Fall 2007 Curriculum
TO: All M.S. Students
FROM: David A. Klatell, Vice Dean
RE: M.S. Instructional Program
Note: The Fall 2007 Ballots will be live linked from the DOS blog as of Monday, July 16, 10 a.m. The deadline for submission is Monday, July 23, 10 a.m. Students are automatically registered for the following courses: RWI, Critical Issues, Journalism, the Law & Society, U.S. as a Foreign Country (international students). Courses for which students are allowed to express preferences (depending on concentration/Stabile) via the ballot include Skills, RWIIs and the Master’s Project.
To all of you who are new, welcome to the Graduate School of Journalism. The faculty, administrators and staff are glad that you have chosen to study with us, and we look forward to working with you and our continuing part-time students. You are joining a community of teachers and learners who are dedicated to the highest ideals and aspirations of journalism. We believe that journalism is an integral part — the glue, really — of a free, open and well-informed society.
By choosing to attend the school, you have entered into what amounts to a contract with us. It binds us together in pursuit of a shared goal: to give you the finest opportunity to understand and master the craft of journalism. The school will do its part by providing faculty members who are accomplished professional journalists and educators, offering a curriculum that is varied and flexible, setting and upholding the highest standards of ethics, nurturing in you the core principles of the professional journalist, and serving as an example to working professionals. Your responsibilities include a devotion to achieving and sustaining excellence in your work, always behaving in an honorable and professional manner, whether with faculty, peers, sources or the public and above all, to telling the truth. The school works best when we work together in an atmosphere of mutual trust, respect and professionalism.
The school cannot, however, be all things to all people. We cannot, for example, promise students they will gain a seat in any specific class, no matter how ardently they seek entry, as some classes and instructors receive many more applications than can be accepted. What we do promise, however, is that the great breadth of our offerings and the strength of the teaching faculty will permit all students access to outstanding classes and teachers. Similarly, we cannot promise students a job upon graduation. Many factors beyond our control will influence the relative success of each graduate. A Columbia degree does not — nor should you expect it to — guarantee immediate professional success or placement in “the job you’ve always wanted.” If you come to the school with such unrealistic expectations, it will diminish your appreciation for your own progress, strengths and weaknesses, as well as damage your relationship with faculty and colleagues.
You will be participating in a unique form of self-guided education. The skills of the interviewer, reporter, writer and producer develop differently and at a different pace in every person, so you will have to rely on your intellect, dedication, motivation and creativity to solve the problems journalists frequently confront. In addition, you will spend many hundreds of hours in the lesser-known residential communities throughout New York City, trying to understand and report about people quite unlike yourself. We immerse students in all aspects of community reporting, so you will be finding and developing stories almost from your first day. Be prepared to open your mind, eyes, ears — and heart — to the successes and failures of residents new and old, as they struggle to cope with this metropolis.
To help you make appropriate decisions, I have prepared this detailed letter. It describes the instructional program for the Fall semester for full-time and part-time M.S. candidates and answers many questions about the school. Candidates for the M.A. will receive a separate communication detailing the academic program, and they are to ignore this document. You should also carefully consult the school’s Bulletin, available on the Web or in hard copy. It contains much valuable information about courses, faculty, academic regulations and other important matters. You are responsible for reading and obeying our policies related to academic discipline and professional conduct.
You may read students’ evaluations of many of the classes and professors at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/journalism/evaluations/. You will have to log in using your UNI and password, about which you’ve already received information.
You can help to determine your own schedule by the preferences you indicate, based on what’s in this letter. Assistant Dean of Students Melanie Huff must receive the preference ballot by July 23, 10 a.m. The ballot must be submitted online (the ballot link will appear in the DOS Blog). Please note: if you are submitting writing samples to apply for Judith Crist’s course, these, too, must be received by Dean Huff by July 23; you should e-mail them to her (mailto:mgh2@columbia.edu) as the body of your document - not as an attachment. If you are sending a hard copy of your writing samples, address it to Melanie Huff, Assistant Dean of Students, Graduate School of Journalism, 2950 Broadway, Mail Code 3800, New York, NY 10027.
