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Duration

2 years full time / 4 years part time

1 or 1.5 years full time (or part time equivalent) with relevant prior qualifications

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Mode (Location)
On campus (Parkville)
Intake

March, July

Key dates

Fees

Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) available

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Entry schemes

Access Melbourne is available

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Duration

2 years full time

1 or 1.5 years full time with relevant prior qualifications

Check entry points

Mode (Location)
On campus (Parkville)
Intake

March, July

Key dates

Fees

AUD $48,992 (2026 indicative first year fee)

Learn more

English language requirements

IELTS 7.0: with writing 7.0 and no other band less than 6.5

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CRICOS code
075464C
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Course structure

Overview

200 point program (2 years full-time or part-time equivalent)

This is our most popular program for those who have completed undergraduate study. No experience is necessary.

AND

OR

150 point program (1.5 years full-time or part-time equivalent)

This is for graduates of a relevant undergraduate degree, or equivalent.

100 point program (1 year full-time or part-time equivalent)

This is for relevant honours graduates or those who have completed at least one year professional work experience in a closely related field, in addition to relevant background study.

Capstone requirement

Students must complete one of three available Capstone streams for this degree at the 200 point level (some are Coursework-based and some are Thesis-based). For more information on subjects, Capstone streams, and detailed information, please view the Handbook entry for this course.

View Handbook entry

Explore this course

Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this degree.

200 point program

2 years full time / 4 years part time. All students must complete one compulsory subject, a minimum of 75 points of core subjects, and one capstone stream options

Compulsory subjects

All students must complete this subject. Students are strongly advised to take JOUR90001 in their first semester.

Accordion
Researching/Writing Stories · 25 pts

This is a practice based subject taught by leading practitioners, which enables students to develop their skills in researching, writing and producing stories. Students will enhance their understanding of how news stories are put together and will develop advanced skills in researching, writing and producing stories in a new and rapidly changing media environment. The subject examines a range of different research techniques and considers how these can be applied. It also explores a range of writing challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Core subjects

Students must complete a minimum of 75 points of core subjects.

Accordion
New Media Storytelling · 12.5 pts

The subject will equip students for navigating their careers in a world of changing business models. It also considers how journalists create a personal brand in a fracturing media landscape and how they develop an entrepreneurial spirit, which is both a mindset and a problem-solving skill set. The subject will focuses on web based publication and small and medium sized journalism enterprises, and the particular skill combination needed to make a commercial success of online journalism outlets, including those serving niche audiences. Students will explore the ways in which social media, including blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are being used to both gather information for journalistic work, and to publicise that work and gather an audience around it. As well as engaging in practical exercises, students will also be introduced to theoretical understandings of the public space, and the ways in which these are being altered by social media. Key examples of journalistic use of social media will be examined. The subject will also examine the managing of money, audiences and people in small to medium news media enterprises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Audio Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject provides a solid grounding in audio journalism skills. The structure of news and current affairs reports is analysed, and training in recording and editing sound packages, and in scripting and presenting is provided. Ethical considerations relevant to audio journalism are canvassed in the context of ‘quality’ journalism, with its roots in serving the public interest, objective scrutiny and fact-based reporting.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Video Journalism · 12.5 pts

Video Journalism is a hands-on subject aimed at giving students the skills they need to begin working in a TV newsroom, freelance or produce high-quality video content for social media. The curriculum is informed by decades of industry experience but refreshed every year to stay relevant in this always-evolving medium. The subject is taught in a weekly three-hour workshop and embraces a learning-by-doing philosophy, with in-class activities reinforced by practise at home. Students will learn a range of video journalism roles, including camera operator, editor and journalist. The skills learned will be used to create three assessment items that are the building blocks of video news storytelling – an interview, on-camera presentation and a news package. The subject will take advantage of the university’s media studio.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Non Fiction Writing · 12.5 pts

This subject focuses in the intersection of journalistic skill and literary technique in the genre broadly defined as ‘creative non-fiction’. The weekly workshops discuss classic and contemporary authors of narrative journalism, personal essays, polemics and features such as Joan Didion, Hunter S Thompson, James Baldwin, Michael Paterniti, Rachel Kushner, Caity Weaver, George Orwell and others. Each week examines different aspects of the craft of non-fiction: research, interviewing, structure, voice, characterisation, metaphor and so on. The subject also emphasises practice, simulating the experience of writing for publication. Through the course of a semester, students choose their own topic and angle, and then pitch a non-fiction article to a guest editor from a major magazine or other outlet. They submit a draft for feedback before writing a polished piece of creative non-fiction.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Newsroom-Applied Professional Practice · 12.5 pts

This subject offers students the opportunity to initiate, research and write industry -standard news and features stories in various styles, which will be considered for publication on The Citizen, the flagship publication of Centre Advancing Journalism. They will engage and reflect closely on the unfolding news media agenda and performance, including questions of ethics and fairness and the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies. Students will be required to bring story ideas and reflections on the unfolding news media agenda to seminars, which incorporate/ simulate industry newsroom news conferences where editors/lecturers and students discuss, debate, refine and game plan stories. Students, operating as reporters, will be expected to liaise closely with the lecturer/editors of The Citizen as they refine their ideas and settle on specific reporting assignments. There will be opportunities for workshopping stories and for collaboration with fellow students, as well as instruction on how best to present their material. The goal will be to produce a Portfolio of 3 stories (equivalent 4000 words) striving to publishable standard.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Investigative Journalism · 12.5 pts

This advanced subject builds on basic journalistic interview and research skills to introduce the discipline and research techniques of investigative journalism. It discusses the ethics, obligations, role and challenges of investigative journalism in the western democratic tradition, including domestic and cross-border investigations and, as appropriate, in other political contexts. Enlisting a story-based inquiry methodology, students will explore and interrogate a range of opportunities to source information: public records, open source intelligence, Freedom of Information legislation, crowd sourcing, data analysis, advanced verification and security and safety technologies. They will be introduced to the multiple ethical and legal issues involved in use of confidential sources and unauthorised disclosures, and how this relates to core journalistic ethical principles. Tasks #1 and #2 require students to initiate, plan and undertake an original investigation as part of the subject, with an option at Task #3 to defer or cease their own investigation and alternatively produce an analytical essay on a published/ high profile investigation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Traditions in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practice of professional journalism and its traditions across a variety of international contexts. Students will compare and contrast the intellectual and historical traditions behind the development of contemporary journalism practice in places including Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia. They will critically analyse how technological innovations and social transformation have driven changes in the field. Students also will engage with debates regarding the influence of international norms and Anglo-American conceptions of journalism in non-Western contexts, and reflect on the degree to which these entanglements have led to a form of modern global journalism.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Photojournalism · 12.5 pts

This is a practice-based subject teaching the history, principles and techniques of photojournalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology. Students will learn basic photographic techniques, as well as learning how to edit their work and present it in a variety of multimedia contexts and platforms. They will also learn how to handle the ethical issues involved in dealing with subjects in a variety of different situations, as well as how to present and market their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Business Journalism · 12.5 pts

This practice-based subject focuses on the history, principles and techniques of business journalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology and global capitalism. Students will learn basic skills for analysing the performance of businesses and conducting journalistic research on international business performance, as well as learning how to produce and edit financial and business journalism for a variety of multi-media formats and platforms.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Elective subjects

Students may complete a maximum of 75 points of elective subjects (internship option and journalism project option) or 50 points (minor thesis option). Students may enrol in up to 25 points of language study in Arabic; Chinese; French; German; Hebrew; Indonesian; Italian; Japanese; Russian and Spanish.

Media/Journalism

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Special Study in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject involves the study of an approved topic in journalism practice. Details of the program being offered will be available from the Centre for Advanced Journalism. Students who complete this subject successfully should have demonstrated a specialist understanding of the topic, contributed effectively to the work of the seminar, shown a capacity for an advanced level of analysis and familiarised themselves with the latest directions of research into the particular topic.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Data Journalism · 12.5 pts

This unit will explore the practice and theoretical underpinnings of data journalism, whereby news content is organized around structured pieces of data, as opposed to conventionally structured news stories. Students will learn how to access key public databases, extract stories from them, and make the data available in visualisations that facilitate citizens’ own inquiries and investigations. Students will be acquainted with the history and current practice of data journalism, including key international examples.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Audio: Podcasting · 12.5 pts

This subject is designed to augment the skills learned in Audio Journalism and extend them into longform podcasts. In this hands-on subject, students will work together to create a class podcast. Through this experience, they will learn how to develop content ideas, how to plan podcast series, how to structure an episode of a podcast, and how to brand and promote their work. They will listen to longform podcasts to understand best practice and the ethics of this newly emerging genre, as well as gaining an understanding of the role that podcasts are playing in our media environment. They will also learn to create longform audio work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Global Crisis Reporting · 12.5 pts

Global Crisis Reporting examines studies and approaches to global communications and the reporting of crises, including disasters and humanitarian relief. The course examines the extent to which, how and why forms of coverage have changed in recent years, and considers how these changes have impacted on the way in which "crises" are constructed, mediated and communicated. It considers the possible impacts of such changes on national and international public opinion and political leaders, as well as on those immediately involved. Amongst the themes addressed are: the rise of digital technologies of news production and distribution and their impact on the nature of crisis reporting, arguments for and against a "journalism of attachment", the communication strategies of humanitarian organisations and the degree to which coverage of human suffering raises questions about the moral responsibility of news-makers. The subject also examines issues regarding the political impacts of contemporary crisis reporting, the nature and direction of communication flows, the rise of emergent practices of crisis communications and media activism and the degree to which transformations in the field may, or may not, serve to positively address the relations underpinning global crises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Fact-checking, Misinformation and AI · 12.5 pts

The subject is designed to equip students with skills and knowledge relating to online fact-checking practices for digital audiences. The subject combines an analytical and practice-based approach by introducing students to critical issues of misinformation and other informational shifts in public communication. It trains students in the identification and verification of problematic information, and the use of automated and AI tools and genres to carry out fact-checking and explanatory journalism. Students will discuss recent research and applied literature and participate in hands-on sessions and gain insights from guest industry practitioners.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Change in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject encourages students to reflect on how journalism has changed over time and to consider what it might become in the future. It examines the emergence of what we now call ‘journalism’ and looks at the technological, political and economic issues that shaped its development. Students will engage with key theorists and formulate their own informed opinions about the rise of news, the nature of journalistic objectivity, the relationship between journalism and democracy, and the threat (or promise) of Artificial Intelligence.

