Journalism: Science & Environment
Department of Journalism: Science & Environment
B.A., Journalism: Science & Environment
The science and environmental journalism program equips students with a unique skill set increasingly valued in the nation's newsrooms and other communication entities. There has never been a greater need for smart, courageous journalists with a passion for the public interest and the ability to tell stories about science, technology, health and environmental issues. Though the program focuses on science and environmental journalism, the skills learned pursuing this degree apply to a wide variety of fields both in media and in public communication.
In addition to the solid academic foundation delivered in the classroom, students receive practical experience working in media on and off campus. Students complete their required professional media internships at various radio and television stations, newspapers, public information offices and other media-related businesses and organizations in and outside Alaska.
The department runs several laboratory facilities, including a digital newsroom and photography lab, dedicated audio and video bays, an advanced video editing/digital printing lab and a photography studio.
Minimum Requirements for Journalism: Science and the Environment Bachelor's Degree: 120 credits
Courses
Journalism (JOUR)
JOUR F101X Media and Culture (h)
3 Credits
Offered Fall and Spring
History and principles of mass communications and the role of information media in American society. Introduction to professional aspects of mass communications, including print and broadcast.
Attributes: UAF GER Humanities Req
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F201 News Writing for the Media (h)
3 Credits
Offered Fall and Spring
Identifying and focusing news stories, writing the lead, developing story structure, writing on deadline, editing copy, writing headlines and captions, writing styles for print, broadcast and online news presentations.
Prerequisites: WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F205 Media and the Environment
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Exploration of local, national and international environmental problems and their social and political impacts. Analysis of historical and contemporary mass media coverage – including radio, film, print and online outlets – and their treatment of environmental issues. Examination of the media’s effects on public opinion and government policies.
Prerequisites: WRTG F111X.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F207 Audio Production (h)
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Audio production theory and practice for video, radio and podcasting. Survey of types of microphones and their features, including mic placement and operation. Audio recording best practices, location sound, voice overs and audio editing.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F211 If Einstein Were a Photographer
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
This course will apply photographic techniques and approaches to laboratory and field work photography for scientists and science and environmental journalists in their various areas of interest. This class will prove useful to archeologists, engineers, and other field and lab scientists who desire to better document their work through photography.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F301 Reporting Science
3 Credits
Offered Spring
News reporting basics with an eye toward science: covering beats including technology, medicine, climate, physics, space, the natural world and science policy. Cultivating sources, interviewing and reporting through public records. Sifting through published research and data. Working with numbers. Segments on print, video and online reporting methods and style conventions.
Prerequisites: JOUR F101X; JOUR F201.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F303 Copy Editing
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Lay or lie? Who or whom? Find out as this course travels from basic grammar and usage to editing for tone, structure and potential ethical conflicts. Choose the best word or phrase for any occasion, eliminate redundancy and verbosity, and learn why you should never use “really unique.”
Prerequisites: ENGL F111X.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F307 Video Production (h)
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Digital video production technology overview and techniques of composition, audio, lighting, recording and editing as it relates to non-fiction/journalism production. Students will produce videos of varying lengths, including a final project.
Prerequisites: JOUR F201; JOUR F207.
Special Notes: Special fees apply.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F391 Seminar: Issues in Science and the Environment
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
Taught by UAF's Snedden Chair in Journalism, this course uses a semester-long focus to examine a single issue or topic in science or environmental journalism.
Prerequisites: JOUR F101X; JOUR F201; JOUR F301; junior standing.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 2 times for up to 6 credits
JOUR F400 Professional Internship
1-3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Practical training in a supervised, professional media environment. Participation at an approved publication, TV or radio station, or other media- or communication-related office agency, organization or business is required.
Prerequisites: Senior standing.
Cross-listed with COM F400.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 1 + 6 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 3 times for up to 3 credits
JOUR F429 Public Relations and Public Information in the Sciences
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
Study and analysis of the role of PR/PIO professionals in science, technology, medicine and the environment. Writing relevant materials, including press releases. Discussion of issues management, crisis communication theories, models and concepts are examined, with additional focus on the role, process, strategies and tactics of these strategic elements.
