Spring 2026 Classes
The DeWitt Wallace Center offers over 20 undergraduate courses designed to give Duke students a thorough understanding of the role of the news media in modern society. Our courses are open to all students, but for those students pursuing the Journalism & Media (JAM) minor, the listing is divided into required and elective courses offerings. In the Duke registration system, DeWitt Wallace Center courses are listed under the JAM (Journalism & Media) subject area.
Core Course
This course is open to all students, but is required for students enrolled in the JAM minor. This course must be taken for a letter grade to count towards the minor.
News as a Moral Battleground
JAM 371, PUBPOL 371, ETHICS 259, DOCST 371, RIGHTS 371, POLSCI 375, CINE 371Ethical inquiry into journalism and its effect on public discourse. Issues include accuracy, transparency, conflicts of interest and fairness. Topics include coverage of national security, government secrecy, plagiarism/fabrication, and trade-offs of anonymous sourcing. Department consent required. Section 1 taught by Frank Bruni. Section 2 taught by Paul Tash.
Journalism & Media Practicum Course Cluster
The following courses are open to all undergraduates, but students enrolled in the JAM minor must take at least one for a letter grade. For JAM students, these courses can count as an elective if you have already fulfilled the Practicum requirement.
Art of the Interview
JAM 364S-01, PUBPOL 364S-01, DOCST 364S-01An exploration of the role of the interview as a core feature of modern American journalism, with focus on its development as a tool of inquiry, a cultural form and news-making event. Students will study examples of media coverage and produce projects involving interviews.
Intro to Podcasting: Podcasting in a Changing Media Landscape- The art, craft and ethics of an emerging medium
JAM 363, DOCST 369Podcasting has exploded in recent years, with hundreds of thousands of shows in production and more than a fifth of Americans listening to podcasts at least weekly. This course will provide a hands-on introduction to the craft of podcasting, combined with critical reflection on various podcast forms. Students will consider the role of podcasts in the changing media equation, including the role of podcasts in local news. They will gain practice with the basics of podcast creation and will apply these lessons by creating podcast episodes focusing on the people, places and issues of Durham, N.C.
News Writing and Reporting
JAM 367S-01, PUBPOL 367S-01Seminar on reporting and writing news and feature stories. Students required to produce news stories based on original reporting and writing, including interviews, use of the Internet and electronic databases, public records, and written publications. Written assignments critiqued in class; final project.
Video Journalism
JAM 365S-01, PUBPOL 365S, VMS 305S, DOCST 367S, CINE 366SThis course will offer students the opportunity to learn how television journalism works. Students will learn how editorial decisions are made and will get hands-on experience weaving the elements of video, audio and the written word into television stories that can inform and inspire. This course is designed for students who may be considering a career in broadcast journalism or other students Who want to better understand how television journalism works and its role in public policy.
Media and Democracy Course Cluster
The following courses are open to all undergraduates, but students enrolled in the JAM minor must take at least one for a letter grade. For JAM students, these courses can count as an elective if you have already fulfilled the Media and Democracy requirement.
Social Marketing: From Literary Celebrities to Instagram Influencers
I&E 253, CMAC 253, ISS 253, VMS 255, Writing 253You’ve surely heard the platforms described as “revolutionary,” and you’ve also heard them described as “time wasters.” What you probably haven’t thought about is how similar they are to previous “revolutionary” communications technologies like novels, newspapers, and even language itself. This course explores ways in which studying the masters of previous “social” media technologies—the Shakespeares, Whitmans, and Eliots of the world—can help us understand how influencers on digital social media leverage the same platforms you use every day to market themselves, build their brands, and grow their audiences.
The Media and LGBTQ+ Americans
JAM 390S-60, PUBPOL 290S-60Coverage of LGBTQ+ issues has changed radically over the past 100 years, and those changes offer a window into how journalists respond to grassroots social movements. We will examine how reporters wrote about Harlem drag balls, theatre censorship debates, World War II scandals, the Lavender Scare, the “homophile” protests, the Compton’s Cafeteria and Stonewall rebellions, the Gay Liberation Movement, the AIDS epidemic, gay conservatism, the marriage debate, and transgender visibility. We will discuss how activism impacted that coverage, and the line between enlightened reporting and advocacy. And we will explore the formation of an independent LGBTQ+ press.
