporting, interviewing and writing strategies before you jump in. Each of the pieces you write will be critiqued (by me and by other students) and you’ll be asked, as you would be by your editor, to revise. We’ll hear from visiting writers and editors who will talk about some of these things (among others): How to get people to say interesting, revealing, surprising, indiscreet things. How to use public sources of information to give pieces teeth. How to work and play well with editors: What editors love (and hate) in a writer, and vice versa. What might a journalism career look like over the next 10 years? How can you prepare for a field in which not only the technology but the business model is up for grabs?
Open to Magazine students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - Magazine
R, 10am-3:50pm
Mary W. Quigley
WRRII - Magazine
Instructor: Mary W. Quigley
Course ID: G54.1022.004
Days: R, 10am-3:50pm
Room: 655
WRII is the second half of our year-long writing and reporting class. This semester you will ramp up the basic skills to tackle more challenging writing assignments typical to magazines, both online and print. You will also choose a beat in an area that interests you and learn to develop story ideas, to access experts and research, and to report and write articles ranging from service pieces, to profiles, to personal essays to narratives. You will keep a blog on your research and reporting that will become, by semester’s end, a calling card to demonstrate your depth of knowledge on a particular beat. The blog will include multi-media elements such as slide shows. You will also work on developing your own distinctive voice. The gal of this class is to have students produce –and pitch—magazine articles.
Open to Magazine students only.
[x] close.
TV Reporting II
W, 4-8pm
Jason Samuels
TV Reporting II
Instructor: Jason Samuels
Course ID: G54.1172.001
Days: W, 4-8pm
Room: 750
This advanced video journalism class is intended to sharpen your reporting, and production skills.
You will be challenged to research and pitch compelling stories, and then produce short and long-form video segments. These segments will be produced for online and cable distribution.
You will be expected to master traditional news production techniques -and experiment. An emphasis will be placed on developing your proficiency as a one-person production unit in the field, a "digital backpack journalist" able to shoot and edit without assistance.
During the semester we will also spend plenty of time examining the changing form of video journalism on broadcast television, cable television and the web.
Open to NewsDoc students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - RNY
T, 9am-2:50pm
Jim MacMillan
WRRII - RNY
Instructor: Jim MacMillan
Course ID: G54.1022.006
Days: T, 9am-2:50pm
Room: 655
Description to come.
Open to RNY students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - RTN
T, 9am-2:50pm
Yvonne Latty
WRRII - RTN
Instructor: Yvonne Latty
Course ID: G54.1022.005
Days: T, 9am-2:50pm
Room: 653
In this class, you'll be on the job. You will be a professional journalist who will meet deadlines and make your stories stand out. You will work on the skills you need to succeed in this field, but that only happens with practice. You and your classmates will become colleagues who will work together on stories to become an efficient newsroom. Your goal is to finish this class with the skills, experiences, confidence and swagger that will be key to your success in a business that is changing dramatically. You will file stories on our online site, "Pavement Pieces," which is a showcase to premiere your best work. This is a multimedia class so you will be shooting video, taking photos and creating slideshows on your city beat, in addition to writing lots of stories. You will also have to blog your beat.
Open to RTN students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - SHERP
T, 10am-3:15pm
Stephen S. Hall
WRRII - SHERP
Instructor: Stephen S. Hall
Course ID: G54.1022.002
Days: T, 10am-3:15pm
Room: 654
Writing and Reporting Workshop II is an introduction to long-form science journalism. Drawing on the narrative techniques of great fiction, students will produce news features, books (proposals and outlines), reported essays, stand-alone videos and explanatory pieces. In addition to these major assignments, there will be extensive in-class writing and reading exercises, including character sketches, op-eds and close textual analysis. Most classes will also reserve time for an informal "story meeting," where students will pitch story ideas. This will culminate with a formal query letter pitched to a specific media outlet.
Open to SHERP students only.
[x] close.
Environmental Reporting
W, 9:45am-12:45pm
Dan Fagin
Environmental Reporting
Instructor: Dan Fagin
Course ID: G54.1188.001
Days: W, 9:45am-12:45pm
Room: 655
Environmental Reporting has three major components. We will focus on writing -- and rewriting! -- insightful stories about environment-related topics that are often emotionally charged and highly politicized. We will also take deep dives into a series of crucial but often misunderstood topics such as risk assessment, epidemiology, environmental law, climate science, framing and the use of databases and other investigative tools. And finally, we will read and discuss the work of exemplary environmental writers and thinkers, from Henry David Thoreau and Aldo Leopold to John McPhee and Bill McKibben. As we explore each of these three components, we will practice many forms environmental journalism, including news stories, features, topical profiles, blog posts, persuasive pieces and descriptive essays. We will also critique newly published environmental journalism every week.