The academic year for all new, full-time M.S. candidates who are broadcast or new media concentrators begins promptly August 6, at 9 a.m. The formal orientation for all M.S. students is August 16 & 17. All students are expected to be in the Lecture Hall on the third floor of the Journalism School by 9 a.m. You should plan to arrive early (check-in and the distribution of I.D. cards begins at 8:15 a.m.), as we will begin on time. A packet of information with your name on it, containing schedules for orientation and classes will be available in the lobby. Members of the school’s staff will be on hand to answer questions and offer help.
Orientation will be short, and real work begins the first day. It is extremely important that you are prepared to begin classes and writing assignments immediately. You will be required to attend classes, work on assignments and participate in seminars and other activities five days and several evenings per week. You will be busy, so plan accordingly.
Full-time M.S. students will be placed in each required course: Reporting and Writing I (RWI); Critical Issues in Journalism; Journalism, the Law and Society; U.S. as a Foreign Country (for internationals), so these do not appear on your ballot. You may indicate a preference for a RWII 3-credit Elective (print students only); and the Master’s Project, but there is no assurance that you will be placed in that instructor’s section. Please be certain to fill out the correct ballot completely, and to submit it by the deadline to be considered for the course(s) you request; seats are assigned on a space-available basis. We cannot promise that you will get your first choice.
In addition, each student must take at least one of the Journalism Skills 5-week mini-courses: Radio, Television, New Media, Photojournalism or Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR). Stabile investigative students will automatically be enrolled in a special, 10-week Investigative Skills taught by Professor Coronel.
Part-time Broadcast students may opt to take Radio skills on a non-credit (free) basis (please contact Dean Huff for instructions; do not request the class on your ballot).
The Skills courses all meet in the evening or on Saturday. Students may try to add an additional skills course during the add/drop period provided they do not exceed 19 credits during the term. However, this should be undertaken with extreme caution, as the total work load of your courses will be far greater than most students anticipate. The “Skills” mini-courses cannot be used as a substitute for the RWII Elective.
Remember that you must fill out the ballot (the ballot link will appear on the DOS Blog - http://deanstudents.blogsome.com/ - as of 10 a.m. on June 16). Assistant Dean of Students Melanie Huff must receive your ballot by 10 a.m., July 23. All ballots meeting the deadline will be treated equally. If your ballot is received after the deadline, you will be placed in classes on a space-available basis in the order in which late ballots are received.
In September, we will welcome the arrival of candidates for the Ph.D., as well as the Fellows of the Knight-Bagehot Program in Business and Economic Journalism, and students enrolled in the M.A. program. You will also get to meet and share classes with the nearly 100 members of the part-time M.S. program. As second or third-year students, they are a valuable resource for information about courses, instructors and coping with the school and city. When everyone is assembled, we - faculty, adjuncts, fellows and students - will be a community of more than three hundred fifty journalists, one of the largest in the nation.
The Program of Instruction and Related Information
Overview
Following is the program of instruction for candidates for the Master of Science in Journalism. Each student, either full-time or part-time, is required to take the courses listed below. Limited variations may be authorized by Dean of Students Sreenath Sreenivasan or Assistant Dean Melanie Huff. For full-time students, the minimum credit load per term is 16 credits, with the maximum being 19 (the loads of part-time students vary; they should consult with Bruce Porter, their program coordinator.) To graduate, students must complete all required courses, accumulate at least 30 graduate credits (most will earn more,) and pass the four “core” courses: Reporting and Writing I, the Master’s Project, the Spring Reporting/Writing Seminar and the Spring Media Workshop. A student who fails any two courses, or the same course twice, will be dismissed.
The Faculty of the School of Journalism reserves the right to withhold a degree from any student it deems unworthy because of poor performance or unprofessional behavior. Faking a story, making up quotes, or plagiarizing constitute grounds for instant dismissal. Professors and adjuncts have the authority to check on your sources and source material. All deadlines must be met. Students may not turn in the same assignment in two different courses without the prior knowledge and approval of the instructors of both courses.
