Degree Requirements
The program of study for the M.J. degree in Journalism is challenging and requires full-time study. Students are required to complete between 42-45 credits of course work in five semesters, including a three-month internship.
Students learn to be journalists across all media - print, online, television and radio - in the first year. Most programs separate training by medium. We believe that in today’s digital environment, graduate journalists have to be proficient across many media platforms.
Therefore, theory and practice are integrated across the curriculum. This means applying ethics, media theory and academic knowledge to the journalism skills of interviewing and reporting in a real-time multimedia environment.
Journalism training starts in the first week of classes when students are assigned urban beats in Vancouver as part of our core iJournalism course. This course is taught by a team of faculty including a founding editor of BBCNews.com, media studies professors and senior journalists currently working both locally and internationally.
Theory and graduate-level research is integrated into the curriculum through assignments and course content, as well as in specific courses such as Media Ethics and Press and Society. There is also an academic research component to the 6-credit Thesis Project.
Specialization
Students specialize in key disciplines relevant to their professional careers. These include but are not limited to: environmental and health studies, international relations and political science, cultural studies, English, Asian studies, economics and science.
Students also engage issues surrounding race, gender and ethnicity through partnerships with other UBC departments.
Students take these specialties in courses outside of the School in order to obtain the knowledge necessary to report on an increasingly complex public sphere.
Popular academic specialties include: International Journalism and Political Science, New Media and Society, Solutions-Focused journalism and Science Journalism, which includes specialties in environment, health and social issues, as well as media theory.
Science Initiative
Informed and critical coverage of science, health and environmental issues is one of the most important functions of journalism in a global world. Our program offers a special Science Initiative that prepares students for a career in science reporting. We train students to explore scientific areas of interest through courses at the School and in various science-related faculties or departments on campus.
Students can also participate in the school’s research into the public communication of science and write for its Science Journalism website.
As one of Canada’s leading research universities, UBC is an ideal setting for studying science journalism and engaging with scientists and science communicators. Graduates specializing in science journalism have gone on to work for New Scientist, Nature, Media Doctor Canada, CNN, The Heart.org, The Tyee, The Northern Miner and many more.