Open to SHERP students only.
[x] close.
WRRII - Studio20
M, 4-9:50pm
TBA
WRRII - Studio20
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1022.009
Days: M, 4-9:50pm
Room: 653
Description to come.
Open to Studio20 students only.
[x] close.
Studio Two
W, 2-5:40pm
Jay Rosen
Studio Two
Instructor: Jay Rosen
Course ID: G54.1182.002
Days: W, 2-5:40pm
Room: 653
In Studio Two, students in the Studio 20 program, and others who request to take the course and receive permission from the instructor, tackle one large project in web development: as a team. The project chosen will vary from term to term, but it always be an adventure in web journalism, and it will always have a media partner-- typically a news organization or existing journalism site that wants to do something new or collaborate with Studio 20 on an extension of its current editorial presence.
Students participate in all phases of the project: background research, news ecosystem analysis, technology assessment, design and conception, prototyping, editorial work flow, content production, testing, launch, feedback and adjustment, de-bugging, iteration and evaluation. They collaborate actively and in person with the media partner. They learn to divide up tasks and coordinate the different parts of the project. They try to push the envelope and do something effective but also innovative in web journalism that meets the partner's goals, works for the users and adds to the reputation of Studio 20.
Studio Two is a required course for students in the Studio 20 concentration. A limited number of spaces are available for students in other programs and disciplines, especially if they bring skills to the project that the project needs. Permission of instructor is required. Contact Professor Jay Rosen if you are interested in being added to the course. Professor Rosen is particularly seeking students with knowledge of graphic design for the web, all aspects of web production, computer programming, or expertise in the wordpress.com content management system.
Open to Studio20 students only.
[x] close.
Writing for Wide Readership
M, 5-7pm
Liza Featherstone
Writing for Wide Readership
Instructor: Liza Featherstone
Course ID: G54.0060.001
Days: M, 5-7pm
Room: 659
Sponsored by The NYU Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation Program in Social Entrepreneurship and the NYU Wagner School of Public Service.
Expressly designed for graduate students outside of Journalism and FAS.
How to translate the specialized languages of particular disciplines in order to reach a larger public is at the heart of this course. Too often, specialists find themselves hostage to the arcane tongues of particular disciplines. Yet they possess knowledge that often cries out to be understood by a broader public. The course will concentrate on the structure of good storytelling, the marshaling of evidence, the unfolding of convincing narrative, and the rhetorical style necessary for turning useful work into memorable writing. Good writers are good readers and this course will explore some of the more successful practitioners of public writing and the art of advancing an argument for a general readership, including, among others, Lewis Thomas, George Orwell and Joan Didion.
[x] close.
The "R" Word
T, 9am-12:40pm
TBA
The "R" Word
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1019.001
Days: T, 9am-12:40pm
Room: 750
Religion permeates numerous news stories, from Iraq and Israel to stem-cell research; to school curricula and gay marriage; to sports, politics and the arts. Religion is a beat that not only encompasses organized religion but also branches out into ethics, morality, and spirituality. What it means is that all reporters are somehow on the religion beat, even at small-town newspapers. We will use the insights of media criticism combined with a study of a variety of approaches to journalism writing to inform our own production of short pieces and a long narrative essay. Religion stories often present terrific opportunities for lively narrative articles, engaging profiles, personal essays, and diverse writing styles. We will investigate the ways in which journalism confronts belief and the ways in which it makes the peculiarities of beliefs presentable in the public sphere.
[x] close.
Directed Reading
TBA
TBA
Directed Reading
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1299.001
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
To enroll in Directed Readings, an interested student must find a full-time faculty member to be a sponsor and then must develop and file a syllabus. The syllabus must be approved by the faculty member and the Journalism Director of Graduate Studies. It must list, in week by week fashion, all readings and all writing assignments that the student will undertake for the Directed Readings. Once approved, this syllabus constitutes your "contract" on the project and the student's work will be judged and graded with that in mind.
