Courses

This site has been developed to be an extension of the courses I teach in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. The Journalism Department is the home of the photojournalism emphasis, which is made up of three of the following courses. The academic advising team places students into the introductory course, but admission to the Advanced Photojournalism and Documentary Photography courses is controlled by me. All of these classes are restricted to 16 students.

JOUR3330 – Introduction to Photojournalism

I teach two sections of this every semester. As its title says, it is an introduction to photojournalism where students learn the basics of photography and how to apply them as a visual journalist. The semester begins with technical discussions of photography (light, exposure, focus and all the other mechanics) and then moves into storytelling through still photos and audio, culminating in the production of an audio slide show. It’s neither an art class nor a photography class – it’s a photojournalism class.

JOUR5091 – Projects

This course is our senior capstone class where students will pull together everything they have learned both here in Grady College as well as across their university experience. In the spring of 2018, the course is focused on Climate, Water and Science.

JOUR5160 – Advanced Photojournalism

This course is taught once a year, in the fall semester. It takes the skills and concepts of the introductory course and layers in more storytelling with some additional technical instruction, particularly around the concepts of strobes and lens selection. Students shoot weekly assignments, as well as work on semester-long documentary projects and a “day in the life” multimedia piece on a working photojournalist. One of the highlights is the one-day motorsports photojournalism workshop that has been done for the last four years at the American Le Mans Series’s Petit Le Mans endurance sports car race. Students spend 16 hours at Road Atlanta covering the 10 hour long race as an international festival.

  • Prerequisite: JOUR3330

JOUR5370 – Documentary Photography

This course, taught once a year in the spring semester, has been evolving over the last few years. It has become more of a multimedia/video journalism class with each iteration and focuses on in-depth storytelling. Class projects have looked at issues ranging from rural health care to public housing in Athens. Students learn how to shoot and edit video for online news consumption as well as further refining their still photo and audio skills.

  • Prerequisite: JOUR3330

JOUR5990 – Special Topics (Maymester)

The 5990 classes are, as the name implies, special topics classes. The designation is used to indicate a temporary or experimental course within the Journalism Department. Over the last four years I have done Maymester (three weeks in May, three hours a day, five days a week) sections on graphic design and video journalism. In 2008, we partnered with the Greenville News to produce a series of stories looking at water issues across the Georgia-South Carolina border. In 2009, the class looked at the Localvore movement in Athens, exploring locally grown and organic produce.In 2010, it was a Multimedia Journalism course. In 2011, it was a Multiplatform Journalism course. In 2013, it was taught as a Graphic Design for Journalism course.

  • Prerequisite: Varies

JOUR5990 – Special Topics (Regular Semester)

The last version of this class was an experimental Photo/Design, co-taught course done in the fall of 2009. Students spent one half of the semester working with me on photojournalism and spent the other half of the semester working with Prof. Hume on design issues.

JOUR6000 – Visual Storytelling

This was a one-time graduate level class on visual storytelling – imagine the intro class on steroids, with a final major project looking at watershed issues here on the UGA campus.