Overview

The curriculum for the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, offered by the Department of Journalism, is based on developing critical thinking in students along with skills in news gathering and multimedia journalism. This requires a broad educational background coupled with rigorous professional training. The curriculum emphasizes subject matter from other disciplines, particularly those in the liberal arts. The Journalism department also believes that effective writing is central to communication and is, therefore, integral to the department curriculum.

Graduates of the program will develop:

1. Strong skills in reporting, writing, photography, audio/video newsgathering, print and web editing and design.
2. The ability to analyze critically past and present trends of journalism and to help craft alternative forms of journalism for the future.
3. A strong sense of ethical responsibility and the knowledge necessary for ethical decision-making.
4. An understanding of digital and interactive media technologies.
5. The ability to provide information in multimedia formats.
6. A culture of collaboration through team reporting....
7. ...in order to tell stories emanating from a diverse urban environment.
8. A keen understanding of the increasingly global nature of today's journalistic environment.
9. An appreciation of free expression and awareness of legal constraints guiding responsible journalism.

Journalism students must complete the department's nine required courses as well as 18 credits of journalism electives, which often form an area of emphasis. Students in their junior year cover community news in Philadelphia and contribute to PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com. Finally, a capstone experience combines urban community journalism with specialized training in particular media formats.

An optional concentration in International Communication is available for this major.

Students who major in Journalism enter a variety of careers, including those as web reporters and producers, newspaper reporters and editors, still and video photographers, radio and television reporters and producers, magazine writers and editors, and many other areas that value storytelling, multimedia, and the accurate gathering, assessment, and reporting of information and ideas.

Although students must ultimately be responsible for their own academic programs, freshmen and first-semester transfer students will first meet with a Lew Klein College of Media and Communication academic advisor. During the sophomore and junior years, a student must meet at least once each year with a faculty advisor who is knowledgeable about the area of study the student is following.

Campus Location: Main

Program Code: CO-JRN-BA

Accreditation

Temple's Journalism department is one of only three journalism programs in Pennsylvania accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (ACEJMC).

Student Associations and Awards

The department has a chapter of the national journalism and mass communication honor society, Kappa Tau Alpha. Additionally, every spring the department awards thousands of dollars in scholarships to deserving majors.

Contact Information

Logan Molyneux, Department Chair
Sarah Landwehr, Assistant Department Chair
journ@temple.edu

Rosalind Williams, Senior Administrative Specialist
Annenberg Hall, Room 315
215-204-7433
rwilliam@temple.edu

Learn more about the Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

These requirements are for students who matriculated in academic year 2024-2025. Students who matriculated prior to fall 2024 should refer to the Archives to view the requirements for their Bulletin year.

Summary of Requirements

The degree of Bachelor of Arts may be conferred upon a student majoring in Journalism by recommendation of the faculty and upon satisfactory completion of a minimum of 124 semester hours of credit with a cumulative average of 2.0 overall and in the major.

Students must meet:

1. University requirements:
   1. All students are required to complete the General Education (GenEd) curriculum.
   2. All students must take a minimum of two writing-intensive courses in the major at Temple University. The specific writing-intensive courses required for this major are JRN 1196 and JRN 3696.
2. Lew Klein College of Media and Communication requirements, including KLN 1001 and KLN 1002.  
3. Minimum 46 credits in Journalism required. Maximum 62 credits in the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication permitted (excluding certain Communication and Social Influence courses). Students must complete 62 credits outside the Lew Klein College of Media and Communication.
   1. Students are cautioned to plan their program so they do not exceed the 62-credit hour limit (excluding certain Communication and Social Influence courses) that is set by our accrediting body.
   2. Below is the list of Communication and Social Influence courses that could be exempted from the ACEJMC accreditation cap:

