Overview
The mission of the School of Journalism is to explore and to help students explore the institutions, procedures, professional skills, and audiences of journalism and mass communication. Our subject is how the media mediate, and what this process of mediation means for public life in America and around the world. This mission is both an academic and a professional one; it is about learning, teaching, and doing. To this end, we are committed to scholarly research in journalism and mass communication, to liberal education in the arts and sciences, and to professional training in media work.
The Mission of the Baccalaureate Program
The mission of the baccalaureate program of the School of Journalism is to help students learn to read, think, and communicate clearly, critically, and creatively. The school is committed to liberal education in the arts and sciences as well as to professional training in the skills of journalism and mass communication. The school believes that both breadth and depth of learning must characterize the undergraduate experience. To this end, the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree emphasizes:
- development of basic skills in writing, critical thinking, independent learning, mathematics, foreign language, computers, and new information technologies;
- exposure to a broad range of course work in the disciplines of the liberal arts and sciences, both in the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) and in the liberal arts courses within the School of Journalism;
- study of human cultures outside the United States and of selected minority cultures within the United States;
- training in statistical analysis and quantitative and qualitative research methods; training in the professional skills of journalism and mass communication, including reporting, writing, editing, visual communication, new communications technology, and collaborative group work;
- study of the institutions, processes, and effects of mass media in society;
- study in depth of a field or discipline in the arts and sciences, other than journalism and mass communications; and
- preparation for a lifetime of learning.