Photojournalism Major, B.A.; B.A.A.; B.S.
B.A. degree, B.A.A. degree, or B.S. degree
Major Map
A Photojournalism Major requires 42 hours of journalism coursework.
The School of Communication, Journalism, and Media 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 liberal arts and sciences courses in compliance with CMU’s University Program requirements, listed under the University Program for the B.A., B.A.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 Photojournalism course work leading to a Photojournalism major should be taken within the Journalism Area of the School of Communication, Journalism and Media at CMU. No more than 3 credits of journalism internship can be applied toward the major.
Each student must consult with a Journalism Area 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 (21 hours)
| 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 hours) OR
| JRN 529 | Photojournalism Internship | 1-4(Spec) |
Total: 42 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.