      Course List

      Code	Title	Credit Hours
      CSI 1111	Introduction to Public Speaking	3
      or CSI 1911	Honors Introduction to Public Speaking
      CSI 1112	Introduction to Communication and Social Influence	3
      CSI 1113	Persuasion	3
      CSI 1201	Communication and Civic Engagement	3
      CSI 1401	Conflict and Communication Behavior	3
      CSI 1601	Communication and Behavior Change	3
      CSI 2111	Argumentation and Advocacy	3
      CSI 2112	Social Influence Inquiry	3
      CSI 2201	The Meaningful Enjoyment of Civic Life	3
      CSI 2296	Resistance, Protests, and Social Movements (WI)	3
      CSI 2401	Intercultural and Cross Cultural Conflict	3
      CSI 2403	Civil Disobedience	3
      CSI 2602	Rhetoric of Hate and Violence	3
      CSI 2696	Risk Communication (WI)	3
      CSI 3201	Rhetoric and Civic Culture	3
      CSI 3401	Social Activism and Community Organizing	3
      CSI 3402	Conflict and Influence: Identity, Emotion and Power	3
      CSI 3601	Misperceptions and Misinformation	3
      CSI 3602	Communicating Science in Today's World	3
      CSI 3701	Intercultural Communication	3
      CSI 3702	Communication, Culture and Identity	3
      CSI 3896	Rhetorical Criticism (WI)	3
      CSI 4402	Multiparty Conflict Proceses: Dialogue, Facilitation and Multiparty Mediation	3
      CSI 4601	Narrative Persuasion	3

4. For Journalism department courses to fulfill the 46-credit requirement in the Journalism major, students must earn a grade of C- or higher.
5. A maximum of 6 credits may be earned for internships and a maximum of 3 credits for independent studies. If students plan to take multiple internships, please keep in mind the six-credit maximum. Internships may be taken for 1-3 credits.
6. Only 8 credits will be accepted from Kinesiology and Dance activity courses.
7. No more than 30 credits may be taken in any single CLA department without special written permission from the Department of Journalism. These requirements are to ensure a broad-based liberal arts education for each major.
8. Journalism-related coursework must be evaluated for transfer (including courses taken through study abroad programs after enrolling at Temple University) by the Department Chair. No more than 12 credits in total will be accepted for transfer from an accredited journalism/mass communication program; maximum 9 credits from a non-accredited program. Under no circumstances will credit be allowed for duplicate courses.
9. The department does not award credit for academic or life experience. Students with extensive experience may present evidence and petition for a waiver of department course requirements.
10. Coursework taken in Business Education, lower-level credits in Military Science, and the Extern Program are not applicable towards graduation.

Departmental Requirements for the Major

It is the student's responsibility to meet all course prerequisite requirements.

¹

Completion of JRN 1111 and JRN 1196 with grades of C- or better is required before students enroll in any Journalism classes numbered higher than 1111.

²

Students required to take ENG 0701 Introduction to Academic Discourse must complete that requirement before enrolling in JRN 1196 Writing and Reporting.

Required Liberal Arts Courses for the Journalism Major

Suggested Academic Plan

Please note that these are suggested academic plans. Depending on your situation, your academic plan may look different.

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism

Suggested Plan for New Students Starting in the 2024-2025 Academic Year

¹

 If STAT 0826 not taken as GenEd Quantitative Literacy (GQ) Requirement.

Optional Concentration

The optional International Communication Concentration (ICC) provides a theoretical and practical education in international and intercultural communication and media. This program allows students to develop sought-after competencies in cultural sensitivity and intercultural communication skills by encouraging students to reflect on their own cultural lenses. Students participating in the ICC program will be exposed to multiple international perspectives through internationally- and interculturally-oriented courses offered on Temple's domestic campuses and may be supplemented with study abroad coursework.

This concentration is restricted to Klein students only.

Requirements

To earn the International Communication Concentration transcript notation, a student must successfully complete a total of 18-20 credits of International / Intercultural studies courses, a maximum 9 credits of which may come from courses transferred into Temple, across 3 areas. Each course that fulfills a requirement for the concentration must be passed with a C- or better.

Contact Information

Jack Klotz, MSP Faculty Advisor
Annenberg Hall, Room 115
215-204-5823
jklotz@temple.edu