Welcome to Journalism 4992, the capstone course for undergraduates in convergence-related interest areas. 

You and your colleagues will bring together the reporting, editing, management, design, analytics, social media and marketing skills gained in previous Convergence courses as well as your individual interest areas to plan, produce, promote and evaluate in-depth, highly-creative journalistic content and products. Unlike Convergence Reporting and Convergence Editing & Producing, your work in this course will take a longer view. You'll spend the entire semester working on a single project. High levels of critical thinking and professional presentation skills are expected. Class discussions will focus on your projects, the latest developments in digital media and current ethical/political debates in journalism, especially those influenced by changes in the media landscape. 

HERE are your PROJECT TEAMS.

Course Syllabus and Policies

Slack: https://capstonesp2020.slack.com

The class meets on Mondays from 3:00 to 4:50 p.m. in the Smith Forum (and Tucker on a few dates)

Major activities of the course

1. Research and Analysis. You will be reading, researching, analyzing and developing strategies and solutions.
2. Systems Thinking & Product Thinking – You are working on real-world projects that are part of complex organizational and technical systems. We will be learning how to understand and navigate those challenges to optimize outcomes.
3. Teamwork – This course requires effective and efficient teams working together to problem-solve. Attending to team roles and dynamics is critical to cohesion and success.
4. Presentation and Persuasion – You will practice developing persuasive arguments supported by evidence and empathy delivered in multiple formats including written, visual, video and public speaking.
5. Discussion of Industry trends – We will highlight and talk about ongoing and emerging trends in the media industry related to storytelling, audiences, business models and innovation.

We look forward to working with you this semester.

Damon & Kathy