Courses
The listing of a course description here does not guarantee a course’s being offered in a particular semester. Please refer to the published schedule of classes on the Student Link for confirmation a class is actually being taught and for specific course meeting dates and times.
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COM JO 528: Travel Writing in Australia: Journalism and Non-Fiction
This course is designed to introduce students to "small town Australia" through the first hand experience of an eight-day on-the-road research excursion, both preceded and followed by weeks in the classroom, studying examples of the genre and producing written work based on the research trip. At the same time, students will be undertaking internships with a variety of local journalism enterprises. At all times, there will be a focus on journalistic writing beginning with pitching articles and stories to local, national and overseas newspapers and magazines. Effective Summer 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation. -
COM JO 530: Drafts of History
Journalism has been called "the first rough draft of history." We consider several episodes from U.S. history and examine how the first drafts written by journalists compare to subsequent drafts written by historians. We analyze how new evidence and chronological distance alter understanding of important events. Four credits, fall semester. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 150.) Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry II, Oral and/or Signed Communication. -
COM JO 532: Sports Seminar
Students explore the issues that writers and broadcasters face as they pursue their careers in sports journalism. Each week, we invite working professionals to join us on campus discussing such topics as ethics, sports and its place in society, reporting, women in sports and how to find that first job. Students are expected to ask thoughtful questions and will be required to write an evaluation each week. A great opportunity to start the networking process. Four credits. (Undergraduate Prerequisite: COM JO 200.) -
COM JO 535: Investigative and Project Reporting
This advanced seminar teaches select students the practice of depth reporting and writing. Students use a variety of reporting techniques from computer database searches to traditional "shoe leather" reporting -- in pursuit of long-term projects ideally destined for publication in one of several professional new outlets that have cooperative agreements with the Journalism Dept, including The Boston Globe and Boston Magazine. Story subjects range from public system failures to questionable criminal convictions, from narrative reconstructions to explanatory journalism. Class is taught by award-winning journalists from the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. Four credits, spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and COM JO 210. Graduate Prerequisite: COM JO 721.) -
COM JO 537: Advanced Visual Storytelling
Students will refine editing and workflow, learn lighting technique, add strong portrait work to their portfolio and complete a long-form multimedia story. Students are required to manage and edit their images and to produce multimedia. The final project is a four to five minute multimedia piece with an emphasis on story, lighting, technical results, continuity and camera work. There will be continual class discussion on ethics in photojournalism and class critiques of assignments. All photos and videos must be welled tagged and captioned with complete and accurate information. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 205. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 706; or permission of instructor.) -
COM JO 539: Global Health Storytelling
GLOBAL HEALTH STORYTELLING marks our first effort to present an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to address core concepts in both public health and journalism, and to prepare students to make the truly exciting--but often untold--stories of public health available to a wide public Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Oral and/or Signed Communication, Creativity/Innovation. -
COM JO 541: The Art of the Interview
Students learn advanced professional techniques for an essential skill. From preparing an interview to setting it up and carrying it out, students get detailed instruction and feedback. Four credits, spring semesters. (Undergraduate prerequisite: JO 200. Graduate prerequisite: JO 721. Permission of instructor required.) -
COM JO 542: The Literature of Journalism
This course is an examination of cultural history as seen by our fellow journalists. It rests on the premise that to be a great writer, one must also be a great reader. With readings from Walt Whitman to the present, we examine the tools and techniques that make nonfiction writing memorable. Subjects include Mark Twain, George Orwell, Joan Didion, Ernest Hemingway, Martha Gellhorn, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson and the great misanthrope, H.L. Mencken. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. -
COM JO 543: Rescuing Lost Stories: Writing Nonfiction Narratives from the Archives
The course will prepare students who are interested in writing nonfiction narratives to plan and conduct archival research, especially at BU's Gotlieb Archival Research Center. Students will learn to navigate the archives, then frame and develop historical narratives of significant contemporary events based on research of primary source materials such as personal letters, diaries, government documents and contemporaneous media reports. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Writing-Intensive Course, Creativity/Innovation. -
COM JO 546: Statehouse Program