From the emergence of citizen journalism and the struggle for diverse journalistic representation to the nature of combat reporting and the rise of social media, the subject links historical debates with the controversies of today – and invites students to think about the journalism of tomorrow.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Video - Studio Production · 12.5 pts

This subject builds on basic video journalism skills and takes them to an advanced level with an emphasis on live and as-live studio production. Students will work together to research, develop and produce a dynamic and multi-dimensional video program in the Faculty of Arts’ Media Production Studios for potential broadcast on free-to-air television and online platforms. The subject equips students to perform many of the roles involved in studio-based video production, including on-camera tasks - such as presentation and interviewing - and production roles – including vision switching, graphics, floor management and camera operation. The subject culminates in the joint production, of an hour-long program, incorporating live and pre-recorded content, and drawing on the skills acquired by every student throughout the semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Media and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject, is a select entry subject to be co-taught by staff at the University of Melbourne and Fudan University, will critically engage with the role of emergent social media platforms in contemporary forms of public communication, with a particular focus on their impacts on and challenges for journalism and political communication. To this end, the subject will engage with debates surrounding the social and public impact of technological transformations, and how these can be understood; the challenges and opportunities presented by changing media forms and platforms for media industries, media professionals and frameworks of media regulation; the degree to which the affordances of digital media may work to challenge and/or extend existing social relations; and, finally, how social media serve to contribute to shifting spaces and practices of public communication, and contemporary debates surrounding the significance of this. In doing so, this subject will consider the relationship between processes of media transformation and their relation to broader processes of global social change, focusing in particular on how these have impacted on China and Australia respectively.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The Contemporary Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the major factors affecting the local and global production, marketing and distribution of books, magazines and electronic publications. It considers the impact of political, social and economic conditions, technological changes, and changing industry practices. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and current issues in various sectors of the industry in the context of global developments.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Digital Media · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to the principles and practices of writing and editing for digital media. It provides students with an understanding of and practical skills in writing for different online contexts and genres, including websites, online essays, multimedia stories, social media content, and search engine optimisation. Students will apply these skills using their existing disciplinary expertise to develop and creative contribute to platforms focused on their professional industries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Editing for Digital Media · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to advanced aspects of writing and editing for digital media through the creation of a digital project with an industry partner. It focuses on the strategic and creative decision-making of editorial practice and digital storytelling. Working within the creative and cultural industries, students will explore multi-platformed editorial approaches; principles of workflow, budgeting, and monetisation; digital software for authoring, editing, and content management; and the creation of text, audio, and video for the internet. Students will gain a practical understanding of industry standards, develop new digital literacies through the creation of a multi-platform project, and the systems, trends and technological developments taking place in the digital media industries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Print Production and Design · 12.5 pts

This subject teaches students practical skills in creating documents using the industry-standard software, Adobe Indesign through practical workshops that take the student from beginner to intermediate skill levels. It also introduces students to the concepts and practice of print production and design, and outlines the underlying principles of publishing design and page layout, the characteristics of good typesetting, the interrelationship of images, space, colour and text and the importance of design briefs. Through reference to the history of printing, this subject will extend students’ understanding of the impact of changing technologies on typography, graphic design and production processes, enabling them to develop a critical awareness of trends in the field. A brief insight to some of the specific design and publishing challenges of ePublishing is also provided.

Please note: Students should subscribe to Adobe Indesign via Adobe Creative Cloud for the duration of the subject in order to be able to complete assignments out of class time.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Magazines · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of magazine writing, editing and publishing, with special emphasis on the skills needed to successfully produce magazines today. We examine how magazine editors conceive of audiences, and how they create print and digital magazines that serve the needs and desires of those audiences. Students will study how editors turn ideas into stories, and work with the magazine production team to give a story its final form. Students will learn how writers pitch ideas to editors, and to research and write magazine feature stories. We study the commercial aspects of magazine publishing – advertising, sales, marketing and promotion – and investigate innovative magazine business models in a time of great change and disruption in publishing. We examine how a magazine develops from concept to finished product, including launch proposal, project planning, scheduling and budgeting. Our focus is not solely on print, but on the magazine as a form that continues to evolve in response to social and technological change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Legal Issues in Arts and Media · 12.5 pts

This subject addresses ethical issues and legal constraints related to working in the arts and culture sector, including publishing for print and digital media. It will review existing ethical codes and the mechanisms established to police them, as well as offering an overview of how practices are shaped by law relating to such matters as intellectual property, contracts, negligence, privacy, defamation and respect for cultural differences. On successfully completing this subject, students will have gained an understanding of a wide range of ethical and legal considerations for their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The International Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the global publishing industry, examining global book production, translation, the international rights market, multi-media adaptation of books, conglomerate publishing companies, and global practices of reception. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and the issues that define book publishing on a global scale.

This subject compliments PUBL90003 The Contemporary Publishing Industry (which gives students a general overview of the contemporary book publishing sector) and focuses more specifically on the global book trade and the way that professional publishing practice, in myriad forms, happens across national borders.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Understanding Australia and the world

Accordion
Human Rights in Southeast Asia · 12.5 pts

This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Terror, Law and War · 12.5 pts

This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trust, Communication and Expertise · 12.5 pts

Questions of trust, effective communication, and judging credibility, are integral to the assessment of knowledge claims both within science and in the context of public debate. Questions about trust and legitimate communication consequently arise every day in a range of professional contexts, for example in scientific research and the dissemination of scientific knowledge, in journalism and media, public relations, and in police, accounting and development work, etc. But what makes one trustworthy? How do we pick out who the experts are? This course will interest students in a wide range of careers.

Questions to be covered:

Trust

  • What is trust? What makes one trustworthy?
  • Is there a decline in trust, in the media, in politicians, or in scientists for example?
  • Do we need to trust our sources of information, and do they need to trust us?
  • How do we manage conflicts that arise in relationships of trust?

Communication

  • What indicators do people rely on when communicating with others?
  • How do communication patterns vary from context to context, such as face-to-face, in broader media, and in ethically and politically contested public spaces?
  • What makes someone a credible source of information?
  • What role does the conveyance of quality information play in contested social debates, and what role should it play?
  • Are public debates about communicating information or voicing substantive differences?

Expertise

  • What makes someone an expert?
  • What role do ‘experts’ play in public debate?
  • Should we defer to experts?
  • What if even the experts disagree?
  • Can lay people contribute expertise?

View detailed information in the Handbook

Rising China in the Globalised World · 12.5 pts

This subject looks at the impact of a rising China in the globalised world. It examines contemporary China's relations with various powers, regions and global institutions, particularly in the context of its phenomenal rise in the last four decades. The subject also explores key issues related to China's rise: state-society relations, economic development, participation in regional and global institutions, disputes and conflict resolution etc.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Politics of the Modern Middle East · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the intricate relationship between Islam and politics in the Middle East from the late 19th century to the present. The subject investigates Muslims’ various conceptualisations of religion and politics in the region, exploring how Islam has shaped reactions to colonisation and neoimperialism, state formation, governance, political movements, and conflicts in the region. Key areas of focus include the role of Islam in nationalist and liberation movements, the rise and transformations of political Islam, debates around shariʿa, and the intersections between religion and authoritarianism. Additionally, the subject will touch on Australia’s role and attitude to politics in the region. Importantly, this subject challenges the dominant narratives that often view Middle Eastern politics through an Orientalist or Islamophobic lens—perspectives that reduce the region’s complexities to monolithic or stereotypical depictions. Instead, this subject is grounded in multidisciplinary frameworks, drawing on history, political science, religious studies, sociology, and international relations to provide a nuanced and critical understanding of the Middle East.

Students will engage with diverse methodologies and theoretical approaches that highlight the region’s diversity and the varied ways in which Islam intersects with social and political structures. The subject aims to foster a deeper and more critical appreciation of how Middle Eastern states and societies navigate the challenges of modernity, identity, and globalisation, with particular attention to the ways Islamic ideologies and institutions contribute to and are influenced by these dynamics. The subject ultimately seeks to equip students with the analytical tools needed to critically assess and contribute to contemporary debates on Middle Eastern politics.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Islam and Politics: Interfaith Relations · 12.5 pts

What is the intersection of Islam, politics and interfaith relations? This is a common theme in explorations of Islam and its role in the modern world. This subject explores how different Muslim communities and states, both in the past and present, have developed concepts, rules and understandings to engage with people of other faiths, and created societies that had a high degree of tolerance, if not acceptance, of the religious ‘Other’. It achieves this with a focus on the study of primary texts of Islam, agreements and charters as well as specific laws relevant to the regulation of inter-religious matters.

