Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Boston University Summer Journalism Institute

Last week, Boston University made a difficult decision to suspend all in-person summer programming on campus to keep students and staff safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our hearts were saddened by the thought of not teaching journalism to high school students this summer. Then, we thought: if journalists can keep reporting, then, why can't we?
With the help of Zoom and other technology, we decided to offer our Boston University Summer Journalism Institute as an online non-credit course. Students will still have the opportunity to:
  • Work with award-winning journalists, such as Pulitzer Prize winners (and BU alumna) Lara Salahi and Rochelle Sharpe, who show them how to follow facts and get to the heart of stories affecting communities
  • Hear from guest speakers in the field while learning important journalism tips when covering a crisis
  • Connect with students in different parts of the world and time zones
  • Have at least one article published to our Terrier website to showcase their work
Our photojournalism session, taught by veteran photojournalist and COM professor Stephen Haines, will also be online. Haines worked as a staff photographer, assignment, and photo editor for the Boston Globe. In this special session, he will help students sharpen their camera skills to teach them the basics of visual storytelling.
New Dates and a New Time:
Now that we switched over to an online format, the program tuition was reduced to $1,200. We also have changed the dates of our sessions to the following:
Session 1a: July 6 to July 17
Session 1b: 
July 6 to July 17 (Photojournalism)
Session 2: 
July 20 to July 31
Our online classes will start at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (9:30 a.m. Pacific Time) to accommodate our students in different time zones. We will also record the sessions to make them available to students who may need to see them at a later time.
If your student is ready for a challenge and ready to get a taste of reporting during a crisis, encourage them to learn more by visiting our website, and apply soon, as spots are limited. The final deadline for submitting an application for admission is June 1, 2020.