Courses
Core Courses
JOUR 15a Writing News for Broadcast and the Internet
Signature of the instructor required. Core course for Journalism Program. This course may not be repeated for credit by students who have taken ENG 9b in previous years.
A hands-on workshop designed to teach basic broadcast newswriting skills, as well as techniques for gathering, producing, and delivering radio and television news. Stresses the importance of accuracy. Issues of objectivity, point of view, and freedom of the press are discussed. Writing assignments will be written on deadline. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Melnicove
AMST 137b Journalism in Modern America
Signature of the instructor required.
Examines what journalists have done, how their enterprise has in fact conformed with their ideals, and what some of the consequences have been for the republic historically and in contemporary terms. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Whitfield
JOUR 120a The Culture of Journalism
Examines the social, cultural, political and economic influences on the practice and profession of journalism. Provides the background and concepts for a critical analysis of the American press. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Farrelly
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AMST 138b The Contemporary World in Print
Signature of the instructor required.
Introduces students to the practice of news reporting for print media and links theory and history to the working craft of journalism. Trains students in the fundamentals of newsgathering and writing and provides an opportunity to practice those skills in conditions simulating a newsroom. A concern for ethics, balance, and accuracy is stressed in all assignments. Usually offered every year.
Ms. McNamara
Ethics
JOUR 110b Ethics in Journalism
Should reporters ever misrepresent themselves? Are there pictures newspapers should not publish? Is it ever acceptable to break the law in pursuit of a story? Examines the media's ethics during an age dominated by scandal and sensationalism. Usually offered every year.
Ms. McNamara
Internships & Independent Studies
JOUR 89a Contemporary Media: Internship and Analysis
For students with media internships.
Prerequisite: JOUR 15a, 138b; and JOUR 120a or AMST 137b.
Brings together students who are independently engaged in various media internships and provides an opportunity for them to exchange their experiences with other students and to discuss and analyze related readings. Students who choose to satisfy the journalism minor's internship option must take this course. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
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JOUR 98a/98b Independent Study
Student designs his or her own course of study. Student writes a final paper on his or her research. Usually offered every semester.
Staff
Elective Courses - Contemporary Affairs and the Media
JOUR 103b Advertising and the Media
Combines a historical analysis of advertising with an examination of its contemporary practice. Examines the creative process, advertising across media, and blurring of the line between advertising and editorial content. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. Farrelly
JOUR 104a Political Packaging in America
Examines the history of political marketing, image-making in presidential campaigns, the relationship between news and ads, and the growth of public-policy advertising by special-interest groups to influence legislation. Usually offered every third year.
Ms. McNamara
JOUR 107b Media and Public Policy
Examines the intersection of media and politics, the ways in which each influences the other, and the consequences of that intersection for a democracy. Through analytic texts, handouts, and contemporaneous newspaper and magazine articles, explores the relationship between policy decisions and public discourse. Usually offered every second year.
Ms. McNamara
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JOUR 109b Digital and Multimedia Journalism
Enrollment limited to 14. Limited to participants in the Journalism Program and American Studies concentrators.
New technologies, from instantaneous satellite communications to 24/7 news on the Web, are redefining the nature and practice of journalism. We examine the history of the new media and explore their political, sociological, and legal ramifications.
Ms. Bass
JOUR 112b Literary Journalism: The Art of Feature Writing
Introduces students to signal works of literary journalism. Helps develop the student's own voices by honing and improving student's own work and by critiquing the work of professionals and colleagues.
Usually offered every second year.
Mr. Feeney
JOUR 114b Arts Journalism
Introduces students to cultural reporting, profiling, and criticism. Students read and discuss the work of notable past and present practitioners with the aim of enhancing their skills as both consumers and producers of arts journalism.
Usually offered every year.
Mr. Feeney
AAAS 117a Communications and Social Change in Developing Nations
ENG 60a Documentary Prose and Film
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Elective Courses -Politics Law
LGLS 137a Libel and Defamation, Privacy and Publicity
Signature of the instructor required. A library intensive course.