Race and the Media
JAM 368S-01, PUBPOL 368S-01The need for media coverage more finely attuned to race and prejudice is crucial. Instead of informing audiences, many of the fastest-growing news programs and media platforms are invoking and exploiting old prejudices and deeply-rooted fears to compete for increasingly narrow audiences. Using the same tactics employed to mobilize political parties, they employ coded messages and demonize opposing groups as their audience shares soar and website traffic ticks up. This course dissects the powerful ways modern media feed fears, prejudices, and hate.
The Public Sphere and the Democratic Process
JAM 390S-10, PUBPOL 290S-10DUKE IMMERSE COURSE. Only students enrolled in the Duke Immerse program may take this course. This course will explore normative and historical notions of the public sphere and how it factors into the democratic process. In exploring both historical and contemporary versions of the public sphere, this course will also explore related concepts such as public deliberation, public opinion, the public forum, and the marketplace of ideas; how they have been conceptualized, defined, and measured over time; and how they affect – and are affected by – public policymaking. Finally, this course will spend a substantial amount of time exploring the dynamics of the contemporary digital public sphere, how it has evolved, how it is structured, and its implications for civil discourse and the democratic process. The course will also consider legal and policy interventions directed at preserving and enhancing the public sphere.
Uncivil Discourse: The Media’s Role in America’s Argument with Itself
JAM 390S-20, PUBPOL 290S-20DUKE IMMERSE COURSE. Only students enrolled in the Duke Immerse program may take this course. The American Experiment is just that—an experiment. Throughout its 250-year history as a nation, that experiment has seen stretches of stability as well as long seasons of profound discord (such as the Civil War). Our current era appears to be one of those unsettling times. The lack of trust in the news media has had a direct impact on how we talk about the issues that roil us most – including politics, health care, race, criminal justice, international conflicts, and abortion. Those are among the issues we will examine this semester as we seek to answer questions such as: Should the news media drive our national conversations, or should it reflect them? Should journalists be advocates or simply truth tellers? How has technology impacted how our news is delivered, and by extension, impacted civil discourse? And are there any solutions to be found?
Free Speech on the College Campus: Embracing the 1st Amendment and Civil Discourse
JAM 390S-30, PUBPOL 290S-30, EDUC 290S-30DUKE IMMERSE COURSE. Only students enrolled in the Duke Immerse program may take this course. In this course, students will review the history and philosophy of the free speech component of the 1st Amendment and examine the way in which the US Supreme Court has ruled over the years in free speech cases. Students will then have the opportunity to fully consider the various approaches campuses have recently taken to dealing with free speech issues, including controversial speakers. The overarching principle of civil discourse will be modeled and practiced in this class, with the expectation of engagement being one of respect, trust, humanity and active listening.
Free Speech in the Francophone World in Relation to the US
ROMST 335-01, JAM 336-01, RIGHTS 318-01Critical history of free speech in French-speaking world in relation to the US, earliest debates and current controversies. Investigation of key concepts and issues: blasphemy, pornography, hate speech, sedition. Is this freedom absolute? Whose speech is censored? Whose ‘unspoken?’ Case studies & “causes célèbres” include Voltaire, Rabelais, Sade, Céline, Camus, Djaout. Work culminating in debate around free press and fake news with North African journalists and human rights activists.
Language and/in the Media
LINGUIST 372S-01, CULANTH 372S-01, SOCIOL 372S-01The relationships between language and media have long been a socio-political concern. Plato was suspicious of the ‘new’ media of writing; at the end of the Middle Ages, the printing press meant Bibles written in the vernacular could weaken the power of the established church in Europe; today, fake news and online aggression are on the rise, potentially changing the outcomes of democratic elections. Innovations in media give rise to changes in both language practices and social, cultural, and political relations. This course looks at these issues from contemporary sociolinguistic and sociological perspectives, focusing on how linguistic resources are used to create and contest meanings.
Documenting Resistance on Film: The Poor People’s Campaign from 1968
DOCST 325S-01, CINE 325S-01, ETHICS 324S-01, AAAS 334S-01This documentary course explores the rich archival landscape and contemporary reverberations of the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, a transformative social movement that radically challenged economic inequality and systemic poverty across racial lines in the United States. Students will develop their research and filmmaking skills through hands-on engagement with historical materials and documentary techniques in order to explore the role of cultural production in movement spaces. Working independently and collaboratively, students will analyze how archives shape our understanding of history, study contemporary creative approaches to documentary, and learn practical skills for film production.
Digital Media and Politics
POLSCI 452SThis course provides an in-depth exploration of the intersection between digital media and politics. The course examines how digital technologies, including social media, algorithms, and online platforms, are reshaping political communication, political behavior, and governance. Topics include the role of digital media in shaping public opinion, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, the impact of algorithms, and the use of digital tools in campaign strategy. The course culminates with an original research project related to digital media and politics.
