Another school year, and a host of new and exciting classes, has begun at USC Annenberg.
The School of Journalism is now offering several new special topics classes.
Professor Robert Hernandez, who recently received the Society of Professional Journalist’s Distinguished Teaching in Journalism Award for 2015, is teaching JOUR 499: Creating on Emerging Technologies, which will focus on journalism using virtual reality.
Broadcast Newswriting and Reporting for non-Majors (JOUR 499) is taught by professor Lewis Rothbart. Open to all USC students, the course will focus on writing for broadcast news, as well as basic storytelling skills.
Professors Amara Aguilar and Rebecca Haggerty are teaching Journalism for Mobile and Emerging Platforms (JOUR 499). The course will explore new ways to tell stories, using a different app or social media feature every week.
“We aim to foster a spirit of innovation along with audience engagement that will permeate the content students will be creating,” Aguilar said, adding that the class will give her and the rest of the mobile and emerging platforms team “time and space to play in a sandbox environment for digital storytelling.”
Introduction to Coding for Creative Storytelling (JOUR 499) is taught by professor Peggy Bustamante. The course covers basic web technologies, such as CSS, HTML, JavaScript and jQuery, and the skills needed to produce advanced, interactive multimedia projects.
The School of Journalism is also offering several new graduate-level courses on beat reporting (JOUR 599).
As part of a new requirement for the Journalism M.S. program, students must choose a course focused on the following beats: Sports, taught by professor Jeffrey Fellenzer; Arts, Culture and Entertainment, taught by professor Sasha Anawalt; Business and Economics, taught by professor Gabriel Kahn; Urban Affairs, taught by professors Alan Mittelstaedt and Mark Lloyd; and Science, Environment and Technology, taught by professor Lawrence Pryor.
The School of Communication is offering two new courses this semester.
One is a new special topics course called CMGT 599: Global Storytelling — The Power and Narrative across Culture, Media and Change, which is taught by professor Doe Mayer, who is also the Mary Pickford Chair at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
The course aims to help students understand major components of a story by looking at storytelling through a global lens.
“Stories are so ubiquitous in society that it has become essential for students to develop a more attuned and sophisticated insight into structure, variety, and meaning in narratives,” Mayer said.
The School of Communication is also offering COMM 312: The Business and Culture of Celebrity, taught by professor Christopher H. Smith. The course uses the concept of celebrity as a lens for looking at the communication revolution.
USC Annenberg also welcomes a number of new faculty members this year.
