Olivet College of Journalism (OCJ) will offer two new graduate courses from its Master of Arts in Journalism program in the upcoming semester. The courses will be taught by two of the College’s recognized professors who are both veteran journalists and published authors.
Advanced Reporting will introduce students to the art of investigative reporting and place them in real life situations. Dr. William Alnor, who formerly worked at The Oakland Tribune, will teach how to analyze public records and digital sources in order to write investigative reports on the various institutions, including the government, religious organizations and financial institutions. Graduate journalism students will employ the conventions of research and citizen journalism covered in the course to blog and write online news about a campus or community “beat.”
Introduction to Graduate Communications is a course surveying communication models, theories, and practices in the context of an increasingly competitive media arena. The professor for the course is Dr. William Willis, a prolific writer who has written three books dealing with news media, including Surviving in the Newspaper Business, and about a dozen others on journalists and the media. Building upon Marshall McLuhan’s notion that “the medium is the message,” Dr. Willis will demonstrate how our communication means affects the messages delivered. The course will engage students pursuing a career in the media industry to think critically about the practice of communication at various levels, ranging interpersonal to mass communication, to understand the challenges facing professional communicators today.
Both of these featured master’s courses are available for audit by students with appropriate academic preparation.
Additionally, two modules open to all students at Olivet University are being featured by OCJ. “Writing Boot Camp” consists of news writing workshops, while “How to Make a Great Newspaper” presents lectures from guest speakers on features in online newspapers that attract and retain readers.
Registration is for the Spring 2010 is now open and ends on Jan. 29. Please contact the Olivet College of Journalism to enroll.