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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 101Media and Society

3(3-0)

JRN 102Introduction to Journalism

3(3-0)

Required Courses II (12 hours)

JRN 202WIWriting for the Mass Media

3(3-0)

JRN 220Basic Media Photography

3(3-0)

JRN 340Introduction to Digital Journalism

3(3-0)

JRN 404Law of Mass Communication

3(3-0)

Required Courses III (3 hours)

Select one of the following:

JRN 372The Asian Media and Cross-cultural Mass Communication

3(3-0)

JRN 380Racial and Cultural Diversity: Mass Media's Role

3(3-0)

Required Courses IV (21 hours)

JRN 302Introduction to Graphics and Visual Communication

3(3-0)

JRN 320Photo Editing

3(3-0)

JRN 420Photography Studio Techniques

3(3-0)

JRN 422The Picture Story

3(3-0)

JRN 423Online Visual Storytelling

3(3-0)

JRN 445Multimedia Reporting Capstone

3(3-0)

JRN 521Seminar 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 529Photojournalism 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.