We expect students to read newspapers and magazines, watch newscasts and listen to the radio so that they are familiar with issues, ideas and people making news. Spot news quizzes will be given during the school year. Poor performance can result in faculty review, and ultimately, dismissal.
Students must act professionally at all times, on and off campus. They are expected to attend all classes and complete all assignments. If unable to do so, they must notify the Assistant Dean of Students and their instructors prior to the scheduled meeting of each class or assignment.
Students who fail to adhere to the school’s policies may receive an official “academic warning.” If the problem persists, the student may be placed on “probation,” or ultimately, dismissed from the school.
While most courses are required of all students, flexibility within the requirements enables students to determine a specific emphasis or direction, e.g., urban or international reporting, print or broadcast, for their individual programs. Thus, students should look at the possibilities for the year as a whole when considering their goals. Most courses, such as the specialized seminars, have limited enrollments to assure optimum teaching conditions. Occasionally these courses are oversubscribed; while every effort is made to satisfy first choices, some students will, at times, have to accept choices they have ranked lower on their ballot, or a second section of a chosen course taught by a different instructor.
For guidance in achieving their objectives, students should consult early and frequently with their RWI professors, who will serve as their principal adviser for the school year, or with the Dean of Students Office. Each student also will have an adviser for the Master’s Project. The school assumes that the student seeking advice will initiate contact with his/her adviser.
The schedule is busy and tight throughout the year and involves much coming and going, both inside and outside the school. Full-time students should expect to be occupied with schoolwork most of the time Monday through Friday and during many weekends. Some missed class work may be made up on weekends. (Note: Many courses require frequent use of subways, buses and cell phones. Some courses require substantial amounts of long-distance telephoning, an additional expense that students have to assume; such a consideration might affect course selections.)
To request additions or changes to your schedule, you must submit an online add/drop form (the add/drop link will appear in the Academic Links section of the Student Resources page as of Monday, August 27, 10 a.m.). The add/drop period runs from Monday August 27, 9 a.m. to Friday, September 14, 9 a.m. Add/Drop requests ARE handled on a first-come, first-served basis and we are not able to guarantee that we will be able to accommodate your request.
Grades
The Journalism School has a Pass-Fail system of formal grading. It aims at encouraging students to perform as well as they can, without competing with classmates. In most courses (some electives excepted), students receive written evaluations of their work from the instructors. Copies of these evaluations are kept in the Dean of Students Office.
In RWI, written evaluations are issued at midterm and at the end of the semester. These preliminary evaluations indicate students’ early progress and, if necessary, serve as a warning if any students are in danger of failing. Students who are not doing passing work are placed on probation. If a student’s work is passing at midterm but deteriorates after the midterm evaluation, the instructor will give written notice of possible failure and inform the faculty.
RWI is the most important Fall course. The decision to pass or fail a student in that course is determined solely by the instructor(s). No grades of incomplete are allowed in RWI. Other required courses-such as Journalism, the Law and Society-are important, too. Inattention can result in failure. Students also should note that the “Skills” mini-courses are meant to be taken very seriously. The faculty reserves the right to dismiss a student who fails the same course twice or two courses, regardless of the credit points of the courses.
Deadlines for the Master’s Project drafts are strictly enforced. The Faculty retains the right to fail or place on probation a student who fails to meet deadlines for the Master’s Project.
No student is permitted to graduate while still on probation.
At graduation, the honors list is announced, recognizing approximately 15 percent of the students for superior performance in multiple courses, as measured by the number of instances each student has been designated for “honors in class.” Students are informed of the honors designation. The faculty determines the honors list by comparing and discussing each student’s complete record. The faculty also awards more than a dozen special prizes at graduation, including five Pulitzer Traveling Fellowships for overall performance during the academic year
Summer Reading and Preparation
Upon arrival you will be given The Elements of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook. We also suggest you review a grammar handbook and bring it with you. Poor grammar and usage are unacceptable. So is poor spelling. We have noticed a decline in skills in these areas during the past several years and we urge you to work hard this summer to improve your mastery of the language.