Taking advantage of our location in the state capital of Massachusetts, the Journalism Department offers students the chance to cover the Statehouse for professional news clients. The prime component of The Boston Statehouse Program, this advanced study in government and political reporting offers the opportunity to write and report from Beacon Hill for a Massachusetts news organization. The course goal is to develop writing and reporting skills through the daily experience of covering state government that will apply in many fields. Working with a professor and a professional editor, students acquire the skills necessary to work in a daily news environment, including interviewing, developing sources, archival research and deadline writing. Students develop a substantial portfolio of published work. Taken with JO 511, eight credits, fall and spring semesters. See Statehouse Program: http://www.bu.edu/statehouse. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 200 and JO 210. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 721.) -
COM JO 550: Advanced Online Journalism
This course focuses on producing long-form, interactive multimedia projects. Working in teams, students learn to produce documentary-style multimedia packages that combine still photography, audio, video, interactives and text. The course will offer an overview of techniques and best practices currently employed by news organizations to produce advanced multimedia projects. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. (Undergraduate Prerequisites: COM JO 304. Graduate Prerequisites: COM JO 704.) -
COM JO 700: Jo Symposium
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COM JO 702: Science Narrative
An in-depth introduction to narrative for science communicators,?story-tellers and journalists.? We consider content, form, style and approach, using examples from the work of established writers to glean principles for our own thinking and writing. Research will play a central role, and we will focus on interview and reporting skills and analysis, including statistics.?The goal of science narrative is to shed light on scientific topics, and also to inform and provoke thought.?In this class, we produce four short pieces of narrative, and in the process discover how the writing voice acquires authority built on research. A?goal is to introduce the?essential elements of sound story telling--narrative, exposition, transition, and subtext. ?This course is required of all SciJo students and open to other students by permission of the instructor. Four credits, fall semesters. -
COM JO 703: Magazine Writing
This is a course in long-form magazine journalism such as appears in the New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Outside, and the New York Times Magazine, as well as websites such as Medium, The Atavist and others. Students read and analyze superb examples of the genre and report, research and write long-form pieces. Topics intensive, in-depth reporting and research; the writing process; the use of fine language and the development of a personal voice; the importance of a point of view; structuring long pieces; digging deeply into subjects in order to truly enlighten readers. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.) -
COM JO 704: Online Journalism
This course introduces students to multi- platform journalism. Students will gain practical experience producing and editing news and features for delivery via digital platforms. This class critiques and analyzes news sites to examine how multiple elements such as text, photo's audio, video, social media and interactive graphics are currently used in multimedia reporting. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. -
COM JO 706: Digital Toolkit
This "bootcamp" course on visual journalism prepares grad students for advanced photo, broadcast and online courses, providing fundamental skills in shooting and editing photos and video. Grad students also produce a short profile story. This is a?hybrid or blended?course, employing a number of online resources to help with independent learning. We meet for two full Saturdays, and there are 16?three-hour labs available.?Students are required to attend a minimum of six hours of lab time. Two credits, fall semesters. -
COM JO 707: Video Reporting
This introductory course is about reporting, writing and producing the news for television and the internet. Students learn the fundamentals of news- gathering, story generation, research, videography, writing, editing and presentation. Strong stories air on BUTV and are posted on the department's news-service website. Four credits, fall semester. -
COM JO 711: Video Journalism
Recommended for students in the TV journalism specialization. Students learn to set up, shoot and edit video news reports, using current HD cameras and editing software. This is a production class requiring students to produce several video news reports broadcast on television and posted to the Internet. Four credits, fall semesters. -
COM JO 712: Online Radio Newsroom
For students who like the teamwork and adrenaline of a real newsroom. Students produce a half-hour news show on the student radio station, WTBU, during each class. Students report, write, produce and engineer all the news sports and commentary on deadline. Students use social media to report stories. Content is uploaded to the department's news- service website. Students file stories frequently, and programs from NPR, BBC, WBZ and other audio news outlets will be critiqued. Four credits, fall and spring semesters. -
COM JO 719: Feature Writing
In this course, students are invited to go beyond the demands of hard-news writing and to explore a much broader range of topics and a richer array of approaches. The essence of feature writing is "enterprise" -- feature stories are those that do not have to happen and cannot be written by formula; individual journalists make them happen. Through readings and by reporting and writing their own features, students develop a sophisticated sense of stories and a stylish prose technique. Emphasis is on telling great stories at various lengths and in different formats. Four credits. (Prerequisite: COM JO 721.)