The subject surveys several historical periods and Muslim communities from the time of early Islam to the present day, with a particular focus on the Middle East. It considers how Muslim states responded to other religious traditions and communities in the past—during the early days of Islam and in the classical period—before exploring how Muslim-majority states engage with religious minorities today, including the rights and freedoms of religious minorities and contested notions of citizenship. It also considers religious diversity within Muslim communities and how different trends in Islamic thought respond to that.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Enterprise Incubator · 12.5 pts

This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trade Policy Politics & Governance · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the politics and governance of international trade. It explores the domestic and international dimensions of trade policy-making and the growing complexity of the "trade agenda" in national and international politics. It examines theories of trade and protection and theories of trade policy-making. It examines the evolution of the multilateral trade system since World War Two and the contemporary and future challenges that confront the system. The subject examines some of the perennial problems in the governance of the global trade system, as well as new issues and concerns, such as trade and the environment, trade and development, and agenda-setting and decision-making in the WTO. Finally, the subject explores the emergence of regional trade blocs and "free trade agreements" and their consequences for the multilateral trade system.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The environment and climate change

Accordion
Climate Change Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environmental Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject engages with critical concepts and issues related to environmental politics and policy. Special attention is paid to the political dimensions of policy development and implementation, with reference to national and international domains. Students will be introduced to relevant theories, cases, and tools for policy makers and environmental activists. Students will consider a variety of case studies including climate change, ozone depletion, water management, land conflict, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. Case studies will be drawn from Australia, Southeast Asia, and other global contexts. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers and other political actors in relation to a range of environment problems and solutions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environment and Knowledge · 12.5 pts

This subject examines various ways of knowing the environment. Students develop an understanding of the unprecedented transformation in the environment, the sciences, and in politics around environment and knowledge across the twentieth century. As part of their assessment students will study the knowledge practices of a particular environmental organisation becoming sensitised to historical, political and cultural influences on environmental knowledge.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Health

Accordion
Health Policy · 12.5 pts

The subject explores the policy decisions, usually made by governments, that determine present and future country or regional level objectives relating to health services; programs; and the regulatory, organisational, social, cultural, physical and natural environments that contribute to population health and well-being. The subject explores the nature of health policy, types of policy instruments, and policy making processes including agenda setting and policy influencing frameworks and theories. The role of evidence in policy formation including the significance of the balance between effectiveness, efficiency and equity as objectives of health policy will be debated. In doing so, students will be introduced to the importance and process of policy analysis and explore the relevant legal, political, managerial, sociological, ethical, epidemiological and economic perspectives to instrument selection and policy implementation across a range of health policy contexts. Australian and international country contexts will be used throughout the subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Managing Stakeholders · 12.5 pts

The demand for business-focused HR means that HR practitioners need the ability to work in partnership with stakeholders from diverse areas of the business. This capacity is essential to improving the implementation of HR strategies, initiatives and plans, to build business support for HR and to ensure that HR is integrated with other business activities and functions. This subject focuses on developing business partnership competencies for HR people and will cover consulting and influencing skills, relationship-building, organisational politics, group processes and project management.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Human Resource Fundamentals · 12.5 pts

Students in this subject examine the key policies and practices of HR, including the attraction and retention of employees, developing, evaluating and rewarding performance. We evaluate the impact of HR policies and practices from the perspective of workplace stakeholders, including employees, unions, management and organisations.

View detailed information in the Handbook

People and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject examines individual and collective human behaviour in and around issues of organisational change. The subject will cover a broad theoretical basis that assists in understanding how change at the employee, group and strategic levels affects individuals. Both the planned approach and emergent approach to change management will be considered. Topics to be covered include: drivers of change, the role of internal and external change agents, tools for successful change management, and the implementation and consequences of specific change initiatives.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Public Relations · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practices of public relations management. Topics include an introduction to public relations, the evolution of public relations, public relations theory, ethical issues in public relations, public relations strategies and tactics, the various stakeholders/publics that organisations interact with and the issues that they face with their major stakeholder relationships, crisis management, and also an examination of the difference between marketing public relations (MPR) and corporate public relations. Marketing public relations (MPR) is a key focus in the class.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Marketing Management · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an introduction to the basic concepts, principles and activities of marketing and how to manage an organisation's marketing effort. Some of the principal topics include value-based marketing, market research, selecting target markets, product and brand management, marketing communications (advertising and promotions, as well as personal selling), management of distribution channels, pricing decisions and marketing ethics. Students are also introduced to the nature of buyer behaviour, including decision-making patterns, purchase behaviours, and customer satisfaction.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 1: minor thesis

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to integrate knowledge and research skills to address a specific Journalism research by planning and executing a substantial research-based project. Students taking this capstone stream must complete all subjects. Students taking the minor thesis requires enrolment over two consecutive semesters.

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 1 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 2 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Research Principles & Practices Graduate · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to research skills for students planning, researching and writing a thesis in the School of Culture and Communication. Research Principles and Practices Graduate explores traditional and contemporary research practices and the differing methodological approaches guiding research practices in the School of Culture and Communication. It explores key research principles and practices including: defining an academic field, establishing a research question, identifying key words and key texts, developing a literature review, preparing and presenting a research proposal. Research Principles and Practices Graduate provides students with specific research methodologies and academic practices that will facilitate their research projects. It will also provide information about copyright, ethics and the conduct of ethical research.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 2: internship

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to combine knowledge of and experience in international journalism, supporting potential professional pathways. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both subjects.

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Internship · 12.5 pts

Students enrolled in this subject will be guided individually by the Subject Coordinator to a media organisation suited to the student's interests, ambitions and skills, for a 20 day (or FTE) placement as an intern. The subject coordinator will liaise with workplace mentor/supervisor to ensure student's internship is productive. The internship will facilitate the application of knowledge acquired through coursework to a professional workplace. The internship will stretch the student, provide a valuable professional experience , result in published work for the student's resume, and will extend professional networks.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 3: journalism project

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to complete a substantial professionally focussed project under industry standard supervision. This might be a book, portfolio of articles or other substantial journalistic project. The Journalism Project option requires three consecutive semesters of enrolment.

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 1 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 2 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

150 point program

1.5 years full time / 3 years part time. All students must complete one capstone option.

Core subjects

Students must complete a minimum of 25 points of core subjects (minor thesis option), 37.5 points (internship option and journalism project option). Students are strongly advised to complete JOUR90001 in their first semester.

Accordion
Researching/Writing Stories · 25 pts

This is a practice based subject taught by leading practitioners, which enables students to develop their skills in researching, writing and producing stories. Students will enhance their understanding of how news stories are put together and will develop advanced skills in researching, writing and producing stories in a new and rapidly changing media environment. The subject examines a range of different research techniques and considers how these can be applied. It also explores a range of writing challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Internship · 12.5 pts

Students enrolled in this subject will be guided individually by the Subject Coordinator to a media organisation suited to the student's interests, ambitions and skills, for a 20 day (or FTE) placement as an intern. The subject coordinator will liaise with workplace mentor/supervisor to ensure student's internship is productive. The internship will facilitate the application of knowledge acquired through coursework to a professional workplace. The internship will stretch the student, provide a valuable professional experience , result in published work for the student's resume, and will extend professional networks.

View detailed information in the Handbook

New Media Storytelling · 12.5 pts

The subject will equip students for navigating their careers in a world of changing business models. It also considers how journalists create a personal brand in a fracturing media landscape and how they develop an entrepreneurial spirit, which is both a mindset and a problem-solving skill set. The subject will focuses on web based publication and small and medium sized journalism enterprises, and the particular skill combination needed to make a commercial success of online journalism outlets, including those serving niche audiences. Students will explore the ways in which social media, including blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are being used to both gather information for journalistic work, and to publicise that work and gather an audience around it. As well as engaging in practical exercises, students will also be introduced to theoretical understandings of the public space, and the ways in which these are being altered by social media. Key examples of journalistic use of social media will be examined. The subject will also examine the managing of money, audiences and people in small to medium news media enterprises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Audio Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject provides a solid grounding in audio journalism skills. The structure of news and current affairs reports is analysed, and training in recording and editing sound packages, and in scripting and presenting is provided. Ethical considerations relevant to audio journalism are canvassed in the context of ‘quality’ journalism, with its roots in serving the public interest, objective scrutiny and fact-based reporting.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Video Journalism · 12.5 pts

Video Journalism is a hands-on subject aimed at giving students the skills they need to begin working in a TV newsroom, freelance or produce high-quality video content for social media. The curriculum is informed by decades of industry experience but refreshed every year to stay relevant in this always-evolving medium. The subject is taught in a weekly three-hour workshop and embraces a learning-by-doing philosophy, with in-class activities reinforced by practise at home. Students will learn a range of video journalism roles, including camera operator, editor and journalist. The skills learned will be used to create three assessment items that are the building blocks of video news storytelling – an interview, on-camera presentation and a news package. The subject will take advantage of the university’s media studio.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Non Fiction Writing · 12.5 pts

This subject focuses in the intersection of journalistic skill and literary technique in the genre broadly defined as ‘creative non-fiction’. The weekly workshops discuss classic and contemporary authors of narrative journalism, personal essays, polemics and features such as Joan Didion, Hunter S Thompson, James Baldwin, Michael Paterniti, Rachel Kushner, Caity Weaver, George Orwell and others. Each week examines different aspects of the craft of non-fiction: research, interviewing, structure, voice, characterisation, metaphor and so on. The subject also emphasises practice, simulating the experience of writing for publication. Through the course of a semester, students choose their own topic and angle, and then pitch a non-fiction article to a guest editor from a major magazine or other outlet. They submit a draft for feedback before writing a polished piece of creative non-fiction.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Newsroom-Applied Professional Practice · 12.5 pts

This subject offers students the opportunity to initiate, research and write industry -standard news and features stories in various styles, which will be considered for publication on The Citizen, the flagship publication of Centre Advancing Journalism. They will engage and reflect closely on the unfolding news media agenda and performance, including questions of ethics and fairness and the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies. Students will be required to bring story ideas and reflections on the unfolding news media agenda to seminars, which incorporate/ simulate industry newsroom news conferences where editors/lecturers and students discuss, debate, refine and game plan stories. Students, operating as reporters, will be expected to liaise closely with the lecturer/editors of The Citizen as they refine their ideas and settle on specific reporting assignments. There will be opportunities for workshopping stories and for collaboration with fellow students, as well as instruction on how best to present their material. The goal will be to produce a Portfolio of 3 stories (equivalent 4000 words) striving to publishable standard.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Investigative Journalism · 12.5 pts

