Ferrum College will offer Journalism as a major beginning Fall 2023 with hands-on experiential learning as its key characteristic. Every journalism class in the major and minor moves beyond the necessary classroom theory and provides an avenue for publication via real-world application of skills and competencies. Students have opportunities for online, print, and video publication beginning on Day 1 of any journalism course.
Within this framework, students will gain hands-on, career-ready experience in both online and print mediums while also developing skills in writing and reporting, editing, photography, layout and design, video production, and website maintenance.
“The Journalism major at Ferrum College is designed to arm students with professional experience and a myriad of marketable skills applicable in an innumerable amount of career settings,” said Dr. Mirta Martin, president of the College.
Ferrum College Journalism students will be able to customize their degree through elective courses that allow them to gain depth and breadth in a wide array of subject areas and specializations. The curriculum includes a focused study and hands-on experience within the career paths of cross-platform editing and producing, photojournalism, reporting and writing, and social and audience strategy.
Assistant Professor of English and Journalism, David “Chopper” Campbell is excited to have this Journalism program at the College. “We have award-winning writer alumni and an award-winning student publication, the Iron Blade, on campus. Now, we will have the opportunity to increase those skills and give the students more opportunity to refine their craft while also serving the public good.”
Campbell encourages students who are already passionate about writing as well as those who are interested in pursuing truth and documenting history to consider majoring in Journalism.
“It is a beautiful, chaotic, turbulent, and exciting world in which we live. It is the role of the journalist to document that world–to provide a record for the history of events; to provide a platform for expression; to provide an arena for the exchange of thought and ideas; to be a watchdog for the Constitution; to help form a vital part of a democratic government; and to do so with the highest of standards, ethics, and quest for truth.”
Examples of career opportunities include writer/reporter/editor, public relations manager, social media management, video production, subject-specific writer (medical writer, travel writer), graphic designer.
Courses in the new major include News Writing and Reporting, Sports Writing and Reporting, Video Production, and Feature Writing. Related programs and minors compatible with Journalism include Media and Communication, Graphic Design, English, History and Political Science.
“Come to Ferrum and explore Journalism; you will discover the difference you can make in the world as a documenter of our times,” encouraged Campbell.