Consideration of the historical, cultural, and constitutional roots--and judicial application--of laws defining libel and defamation. Part of the course will be devoted to "privacy rights" as they apply to issues of artistic freedom and integrity. Usually offered in even years.
Ms. Davis
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POL 110a Media Politics and Society
A broad-based inquiry into the role of the media in contemporary American society, with special emphasis on the political impact of the media, the ethics of good reporting, the rise of new technologies, and current legal issues regarding freedom of the press. Usually offered in even years.
Mr. Abramson
POL 115a Constitutional Law
Analysis of core principles of constitutional law as formulated by the Supreme Court. Primary focus on the First Amendment, the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses, federalism, the commerce clause, and the separation of powers. Emphasis also on the moral values and political theories that form our constitutional system. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Woll
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POL 116b Civil Liberties in America
The history and politics of civil liberties and civil rights in the United States, with emphasis on the period from World War I to the present. Emphasis on freedom of speech, religion, abortion, privacy, racial discrimination, and affirmative action. Readings from Supreme Court cases and influential works by historians and political philosophers. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Abramson
Elective Courses - Analytical and Research Methods
AMST 191b Environmental Research Workshop
Signature of the instructor required.
In this hands-on course, students design and implement environmental sustainability initiatives to benefit the campus and the local community. Students analyze the environmental impact of human activities within the existing legal, political, and social structure; learn basic research strategies for auditing and assessing the effect of these activities; and contribute to the overall understanding of the environmental impact of the Brandeis community on its surroundings. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Goldin
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SOC 181a Quantitative Methods of Social Inquiry
Introduces students to causal logic and quantitative reasoning and research. Emphasis is on conceptual understanding, not mathematical derivations, with hands-on applications using desktop computers. No statistical or mathematical background is necessary. Usually offered every year.
Staff
Elective Courses - History, Principles, and Practice
JOUR 112b Literary Journalism: The Art of Feature Writing
Reviews practical aspects of writing features for newspapers and magazines. Students critique their own writing, and that of professionals and colleagues.
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AMST 130b Television and American Culture
An interdisciplinary course with three main lines of discussion and investigation: an aesthetic inquiry into the meaning of television style and genre; a historical consideration of the medium and its role in American life; and a technological study of televisual communication. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Doherty
AMST 131b News on Screen
This course on moving image reportage will trace the history of news on screen from the silent cinema to the age of cable. Motion picture documentaries, newsreels, screen magazines, network news reports, televised events, and broadcast journalism will be the occasion for an inquiry into journalistic practice in the media of film and television. Usually offered in odd years.
Mr. Doherty
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AMST 196d Film Workshop: Recording America
Does not participate in preenrollment. Signature of the instructor required.
Admission by consent of the instructor on the basis of an interview. It is preferred that students concurrently take an American studies course.
The training of students in audiovisual production to explore aspects of American urban society. Production format will include video, slide, tape, and audio. Students should be prepared to create a documentary during this course. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Felt
ENG 9a Advanced Writing Seminar
Signature of the instructor required.
A workshop in nonfiction designed mainly for juniors and seniors who want to develop skills in the critical or personal essay, in memoir, autobiography, or scholarly writing. Readings include short works of nonfiction by a wide variety of writers. Usually offered every year.
Staff
Elective Courses - Communications Theory
ANTH 26a Communication and Media
The exploration of human communication from an anthropological perspective. Examination of communication codes based on language and visual signs. The cultural impact of revolutions in media technology, including printing, television, computer networks, and advertising. Usually offered every year.
Mr. Parmentier
SOC 146a Mass Communications Theory
As an examination of key theories in mass communication, including mass culture, hegemony, the production of culture, and resistance. Themes discussed include the nature of media effects, the role of the audience, and the extent of diversity in the mass media. Usually offered every year.
Ms. Miller
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Additional courses at Wellesley College may be taken through cross-registration.