This advanced subject builds on basic journalistic interview and research skills to introduce the discipline and research techniques of investigative journalism. It discusses the ethics, obligations, role and challenges of investigative journalism in the western democratic tradition, including domestic and cross-border investigations and, as appropriate, in other political contexts. Enlisting a story-based inquiry methodology, students will explore and interrogate a range of opportunities to source information: public records, open source intelligence, Freedom of Information legislation, crowd sourcing, data analysis, advanced verification and security and safety technologies. They will be introduced to the multiple ethical and legal issues involved in use of confidential sources and unauthorised disclosures, and how this relates to core journalistic ethical principles. Tasks #1 and #2 require students to initiate, plan and undertake an original investigation as part of the subject, with an option at Task #3 to defer or cease their own investigation and alternatively produce an analytical essay on a published/ high profile investigation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Traditions in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practice of professional journalism and its traditions across a variety of international contexts. Students will compare and contrast the intellectual and historical traditions behind the development of contemporary journalism practice in places including Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia. They will critically analyse how technological innovations and social transformation have driven changes in the field. Students also will engage with debates regarding the influence of international norms and Anglo-American conceptions of journalism in non-Western contexts, and reflect on the degree to which these entanglements have led to a form of modern global journalism.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Photojournalism · 12.5 pts

This is a practice-based subject teaching the history, principles and techniques of photojournalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology. Students will learn basic photographic techniques, as well as learning how to edit their work and present it in a variety of multimedia contexts and platforms. They will also learn how to handle the ethical issues involved in dealing with subjects in a variety of different situations, as well as how to present and market their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Business Journalism · 12.5 pts

This practice-based subject focuses on the history, principles and techniques of business journalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology and global capitalism. Students will learn basic skills for analysing the performance of businesses and conducting journalistic research on international business performance, as well as learning how to produce and edit financial and business journalism for a variety of multi-media formats and platforms.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Media and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject, is a select entry subject to be co-taught by staff at the University of Melbourne and Fudan University, will critically engage with the role of emergent social media platforms in contemporary forms of public communication, with a particular focus on their impacts on and challenges for journalism and political communication. To this end, the subject will engage with debates surrounding the social and public impact of technological transformations, and how these can be understood; the challenges and opportunities presented by changing media forms and platforms for media industries, media professionals and frameworks of media regulation; the degree to which the affordances of digital media may work to challenge and/or extend existing social relations; and, finally, how social media serve to contribute to shifting spaces and practices of public communication, and contemporary debates surrounding the significance of this. In doing so, this subject will consider the relationship between processes of media transformation and their relation to broader processes of global social change, focusing in particular on how these have impacted on China and Australia respectively.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Elective subjects

Students may complete a maximum of 87.5 points of elective subjects (internship option, journalism project option) and 75 points (minor thesis option). Students may enrol in up to 25 points of language study in Arabic; Chinese; French; German; Hebrew; Indonesian; Italian; Japanese; Russian and Spanish.

Media/Journalism

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Special Study in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject involves the study of an approved topic in journalism practice. Details of the program being offered will be available from the Centre for Advanced Journalism. Students who complete this subject successfully should have demonstrated a specialist understanding of the topic, contributed effectively to the work of the seminar, shown a capacity for an advanced level of analysis and familiarised themselves with the latest directions of research into the particular topic.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Data Journalism · 12.5 pts

This unit will explore the practice and theoretical underpinnings of data journalism, whereby news content is organized around structured pieces of data, as opposed to conventionally structured news stories. Students will learn how to access key public databases, extract stories from them, and make the data available in visualisations that facilitate citizens’ own inquiries and investigations. Students will be acquainted with the history and current practice of data journalism, including key international examples.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Audio: Podcasting · 12.5 pts

This subject is designed to augment the skills learned in Audio Journalism and extend them into longform podcasts. In this hands-on subject, students will work together to create a class podcast. Through this experience, they will learn how to develop content ideas, how to plan podcast series, how to structure an episode of a podcast, and how to brand and promote their work. They will listen to longform podcasts to understand best practice and the ethics of this newly emerging genre, as well as gaining an understanding of the role that podcasts are playing in our media environment. They will also learn to create longform audio work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Global Crisis Reporting · 12.5 pts

Global Crisis Reporting examines studies and approaches to global communications and the reporting of crises, including disasters and humanitarian relief. The course examines the extent to which, how and why forms of coverage have changed in recent years, and considers how these changes have impacted on the way in which "crises" are constructed, mediated and communicated. It considers the possible impacts of such changes on national and international public opinion and political leaders, as well as on those immediately involved. Amongst the themes addressed are: the rise of digital technologies of news production and distribution and their impact on the nature of crisis reporting, arguments for and against a "journalism of attachment", the communication strategies of humanitarian organisations and the degree to which coverage of human suffering raises questions about the moral responsibility of news-makers. The subject also examines issues regarding the political impacts of contemporary crisis reporting, the nature and direction of communication flows, the rise of emergent practices of crisis communications and media activism and the degree to which transformations in the field may, or may not, serve to positively address the relations underpinning global crises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Fact-checking, Misinformation and AI · 12.5 pts

The subject is designed to equip students with skills and knowledge relating to online fact-checking practices for digital audiences. The subject combines an analytical and practice-based approach by introducing students to critical issues of misinformation and other informational shifts in public communication. It trains students in the identification and verification of problematic information, and the use of automated and AI tools and genres to carry out fact-checking and explanatory journalism. Students will discuss recent research and applied literature and participate in hands-on sessions and gain insights from guest industry practitioners.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Video - Studio Production · 12.5 pts

This subject builds on basic video journalism skills and takes them to an advanced level with an emphasis on live and as-live studio production. Students will work together to research, develop and produce a dynamic and multi-dimensional video program in the Faculty of Arts’ Media Production Studios for potential broadcast on free-to-air television and online platforms. The subject equips students to perform many of the roles involved in studio-based video production, including on-camera tasks - such as presentation and interviewing - and production roles – including vision switching, graphics, floor management and camera operation. The subject culminates in the joint production, of an hour-long program, incorporating live and pre-recorded content, and drawing on the skills acquired by every student throughout the semester.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The Contemporary Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the major factors affecting the local and global production, marketing and distribution of books, magazines and electronic publications. It considers the impact of political, social and economic conditions, technological changes, and changing industry practices. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and current issues in various sectors of the industry in the context of global developments.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Online Community Management · 12.5 pts

This subject is designed to give students training in the knowledge and skills required to be effective online community managers. It presents advanced understanding of the theories, practices, responsibilities, and ethical considerations of managing online communities in participatory spaces, whether for brands or media organisations. Using practical examples and case studies it demonstrates the importance of excellent community management and engagement within the online communications space. Students will be given an opportunity to translate their knowledge into practice through assignments designed to engage them in the work of community management.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Researching Audiences and Reception · 12.5 pts

This subject examines diverse understandings of audiences and introduces research approaches to investigating audience practices and patterns of consumption in a changing media landscape. It provides a detailed understanding of the different ways in which questions of media impact and audience power have been theorised, conceptualised and examined across the history of media research. Students will be encouraged to deepen their understanding of contemporary audience research methodologies from both administrative and critical points of views and to develop critical evaluation skills deployed in relation to these.

Approaches examined will include early media effects studies rooted in the behavioural paradigm, and sociological studies of public beliefs and opinion formation, as well as political economy of globalisation and its (re)construction of audiences and approaches inspired by cultural studies that explore audiences as culturally situated and as active sense makers. Students will consider different audiences, media and genres across the course and engage in focused study of selected audiences and processes of reception.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The Contemporary Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the major factors affecting the local and global production, marketing and distribution of books, magazines and electronic publications. It considers the impact of political, social and economic conditions, technological changes, and changing industry practices. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and current issues in various sectors of the industry in the context of global developments.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Digital Media · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to the principles and practices of writing and editing for digital media. It provides students with an understanding of and practical skills in writing for different online contexts and genres, including websites, online essays, multimedia stories, social media content, and search engine optimisation. Students will apply these skills using their existing disciplinary expertise to develop and creative contribute to platforms focused on their professional industries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Editing for Digital Media · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to advanced aspects of writing and editing for digital media through the creation of a digital project with an industry partner. It focuses on the strategic and creative decision-making of editorial practice and digital storytelling. Working within the creative and cultural industries, students will explore multi-platformed editorial approaches; principles of workflow, budgeting, and monetisation; digital software for authoring, editing, and content management; and the creation of text, audio, and video for the internet. Students will gain a practical understanding of industry standards, develop new digital literacies through the creation of a multi-platform project, and the systems, trends and technological developments taking place in the digital media industries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Print Production and Design · 12.5 pts

This subject teaches students practical skills in creating documents using the industry-standard software, Adobe Indesign through practical workshops that take the student from beginner to intermediate skill levels. It also introduces students to the concepts and practice of print production and design, and outlines the underlying principles of publishing design and page layout, the characteristics of good typesetting, the interrelationship of images, space, colour and text and the importance of design briefs. Through reference to the history of printing, this subject will extend students’ understanding of the impact of changing technologies on typography, graphic design and production processes, enabling them to develop a critical awareness of trends in the field. A brief insight to some of the specific design and publishing challenges of ePublishing is also provided.

