Majoring in Journalism | Requirement Checklist

BA in Journalism
The journalism major at UC emphasizes writing, editing and photojournalism as they apply to both print and new media. The interdisciplinary major (54 credit hours) is driven by the progressive development of students’ critical thinking, writing, editing and observation skills in the context of a liberal arts education. The BA in Journalism also requires a minor area of concentration (30 - 34 credit hours) in another academic discipline.

Areas of Concentration
There are three areas of concentration in the major: News/Editorial, Magazine/Narrative Nonfiction and Photojournalism, each designed to prepare students for individualized career paths.

Intercollegiate Experience
The major includes courses drawn from the more than 35 years of interdepartmental and intercollegiate academic cooperation with various departments from the McMicken College of Arts & Sciences and other colleges within the University, including: the Department of English &

Comparative Literature, McMicken College of Arts and Sciences; the Electronic Media (E-Media) Division, College-Conservatory of Music; the Department of Communication, McMicken College of Arts and Sciences; and the School of Art (Photography), College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. The journalism major is administratively housed in the Department of English & Comparative Literature.

Internship Program
The journalism internship program, noted by the College for its longevity and success with placement, is what attracts students, keeps students and secures jobs for them after graduation. The internship program has provided unique internship opportunities for more than 30 years. This partnership with corporate and professional communities is being expanded to provide journalism majors with even more internship possibilities.

Society of Professional Journalists
A student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) was formed in 1990 and continues to actively provide journalism students with workshops, conferences, regional meetings and professional contacts. The student chapter is part of a network of student and professional chapters.

UC Association of Black Journalists

This student chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists offers opportunities for all students to learn, network and find new avenues to let their voices be heard. Each quarter, group leadership decides on a slate of programs that bring media professionals to campus and send members into the community to engage fledgling high-school journalists. Members regularly attend national conferences and regional career fairs. Social activities round out the group's active calendar.

Curriculum/Courses
Majors are required to take the core courses (21 credit hours including 6 hours of internship), a tool-box course (3 credit hours), two ENGL literature courses (6 hours), two capstone seminars (6 credit hours) and a minimum of an additional six journalism elective courses (18 credit hours) in one of three concentrations: News/Editorial, Magazine/Narrative Nonfiction or Photojournalism.

Majors are required to complete a minor from another academic area (30 – 34 credit hours). The secondary academic area contributes to the students’ cross-disciplinary study and critical thinking.

The core sequence stresses cross-disciplinary study, critical evaluation, writing and editing.

In the introductory course, students first encounter the study of the local, national and international mass media from a historical and a social context. This survey course emphasizes breadth rather than depth. Subsequent courses in the curriculum progress from News Writing & Reporting

through Advanced Reporting  - Topics (subject based: science, business, arts, sports, editorial writing, etc.), Feature Writing, Copy Editing, Journalism Law & Ethics, Magazine Writing, Narrative Nonfiction, Editing Principles & Practices and special topic workshop/seminars for upperclassmen. These courses expand on the issues presented in the initial survey course and develop students’ specific skill sets within their area of concentration.

Majors must select one toolbox course. The toolbox courses are designed to provide broader theoretical and practical contexts for journalists-in-training, helping them understand language and images as cultural, social and intellectual influences.

In addition, majors are required to complete two English (ENGL) literature elective courses at the 300 level or above.

Majors are required to take two journalism seminars or photojournalism workshops during their senior year. Similar to other upper-division journalism courses, the seminars and workshops have both a literature and a media component. Students write and photograph with the intent to publish and study the non-fiction writing/communication of contemporary authors and visual artists. It is in these seminar and workshop capstone courses that students can incorporate the subject matter of their minor into their research and writing. The writing/editing and visual projects in these seminars and workshops are not exercises. Students are required to incorporate the skills, research techniques, and knowledge derived from their undergraduate experience into a project or projects that will result in a professional publication or presentation. The work product is intended to be the centerpiece of the student’s portfolio.

Each student will be required to take two quarters of internship. Internships are the most efficient and successful way for students to gain professional experience, write and edit for publication, develop a portfolio and obtain the recommendations that are essential for them to be competitive in the job market.

Journalism Faculty
JON HUGHES, professor of English & journalism and Journalism Program director, is an award-winning reporter, author and photojournalist. He has been on the staffs of three daily and two alternative newspapers in addition to writing and producing radio dramas and a television documentary on Cuba. Hughes is the author, editor, or major contributor to 11 books. More than 1,200 of his photographs have been published and his images have been exhibited internationally. Hughes has a BS in Social Science (Political Science and Economics) and an MA in Journalism from Ball State University.

PAMA MITCHELL, field service assistant professor of journalism and communication, has professional experience that includes 12 years as director of polling for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, producer and writer for Public Television, manager of surveys for CBS News, and an extensive writing background in newspapers and magazines. Mitchell has a BA from the University of Maryland in English and journalism, an MA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, in film studies and a Ph.D. in mass communication research from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill.

