Skip to Content

This is an archived copy of the 2013-15 catalog. To access the most recent version of the catalog, please visit http://catalog.utexas.edu/.

Bachelor of Journalism

To be awarded the degree of Bachelor of Journalism, the candidate must complete 120 semester hours of coursework and must fulfill the University's General Requirements for graduation and the Core Curriculum  requirements, the college graduation requirements given in Special Requirements of the College , and the requirements given in Special Requirements, Prescribed Work, and Major Requirements below.

Journalism courses are divided into five levels of coursework and more narrowly within the levels according to their skill set and writing content. Not all courses are offered every semester.

Level I, Foundations:  Journalism 301F, 302F, and 303F
Level II, Applications:  Journalism 310F and 311F
Level III, Specialized Issues and Skills: 

Level IV, Professional Principles: Journalism 350F, 351F, 352F, 353F
Level V, Professional Practices: Journalism 359T (Topic: Journalism Capstone),360F, 160G, 361F,     379, 379

Courses in Levels II – V have prerequisites appropriate to their skill level. Prerequisites may include testing, an interview, or other procedures. Information about these additional requirements is available from the School of Journalism adviser.

Special Requirements

All students in the journalism program are strongly encouraged to have a laptop computer meeting certain specifications as they enter Level II courses. Computer parameters will be designated by the School of Journalism on the department website at http://journalism.utexas.edu .

Students will be required to take Journalism 302F, 310F, and 311F in residence. In addition, Journalism 310F and 311F require a grade of at least B.

Students who are interested in completing advanced photojournalism courses are required to take Communication 316, Photographic Communication, as part of their required six hours of coursework in communication.

To enroll in upper-division journalism courses, a student must have a University grade point average of at least 2.25, a grade point average in courses in the College of Communication of at least 2.00, and credit for Journalism 310F and 311F with a grade of at least B. Students who do not fulfill this requirement will be unable to register for upper-division journalism courses. The 2.25 grade point average requirement is waived for the transfer student during the first semester of coursework, while he or she is establishing a University grade point average.

Journalism majors must complete Journalism 360F or Journalism 361F in order to graduate. Internships can be taken for course credit as soon as a student completes the two Level II courses with a grade of at least B in each.

The student must complete at least eighty-four semester hours outside journalism. At least sixty-five hours must be in liberal arts and natural sciences.

A student majoring in journalism may not register for more than nine semester hours in journalism in one semester or summer session. The director or associate director may make exceptions to this rule for students who need additional journalism courses in order to graduate on time.

A student with a major in journalism must have a grade of at least C in each course taken in the College of Communication that is counted toward the degree; if the course is offered on the pass/fail basis only, the student must have the symbol CR.

Additional information about the preceding requirements is available from the School of Journalism at http://journalism.utexas.edu/ or (512) 471-1845.

Core Curriculum

All students must complete the University’s Core Curriculum  as well as the prescribed work for the Bachelor of Journalism listed below. In some cases, a course required for the Bachelor of Journalism may also be counted toward the core curriculum; these courses are identified below. Flag descriptions can also be found in Core Curriculum .

Prescribed Work

  1. Three semester hours in English or rhetoric and writing in addition to the courses required by the core curriculum.
  2. Two courses with a writing flag; one course with a quantitative reasoning flag; one course with a global cultures flag; one course with a cultural diversity in the United States flag; one course with an ethics and leadership flag; and one course with an independent inquiry flag. A single course may not carry both the cultural diversity in the United States and the global cultures flags simultaneously. Courses that fulfill these requirements are identified in the Course Schedule. They may also be used to fulfill other degree requirements. 
  3. Three semester hours of coursework in the College of Communication dealing with the study of communication issues concerning at least one minority or non-dominant group within the United States. Courses that fulfill this requirement may also be used to fulfill other degree and flag requirements. A partial list of these communication and culture courses is given in the Communication and Culture Requirement  section under the College of Communication's Degrees and Programs section; a complete list is available in the college’s Student Advising Office before registration for each semester and summer session. The courses are also identified in the Course Schedule.
  4. Students must demonstrate fourth-semester-level proficiency, or the equivalent, in a foreign language. Courses taken to meet this requirement may not be taken on a pass/fail basis.

    The usual course sequence is 406 or 506, 407 or 507 or 508K, 312K, and 312L. For some languages, different course numbers are used; such courses may be counted toward this requirement if they are designed to provide first-semester-level through fourth-semester-level proficiency. Credit may be earned by examination for any part of the sequence.