[x] close.
Fieldwork in Journalism
TBA
TBA
Fieldwork in Journalism
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1290.001
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
More information on the Credit Internship Course can be found here: http://journalism.nyu.edu/career-services/credit-internship-course/
[x] close.
Fieldwork in Journalism - BER
TBA
TBA
Fieldwork in Journalism - BER
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1290.002
Days: TBA
Room: TBA
Instructor permission required.
[x] close.
Entrepreneurial Journalism
W, 6-9:40pm
TBA
Entrepreneurial Journalism
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1025.001
Days: W, 6-9:40pm
Room: 653
Journalists who can successfully navigate these turbulent media times must be equal parts journalist and entrepreneur. In this seminar students will learn the basics of journalistic entrepreneurism: brand management, basic web design (mainly user scenarios, information flow and database modeling), the use of social media platforms, how to develop business models, innovate within an existing company, and attract capital. There will be a lot of learning by doing. Students will have a choice to run their own blog-based business (posting, selling ads, marketing their work) or track and profile an existing startup. The semester will culminate with students either drafting their own business plan for a media start-up that they will pitch in class, or completing a 3500-word, publishable business profile. Guests will include well-known journalists, corporate innovation managers, successful media entrepreneurs, and investors.
[x] close.
The Fiction of Non-Fiction
F, 3:15-6:15pm
Lawrence Weschler
The Fiction of Non-Fiction
Instructor: Lawrence Weschler
Course ID: G54.1050.001
Days: F, 3:15-6:15pm
Room: 653
All narrative voices—but especially the voices in true narratives—are themselves fictions. The world of nonfiction writing is divided between those who know this and those who either don't or else deny it—a division that is roughly contiguous with that between writing that's worth reading and writing that's not. Nonfiction texts are fictions in that they deploy the devices of fiction (pacing, modulation of voice, considered sequence of revelation, irony, metaphor, etc.) but even more so in that they are constructs (they're composed, they're in-formed and made up). In this seminar we will revel in the architectonic of good nonfiction writing. We will consider admirable sentences and marvelous paragraphs. We will study foundations and jointure, account for senses of spaciousness and constriction. We will examine and upend the myth of objectivity. We will try to determine what makes one piece of writing true to life while another lies there simply dead. We will read as if writing mattered, and write as if reading did.
[x] close.
Hyperlocal Newsroom
M, 4-7:40pm
Brooke Kroeger Yvonne Latty Darragh Worland
Hyperlocal Newsroom
Instructor: Brooke Kroeger Yvonne Latty Darragh Worland
Course ID: G54.1080.001
Days: M, 4-7:40pm
Room: 750
Hyperlocal News is the buzzword and the focus of many media companies. As newspapers and their staffs shrink, they are reporting less neighborhood news. People are hearing less about the news that most affects them. This class will be run like a newsroom with one goal - pump out stories, videos, audio slideshows, podcasts and audio slideshows for an actual publication. The East Village Local is a joint project of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and The New York Times. Their assignment will be to fill its pages with the best, cutting edge, well-reported and written content you can find. This will be a skills based immersion course. At the successful completion of the course, students will have a demonstrated proficiency in beat reporting, video production, audio presentation
[x] close.
Radio Reporting
M, 5:30-9:30pm
TBA
Radio Reporting
Instructor: TBA
Course ID: G54.1171.001
Days: M, 5:30-9:30pm
Room: 652
As the opportunities for quality journalism continue to dwindle, radio, the world's first mass medium, is not only thriving but evolving. Few outlets prize in-depth news and cultural coverage as much as NPR & PRI; fewer still have set aside so much airtime for freelancers. In short, audio storytelling is a valuable skill in a media landscape that increasingly favors 'backpack journalism.' In this course, students will come to understand how radio conveys information and analysis with nuance and intimacy. You'll learn how to interview, gather tape, edit, voice, and produce your own stories and commentaries for radio and podcast. You'll learn how to write for the ear, create narrative arcs, and use sound design to help tell a story.
We'll cover a full range of techniques including spot news, creative commentary, non-narrated audio postcards, and longer narrative pieces using documentary methods. Generating and pitching story ideas will be a priority, and we will regularly engage in critical listening of each other's work. In addition to guest lectures from luminaries in the field, the course will culminate with a visually enhanced collaboration with WNYC Radio's digital team. Weekly classes are split into two sections, with one period devoted to more intensive technical instruction. The idea is to let students reap the advantage of extra in-class editing and mix work to get the most out of their assignments.
