Global and Joint Program Studies

A select group of students each year have the opportunity to work toward a joint M.A. degree in Journalism and Africana Studies, East Asian Studies, French Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Near Eastern Studies, Russian and Slavic Studies, European and Mediterranean Studies or International Relations.

Known informally as GloJo, this program, by design, crosses disciplines and media platforms and just as intentionally remains small. It is expressly for students with strong international, transnational and/or interest in specific area studies, and, as appropriate, the needed language preparation. The program provides the opportunity to deepen knowledge of each respective region, culture or discipline as it simultaneously prepares students for careers in journalism and related fields. The Curriculum link takes you to a typical course progression and, just below that, the requirements for graduation, program by program. 

From the very start, GloJo students take their required two Writing, Research and Reporting classes together. This both ensures class cohesion within the larger Journalism graduate program and GloJo's international inflection. Students also gather regularly outside of class in informal dinner gatherings expressly conceived to support their degree progress and their master's projects. These evenings often include both first and second year students, and sometimes recent alumni, to enable the further sharing of experiences, expertise, information and contacts. Here you can see where our students are interning and where our recent graduates are working.  

The master's project (here you can find some recent abstracts) generally involves summer travel between the first and second years of the program, which we support with modest GloJo travel grants. Students prepare for these reporting forays during their first two semesters in the program with mentors from faculty in both Journalism and in the partner programs, whom the students enlist. The post-travel reporting and thesis preparation happens in the second year. It results in a substantive long-form journalistic work in narrative, explanatory or investigative style, under-girded with academic references. In recent years, several students have produced documentaries, photographic essays or multimedia projects such as this one or this one, which NPR aired. Some partner programs will accept this work as the actual project; others will require a more traditional academic thesis as well.

Master's projects in near-entirety, or in substantial excerpt, have appeared in such publications as Harper's Magazine, City Limits, Tablet, GlobalPost.com, twice recently in VQR and on NPR's Latino USA. Students are encouraged to publish professionally as part of the learning experience. In addition to the publishing GloJo students regularly do through freelance or internship opportunities, there is the Institute's collaboration with The New York Times, The Local East Village, a daily hyperlocal news and information site that covers the vibrant neighborhood surrounding our location at 20 Cooper Square. The LEV provides a highly competitive professional-level online publishing experience in all media for those who choose "Hyperlocal Newsroom" as their video production class or the Local East Village internship. As it is said, "All global is local."

We make a point of featuring on our website the strong published work of our students and continue to do so for recent alumni as they advance in the professional world. We also encourage the entrepreneurial efforts of our students such as Latin American News Dispatch, the creation of Andrew O'Reilly and Roque Planas (GloJo-Latin American Studies 2011). 

Prospective students are invited to visit the Institute during the fall and spring academic terms to learn more about the program. We can arrange for you to sit in on a class and suggest you check Course Listings for classes that might coincide with your visit. To schedule a visit, please contact graduate.journalism@nyu.edu. Please note that visits should be scheduled well in advance if you wish to meet with faculty.

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Please note the recommended deadline for all applications is December 18.