2022-2023 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Journalism
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 Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
Professor Melissa Chessher, Division Chair
Professors: Melissa Chessher, Tony Pederson
Associate Professors: Jake Batsell, Jared Schroeder
Assistant Professor: Myles Ethan Lascity
Professors of Practice: Valerie Evans, Jacqueline Fellows, Lauren Smart, Karen Thomas
Visiting Professors of Practice: Jenny Davis, Annette Nevins
Adjunct Professor of Practice: Jayne Suhler
Adjunct Lecturers: Andrea Arterbery, Edward Egros, Robert Hart, Rosanne Hart, Linda Leavell, Bryan Lochhead, William McKenzie, Jean-Jacques Taylor
The world of journalism is changing fast. Once-divergent media forms are rapidly coming together in ways that make it essential for 21st-century journalism education to reflect the complexity of actual practice. Graduates must be prepared to function and lead in a new and changing environment. The Division of Journalism offers the Bachelor of Arts with majors in journalism and fashion media and a minor in journalism to prepare students to succeed in this dynamic setting.
Majors study multimedia journalism, including broadcast, print and online formats. They learn professional skills that enable them to adapt swiftly to a changing journalism environment. Content that is useful and interesting will have value regardless of the delivery system or systems of a particular era. For this reason, students also are taught the intellectual and theoretical skills they will need to help them interpret the world around them and understand the role of the media in society. They will graduate as clear, concise thinkers and writers.
Specialized knowledge also plays an increasingly critical role for media professionals in this competitive age. Students in the Division of Journalism may develop expertise in financial reporting while pursuing their degree through the William J. O’Neil Program in Business Journalism, detailed below. Students with an interest in the growing fields of fashion journalism or fashion industry promotions may earn a Bachelor of Arts in fashion media, a rigorous interdisciplinary program housed in the Division of Journalism. Students may also specialize in sports journalism in a program intended to give a sports-specific background to reporting of sports across all media platforms.
The Division of Journalism is located in the Journalism Complex in the Umphrey Lee Center, which houses faculty and administrative offices, audio and video production, and media support areas. The main media content areas are a complete broadcast studio with control room and a convergence newsroom with computer equipment designed for production of multiplatform news content. Classrooms and conference rooms in the Journalism Complex are state of the art, with complete audio and video capabilities. All labs are equipped with the latest computers for each student.
The Journalism Complex is a secured area where journalism majors are permitted 24-hour access. The concept and design of the Journalism Complex promote the individualized instruction for which the Division of Journalism is known. Each student is encouraged to spend as much time as desired on highly specialized equipment to pursue projects and assignments in a professional media work environment.
Strong writing skills are essential to the student’s success in the division’s journalism curriculum and later in the profession of journalism. Students may enroll in journalism classes as first-year students. To major or minor in the Division of Journalism, students must have completed 24 hours of study, which may include transfer hours. Students must also have achieved a minimum grade point average of 2.500 in the following courses, with no grade lower than C+ in any one of them:
Students must declare the major or minor before taking JOUR 2312 . Students transferring from other universities must have completed equivalent courses and obtained the equivalent GPA and minimum grades in those courses before they can declare a major or minor in the Division of Journalism.
The Journalism Division has a focus on and commitment to diversity, recognizing the need for diversity in media and communications in the 21st century.
Honors scholarships are awarded each year to outstanding students who intend to major in journalism. Other scholarships are available to journalism students through a variety of foundations and gifts to the division.
As global markets and fast-paced technological change transform the American economic and media landscapes, mastery of business news and familiarity with entrepreneurship have emerged as marketable skills across multiple professional fields. The O’Neil Program equips aspiring journalists and media professionals with the knowledge to understand complex business and economic issues, the journalistic skills to make those topics understandable and accessible to multiplatform audiences, and the entrepreneurial spirit to take charge of their own careers. And because financial literacy is critical to many professions, the tools and techniques developed in this program also will prepare students for more sophisticated and insightful coverage of subjects ranging from politics to technology to entertainment to the environment to the fashion industry.
This innovative interdisciplinary program includes courses in both the Cox School of Business and the economics department. In addition to the 37 credit hours required for the major in Journalism and/or Fashion Media, students wishing to concentrate in business and finance journalism must complete either a second major in business; the 18-hour minor in business administration; or the 18-hour summer minor in business, plus ECO 1311 and ECO 1312 . Within the JOUR curriculum, O’Neil students must complete JOUR 4306 - Business and Journalism and a second business-related JOUR elective. Students will put into practice what they’re learning about business, financial markets, entrepreneurship, and economics in advanced journalism classes, through coverage of North Texas companies and the regional economy, and in the development of their own ideas.