[x] close.
Political Cinema
F, 9:30am-1:10pm
Shimon Dotan
Political Cinema
Instructor: Shimon Dotan
Course ID: G54.1182.005
Days: F, 9:30am-1:10pm
Room: 653
In contemporary war, "the other" is viewed not only as an enemy to be fought but, often, as one to be eliminated. How do journalists and filmmakers fight against (or, alternately, reinforce) such deadly representations? This class will focus primarily (though not exclusively) on one of the world's most conflict-ridden regions--the Middle East--though it will also explore films from Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and the United States. Through journalistic readings and film screenings, we will explore how "the other" is constructed: politically, aesthetically, ethically. This class is designed for anyone interested in contemporary politics and history, especially those of the Mideast; the journalism of conflict and violence, and the ethical questions associated with them; filmmaking; and film criticism.
NewsDoc and CRC priority.
[x] close.
The Digital Newsroom
R, 1-9pm
Adrian Mihai Joe Peyronnin
The Digital Newsroom
Instructor: Adrian Mihai Joe Peyronnin
Course ID: G54.1182.006
Days: R, 1-9pm
Room: Studio
The weekly schedule will be divided in two sections: 1-6pm and 6-9pm. Students will be assigned to one section each week.
Digital Newsroom is a new course offering that will combine TV Newscast and iBeat Reporting to allow graduate students to develop a comprehensive set of skills that will prepare them for a career in video journalism. It is a holistic that will expand the scope of the newscast and meet the needs of a wide range of students. It will also introduce the idea of entrepreneurial journalism for those students with a video emphasis.
The merged classes will function as cross training in a real newsroom environment as opposed to learning each function in isolation. We believe that this approach will allow students to better experience the energy, collaborative nature and deadline pressure of a daily news operation. By bringing these two classes together students will be able to develop their reporting and writing skills, achieve fluency with a wide range of newsroom production tools and gain basic understanding of how to produce a newscast and, through a rotation, focus more heavily on field reporting, advanced editing and camera techniques, and live reporting. The class will also encourage media crossover and experimentation. For instance, students will be able to use iPhones and other mobile devices in newsgathering and editing.
Over the semester students will rotate among each typical newsroom position. These positions include reporter, writer, executive producer, director, anchor, camera and so on. Students will be given the opportunity to spend more time focusing on a position that interests them most, yet they will be exposed to all the positions.
[x] close.
Plagues and Panics
M, 10am-1:40pm
Perri Klass
Plagues and Panics
Instructor: Perri Klass
Course ID: G54.1182.008
Days: M, 10am-1:40pm
Room: 653
Whenever we talk about epidemics of an infectious disease notthe return of the Spanish Flu, say, we stress the speed with which a virus could travel in the modern era—one person coughing in the Hong Kong Airport today, millions infected on every continent by next week. In the same way, the speed of information today lets us know almost immediately when a bird dies of avian influenza in rural Turkey. This course will look at some recent “scares” including avian flu and anthrax, and will consider coverage of AIDS at home and abroad. We’ll discuss the informational role and responsibilities of the media in a time of possible epidemic, and look at sources of information and misinformation as we do our own reporting and writing in and around the subject.
[x] close.
The Longform Essay
R, 2-5:40pm
Katie Roiphe
The Longform Essay
Instructor: Katie Roiphe
Course ID: G54.1182.010
Days: R, 2-5:40pm
Room: 700
This is an advanced writing course with a rigorous focus on the mechanics of the essay. How does a great essay work? We will examine the elusive elements of precision, originality, and style. Over the course of the semester students will focus on developing and refining their own voice. Writers under discussion will include: Edmund Wilson, Vladimir Nabokov, Kenneth Tynan, Elizabeth Hardwick, Randall Jarrell, Virginia Woolf, Janet Malcolm, David Foster Wallace and James Wood.
[x] close.