LEONARD PENIX, director of student media and field service associate professor of journalism, advises The News Record, the student newspaper. He has more than 30 years of daily newspaper experience, including 28 years at The Cincinnati Post most recently as editor of the online edition, page designer and copy editor. Penix also is a lawyer with experience spanning 21 years in corporate and media law. He has two BA degrees from Michigan State University, one in English and the other in journalism and a doctorate in law from Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University.

MIKE SHEEHY, assistant professor of English and journalism and News/Editoral Track adviser, has worked professionally in the print (newspapers and a magazine) and electronic (radio) media. Most recently, he was the deputy managing editor of the Journal-News, Hamilton, OH. Prior to that he was city editor and political writer. Sheehy has a BA (Political Science) from Otterbein College, and an MS (Journalism) from Ohio University where he is completing his Ph.D. in Journalism. His dissertation topic is “Anonymous Sources in the Washington Post from Watergate to 2000.” 

ELISSA SONNENBERG, field service assistant professor of journalism, is an award-winning writer and editor with 20 years of professional experience most recently at Cincinnati Magazine where she oversaw custom publications. Her writing is regularly published nationally. Sonnenberg has a BA in English with a Writing Certificate in Journalism from UC and a MSEd from Northwestern University.

JAMES C. WILSON, professor of English & journalism and Magazine/Narrative Nonfiction Track adviser, has a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of New Mexico.  He has worked as a feature writer for newspapers in northern New Mexico and as an editor at Prairie Schooner and Saltillo magazines.  He has published creative nonfiction in both literary and consumer magazines.  His books include:  Vietnam in Prose and Film (1983), John Reed for the Masses (1987), The Hawthorne and Melville Friendship (1990) and Embodied Rhetorics:  Disability in Language and Culture (2001).  His current project, Paternity, mixes creative nonfiction and photography.

JENNY WOHLFARTH, field service assistant professor of journalism and Magazine/Narrative Nonfiction Track adviser, has 12 years of professional experience as a magazine writer/editor and continues to actively contribute to a variety of consumer and trade magazines. She has worked full-time for five award-winning national magazines, most recently as executive editor of I.D. (International Design) Magazine and managing editor of HOW Magazine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in writing from the University of Evansville (Indiana) and an MA in English (editing and publishing concentration) from UC.

Affiliated Faculty

MARJORIE FOX, associate professor of electronic media (Electronic Media Division, College Conservatory of Music), worked at WMAQ-TV in Chicago as a news writer and producer. She helped cover major stories during the 1970s and 1980s, including Chicago politics, the crash of a DC-10, and the Tylenol murders.  Her career started at WEEK-TV, Peoria, IL, where she was a reporter and anchor.  She recently wrote scripts for some of the video exhibits at Cincinnati’s Underground Freedom Center.  Fox teaches broadcast journalism and supervises production of the student television news program, Uptown. Fox has a BA from Hanover College and an MS from Northwestern University.

MARIBETH S. METZLER, assistant professor of communication and director of the Public Relations Program in the Department of Communication, has a Ph.D. in Communication and Rhetoric from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Metzler’s professional experience includes technical writing and environmental public relations. She has been a hazardous waste site safety officer and trainer and environmental consultant. Her research interests include environmental and risk communication, the social implications of organizations and communication ethics.

JANE ALDEN STEVENS, professor of fine arts (photography), has a BA (19th Century European Studies) from St. Lawrence University and an MFA (Photography) from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has had individual shows in Germany and the U. S., including Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Blue Sky Gallery and A.R.C. Gallery. Her group shows in the U.S. include the Center for Photography in Woodstock, NY, the Cincinnati Art Museum, and the Eye Gallery in San Francisco, CA. She has been involved in international group shows in Brazil, Finland, Belgium, Ukraine, the Czech Republic and Germany. Stevens’ work is in permanent collections at the International Museum of Photography at George Eastman House in Rochester, N; The Center for Photography as an Art Form in Bombay, India; the Cincinnati Art Museum; and the Museu da Imagem e do Som in Sao Paulo, Brazil. She is author of “Tears of Stone: World War I Remembered” (2004).

Adjunct Faculty

Bruce Crippin, photojournalist

Alex Coolidge, business reporter, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Paul Daugherty, sports columnist, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kathy Doane, senior editor, Cincinnati Magazine

Rozalind Florez, magistrate, Hamilton County

John Fox, editor, CityBeat

Melvin Grier, photojournalist

Jack Heffron, editorial director, Clerisy Press

Sean Hughes, art director, CityBeat and co-founder of photopresse

Ben Kaufman, journalist

Jim Knippenberg, reporter, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Byron McCauley, editorial writer

Lew Moores, journalist

Andrea Tortora, managing editor, Business Courier

Gail Towns, journalist

Robert White, journalist

Kathy Y. Wilson, senior editor, Cincinnati Magazine

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