Please note: Students should subscribe to Adobe Indesign via Adobe Creative Cloud for the duration of the subject in order to be able to complete assignments out of class time.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Magazines · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of magazine writing, editing and publishing, with special emphasis on the skills needed to successfully produce magazines today. We examine how magazine editors conceive of audiences, and how they create print and digital magazines that serve the needs and desires of those audiences. Students will study how editors turn ideas into stories, and work with the magazine production team to give a story its final form. Students will learn how writers pitch ideas to editors, and to research and write magazine feature stories. We study the commercial aspects of magazine publishing – advertising, sales, marketing and promotion – and investigate innovative magazine business models in a time of great change and disruption in publishing. We examine how a magazine develops from concept to finished product, including launch proposal, project planning, scheduling and budgeting. Our focus is not solely on print, but on the magazine as a form that continues to evolve in response to social and technological change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Legal Issues in Arts and Media · 12.5 pts

This subject addresses ethical issues and legal constraints related to working in the arts and culture sector, including publishing for print and digital media. It will review existing ethical codes and the mechanisms established to police them, as well as offering an overview of how practices are shaped by law relating to such matters as intellectual property, contracts, negligence, privacy, defamation and respect for cultural differences. On successfully completing this subject, students will have gained an understanding of a wide range of ethical and legal considerations for their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The International Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the global publishing industry, examining global book production, translation, the international rights market, multi-media adaptation of books, conglomerate publishing companies, and global practices of reception. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and the issues that define book publishing on a global scale.

This subject compliments PUBL90003 The Contemporary Publishing Industry (which gives students a general overview of the contemporary book publishing sector) and focuses more specifically on the global book trade and the way that professional publishing practice, in myriad forms, happens across national borders.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Understanding Australia and the world

Accordion
Human Rights in Southeast Asia · 12.5 pts

This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Terror, Law and War · 12.5 pts

This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trust, Communication and Expertise · 12.5 pts

Questions of trust, effective communication, and judging credibility, are integral to the assessment of knowledge claims both within science and in the context of public debate. Questions about trust and legitimate communication consequently arise every day in a range of professional contexts, for example in scientific research and the dissemination of scientific knowledge, in journalism and media, public relations, and in police, accounting and development work, etc. But what makes one trustworthy? How do we pick out who the experts are? This course will interest students in a wide range of careers.

Questions to be covered:

Trust

  • What is trust? What makes one trustworthy?
  • Is there a decline in trust, in the media, in politicians, or in scientists for example?
  • Do we need to trust our sources of information, and do they need to trust us?
  • How do we manage conflicts that arise in relationships of trust?

Communication

  • What indicators do people rely on when communicating with others?
  • How do communication patterns vary from context to context, such as face-to-face, in broader media, and in ethically and politically contested public spaces?
  • What makes someone a credible source of information?
  • What role does the conveyance of quality information play in contested social debates, and what role should it play?
  • Are public debates about communicating information or voicing substantive differences?

Expertise

  • What makes someone an expert?
  • What role do ‘experts’ play in public debate?
  • Should we defer to experts?
  • What if even the experts disagree?
  • Can lay people contribute expertise?

View detailed information in the Handbook

Rising China in the Globalised World · 12.5 pts

This subject looks at the impact of a rising China in the globalised world. It examines contemporary China's relations with various powers, regions and global institutions, particularly in the context of its phenomenal rise in the last four decades. The subject also explores key issues related to China's rise: state-society relations, economic development, participation in regional and global institutions, disputes and conflict resolution etc.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Politics of the Modern Middle East · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the intricate relationship between Islam and politics in the Middle East from the late 19th century to the present. The subject investigates Muslims’ various conceptualisations of religion and politics in the region, exploring how Islam has shaped reactions to colonisation and neoimperialism, state formation, governance, political movements, and conflicts in the region. Key areas of focus include the role of Islam in nationalist and liberation movements, the rise and transformations of political Islam, debates around shariʿa, and the intersections between religion and authoritarianism. Additionally, the subject will touch on Australia’s role and attitude to politics in the region. Importantly, this subject challenges the dominant narratives that often view Middle Eastern politics through an Orientalist or Islamophobic lens—perspectives that reduce the region’s complexities to monolithic or stereotypical depictions. Instead, this subject is grounded in multidisciplinary frameworks, drawing on history, political science, religious studies, sociology, and international relations to provide a nuanced and critical understanding of the Middle East.

Students will engage with diverse methodologies and theoretical approaches that highlight the region’s diversity and the varied ways in which Islam intersects with social and political structures. The subject aims to foster a deeper and more critical appreciation of how Middle Eastern states and societies navigate the challenges of modernity, identity, and globalisation, with particular attention to the ways Islamic ideologies and institutions contribute to and are influenced by these dynamics. The subject ultimately seeks to equip students with the analytical tools needed to critically assess and contribute to contemporary debates on Middle Eastern politics.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Islam and Politics: Interfaith Relations · 12.5 pts

What is the intersection of Islam, politics and interfaith relations? This is a common theme in explorations of Islam and its role in the modern world. This subject explores how different Muslim communities and states, both in the past and present, have developed concepts, rules and understandings to engage with people of other faiths, and created societies that had a high degree of tolerance, if not acceptance, of the religious ‘Other’. It achieves this with a focus on the study of primary texts of Islam, agreements and charters as well as specific laws relevant to the regulation of inter-religious matters.

The subject surveys several historical periods and Muslim communities from the time of early Islam to the present day, with a particular focus on the Middle East. It considers how Muslim states responded to other religious traditions and communities in the past—during the early days of Islam and in the classical period—before exploring how Muslim-majority states engage with religious minorities today, including the rights and freedoms of religious minorities and contested notions of citizenship. It also considers religious diversity within Muslim communities and how different trends in Islamic thought respond to that.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Enterprise Incubator · 12.5 pts

This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trade Policy Politics & Governance · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the politics and governance of international trade. It explores the domestic and international dimensions of trade policy-making and the growing complexity of the "trade agenda" in national and international politics. It examines theories of trade and protection and theories of trade policy-making. It examines the evolution of the multilateral trade system since World War Two and the contemporary and future challenges that confront the system. The subject examines some of the perennial problems in the governance of the global trade system, as well as new issues and concerns, such as trade and the environment, trade and development, and agenda-setting and decision-making in the WTO. Finally, the subject explores the emergence of regional trade blocs and "free trade agreements" and their consequences for the multilateral trade system.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Asia-Pacific: Zone of Conflict or Peace? · 12.5 pts

This subject examines important issues in international relations in the Asia Pacific, drawing on theory and evidence about domestic and international politics. The topics for study normally include the China-US-Japan triangle, the Taiwan and Korean conflicts, the international context of conflicts relating to Indonesia and the Southwest Pacific, and Australian engagement in the Asia-Pacific.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The environment and climate change

Accordion
Climate Change Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environmental Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject engages with critical concepts and issues related to environmental politics and policy. Special attention is paid to the political dimensions of policy development and implementation, with reference to national and international domains. Students will be introduced to relevant theories, cases, and tools for policy makers and environmental activists. Students will consider a variety of case studies including climate change, ozone depletion, water management, land conflict, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. Case studies will be drawn from Australia, Southeast Asia, and other global contexts. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers and other political actors in relation to a range of environment problems and solutions.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Environment and Knowledge · 12.5 pts

This subject examines various ways of knowing the environment. Students develop an understanding of the unprecedented transformation in the environment, the sciences, and in politics around environment and knowledge across the twentieth century. As part of their assessment students will study the knowledge practices of a particular environmental organisation becoming sensitised to historical, political and cultural influences on environmental knowledge.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Health

Accordion
Health Policy · 12.5 pts

The subject explores the policy decisions, usually made by governments, that determine present and future country or regional level objectives relating to health services; programs; and the regulatory, organisational, social, cultural, physical and natural environments that contribute to population health and well-being. The subject explores the nature of health policy, types of policy instruments, and policy making processes including agenda setting and policy influencing frameworks and theories. The role of evidence in policy formation including the significance of the balance between effectiveness, efficiency and equity as objectives of health policy will be debated. In doing so, students will be introduced to the importance and process of policy analysis and explore the relevant legal, political, managerial, sociological, ethical, epidemiological and economic perspectives to instrument selection and policy implementation across a range of health policy contexts. Australian and international country contexts will be used throughout the subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Managing Stakeholders · 12.5 pts

The demand for business-focused HR means that HR practitioners need the ability to work in partnership with stakeholders from diverse areas of the business. This capacity is essential to improving the implementation of HR strategies, initiatives and plans, to build business support for HR and to ensure that HR is integrated with other business activities and functions. This subject focuses on developing business partnership competencies for HR people and will cover consulting and influencing skills, relationship-building, organisational politics, group processes and project management.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Human Resource Fundamentals · 12.5 pts

Students in this subject examine the key policies and practices of HR, including the attraction and retention of employees, developing, evaluating and rewarding performance. We evaluate the impact of HR policies and practices from the perspective of workplace stakeholders, including employees, unions, management and organisations.

View detailed information in the Handbook

People and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject examines individual and collective human behaviour in and around issues of organisational change. The subject will cover a broad theoretical basis that assists in understanding how change at the employee, group and strategic levels affects individuals. Both the planned approach and emergent approach to change management will be considered. Topics to be covered include: drivers of change, the role of internal and external change agents, tools for successful change management, and the implementation and consequences of specific change initiatives.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Public Relations · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practices of public relations management. Topics include an introduction to public relations, the evolution of public relations, public relations theory, ethical issues in public relations, public relations strategies and tactics, the various stakeholders/publics that organisations interact with and the issues that they face with their major stakeholder relationships, crisis management, and also an examination of the difference between marketing public relations (MPR) and corporate public relations. Marketing public relations (MPR) is a key focus in the class.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Marketing Management · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an introduction to the basic concepts, principles and activities of marketing and how to manage an organisation's marketing effort. Some of the principal topics include value-based marketing, market research, selecting target markets, product and brand management, marketing communications (advertising and promotions, as well as personal selling), management of distribution channels, pricing decisions and marketing ethics. Students are also introduced to the nature of buyer behaviour, including decision-making patterns, purchase behaviours, and customer satisfaction.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 1: minor thesis

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to integrate knowledge and research skills to address a specific Journalism research by planning and executing a substantial research-based project. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both minor thesis subjects. Note: the minor thesis requires enrolment over two consecutive semesters.

