JMC 3143 Syllabus

Fall 2009
Class meets Tuesday/Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 10:20 p.m.
in Room 1030 Gaylord Hall.

Academic Integrity
The policy regarding academic honesty for this course consists of the definitions and policies as stated in the OU Faculty Handbook (October, 1998): “Honesty is a fundamental precept in all academic activities, and those privileged to be members of the university community have a special obligation to observe the highest standards of honesty and have the right to expect the same standards of all others.” Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, cheating, plagiarism, fabrication and fraud. Cheating is “the use of unauthorized materials, methods, or information in any academic exercise, including improper collaboration.” Plagiarism includes “the representation of the words and ideas of another as one's own.” Fabrication includes “the falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise.” This includes deliberate changing of research data (e.g., misreporting scores to better fit a desired hypothesis) and the faking of research data (e.g., making up answers to a survey instead of actually interviewing respondents). Fraud includes “the falsification, forgery, or misrepresentation of academic work, including the resubmission of work performed in one class for credit in another class.”

Whenever possible during the process of this course students should explore elements of cultural and ethnic diversity within the parameters of classroom and field assignments. A greater understanding of the cultural differences in our society will enhance the learning experience and help students develop work that is of greater value to the worldwide audience.

Course Description and Purposes:

Photojournalism has changed and continues to change. The days of darkrooms and printing have given way to the days of computers and scanners. Digital cameras are here, along with changing roles for photojournalists.

JMC 3143 will be a "converged" photojournalism course. Students will complete assignments using film cameras and scanners, digital still cameras and digital video cameras. You will be exposed to video editing. At the end of the course, you should understand visual communication from using both still and moving images.

The course will review basics of exposure, lighting, color and electronic imaging. The course will explore cultural, historical, critical, aesthetic and legal perspectives related to photojournalism.

Class sessions will consist of group discussions and critique of projects, practical demonstrations and lab work.

During the course the students will cover a variety of photojournalism assignments. By the end of the course, the student will be expected to be able to produce professional quality photographs acceptable for newspaper or magazine publication, be able to accept and carry out photojournalism assignments and be able to conceive and execute to fulfillment original ideas for photojournalism endeavors.
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Required Text and Readings:

Reading a commercial daily newspaper is advised. Reading The Oklahoma Daily is expected.

The Digital Journalist

Additional reading assignments may be made. Some topics not covered in the text may be covered with in-class handouts.
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Attendance Policy:

Attendance is mandatory. You must be in class to receive and understand weekly assignments and learn how to use new equipment and techniques. All practical demonstrations will occur during lab sessions. If you miss any of the lab sessions, you will not not have adequate preparation to satisfactorily complete assignments. The work, and your grade, will suffer if you miss class.
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Tests, Projects and Grading:

REVISED

Your grade will be the percentage of the total points you achieve and will be based on the following scale.

306 -340 points = A
272 - 305 points = B
238 - 271 points = C
204 - 237 points = D
203 points or less = F

THERE IS NO EXTRA CREDIT IN THIS COURSE.

Project grades are based on technique and content and are assigned on the following basis:

10	Publishable as is.
8-9	Almost publishable. Minor exposure or contrast problems that affect overall quality.
6-7	Needs significant change in contrast or density. May need dodging and burning as well.
4-5	Contrast and density incorrect. Needs dodging and burning. Caption incomplete.
3	Out of focus. Severe contrast and density changes needed. Caption missing.
2	Image not salvageable.
1	Failure to produce assignment as outlined.
0	Failure to do assignment.

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Deadlines:

Journalism is a profession where deadlines are very important. All projects are due at the time assigned. The only exceptions to this rule are because of: 1) mechanical failure of equipment; 2) illness which is verified by a letter from a doctor; or 3) an acceptable excuse cleared in advance with the instructor. An example of an acceptable excuse would be for a university-related trip. Late work will be penalized one full grade point for each day late.

Any project turned in on time may be re-done before the beginning of the last class period. The higher of the two grades will be used. Late work may not be re-done for a higher grade.

This course will require significant out-of-class work and requires good time management.
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Supplies:

Digital or 35mm SLR camera with adjustable aperture, shutter and focus
flash unit
60 gig personal portable hard drive 2.5" USB or Firewire
Blank CD-R disc

Whenever possible, this will be a digital class. However, there are times when you may need or wish to shoot projects on film. For those projects, you will need 36-exposure rolls of color print film.

We will not be processing film or working in the darkroom as part of this class. You will have your color film processed commercially and bring the processed negatives to class to scan.

Other Notes

If any member of the class feels that he or she has a disability and needs special accommodations of any nature, the instructor will work with you and the Office of Disabled Student Services to provide reasonable accommodations to ensure that you have a fair opportunity to perform in the class. Please advise the instructor of such disability and the desired accommodations at some point before, during or immediately after the first scheduled class period.

From the Academic Misconduct Code: "Honesty is fundamental in all academic activities...Academic misconduct in any form is inimical to the purposes and functions of the University and therefore is unacceptable and rigorously proscribed...It is the responsibility of...each student to be familiar with the definitions, policies and procedures concerning academic misconduct." Cheating or plagiarism will result in a failing grade for the course.
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JMC 3143: Beginning Photojournalism