Race, Power and Identity: From Ali to Kaepernick
EDUC 220, AAAS 232, SOCIOL 202, RIGHTS 221Exploration of historic and contemporary psycho-social and socio-cultural aspects of the African American sport experience. Examination of research that addresses the effect of physical differences, racial stereotyping, identity development, gender issues, and social influences on African American sport participation patterns. Analysis of sport as a microcosm of society with an emphasis on examining associated educational and societal issues.
Campaigns and Elections
POLSCI 242The campaign process, voting and elections in the United States, with emphasis on the varying role of media in campaigns. The nomination and election process; focus on the critical evaluation of various empirical models of voting behavior in presidential and congressional elections and the impact of election outcomes on the content and direction of public policy in various historical eras in American politics.
Elective Courses
These courses are open to all undergraduates. JAM students must take at least 3. For JAM students, any courses listed above in core requirements which is not already counted as a core course, can count as an elective. If you find a course you think should be included in this list, please contact Kim Krzywy at kkrzywy@duke.edu.
AI Journalism Lab
JAM 390S-40, PUBPOL 290S-40The AI Journalism Lab will provide students with a hands-on opportunity to devise new AI tools to help reporters and editors produce the news. This will be a lab, not a lecture class or a discussion. You will start by meeting with local media organizations to identify their needs and then use commercially available AI products to solve their problems ethically and responsibly. You do not need experience in journalism or computer science. We’ll team you up with other students to account for your strengths and needs. Our goal is products, not papers. Some will take longer. Some will fail. Your products can fail and you will still succeed in the class. What matters is effort and what we all learn. By the end of the semester, we’ll build some cool tools, help journalism, break a few things and have some fun.
Business Journalism
JAM 362S-01, PUBPOL 370S-01The practice of reporting on companies, finance, and economics. Students learn how to follow the money, access public documents, gain markets, and corporate knowledge, and work with financial data. For students interested in business journalism, consulting, banking, or anyone that wants to understand business media and how journalists report it. Students will gain experience reporting and producing business media.
Contemporary Reportage
RUSSIAN 210S-01, JAM 210S-01Reportage is the most fluid genre of journalism, often bordering on literary fiction. Our goal is to study and describe fragments of reality through in-depth fieldwork, immersive research, and compelling storytelling. The course will introduce students to the American, European, and Russian schools of reportage, allowing them to compare traditions, techniques, and styles. We will read extensively in English, analyze landmark texts, and engage in practical reporting assignments. Each student will produce a final reportage piece. The course concludes with a masterclass on pitching stories to editors and publications.
Criticism and the Arts: Literature and New Media
ENGLISH 208SThis is a course in the critical practice of literary theory in relation to the arts–literature, but also possibly the visual and performing arts–that occasion and challenge it. Exemplars to be drawn from the Anglo-European, Trans-oceanic, and/or North American (including multicultural) oeuvres, both contemporary and established. Ultimate concern is to develop each student’s own critical writing, drawing upon brilliant precedents, responding creatively to the literature/arts at hand, and crafting personal voice.
Cyber Connections: Communication in the Digital Age
WRITING 275S, LIT 272S, VMS 277SExplores contemporary challenges, contexts, and opportunities with communication across media platforms. Examines historical contexts and texts related to rhetoric and communication, and how these ideas have persisted and shifted in the digital age. Texts include theoretical approaches to communication and rhetoric (past and present) and examples of communication across a range of media (for example: podcasts, multimodal texts, web-based presentations, and social media content). Students learn to conduct rhetorical analysis across media, and create written, visual, and/or verbal rhetorical content across media platforms. Prerequisite: Writing 101.
Documenting Black Durham: Discovering Durham’s Hallowed Ground
ETHICS 330S, EDUC 330S, CULANTH 331S, DOCST 289S, VMS 330SStudy of Durham’s hallowed grounds and sites of struggle, with a deep focus on the African American experience. Investigation of histories, both celebrated and troubled, that have built the present-day community surrounding Duke University. Exploration of the city’s tumultuous and rich past from slavery to Black Wall St and onward through the lens of past and present visual and performing artists, leading to new collaborations with these artists. Sites and stories will include Pauli Murray House, Stagville, Civil Rights history in Durham, the Booker T. Spicely murder and more. Using interpretive and historical methods, students will research Durham’s stories, ultimately helping to construct a roadmap for future community collaborations that recover local history through the arts.