We also urge you to get into the habit of reading daily newspapers and following important news events in other media. Most new organizations in the city maintain excellent web sites, which offer a convenient way to begin learning the neighborhoods, issues, officials and personalities likely to be important to your reporting in all classes. If you have a foreign language skill, you’d be wise to brush up. For example, even a little conversational Spanish can be helpful in street reporting.
Students should know about the City of New York, and about the reporting and writing techniques they will use to cover the city. Each professor decides whether or not to use one or more textbooks.
To assist students in arriving with a basic understanding of the twists and turns of the city that will serve as their laboratory for the subsequent 10 months, we recommend that you read most of Robert Caro’s The Power Broker (New York: Knopf, 1974). E.B. White’s short work, Here Is New York, (Harper & Brothers Publishers, New York, 1949), also is recommended. It can be found in most libraries and in his collected essays.
Additional Suggested Reading
Students may wish to deepen their knowledge of the history and dynamics of New York City — the complex laboratory they will explore for the academic year. Here are some books recommended by the faculty:
• American Institute of Architects: AIA Guide to New York City (New York: Macmillan, 1968)
• Jervis Anderson: This Was Harlem: A Cultural Portrait 1900-1950 (New York: Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, 1991)
• Meyer Berger: The Eight Million, Journal of a New York Correspondent (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1942)
• Samuel G. Freedman: Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students and Their High School (HarperTrade, 1991)
• Alex Haley: The Autoboigraphy of Malcolm X (Mass Market/Paperback, Reissue 1989)
• Pete Hamill: Snow in August (Little Brown, 1997)
• Clifton Hood: 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993)
• Thomas Kessner: Fiorello H. LaGuardia and the Making of Modern New York (McGraw-Hill, 1989)
• A.J. Liebling: Back Where I Came From (North Point Press, 1990)
• Willie Morris: New York Days (Little, Brown, 1993)
• Jack Newfield and Wayne Barrett: City for Sale (Harper & Row, 1988)
• Diane Ravitch: The Great School Wars of New York City 1805-1973 (Basic Books, 1974)
• David Rogers: 110 Livingston Street: Politics and Bureaucracy in the New York City Schools (Random House, 1968)
• Luc Sante: Low Life (Vintage, 1992)
• Jim Sleeper: The Closest of Strangers: Liberalism and the Politics of Race in New York (W.W. Norton, 1990)
• Lloyd Ultan: The Beautiful Bronx 1920-1950 (Arlington House, 1979)
• Elliot Willensky: When Brooklyn Was the World, 1920-1957 (Harmony Books, 1986)
• Tom Wolfe: Bonfire of the Vanities (Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1988)
• The WPA Guide to New York City: The Federal Writers’ Project (Pantheon Books, 1982)
Specialized Curriculum Concentrations
The school offers four media concentrations: Newspaper, Broadcasting, Magazine and New Media, as well as the Stabile Investigative Journalism specialization. Although the choice of a Spring-term workshop is the primary factor in determining a concentration, some concentrations include Fall-term requirements. Students are assigned to concentrations based on their original applications to the School.
Before completing a ballot, all new FULL-TIME M.S. students must double check their concentrations at the concentration website; URL to be distributed shortly. The only switches possible are for those who want to leave broadcast or new media for print, ie, newspaper/magazine. If you are a broadcast or new media student who wants to move to print, please send e-mail to dos@jrn.columbia.edu and we will approve you to fill out a print ballot. For those with an interest in switching to broadcast or new media, we have a waitlist you can join by sending e-mail to dos@jrn.columbia.edu. Those who complete a ballot for a concentration other than the one to which they are assigned will have their classes assigned randomly in the correct concentration.
Newspaper
Students with a newspaper concentration take the regular, 6-credit version of RWI in the Fall and a Newspaper Workshop in the Spring, either the Bronx Beat or the Columbia News Service.
Broadcast
Full-time students who concentrate in this discipline must take the 8-credit broadcast version of RWI in the all and one of the broadcast workshops offered in the Spring. Some broadcast students choose to take Broadcast Management as their spring elective. Part-time students take a separate print RWI, followed by TV Reporting and Writing, offered in the fall.
Magazine
Magazine journalism cour