Program of Study

The Department of Journalism offers a professional journalism education in a liberal arts setting. The department is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which means that our students do not have to choose between a journalism education and a liberal arts education. They get both. We feel that such an education provides the best preparation for a successful career in journalism.

The Journalism Department strongly urges its students to complete an additional major in a related field, such as History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, Biology, Latin American Studies or a foreign language. With planning, a student can complete two majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in four years. If a student wishes to pursue a second major in a different school or college in the university (such as the School of Business Administration), more than four years will be necessary to meet all requirements. (For more information, see the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences entry in the UConn catalog.)

Students who do not complete a second major must complete at least 12 credits of junior-senior level work in a field that will provide context for their future reporting and editing. The courses may all be in the same area (such as political science or history) or in different areas that all contribute to one body of knowledge. For example, a student interested in environmental issues could find related courses in biology, geography, sociology, and natural resource management and engineering (in the College of Agriculture).

All journalism majors must complete one lower-division journalism course, The Press in America, and at least 24 credits in upper-division courses in the department. Of the upper-division courses, five (totaling 15 credits) are specified: Newswriting I, Newswriting II, Journalism Ethics, Law of Libel and Communications, and Copy Editing I. The remaining nine credits (or more) may be chosen from a variety of courses including Feature Writing, Magazine Journalism, Copy Editing II, Advanced Reporting Techniques, Newswriting for Radio and Television, and Supervised Field Internship. Students must complete 120 credits, at least 80 of which must be outside the department. Of those, 65 must be in liberal arts and sciences.

Students must also complete 12 credits in upper-division courses in a related field. (For students who are pursuing a double major, the courses in the second major may be used to fulfill that requirement.) Students are urged to consider their related courses as essential to their career preparation, and to work closely with their advisor to choose courses that will provide them with the knowledge they will need to be successful reporters and editors. Students who have a specialized interest -- such as arts or environmental reporting -- are urged to take their related courses in those areas.

All students are urged to pursue courses in Statistics and Computer Sciences.

Learn more about class size, grading, employment opportunities, and how we teach.