    An extensive foreign language testing program is available at the University. Students with knowledge of a language are encouraged to take appropriate tests both to earn as much credit as possible and to be placed at the proper level for further study. Students should consult the Center for Teaching and Learning or the department concerned for information on testing.
  5. At least thirty-six semester hours of upper-division coursework.
  6. No more than twelve semester hours of transfer credit in journalism may be counted toward the degree.
  7. Enough additional coursework to make a total of 120 semester hours. No more than thirty-six semester hours in one field of study may be counted toward the degree, except as indicated under Major Requirements below.

Major Requirements

  1. Journalism students must complete thirty-six semester hours in journalism and no more than thirty-six journalism hours may be counted toward the degree.
  2. The following courses are required:  Journalism 301F, 302F, 310F, 311F, 350F, 359T (Topic: Journalism Capstone), and 360F or 361F.  Journalism 302F, 310F, and 311F must be taken in residence and a grade of at least B is required for 310F and 311F.
  3. At least nine semester hours but not more than fifteen semester hours from Level III, Specialized Issues and Skills, as follows:

           a.  at least three semester hours to be chosen from Journalism 320F, 321F, 322F, 323F, 324F,         325F, 326F

          b.  at least three semester hours to be chosen from Journalism 330F, 331F, 332F,  333F, 334F,         335F, 336F,  337F, 338F, 339F, 330G, 331G, 332G, 333G, 334G, 335G, 336G, 337G

            c.  at least three semester hours to be chosen from Journalism 340F, 341F, 342F, 343F,344F,345F,         346F, 347F, 348F, 349F, 340G, 341G, 343G, 344G,         345G,346G,347G,348G,349G,340J,341J

  1. At least six semester hours of coursework must be taken in the College of Communication but outside the School of Journalism. No more than forty-two hours (including transfer credit) in College of Communication coursework may be counted toward the degree.
  2. No College of Communication course to be counted toward the degree may be taken on the pass/fail basis, unless the course is offered only on that basis.

Order and Choice of Work

First Year

1.The student must take three courses from the following group each semester:

      a.  Rhetoric and Writing 306.

      b.  Courses to be counted toward the American history, American and Texas government, social and             behavioral sciences, mathematics, and science and technology requirements of the core             curriculum. Students who plan to concentrate in photojournalism are encouraged to take courses             in chemistry, physics, and mathematics to fulfill the science and technology areas.

      c.  Courses in a foreign language.

  1. Journalism 301F and 302F.
  2. Students who plan to take advanced photojournalism courses are encouraged to take Communication 316 in their second semester as part of their required six hours of coursework in communication but outside of journalism.
  3. Two courses that meet flag requirements.
  4. Enough additional coursework to raise the student’s course load to fifteen or sixteen hours each semester. Courses should be chosen with the guidance of a college academic adviser.

First-year students may not take two beginning foreign language courses in the same semester. First-year students may not take more than eight semester hours in one department.

Second Year

 1.    The student should take three courses from the following group each semester; four are recommended:

      a.  English 316K and any three-semester-hour course in English or rhetoric and writing.

      b.  Courses to be counted toward the American history, American and Texas government, social and              behavioral sciences, mathematics, and science and technology requirements of the core                       curriculum.

      c.  Courses in the foreign language, unless the language requirement has been fulfilled.

  1. Journalism 310F and 311F and additional coursework to fulfill the major requirements.
  2. Two courses that meet flag requirements.
  3. Enough additional coursework, if needed, to raise the student’s course load to fifteen or sixteen hours each semester. Courses should be chosen with the guidance of a college academic adviser.

Third Year

  1. Two courses that meet flag requirements.
  2. Any remaining courses in the core curriculum and the prescribed work.
  3. Journalism Level III and IV coursework to fulfill the major requirements. Courses should be chosen with the guidance of a college academic adviser.
  4.  Journalism 360F or 361F, if the prerequisites have been met.
  5. Upper-division electives chosen to support the major.

Fourth Year

  1. Upper-division electives chosen to support the major.
  2. Any remaining major requirements from Levels III, IV, and V. Courses should be chosen with the guidance of a college academic adviser.
  3.  Journalism 359T (Topic: Journalism Capstone).
  4. Any remaining flag requirements.
  5. Any remaining courses in the core curriculum and the prescribed work.

 


What Starts Here Changes the World