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 1 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 2 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Research Principles & Practices Graduate · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to research skills for students planning, researching and writing a thesis in the School of Culture and Communication. Research Principles and Practices Graduate explores traditional and contemporary research practices and the differing methodological approaches guiding research practices in the School of Culture and Communication. It explores key research principles and practices including: defining an academic field, establishing a research question, identifying key words and key texts, developing a literature review, preparing and presenting a research proposal. Research Principles and Practices Graduate provides students with specific research methodologies and academic practices that will facilitate their research projects. It will also provide information about copyright, ethics and the conduct of ethical research.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 2: internship

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to combine knowledge of and experience in international journalism, supporting potential professional pathways. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both subjects.

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Internship · 12.5 pts

Students enrolled in this subject will be guided individually by the Subject Coordinator to a media organisation suited to the student's interests, ambitions and skills, for a 20 day (or FTE) placement as an intern. The subject coordinator will liaise with workplace mentor/supervisor to ensure student's internship is productive. The internship will facilitate the application of knowledge acquired through coursework to a professional workplace. The internship will stretch the student, provide a valuable professional experience , result in published work for the student's resume, and will extend professional networks.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Capstone stream 3: journalism project

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to complete a substantial professionally focussed project under industry standard supervision. This might be a book, portfolio of articles or other substantial journalistic project. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both journalism project subjects. Note: the Journalism Project Option requires three consecutive semesters of enrolment.

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 1 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 2 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

100 point program

1 year full time / 2 years part time. All students must complete one capstone option.

Core subjects

Students must complete a minimum of 25 points of core subjects (minor thesis) or 37.5 points (internship option and journalism project option). Students are strongly advised to complete JOUR90001 in their first semester.

Accordion
Researching/Writing Stories · 25 pts

This is a practice based subject taught by leading practitioners, which enables students to develop their skills in researching, writing and producing stories. Students will enhance their understanding of how news stories are put together and will develop advanced skills in researching, writing and producing stories in a new and rapidly changing media environment. The subject examines a range of different research techniques and considers how these can be applied. It also explores a range of writing challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Business and economics

Accordion
New Media Storytelling · 12.5 pts

The subject will equip students for navigating their careers in a world of changing business models. It also considers how journalists create a personal brand in a fracturing media landscape and how they develop an entrepreneurial spirit, which is both a mindset and a problem-solving skill set. The subject will focuses on web based publication and small and medium sized journalism enterprises, and the particular skill combination needed to make a commercial success of online journalism outlets, including those serving niche audiences. Students will explore the ways in which social media, including blogs, Twitter and Facebook, are being used to both gather information for journalistic work, and to publicise that work and gather an audience around it. As well as engaging in practical exercises, students will also be introduced to theoretical understandings of the public space, and the ways in which these are being altered by social media. Key examples of journalistic use of social media will be examined. The subject will also examine the managing of money, audiences and people in small to medium news media enterprises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Audio Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject provides a solid grounding in audio journalism skills. The structure of news and current affairs reports is analysed, and training in recording and editing sound packages, and in scripting and presenting is provided. Ethical considerations relevant to audio journalism are canvassed in the context of ‘quality’ journalism, with its roots in serving the public interest, objective scrutiny and fact-based reporting.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Video Journalism · 12.5 pts

Video Journalism is a hands-on subject aimed at giving students the skills they need to begin working in a TV newsroom, freelance or produce high-quality video content for social media. The curriculum is informed by decades of industry experience but refreshed every year to stay relevant in this always-evolving medium. The subject is taught in a weekly three-hour workshop and embraces a learning-by-doing philosophy, with in-class activities reinforced by practise at home. Students will learn a range of video journalism roles, including camera operator, editor and journalist. The skills learned will be used to create three assessment items that are the building blocks of video news storytelling – an interview, on-camera presentation and a news package. The subject will take advantage of the university’s media studio.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Non Fiction Writing · 12.5 pts

This subject focuses in the intersection of journalistic skill and literary technique in the genre broadly defined as ‘creative non-fiction’. The weekly workshops discuss classic and contemporary authors of narrative journalism, personal essays, polemics and features such as Joan Didion, Hunter S Thompson, James Baldwin, Michael Paterniti, Rachel Kushner, Caity Weaver, George Orwell and others. Each week examines different aspects of the craft of non-fiction: research, interviewing, structure, voice, characterisation, metaphor and so on. The subject also emphasises practice, simulating the experience of writing for publication. Through the course of a semester, students choose their own topic and angle, and then pitch a non-fiction article to a guest editor from a major magazine or other outlet. They submit a draft for feedback before writing a polished piece of creative non-fiction.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Newsroom-Applied Professional Practice · 12.5 pts

This subject offers students the opportunity to initiate, research and write industry -standard news and features stories in various styles, which will be considered for publication on The Citizen, the flagship publication of Centre Advancing Journalism. They will engage and reflect closely on the unfolding news media agenda and performance, including questions of ethics and fairness and the challenges and opportunities of emerging technologies. Students will be required to bring story ideas and reflections on the unfolding news media agenda to seminars, which incorporate/ simulate industry newsroom news conferences where editors/lecturers and students discuss, debate, refine and game plan stories. Students, operating as reporters, will be expected to liaise closely with the lecturer/editors of The Citizen as they refine their ideas and settle on specific reporting assignments. There will be opportunities for workshopping stories and for collaboration with fellow students, as well as instruction on how best to present their material. The goal will be to produce a Portfolio of 3 stories (equivalent 4000 words) striving to publishable standard.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Investigative Journalism · 12.5 pts

This advanced subject builds on basic journalistic interview and research skills to introduce the discipline and research techniques of investigative journalism. It discusses the ethics, obligations, role and challenges of investigative journalism in the western democratic tradition, including domestic and cross-border investigations and, as appropriate, in other political contexts. Enlisting a story-based inquiry methodology, students will explore and interrogate a range of opportunities to source information: public records, open source intelligence, Freedom of Information legislation, crowd sourcing, data analysis, advanced verification and security and safety technologies. They will be introduced to the multiple ethical and legal issues involved in use of confidential sources and unauthorised disclosures, and how this relates to core journalistic ethical principles. Tasks #1 and #2 require students to initiate, plan and undertake an original investigation as part of the subject, with an option at Task #3 to defer or cease their own investigation and alternatively produce an analytical essay on a published/ high profile investigation.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Traditions in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practice of professional journalism and its traditions across a variety of international contexts. Students will compare and contrast the intellectual and historical traditions behind the development of contemporary journalism practice in places including Australia, Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia. They will critically analyse how technological innovations and social transformation have driven changes in the field. Students also will engage with debates regarding the influence of international norms and Anglo-American conceptions of journalism in non-Western contexts, and reflect on the degree to which these entanglements have led to a form of modern global journalism.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Photojournalism · 12.5 pts

This is a practice-based subject teaching the history, principles and techniques of photojournalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology. Students will learn basic photographic techniques, as well as learning how to edit their work and present it in a variety of multimedia contexts and platforms. They will also learn how to handle the ethical issues involved in dealing with subjects in a variety of different situations, as well as how to present and market their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

International Business Journalism · 12.5 pts

This practice-based subject focuses on the history, principles and techniques of business journalism in the context of rapidly changing communications technology and global capitalism. Students will learn basic skills for analysing the performance of businesses and conducting journalistic research on international business performance, as well as learning how to produce and edit financial and business journalism for a variety of multi-media formats and platforms.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Media and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject, is a select entry subject to be co-taught by staff at the University of Melbourne and Fudan University, will critically engage with the role of emergent social media platforms in contemporary forms of public communication, with a particular focus on their impacts on and challenges for journalism and political communication. To this end, the subject will engage with debates surrounding the social and public impact of technological transformations, and how these can be understood; the challenges and opportunities presented by changing media forms and platforms for media industries, media professionals and frameworks of media regulation; the degree to which the affordances of digital media may work to challenge and/or extend existing social relations; and, finally, how social media serve to contribute to shifting spaces and practices of public communication, and contemporary debates surrounding the significance of this. In doing so, this subject will consider the relationship between processes of media transformation and their relation to broader processes of global social change, focusing in particular on how these have impacted on China and Australia respectively.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Elective subjects

Students may complete a maximum of 37.5 points of elective subjects. 25 points (minor thesis option) or 37.5 points (journalism project option and internship options). Students may enrol in up to 25 points of language study in Arabic; Chinese; French; German; Hebrew; Indonesian; Italian; Japanese; Russian and Spanish.

