From top left: Rhema Bland, Tara Cuslidge-Staiano (’07), Humera Lodhi and Walter Smith Randoph.
UC Berkeley Journalism’s undergraduate minor is booming this year, with hundreds of students enrolled in summer classes taught by faculty and other award-winning journalists on topics that range from podcasting to investigative reporting to photography and data journalism.
Summer courses — taught in two distinct sessions — are open to Berkeley and non-Berkeley students.
Four new instructors join Berkeley Journalism professors and returning lecturers this summer: CBS News investigative reporter Walter Smith Randoph, McClatchy newsroom leader Rhema Bland, Associated Press designer Humera Lodhi, and longtime journalism teacher Tara Cuslidge-Staiano (’07).
Jeremy Sanchez Rue
“We have a stellar lineup of summer journalism instructors,” said Associate Dean Jeremy Sanchez Rue (‘07), who has been instrumental in running the program and is currently teaching 78 students in the popular Data Journalism course. “These are working journalists bringing hands-on and cutting-edge expertise in news gathering, design and technology.”
Humera Lodhi, lead data visualization designer on the Associated Press election team, is teaching Advanced Multimedia. Lodhi previously worked as a data journalist creating visuals at FiveThirtyEight, covering gun violence at The Kansas City Star and reporting on criminal justice as a data fellow at The Marshall Project.
Rhema Bland, the deputy director of news talent acquisition and development at McClatchy, is teaching a new elective course called Trusted Messengers, which explores the critical role of local leaders, educators, organizers, influencers and others in bridging the divide between news organizations and the communities they serve. The course will focus on teaching students practical skills to help foster community engagement, build lasting trust with audiences, and make journalism more broadly relevant and accessible. Bland served as the inaugural director of the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media and has worked for CBS News, New York Daily News, Pensacola News Journal, WJCT Radio and The Florida Times-Union.
Walter Smith Randoph is an award-winning investigative journalist who leads the investigative team at CBS News New York as executive producer. Randolph, who also teaches investigative journalism and criminal justice reporting at the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, is teaching Digital Research and Investigative Reporting this summer. He also serves as the vice president-broadcast of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Berkeley Journalism alum Tara Cuslidge-Staiano (’07) is teaching Intro to Multimedia. Cuslidge-Staiano has been a journalism professor at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, California, for the past 15 years, intermittently serving as department chair.
Brett Driben
The new instructors join another recent hire, the minor program’s new director, Brett Driben, who joined the program after completing their PhD at UCLA in English with an emphasis on college pedagogy. Driben has taught in the Comparative Literature department at UC Berkeley and critical reading and writing courses at UCLA.
Graduate student tutors assisting with courses include: Minahil Arif (‘26), Michael Han (‘27), Neha Gopal (‘26), James Manyuol (‘26), Joshua Olawuyi (‘27), Jennifer Ugwa (‘26) and Charlie Wang (‘27).
About the journalism minor
Most summer journalism students are UC Berkeley undergraduates pursuing a minor in journalism, which they can complete with five summer courses. Other students are professionals taking a one-off class or completing five summer classes to earn a “certificate of completion” to expand or deepen their skills. The journalism minor, open to all Berkeley students, consists of 15 units across five courses (two required core courses and three electives).
The UC Berkeley journalism minor was established in 2016 by former UC Berkeley Journalism Dean and current Professor Edward Wasserman. The program, housed at Berkeley Journalism, was developed to allow undergraduates — even if they do not intend to become professional journalists — to take journalism classes at Berkeley for the first time since the undergraduate journalism major was discontinued in 1978.
Dean Michael D. Bolden has said that a priority of his leadership will be to expand the journalism minor, making it more accessible to and desired by students from any UC Berkeley major.
Summer Session A is underway. Session D begins July 6 and space is still available. Learn more and link to enroll here.
Line Up For Session A (May 26-Jul 2):
Cyrus Farivar – J130 Special Topics: AI & Journalism
Brian Frank – J113 Photojournalism
Annie Gilbertson – J100 Intro to Reporting
Jake Nicol (’15) – J110 Intro to Multimedia
Jeremy Sanchez Rue (‘07) – J124 Data Journalism
Walter Smith Randolph – J120 Investigative Reporting
Ethan Toven-Lindsey – J112 Podcasting
Line Up For Session D (Jul 6 – Aug 14):
Greg Barber – J100 Intro to Reporting
Rhema Bland – J130 Special Topics: Trusted Messengers
David Cohn – J111 Social Media and Journalism
Tara Cuslidge-Staiano – J110 Intro to Multimedia
Cassandra Herrman (’01) – J122 The Future of Visual Storytelling
Jennifer LaFleur – J124 Data Journalism
Humera Lodhi – J115 Advanced Multimedia
Jake Nicol (’15) – J110 Intro to Multimedia (In-person section)