Free Speech and the Media: Legal and Ethical Rights and Responsibilities of the Press
JAM 390S-50, PUBPOL 290S-50, EDUC 390S-50This course will explore the intersection with and impact of the free expression component of the First Amendment on the press/media. Students will be asked to examine the historical evolution of First Amendment protections for the press, landmark legal cases, ethical considerations, and current challenges facing journalists and media organizations. Emphasis will be placed on critical analysis of actual legal cases as well as hypothetical case studies, discussions of major contemporary issues, and the practical implications of the law on journalistic practices. Students will also be invited to consider the impact of the First Amendment on social media and the most recent decisions by the US Supreme Court impacting social media. Answers to the question of what the press/media can legally report will be compared/contrasted with what they should ethically share with the public. In addition, students will be invited to consider the role of bias and its connection to the various constitutional protections provided by the First Amendment.
Fundamentals of Web-Based Multimedia Communications
ISS 240S-01, VMS 288S-01, CMAC 240SMultimedia information systems, including presentation media, hypermedia, graphics, animation, sound, video, and integrated authoring techniques; underlying technologies that make them possible. Practice in the design innovation, programming, and assessment of web-based digital multimedia information systems. Intended for students in non-technical disciplines. Engineering or Computer Science students should take Engineering 206 or Computer Science 408.
Gender, Media and Sports
GSF 196SThis class examines the role of media in our collective understanding of gender and sports, and the place of representation (social media, televised games, television, documentary films, etc.) in shaping gendered perceptions of athletes, sports, coaches, and fans. Over the course of the semester, we will examine media coverage of sports, with a particular attention to how media both represents and reproduces gendered inequalities in sport. While paying close attention to figures including Angel Reese, Caitlin Clark, Billie Jean King, Serena Williams, Imane Khelif, and Caster Semenya, we will study topics including Title IX, the growth of the WNBA, debates over pay equity in professional sports, NIL, and debates over trans athletes.
Genetics in the News: How gene research is changing our view of the world
BIOLOGY 120CNSReserved for first-year students in the Natural Systems constellation. Course examines recent advances in genetics and genomics and their effect on society by comparing current news stories with the scientific research papers on which they are based. Students discuss and analyze selected news story/research paper sets and choose news stories to present in class. Topics covered include human evolution, whole genome sequencing, cloning, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), human disease traits, gene therapy, CRISPR, and ‘de-extinction’/conservation genetics.
Global Russia
RUSSIAN 399, CULANTH 399, PUBPOL 223, ICS 399, LIT 309Through novels, short stories, poems, films, and cultural criticism produced in the last fifty years, the course equips students with the tools needed to unravel the historical, social, and philosophical underpinnings that have shaped Russian culture both within its native borders and in the global diaspora presented by the émigré community. The course analyzes state-sanctioned vs. oppositionist cultural productions while offering a prism through which the human experience is examined, inviting students to engage with a storytelling tradition that crosses, challenges and transcends linguistic and cultural thresholds.
Intro to Cyber Policy
PUPOL 255, COMPSCI 255Policy and technical elements of activity in cyberspace will continue to impact and shape global society. Provide a basic understanding of fundamental of cyber technologies and threats, national and international cyber policies and frameworks, and key topical issues in cyber. Students will be required to complete a written mid-term based on lectures and readings, present short classroom briefings, and engage in class discussions. The final will be a capstone written and oral presentation on a realistic cyber scenario applying knowledge from classwork and their own research. No prior skills or knowledge is required.
Intro to Digital Photography
ARTSVIS 119S, DOCST 119SAn emphasis on digital photography, using the camera as a distinctive way of seeing and knowing. Class assignments accompanied by historical and theoretical readings, lectures, class discussions, and field trips. Final projects include thematic photographic series and an individual documentary essay.
Military Imaginary
DOCST 121CNS-01, VMS 121CNS-01, JAM 102CNS-01, PUBPOL 105CNS-01First year seminar course which explores ways photography and images are used by journalists, artists, documentarians, as well as governments, militaries, and civil society, in order to document and report on events and shape public opinion and historical memory. Project-based course in which students will conduct research in image-based archives, conduct oral histories, and curate exhibitions and related programming for public audiences. Reserved for first-year students in the Peace or War constellation
Oral History and Storytelling
DOCST 330S, HISTORY 330SExplore the fields of oral history and public history by participating in a community-based project. Examine a wide variety of sources related to oral history and public history theory and practice including books, articles, digital history projects, exhibits, and guest speakers. Uncover the opportunities, challenges, and controversies associated with these fields. Use this knowledge to create public-facing dissemination of our research in collaboration with a community organization.
