J298 Examining Racial Undertones in the American Election

Course summary: Race in its many faces will be explored in discussions in class that grow out of the reading and viewing assignments in Journalism 298. I expect each student to read about ten books during the semester and to view at least six movies or documentaries. Students will decide on the reading list. Some of the viewings…

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J298 – War Music: Covering Conflict in the Age of Forever War

How to cover conflict when war has become “forever war,” a state of persistent hostility that lurks day after day, month after month, year after year behind the news? When war no longer describes a struggle leading toward victory or defeat but a frozen process that persists indefinitely? This is the world journalists face in the age of the terror,…

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J222 Interactive Narratives: Future Storyforms

This course explores digital narratives as they are designed, produced, and consumed in various electronic and “virtual” formats. Given this is a broad and expansive discipline that will continue to spawn new immersive experiences, stories and technologies, the course will lay the foundation for understanding new trans-media environments and explore best practices for creating non-fiction…

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J286 History of Documentary

The course covers the evolution of primarily U.S. documentary film, from the origins of moving images to the present documentary landscape, with special attention to feature-length films. We will concentrate on the art, craft, and practical challenges of producing documentaries for wide distribution, and will unpack documentary materials, producing, storytelling, point-of-view and ethics. We will…

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J298 Bang Bang Abroad: Following It, Reporting It, Writing It.

It’s a dirty little secret that few things are more fascinating, more absorbing, more sheer fun than covering a war. Conflict, as a statesman overthrown in a coup once said, strips bare the social body, the better to see what lies beneath the skin. In this seminar, we’ll delve into the intricacies of covering political conflict:…

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J298 Story Structures

In this class, we’ll learn about story architecture – how to craft your material to give it tone, meaning and style, and how to choose a structure that best matches your materials, reporting constraints and artistic intentions. We’ll be studying work in all media – documentaries, podcasts, magazines and newspaper articles, multimedia presentations.

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J286 History of Documentary

The course covers the evolution of American documentary film from 1920 to the present, with special attention to long-form nonfiction for television and independent documentaries for theaters, broadcast, and the web. We will concentrate on the practical problems of making documentaries in the real world for a mass audience, with special attention to documentary materials,…

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