Media/Journalism

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Special Study in Journalism · 12.5 pts

This subject involves the study of an approved topic in journalism practice. Details of the program being offered will be available from the Centre for Advanced Journalism. Students who complete this subject successfully should have demonstrated a specialist understanding of the topic, contributed effectively to the work of the seminar, shown a capacity for an advanced level of analysis and familiarised themselves with the latest directions of research into the particular topic.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Data Journalism · 12.5 pts

This unit will explore the practice and theoretical underpinnings of data journalism, whereby news content is organized around structured pieces of data, as opposed to conventionally structured news stories. Students will learn how to access key public databases, extract stories from them, and make the data available in visualisations that facilitate citizens’ own inquiries and investigations. Students will be acquainted with the history and current practice of data journalism, including key international examples.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Advanced Audio: Podcasting · 12.5 pts

This subject is designed to augment the skills learned in Audio Journalism and extend them into longform podcasts. In this hands-on subject, students will work together to create a class podcast. Through this experience, they will learn how to develop content ideas, how to plan podcast series, how to structure an episode of a podcast, and how to brand and promote their work. They will listen to longform podcasts to understand best practice and the ethics of this newly emerging genre, as well as gaining an understanding of the role that podcasts are playing in our media environment. They will also learn to create longform audio work.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Global Crisis Reporting · 12.5 pts

Global Crisis Reporting examines studies and approaches to global communications and the reporting of crises, including disasters and humanitarian relief. The course examines the extent to which, how and why forms of coverage have changed in recent years, and considers how these changes have impacted on the way in which "crises" are constructed, mediated and communicated. It considers the possible impacts of such changes on national and international public opinion and political leaders, as well as on those immediately involved. Amongst the themes addressed are: the rise of digital technologies of news production and distribution and their impact on the nature of crisis reporting, arguments for and against a "journalism of attachment", the communication strategies of humanitarian organisations and the degree to which coverage of human suffering raises questions about the moral responsibility of news-makers. The subject also examines issues regarding the political impacts of contemporary crisis reporting, the nature and direction of communication flows, the rise of emergent practices of crisis communications and media activism and the degree to which transformations in the field may, or may not, serve to positively address the relations underpinning global crises.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Fact-checking, Misinformation and AI · 12.5 pts

The subject is designed to equip students with skills and knowledge relating to online fact-checking practices for digital audiences. The subject combines an analytical and practice-based approach by introducing students to critical issues of misinformation and other informational shifts in public communication. It trains students in the identification and verification of problematic information, and the use of automated and AI tools and genres to carry out fact-checking and explanatory journalism. Students will discuss recent research and applied literature and participate in hands-on sessions and gain insights from guest industry practitioners.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Online Community Management · 12.5 pts

This subject is designed to give students training in the knowledge and skills required to be effective online community managers. It presents advanced understanding of the theories, practices, responsibilities, and ethical considerations of managing online communities in participatory spaces, whether for brands or media organisations. Using practical examples and case studies it demonstrates the importance of excellent community management and engagement within the online communications space. Students will be given an opportunity to translate their knowledge into practice through assignments designed to engage them in the work of community management.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The Contemporary Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the major factors affecting the local and global production, marketing and distribution of books, magazines and electronic publications. It considers the impact of political, social and economic conditions, technological changes, and changing industry practices. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and current issues in various sectors of the industry in the context of global developments.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Digital Media · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces students to the principles and practices of writing and editing for digital media. It provides students with an understanding of and practical skills in writing for different online contexts and genres, including websites, online essays, multimedia stories, social media content, and search engine optimisation. Students will apply these skills using their existing disciplinary expertise to develop and creative contribute to platforms focused on their professional industries.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Print Production and Design · 12.5 pts

This subject teaches students practical skills in creating documents using the industry-standard software, Adobe Indesign through practical workshops that take the student from beginner to intermediate skill levels. It also introduces students to the concepts and practice of print production and design, and outlines the underlying principles of publishing design and page layout, the characteristics of good typesetting, the interrelationship of images, space, colour and text and the importance of design briefs. Through reference to the history of printing, this subject will extend students’ understanding of the impact of changing technologies on typography, graphic design and production processes, enabling them to develop a critical awareness of trends in the field. A brief insight to some of the specific design and publishing challenges of ePublishing is also provided.

Please note: Students should subscribe to Adobe Indesign via Adobe Creative Cloud for the duration of the subject in order to be able to complete assignments out of class time.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Writing and Editing for Magazines · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of magazine writing, editing and publishing, with special emphasis on the skills needed to successfully produce magazines today. We examine how magazine editors conceive of audiences, and how they create print and digital magazines that serve the needs and desires of those audiences. Students will study how editors turn ideas into stories, and work with the magazine production team to give a story its final form. Students will learn how writers pitch ideas to editors, and to research and write magazine feature stories. We study the commercial aspects of magazine publishing – advertising, sales, marketing and promotion – and investigate innovative magazine business models in a time of great change and disruption in publishing. We examine how a magazine develops from concept to finished product, including launch proposal, project planning, scheduling and budgeting. Our focus is not solely on print, but on the magazine as a form that continues to evolve in response to social and technological change.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Legal Issues in Arts and Media · 12.5 pts

This subject addresses ethical issues and legal constraints related to working in the arts and culture sector, including publishing for print and digital media. It will review existing ethical codes and the mechanisms established to police them, as well as offering an overview of how practices are shaped by law relating to such matters as intellectual property, contracts, negligence, privacy, defamation and respect for cultural differences. On successfully completing this subject, students will have gained an understanding of a wide range of ethical and legal considerations for their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The International Publishing Industry · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an overview of the global publishing industry, examining global book production, translation, the international rights market, multi-media adaptation of books, conglomerate publishing companies, and global practices of reception. Students will gain a critical understanding of professional practices and the issues that define book publishing on a global scale.

This subject compliments PUBL90003 The Contemporary Publishing Industry (which gives students a general overview of the contemporary book publishing sector) and focuses more specifically on the global book trade and the way that professional publishing practice, in myriad forms, happens across national borders.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Understanding Australia and the world

Accordion
Human Rights in Southeast Asia · 12.5 pts

This seminar will focus on human rights and its critics from a historical and comparative perspective. We will explore the factors that have given rise to radically different conception of rights and justice (i.e. political, economic, cultural, religious, ideological) and look at their implementation and the obstacles at the local, national, and international levels. What is the relationship and relevance of the international human rights movement to local notions of rights? What impact is this having on local gender relations and the relationships of women to their states and communities? Are human rights NGOs weakening or strengthening the nation-states in Southeast Asia. Are they sites of resistance or complicity?

The seminar introduces students to different conceptions of rights, and social justice, including feminist critiques of rights discourse and of 'development', ethnographic studies on the relationship between attitudes towards bodily integrity and human rights, the debates about poverty, economic development and access to adequate health care as human rights. We shall draw upon a wide range of sources from theoretical works, philosophical and anthropological critiques of rights discourse, and NGO documents. On completion of the subject students should have a broad historical, comparative and critical perspective on the debates about rights and justice in Southeast Asia.

This subject is usually taught two times a year. It is available either as a semester-long subject taught on the Parkville campus or as an overseas intensive subject in some years. ASIA90001 at the University of Indonesia will be taught intensively on location at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia. The subject will consist mainly of seminars held at the Faculty, with some field visits in Jakarta. There is a pre-teaching requirement for this subject, during which time students will be required to access subject materials on the LMS, and attend a pre-departure briefing on campus.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Terror, Law and War · 12.5 pts

This subject considers and compares responses to ‘terrorism’ in selected global contexts. Of particular interest are legal responses, instigations of war, and the aftermath of war, practices of rendition, arbitrary detention and torture, together with the emergence of nationalist counter-terror narratives. Many of these responses have been argued to contravene due process and the presumption of innocence and to contribute to civil and global unrest, creating new categories of what it means to be criminal. In examining these concerns, the subject also considers the emergence of far-right extremist violence as a terrorist /counter terror response. The subject draws upon the conceptual and analytical tools of criminological and socio-legal examination including analysis of the political, social and legal construction of terror and terrorism, and of ‘terrorist’ actors. It also undertakes a close examination of the inspiration for counter-terrorism initiatives, conflicting arguments about their necessity and the (side) effects they have generated.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trust, Communication and Expertise · 12.5 pts

Questions of trust, effective communication, and judging credibility, are integral to the assessment of knowledge claims both within science and in the context of public debate. Questions about trust and legitimate communication consequently arise every day in a range of professional contexts, for example in scientific research and the dissemination of scientific knowledge, in journalism and media, public relations, and in police, accounting and development work, etc. But what makes one trustworthy? How do we pick out who the experts are? This course will interest students in a wide range of careers.

Questions to be covered:

Trust

  • What is trust? What makes one trustworthy?
  • Is there a decline in trust, in the media, in politicians, or in scientists for example?
  • Do we need to trust our sources of information, and do they need to trust us?
  • How do we manage conflicts that arise in relationships of trust?

Communication

  • What indicators do people rely on when communicating with others?
  • How do communication patterns vary from context to context, such as face-to-face, in broader media, and in ethically and politically contested public spaces?
  • What makes someone a credible source of information?
  • What role does the conveyance of quality information play in contested social debates, and what role should it play?
  • Are public debates about communicating information or voicing substantive differences?

Expertise

  • What makes someone an expert?
  • What role do ‘experts’ play in public debate?
  • Should we defer to experts?
  • What if even the experts disagree?
  • Can lay people contribute expertise?

View detailed information in the Handbook

Rising China in the Globalised World · 12.5 pts

This subject looks at the impact of a rising China in the globalised world. It examines contemporary China's relations with various powers, regions and global institutions, particularly in the context of its phenomenal rise in the last four decades. The subject also explores key issues related to China's rise: state-society relations, economic development, participation in regional and global institutions, disputes and conflict resolution etc.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Politics of the Modern Middle East · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the intricate relationship between Islam and politics in the Middle East from the late 19th century to the present. The subject investigates Muslims’ various conceptualisations of religion and politics in the region, exploring how Islam has shaped reactions to colonisation and neoimperialism, state formation, governance, political movements, and conflicts in the region. Key areas of focus include the role of Islam in nationalist and liberation movements, the rise and transformations of political Islam, debates around shariʿa, and the intersections between religion and authoritarianism. Additionally, the subject will touch on Australia’s role and attitude to politics in the region. Importantly, this subject challenges the dominant narratives that often view Middle Eastern politics through an Orientalist or Islamophobic lens—perspectives that reduce the region’s complexities to monolithic or stereotypical depictions. Instead, this subject is grounded in multidisciplinary frameworks, drawing on history, political science, religious studies, sociology, and international relations to provide a nuanced and critical understanding of the Middle East.