Oral History Methods
HISTORY 515S, DOCST 515SOral History sculpts the newest tools available for practitioners of one of the most ancient of the scholarly disciplines. Using technical innovations from the 1963 portable cassette recorder to cutting edge digital tools today, oral historians co-create, archive, analyze, and share stories from people who otherwise historians might ‘miss’ because most people don’t put their materials into archives, don’t leave a written record, might not trust institutions like libraries, or plain and simple, don’t have access. This course is a seminar for graduate students and advanced History Majors where we immerse ourselves in the methods, controversies, limits, and possibilities of oral history.
Platform Accountability
PUBPOL 590T-03BASS CONNECTIONS COURSE. Project-based course in which undergraduate and graduate students work collaboratively to produce a significant public-facing research product drawing on analysis from across the social sciences. Topics vary depending on section. Students will gain a conceptual understanding of the project topic, develop research plans, conduct new research, and develop a final product containing significant analysis and interpretation (e.g., exhibits, databases, oral histories, data visualizations). Instructor consent required.
Producing Docu-Fiction
CINE 334S, DOCST 278S, VMS 340S, ARTSVIS 340SInvestigation of hybrid, genre-defying films that question traditional definitions of documentary and fiction. Emphasis on experimental forms, documentary reenactment, mockumentary and dramatized ‘true stories.’ Exploration of both documentary and fiction production techniques, culminating in the production of a final video project.
Public History and Memory
ISS 536S, VMS 536, HISTORY 536SCourse examines key themes in the theory and practice of public history, an approach to historical storytelling aimed at audiences outside the academy. Topics may include the politics and ethics of public history; memory and history; monuments and memorialization; and changing modes of presentation from traditional museums to digital platforms. Student projects will use archival and library resources and engage with historic sites and organizations. (Undergraduates must have instructor permission to enroll in a 500-level course.)
The Documentary Experience: A Video Approach
CULANTH 106S, CINE 331S, HISTORY 125S, POLSCI 105S, PUBPOL 170S, DOCST 105S, VMS 106SA documentary approach to the study of local communities through video production projects assigned by the course instructor. Working closely with these groups, students explore issues or topics of concern to the community. Students complete an edited video as their final project.
The Googlization of Knowledge
CULANTH 112-01, ISS 112-01, JAM 112-01Google has altered the way we see the world and ourselves. Its biases, valuing popularity over accuracy, affect how we value information and navigate news and ideas. This course examines information from different angles within the context of social justice, open access to information, and how the Internet and Google affect our lives. Themes include knowledge as a public good, Internet policies, data and visual literacies, social media, and artificial intelligence. Hands-on work researching how technology affects the access, understanding, and reliability of information in students’ lives. Analysis, discussions, and reflection assignments with ongoing application to team-based projects.
The Path to Publication
JAM 390S-70, PUPOL 390S-70, DOCST 290S-70, WRITING 390S-70.Prerequisites: JAM 366S or JAM 390S with topic ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM, or JAM 390S with the topic THE ART OF PROFILE WRITING, or with consent of the instructor based on advanced level nonfiction writing. This course will teach students about how editing works in longform journalism, from conceptual edits and workshopping to fact-checking and copy-editing. Participants must enter class with a completed longform nonfiction narrative (1,500+ words) from a previous class, such as Longform Journalism, Environmental Journalism, or The Art of the Profile, which they will then take through multiple rounds of revision before pitching to a publication of their choice. There will be a heavy emphasis on peer feedback as students cycle through various editorial roles.
Traditions in Documentary Studies
DOCST 101, VMS 103, ICS 111Traditions of documentary work seen through an interdisciplinary perspective, with an emphasis on twentieth-century practice. Introduces students to a range of documentary idioms and voices, including the work of photographers, filmmakers, oral historians, folklorists, musicologists, radio documentarians, and writers. Stresses aesthetic, scholarly, and ethical considerations involved in representing other people and cultures.
Veterans Oral History Project
DOCST 317S, HISTORY 381S, RIGHTS 317SExplore methods of oral history, specifically focusing on interviewing U.S. military veterans who have served during times of conflict. Weekly readings concerning ethics of oral history work and the particulars of interviewing veterans. Learn techniques for conducting successful oral history interviews and master technical skills involving recording equipment. Conduct multiple interviews with veterans throughout semester. Discuss interviews and transcriptions with classmates. Assignments include written responses and a final presentation on conducted interviews. Includes a service-learning component involving work in the community.