Stacked with JOUR F629.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F439 Science Writing for Popular Media (h)
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Students write, read and analyze science articles, social media posts, blog posts and/or press releases. Coursework includes writing and reading assignments, class workshops and conferences with the instructor. Emphasis on recognizing, finding and developing science stories; structuring articles; capturing reader interest; maintaining accuracy; and getting published. Scientists are welcome.
Prerequisites: JOUR F201; WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X.
Stacked with JOUR F639.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 2 times for up to 6 credits
JOUR F449 Northern and Environmental Literature (h)
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Intensive study of particular aspects of Alaska and circumpolar writing, ecocritical theory and the literature of environmental studies.
Prerequisites: WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; sophomore standing.
Cross-listed with ACNS F449; ENGL F449.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F476 Advanced Digital Photography Portfolio (h)
3 Credits
Offered Fall, Spring and Summer
This class provides students with the concept of producing a professional digital portfolio of their Commercial and/or Art Photography and/or Photojournalism. Students submit new images each week for editing and critique. Over the semester three smaller bodies of work will become a 20-24 image professional portfolio.
Prerequisites: ART F284.
Cross-listed with ART F476.
Stacked with ART F676, JOUR F676.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 3 times for up to 9 credits
JOUR F480 Documentary Filmmaking (h)
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Basics of hands-on documentary filmmaking techniques, including preproduction, production and postproduction. Different documentary filmmaking directing styles and the process of distributing a documentary. Each student will produce a short documentary as the capstone of the course.
Prerequisites: Basic experience in shooting and editing video.
Cross-listed with FLPA F480.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F490 Journalism Capstone: Portfolio
0 Credit
Offered Spring
With faculty guidance and collaboration, senior students assemble a portfolio website of work that demonstrates their knowledge and proficiency in print, photographic, broadcast and online journalism.
Prerequisites: JOUR F211; JOUR F301; JOUR F303; JOUR F307; JOUR F400; JOUR F429; JOUR F439.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 1 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades
JOUR F492 Seminar
1-6 Credits
Lecture + Lab + Other: 1-6 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 15 times for up to unlimited credits
JOUR F498 Undergraduate Research
3 Credits
Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken unlimited times for up to 9 credits
JOUR F629 Public Relations and Public Information in the Sciences
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
Study and analysis of the role of PR/PIO professionals in science, technology, medicine and the environment. Writing relevant materials, including press releases. Discussion of issues management, crisis communication theories, models and concepts are examined, with additional focus on the role, process, strategies and tactics of these strategic elements.
Stacked with JOUR F429.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
JOUR F639 Science Writing for Popular Media
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Students write, read and analyze science articles, social media posts, blog posts and/or press releases. Coursework includes writing and reading assignments, class workshops and conferences with the instructor. Emphasis on recognizing, finding and developing science stories; structuring articles; capturing reader interest; maintaining accuracy; and getting published. Scientists are welcome.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing.
Stacked with JOUR F439.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 3 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 2 times for up to 6 credits
JOUR F676 Advanced Digital Photography Portfolio (h)
3 Credits
Offered Fall, Spring and Summer
This class provides students with the concept of producing a professional digital portfolio of their Commercial and/or Art Photography and/or Photojournalism. Students submit new images each week for editing and critique. Over the semester three smaller bodies of work will become a 20-24 image professional portfolio.
Cross-listed with ART F676.
Stacked with ART F476, JOUR F476.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 2 + 3 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 3 times for up to 9 credits
JOUR F692 MFA Seminar
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Lecture + Lab + Other: 1 + 4 + 0
Grading System: Letter Grades with option of Plus/Minus
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 98 times for up to unlimited credits
JOUR F698 Non-thesis Research/Project
1-6 Credits
Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken 6 times for up to 6 credits
JOUR F699 Thesis
1-9 Credits
Every candidate for the communication concentration of the master's degree in professional communication will complete a thesis project. The requirement consists of an original piece of communication research directed by a member of the communication graduate faculty. The completed and accepted thesis will be presented in an appropriate public forum.
Lecture + Lab + Other: 0 + 0 + 0
Grading System: Pass/Fail Grades
Repeatable for Credit: May be taken unlimited times for up to 99 credits
Faculty
Charles Mason
Associate Professor of Communication | Department Chair
cwmason@alaska.edu
907-474-7761
102D Bunnell Building
Troth Yeddha' Campus
Lynne Snifka
Professor
