Campus
Campus Environment
“My advice is get outside of North Gate Hall. UC Berkeley is a world-class institution; use that resource to make yourself a better-educated reporter. I took classes in marine pollution, forestry issues, and public health—where the students around me were the kind of people I’d have to cover. It gave me an invaluable perspective on why certain experts think the way they do. When I reported on those subjects, I knew the terminology and the subtleties, and what questions to ask. My sources were surprised at how much I knew, and this encouraged respect and trust. Real, working experts, being paid to come to class every day and answer all my questions? That’s a reporter’s dream! I couldn’t let it slip by.” Kelly Hill, MJ 2005
The Berkeley J-School is located on the oldest campus in the UC system, in a city and state known for academic excellence, political activity, and trendsetting policies.
California is a remarkable journalism laboratory. The state, with the fifth-largest economy in the world, is often a pioneer. Its major industries—including agriculture, biotechnology, entertainment, finance, and information technology—all have global reach. Because training in beat reporting is so central to our program, it is significant that here local is also global. On crime or tax policy, same-sex marriage or energy use, campaign finance or stem cell research, California state initiatives often serve as the catalyst for national debates.
Beyond the school lies the larger campus, an unparalleled resource for our students. Among Berkeley’s distinguished faculty are seven Nobel Laureates, 135 members of the National Academy of Sciences, and 84 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Over the past two decades, Berkeley faculty also have been recipients of 359 Guggenheim Fellowships, and the Graduate School of Journalism currently boasts four MacArthur “Genius” Fellows. J-School alumni also claim impressive awards, including, most recently, an Academy Award for Documentary Short and the Pulitzer Prize.
Students are encouraged to study at the graduate level with top scholars in other departments, including the Goldman School of Public Policy, the Haas School of Business, the School of Law, the School of Public Health and other programs on campus. Courses in history, language, the sciences, sociology, political science and in other departments on campus broaden areas of expertise. Students also are able to take advantage of superior research facilities and other resources and centers on campus, including the Human Rights Center, the Center for New Media, the Center for Latin American Studies, the Institute of International Studies and the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society.
Berkeley’s campus reflects the history of the university. The campus covers 178 acres of lawn, wooded glades, and creek-side vegetation, including stands of native redwoods. It stretches from the center of Berkeley to hills that command a magnificent view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. All of this combined with Berkeley's proximity to Oakland, Silicon Valley, and San Francisco make it not only an ideal place to practice journalism, but an ideal place to live.