Admission to the program is subject to the approval of the faculty member who holds the O’Neil Chair in Business Journalism. Students studying in the program will be advised by this faculty member.
Recent research indicates an increasing market need for specialized knowledge in sports journalism, and concomitant growth in the job market for sports journalists. This program is intended to train sports journalists of the future, and includes study of the kinds of data, statistics, modern analytics, and social media that are playing a growing role in sports of all kinds. The 37-hour sports concentration is within the journalism major and includes all the core requirements of that major. In addition, students will complete a gateway course, JOUR 2306 - Sports, News Media and Social Media Analytics , and JOUR 4344 - Sports Journalism , as well as six hours of interdisciplinary work that includes options for sports-related courses in history, ethics, and law.
Upon achieving junior and senior status, students are encouraged to take on experiences that enable them to work under the guidance of professionals in the news industry (internships). Many on-campus activities also offer practical experience (practica), and students are strongly urged to take advantage of the opportunities available to them to work in on-campus media, including SMUDailyCampus.com, SMU Look, and SMU-TV.
Practica are taken for one credit hour at a time. Internships may be taken for one, two or three credit hours at a time, depending on the number of hours worked. A total of three credit hours of internships and practica may be counted toward a student’s degree requirements but no more than two internships may be taken for credit. Internships and practica may not be counted toward the required six credit hours of electives within the division.
All internships taken for credit must have prior approval of the faculty adviser. Internships and practica are taken on a pass/fail basis only and are restricted to journalism majors and minors.
Due to limited class space and enrollment pressures, a student who fails to appear on the first day of journalism class may be administratively dropped from the class at the instructor’s discretion. Furthermore, students must comply with any more specific attendance policies spelled out in course syllabi; creation and enforcement of such policies are entirely at the instructor’s discretion. The division strives to keep class size small enough for individual attention, and large enough to ensure discussion and interaction among students.
Journalism students may participate in academic programs offered abroad and through partners in the United States.
SMU-in-London. SMU students can earn six credit hours by enrolling in the SMU-in-London communications program. Conducted each year during the first session of summer school, the program allows students to study in London, a hub for international communications. Courses offered carry three credit hours. They do not require prerequisites, and they are designed to take full advantage of London’s importance as an international center. Students live in dormitories in London. As part of their international experience, students are encouraged to explore the culture and fine arts offerings of London and European countries on their own, as class schedules permit.
Journalism students will study multimedia journalism, learning the basic skills and conventions of broadcast journalism, print journalism and the emerging skill set needed to practice journalism on the Internet. The major requires 37 credit hours within the division. Journalism majors may count no more than 40 hours of JOUR courses toward graduation. Courses may be used to fulfill only one of the student’s divisional requirements (i.e., a student may not fulfill two divisional requirements with one course).
Grade Requirements
Only courses passed with a grade of C- or better will count for credit toward the major or minor in journalism or the major in fashion media.
Required Minor or Second Major Outside the Division of Journalism
All Journalism and Fashion Media majors must declare and complete a second major or minor of their choosing. If a student chooses a double major in Journalism and Fashion media, a minor outside the division must be completed. If a Fashion Media major chooses to minor in Journalism, another minor or major outside the division must be completed.
The honors program in journalism is highly selective. At midterm of the sophomore year, and again at midterm of the junior year, declared journalism majors with a GPA of 3.500 or better can apply to the honors program. All interested students, including those who have been previously awarded honors scholarships, need to apply for admission to the program. Those wishing to graduate with distinction in journalism must complete six hours of honors coursework within the Division of Journalism. Where specific honors sections are not offered in the Division of Journalism, students may work with individual professors to develop appropriate honors coursework within regular classes, subject to approval of the honors program director. Three hours must be in honors skills; the remaining three hours must come from either honors topical studies or honors critical studies. In addition, seniors must complete JOUR 5308 as a directed study and produce an honors thesis. More information is available from the honors program director, Division of Journalism, Meadows School of the Arts, 280 Umphrey Lee, Dallas TX 75275. The honor society is separate from the honors program. At midterm of the senior year, the top 10 percent of the graduating class is invited for membership in Kappa Tau Alpha, the Journalism Mass Communication Honor Society.
ProgramsMajor(s)Minor(s)CoursesJournalism
Return to: Meadows School of the Arts
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