Students will engage with diverse methodologies and theoretical approaches that highlight the region’s diversity and the varied ways in which Islam intersects with social and political structures. The subject aims to foster a deeper and more critical appreciation of how Middle Eastern states and societies navigate the challenges of modernity, identity, and globalisation, with particular attention to the ways Islamic ideologies and institutions contribute to and are influenced by these dynamics. The subject ultimately seeks to equip students with the analytical tools needed to critically assess and contribute to contemporary debates on Middle Eastern politics.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Islam and Politics: Interfaith Relations · 12.5 pts

What is the intersection of Islam, politics and interfaith relations? This is a common theme in explorations of Islam and its role in the modern world. This subject explores how different Muslim communities and states, both in the past and present, have developed concepts, rules and understandings to engage with people of other faiths, and created societies that had a high degree of tolerance, if not acceptance, of the religious ‘Other’. It achieves this with a focus on the study of primary texts of Islam, agreements and charters as well as specific laws relevant to the regulation of inter-religious matters.

The subject surveys several historical periods and Muslim communities from the time of early Islam to the present day, with a particular focus on the Middle East. It considers how Muslim states responded to other religious traditions and communities in the past—during the early days of Islam and in the classical period—before exploring how Muslim-majority states engage with religious minorities today, including the rights and freedoms of religious minorities and contested notions of citizenship. It also considers religious diversity within Muslim communities and how different trends in Islamic thought respond to that.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Social Enterprise Incubator · 12.5 pts

This experiential learning subject introduces students to the fundamentals of social entrepreneurship, while equipping students with a practical understanding of social enterprise as a model to tackle social and/or environmental problems through trade. Working in small teams, students are introduced to a range of design thinking and social innovation frameworks. They draw on these frameworks to iteratively conceptualise, ‘pitch’, refine and develop a social enterprise ‘business model’ that appropriately responds to the needs of communities and society. To nurture and support development of ideas, the subject draws on real-world case studies as well as industry guests from the social enterprise ecosystem including social entrepreneurs, people with ‘lived-experience’, social finance and impact investment intermediaries, incubators and accelerators and leading scholars and thinkers in the field. Upon completing this subject, students will develop a critical understanding of the theoretical foundations of social entrepreneurship and how to develop a ‘business model’ for financially sustainable social impact. By doing so, the subject also offers a unique opportunity for students to apply conceptual knowledge and project management and business skills to real-world social and/or environmental challenges.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Trade Policy Politics & Governance · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the politics and governance of international trade. It explores the domestic and international dimensions of trade policy-making and the growing complexity of the "trade agenda" in national and international politics. It examines theories of trade and protection and theories of trade policy-making. It examines the evolution of the multilateral trade system since World War Two and the contemporary and future challenges that confront the system. The subject examines some of the perennial problems in the governance of the global trade system, as well as new issues and concerns, such as trade and the environment, trade and development, and agenda-setting and decision-making in the WTO. Finally, the subject explores the emergence of regional trade blocs and "free trade agreements" and their consequences for the multilateral trade system.

View detailed information in the Handbook

Asia-Pacific: Zone of Conflict or Peace? · 12.5 pts

This subject examines important issues in international relations in the Asia Pacific, drawing on theory and evidence about domestic and international politics. The topics for study normally include the China-US-Japan triangle, the Taiwan and Korean conflicts, the international context of conflicts relating to Indonesia and the Southwest Pacific, and Australian engagement in the Asia-Pacific.

View detailed information in the Handbook

The environment and climate change

Accordion
Climate Change Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject introduces and analyses critical concepts and terms central to debates over climate change, including risk and uncertainty, adaptation and mitigation, burden sharing, and problems and issues relating to regimes, strategies and policy instruments for addressing global warming. The subject considers the rise of climate change as a policy problem. It reviews and analyses the history of climate change policy as it has evolved nationally and internationally. It examines the interactions between national and regional climate policy, including in Australia, the United States, the European Union and China. It analyses debates and concerns that have led to the evolution of the Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and more recent arrangements. Students will consider a range of policy instruments, including carbon taxes and emissions trading, and technologies that have been proposed or deployed to address this issue. This subject enables students to understand the evolution of a critical global environmental issue. It offers insights into technical, political, ethical and ecological issues that have framed climate change policy, and enables students to think critically about and participate in developing policy in this domain.

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Environmental Politics and Policy · 12.5 pts

This subject engages with critical concepts and issues related to environmental politics and policy. Special attention is paid to the political dimensions of policy development and implementation, with reference to national and international domains. Students will be introduced to relevant theories, cases, and tools for policy makers and environmental activists. Students will consider a variety of case studies including climate change, ozone depletion, water management, land conflict, forest preservation, waste and 'sustainability planning'. Case studies will be drawn from Australia, Southeast Asia, and other global contexts. The subject is taught through a combination of lectures and seminars. Students will gain a practical understanding of issues confronting policymakers and other political actors in relation to a range of environment problems and solutions.

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Environment and Knowledge · 12.5 pts

This subject examines various ways of knowing the environment. Students develop an understanding of the unprecedented transformation in the environment, the sciences, and in politics around environment and knowledge across the twentieth century. As part of their assessment students will study the knowledge practices of a particular environmental organisation becoming sensitised to historical, political and cultural influences on environmental knowledge.

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Health

Accordion
Health Policy · 12.5 pts

The subject explores the policy decisions, usually made by governments, that determine present and future country or regional level objectives relating to health services; programs; and the regulatory, organisational, social, cultural, physical and natural environments that contribute to population health and well-being. The subject explores the nature of health policy, types of policy instruments, and policy making processes including agenda setting and policy influencing frameworks and theories. The role of evidence in policy formation including the significance of the balance between effectiveness, efficiency and equity as objectives of health policy will be debated. In doing so, students will be introduced to the importance and process of policy analysis and explore the relevant legal, political, managerial, sociological, ethical, epidemiological and economic perspectives to instrument selection and policy implementation across a range of health policy contexts. Australian and international country contexts will be used throughout the subject.

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Business and economics

Accordion
Managing Stakeholders · 12.5 pts

The demand for business-focused HR means that HR practitioners need the ability to work in partnership with stakeholders from diverse areas of the business. This capacity is essential to improving the implementation of HR strategies, initiatives and plans, to build business support for HR and to ensure that HR is integrated with other business activities and functions. This subject focuses on developing business partnership competencies for HR people and will cover consulting and influencing skills, relationship-building, organisational politics, group processes and project management.

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Human Resource Fundamentals · 12.5 pts

Students in this subject examine the key policies and practices of HR, including the attraction and retention of employees, developing, evaluating and rewarding performance. We evaluate the impact of HR policies and practices from the perspective of workplace stakeholders, including employees, unions, management and organisations.

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People and Change · 12.5 pts

This subject examines individual and collective human behaviour in and around issues of organisational change. The subject will cover a broad theoretical basis that assists in understanding how change at the employee, group and strategic levels affects individuals. Both the planned approach and emergent approach to change management will be considered. Topics to be covered include: drivers of change, the role of internal and external change agents, tools for successful change management, and the implementation and consequences of specific change initiatives.

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Public Relations · 12.5 pts

This subject examines the practices of public relations management. Topics include an introduction to public relations, the evolution of public relations, public relations theory, ethical issues in public relations, public relations strategies and tactics, the various stakeholders/publics that organisations interact with and the issues that they face with their major stakeholder relationships, crisis management, and also an examination of the difference between marketing public relations (MPR) and corporate public relations. Marketing public relations (MPR) is a key focus in the class.

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Marketing Management · 12.5 pts

This subject provides an introduction to the basic concepts, principles and activities of marketing and how to manage an organisation's marketing effort. Some of the principal topics include value-based marketing, market research, selecting target markets, product and brand management, marketing communications (advertising and promotions, as well as personal selling), management of distribution channels, pricing decisions and marketing ethics. Students are also introduced to the nature of buyer behaviour, including decision-making patterns, purchase behaviours, and customer satisfaction.

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Capstone stream 1: minor thesis

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to integrate knowledge and research skills to address a specific Journalism research by planning and executing a substantial research-based project. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both subjects. Students taking the minor thesis requires enrolment over two consecutive semesters.

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 1 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

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Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Thesis Part 2 · 18.75 pts

A research topic selected in consultation with the subject coordinator. Enrolment in the thesis is across two consecutive semesters and students must enrol in the subject in each semester to ensure they are meeting the full 37.5 point requirement for the year-long subject.

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ARTS900032 · pts
Capstone stream 2: internship

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to combine knowledge of and experience in international journalism, supporting potential professional pathways. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both subjects.

Accordion
Journalism Internship · 12.5 pts

Students enrolled in this subject will be guided individually by the Subject Coordinator to a media organisation suited to the student's interests, ambitions and skills, for a 20 day (or FTE) placement as an intern. The subject coordinator will liaise with workplace mentor/supervisor to ensure student's internship is productive. The internship will facilitate the application of knowledge acquired through coursework to a professional workplace. The internship will stretch the student, provide a valuable professional experience , result in published work for the student's resume, and will extend professional networks.

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Business and economics

Accordion
Dilemmas in Journalism: Law and Ethics · 12.5 pts

This subject will provide students with a grounding in key aspects of media law that all journalists need to be aware of, and offer students an opportunity to engage with particular ethical dilemmas that arise in the field of journalism. It will provide students with an opportunity to gain a deep understanding and capacity to reflect on legal and ethical principles, as well as an understanding of how such knowledge is relevant to the ongoing dilemmas and decisions that journalists are faced with in the course of their work.

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Capstone stream 3: journalism project

This capstone stream gives students an opportunity to complete a substantial professionally focussed project under industry standard supervision. This might be a book, portfolio of articles or other substantial journalistic project. Students taking this capstone stream must complete both journalism project subjects. Note students taking the Journalism Project Option requires three consecutive semesters of enrolment.

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 1 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

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Business and economics

Accordion
Journalism Project Part 2 · 12.5 pts

Students will work intensively under advanced industry supervision on an agreed journalistic project, such as a documentary, series of articles, book or investigative assignment. Working with the resources of the Centre for Advanced Journalism and other academic staff, the student will complete a publishable piece of innovative journalism, and a short essay reflecting on their professional practice.

View detailed information in the Handbook