Learn the essential journalistic skills and knowledge to effectively communicate information and ideas across various communities and platforms.
Program Overview
The new Minor in Journalism and Social Change is a skill-based program that provides students with foundational knowledge in journalism, literacy skills, community engagement, and the tools to understand and respond to social change.
Students will be able to complement their major field of study with practical skills, critical thinking and analytical news literacy, with a focus on the role of journalism and social change.
The minor will be taught by the school’s experienced professors and industry experts, recognised as leaders in digital journalism and media scholarship.
Program Objectives
The Minor Journalism and Social Change encourages students to develop their voice as journalists and storytellers across multiple platforms and sharpen their skills as media creators and thinkers. It should be of interest to students who want to learn how to communicate ideas to different audiences. No matter what your main area of study may be – science, arts, engineering, business – it will provide you with the necessary tools to develop and deliver better stories and clear messages.
Strong communication skills, storytelling chops and a sophisticated understanding of how media works are essential to break into and thrive in today’s workforce, regardless of specialization. While the tools and techniques you’ll learn are journalistic in nature, their application extends to multiple professional contexts and career paths.
The Minor Journalism and Social Change is unique in that it’s based on four key skills: journalism skills; critical thinking and analytical news literacy skills; relationship-building skills; and understanding the role of journalism in, and its response to, social change.
By skills, we are referring to fundamental journalistic capabilities grounded in principals of verification and social responsibility. As such, students will learn valuable techniques and concepts in gathering, assessing, creating, and presenting factual information to the public.
The program’s emphasis on combining practice and theory and its attention to best practices in covering a changing world – think of environmental reporting for example – make it stand out as a new and urgently needed direction in journalism and media education.
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Degree Requirements
Undergraduate students pursuing the minor will be required to take JRNL 200 Journalism Here and Now, and JRNL 201 Introduction to News Audiences. There are four more required journalism courses for third and fourth years: JRNL 320 Multimedia Journalism; JRNL 325 Fundamentals of Community Reporting; JRNL 420 Decoding Social Media; and JRNL 425 Journalism and Social Change Movements.
Students pursuing the minor degree will also be required to take six credits, chosen from a range of courses that address social change or journalism skills in related disciplines such as sociology, writing studies and First Nations Studies.
Who can take these courses?
- How many credits are required to obtain the Minor in Journalism and Social Change?
This minor will consist of 24 credits, of which 18 credits must be at the 300-level or above. - How are these credits distributed?
Students are required to take two 200-level courses that together add up to six credits: JRNL 200 – Journalism Here and Now JRNL 201 – Introduction to News Audiences While both are mandatory, students can proceed to 300- and 400-level courses after completing one or the other. - What else?
Students are expected to complete 18 credits of upper-level courses. At least 12 of them must be Journalism courses with the JRNL course code. Students may choose the remaining six credits from a list of recommended courses about journalism or social change. These courses are offered by such departments as Geography, English, Writing Studies, Sociology, Information Studies, Gender, Race and Social Justice, among others. The list includes additional Journalism courses.
Course Descriptions
The Minor currently offers six courses covering various topics related to social change and journalism: JRNL 200, JRNL 201, JRNL 320, JRNL 325, JRNL 420, and JRNL 425. For detailed information on the courses click the link below.
Declaring the Minor
To earn this minor, you must complete 24 credits following the Degree Requirements listed above. Click on the links below for specific instructions on how to declare your minor according to your degree.