Storytellers
T, 2-5:40pm
David Samuels
Storytellers
Instructor: David Samuels
Course ID: G54.1231.001
Days: T, 2-5:40pm
Room: 700
Great stories are shaped by talented, reckless, funny, arrogant and often misanthropic writers and reporters working at the height of their craft. In this class, we will study how world-shaking historical events and everyday experiences alike can be crafted into original journalistic narratives. We will concentrate on the writer's angle of approach to the subject - his or her ÒvoiceÓ - which is made more or less convincing through his or her control over language and the depth and range of his/her reporting. The first half of each class will consist of close readings of nonfiction narratives on Balkan wars, acid trips, nervous breakdowns, rock and roll concerts, a sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subways, a visit to the Iowa State Fair and assorted other subjects by some of my favorite journalists and novelists including Tom Wolfe, Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace, Denis Johnson, Rebecca West, Ryszard Kapucinski, Haruki Murakami, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Joseph Mitchell. Each class will begin promptly at 12:30 PM and will be divided between an hour and thirty minute discussion of the assigned reading and an hour and fifteen minute discussion of your written work. Latecomers will be greeted with derision. We will break at 2 PM for afternoon snack. We will also enjoy visits from enlivening and informative guests from Harper's, The New Yorker and other high-class venues, who can answer any questions you might have about reporting and editing, and who will help you shape your ideas with an eye towards publishing your own work.
[x] close.
Eating New York
T, 10am-1:40pm
Meryl Gordon
Eating New York
Instructor: Meryl Gordon
Course ID: G54.1231.002
Days: T, 10am-1:40pm
Room: 657
Celebrity chefs and their tv empires, illegal immigrant waiters living an underground existence, an activist city government banning transfats and upgrading school cafeteria food, street vendors fighting for space in front of the Metropolitan Museum, stores advertising low-cal ice cream that in reality packs on the pounds, blocks with dozens of Indian restaurants side-by-side - there are an endless number of great stories to be done about Manhattan's high and low food chain. Combining intensive reading, reporting and writing, this course would use the food world as a laboratory. Students will tackle a wide array of stories revolving around food, dealing with larger issues such as economics, social class, environmental and health safety issues, government action and pure aesthetics. The goal is to make students comfortable with the subject area, as well as teach them how to find memorable stories in seemingly humdrum situations. Required for this course: a good appetite and a healthy curiosity.
Tentative reading for the class would include Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food, Calvin Trillan's Alice Let's Eat, Ruth Reichl's Comfort Me with Apples, Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, Danny Meyer's Setting the Table, and Jennifer 8. Lee's Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food.
[x] close.
Journalism of Ideas
M, 2:30-6:10pm
Robert S. Boynton
Journalism of Ideas
Instructor: Robert S. Boynton
Course ID: G54.1231.003
Days: M, 2:30-6:10pm
Room: 654
All good journalism is, in some sense, the “journalism of ideas.” Whether about art, books, science, politics, technology or business, the most compelling journalism brings ideas to bear on a subject in a way that enables us to understand it in a new way. This course has a two-fold goal: to make you more self-conscious about the “reality” of ideas as a legitimate journalistic subject, and to teach you how to use the ideas you are passionate about to create smart, reported journalism.
You will also learn the nuts and bolts of feature and magazine writing. You will learn how to write queries, conduct interviews, outline articles, organize material and write accessible, jargon-free journalism. This is not an academic course about theory. It is a practical course about how to create reported journalism. The course will culminate in the publication of The New York Review of Ideas: www.newyorkreviewofideas.com (Check it out to see examples of last year’s class work). The edition that appeared in 2009 drew a tremendous amount of attention, and led to several assignments. This year’s edition will include a multimedia dimension.
Writers under discussion will include Jane Kramer, Lawrence Wright, Janet Malcolm, Lawrence Weschler, Robert Sullivan, Malcolm Gladwell, Ved Mehta, Henry Louis Gates jr. and others.
[x] close.
Work and Working People in America
W, 10:00am-1:40pm
William Serrin
Work and Working People in America
Instructor: William Serrin
Course ID: G54.1019.002
Days: W, 10:00am-1:40pm
Room: 653
Work in America -- and the American worker and the American working
class -- essentially have been ignored through much of American history, except in terms of what was or is said to be time of labor strife -- or throughout our history under-reported and underwritten. Much of the media -- newspapers, magazines, broadcast, web sites, and the like -- do not consider work, workers, and working class people in America important; moreover, reporting on work and working class people is not in much of the American media considered important or a route to advancement in the newsroom. The finest reporting and writing has been done, by and large, by outsiders.
[x] close.