We serve a diverse student body of nearly 400 majors and welcome multiple backgrounds, perspectives, experiences and approaches to practicing and studying journalism and public relations.
We believe that democracy requires a free press and access to good information to function well. We want our students to tell the stories of their communities bravely, ethically and creatively; to graduate as literate consumers of news and information; to be good writers and nimble multimedia communicators; to play a role in ensuring the dissemination of ideas that advance the public good; and to be thoughtful in their use of the systems of the digital age.
Our department is made up of faculty who have won multiple awards for their teaching, research, professional work and community outreach. We are serious about taking a student-centered approach to our work, and the results speak for themselves: Our department routinely receives many of the highest scores in student satisfaction within the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and is in the top tier of UMass as a whole. The vast majority of our graduates are able to find work shortly after graduation, both in our core industries of journalism and public relations as well as beyond it.
Facilities and Equipment
The Journalism Department is located in the Integrative Learning Center, one of the newest buildings on the UMass campus. We have within our departmental space:
- Four classrooms that we primarily use for our small multimedia and seminar courses, including smart classrooms that support multi-modal learning and labs with state-of-the-art computer systems and access to professional media production software.
- An advanced television broadcast studio with three professional series cameras, industry-standard news production systems and state-of-the-art computer systems for editing video.
- An accompanying broadcast studio control room that features multiple displays, up to 32 video soures, a professional video production switcher and a professional audio mixer with 48 audio inputs.
- Multiple soundproof editing suites with state-of-the-art computer systems, professional microphones and access to professional media production software.
- A Hub area with ample seating to allow students to gather, socialize and attend the many events and speakers we host year-round.
You can take a virtual tour of our spaces. If you would like a physical tour, please send us an e-mail.
Our department also makes a variety of equipment available to students to support their media production courses. These include professional-grade video cameras, audio recorders, cameras and camera lenses. We encourage students to purchase their own laptop prior to commencing their studies, but short-term and long-term laptop rentals may be available through UMass Libraries. Students are also eligible for educational discounts from the UMass Store.