Photojournalism Major, B.A.; B.S.
B.A. and B.S. degrees
A Photojournalism Major requires 48 hours of journalism coursework.
The Journalism Department requires that ALL graduating seniors take an exit exam prior to graduation as part of the department’s assessment efforts.
Admission Requirements, Retention & Termination Standards
Students majoring in Photojournalism must meet the criteria established by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. That means that they must take 72 semester credit hours of their degree work outside of the major. Students may take a maximum of 52 hours under the JRN designator. They must take liberal arts and sciences courses in compliance with CMU’s University Program requirements, listed under the University Program and area requirements for the B.A. or B.S. degrees. A grade of C or better is required in each course counted toward the Photojournalism major and an overall grade point average of 2.5 for all journalism courses counted toward the major .
The last 18 hours of journalism course work leading to a Photojournalism major should be taken within the Journalism Department of CMU. No more than 3 credits of journalism internship can be applied toward the major .
Each student must consult with a Department of Journalism faculty advisor before registering for courses each semester to ensure orderly progress toward meeting these requirements.
Program Requirements
Required Courses I (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 101 | Media and Society | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 102 | Introduction to Journalism | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses II (12 hours)
| JRN 202WI | Writing for the Mass Media | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 220 | Basic Media Photography | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 340 | Introduction to Digital Journalism | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 404 | Law of Mass Communication | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses III (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN 372 | The Asian Media and Cross-cultural Mass Communication | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 380 | Racial and Cultural Diversity: Mass Media's Role | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses IV (24 hours)
| ART 241 | Introduction to Photography | 3(0-6) |
| JRN 302 | Introduction to Graphics and Visual Communication | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 320 | Photo Editing | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 420 | Photography Studio Techniques | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 422 | The Picture Story | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 423 | Online Visual Storytelling | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 445 | Multimedia Reporting Capstone | 3(3-0) |
| JRN 521 | Seminar in News Photography | 3(3-0) |
Required Courses V (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| JRN course, 300 level or above, approved by advisor | 3 |
| OR | |
| JRN 529 | Photojournalism Internship | 1-4(Spec) |
Required Courses VI (3 hours)
Select one of the following:
| ART 342 | Alternative Photographic Processes | 3-6(Spec) |
| ART 441 | Photography Lighting Studio | 3-6(Spec) |
Total: 48 semester hours
Note: JRN 420 and JRN 422 are offered in the fall semester and JRN 423 and JRN 521 are offered in the spring semester.