Broadcast Journalism- SMPA 195 Public Affairs On-Air, Broadcast News Writing
This summer institute offers students six weeks of hands-on training in production and video techniques vital to careers in a multi-platform media environment. The 8-credit program arms students with skills in television field and studio production, as well as broadcast news writing, at a discounted tuition rate. Students will report and produce two newscasts, master the basics of the Final Cut Pro editing system, and learn how to uplink and process their videos for DVDs and the web.

Introduction to News Writing and Reporting - SMPA 110W
Fundamentals of news reporting and writing, with emphasis on the print media. News judgment, information gathering skills, and crafting news and feature stories. Regular in-class and outside reporting and writing exercises. (Open to non-majors: WID credit).

Editorial and Persuasive Writing - SMPA 145W
Techniques of editorial and column writing; editorial page and public affairs
programming; function of commentary in a free press. Prerequisite: SMPA 110. (WID credit).

War and Resistance in Hollywood Film:  How the Movies Define “Terrorism” – SMPA 195
Using commercial films and television programming from the 1920s through the current day, we’ll examine both the phenomenon of war itself and the various forms of backlash it provokes, including guerilla operations, underground movements, terrorism and counter-terrorism, and criminal behaviour. We’ll look at Hollywood’s treatment of war – and terrorism – from Viking raids in the Middle Ages to modern-day Iraq -- using film as a cultural text for exploring the deep structure of American social and political value systems. The question of what constitutes a “just war” and who is authorized to sanction such enterprises forms the central guiding question of the course, but other questions, such as how to define “terrorism” and who decides when and how wars are “won” and “lost” will also be considered. The multiple and often contradictory ways in which the filmic arts have sought to represent both war itself and resistance to war will be explored. Films may include The Patriot, Les Miserable, Gandhi, Braveheart, Casablanca and The Pianist.