Curriculum

The curriculum at the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism is aimed to provide the perfect mix of theoretical and hands-on learning courses. Listed below are the specific documentary-focuses courses offered to students wishing to take part in the Murray Center experience. Details on the full undergraduate curriculum are available here, while the full graduate curriculum is available here.

Undergraduate students

Undergraduate students begin the program in their junior year, having completed a vigorous round of journalism courses during their freshman and sophomore years. The program consists of two Career Path courses and four elective courses for a total of 17 credit hours. The courses must be taken in specific semesters in order to complete the sequence of courses in time. The courses are:

Fall Semester Junior Year
Journalism 4540 Photojournalism and Documentary Reporting I (3 credits)
The course addresses the skills, theory and ethics of photojournalism documentary filmmaking for students who intend to pursue careers where they will produce visual content. The foundations of the course are in traditional newspaper/magazine photojournalism, applied to an environment that includes online presentation for multiple types of organizations, as well as experiences producing and directing documentary content. This course will cover most of the basic challenges that face photojournalists and documentary filmmakers, including the photo story and the short documentary.

Journalism 4371 Documentary Theory (3 credits)
Documentary and other long-form story telling methods involve a complex series of decisions made in the creation of the work that determines its style, length, direction, point of view and more. These and a thousand other editing decisions are the difference between a successful project that touches its audience and one that falls short. The focus of this course is on the craft of editing, as seen in a variety of documentary and other works and explained through the decisions made in and out of the editing room that lead to the final product. The course will introduce important concepts of editing, the work of significant editors in both documentary and narrative fiction films, and seek to apply those techniques to the conceptualization of documentary work students will do as part of their degree. Students will understand the history of documentary editing as it evolved on its own and as influenced by narrative fiction films, the language of editing, the work of important editors and directors and how it influences today's aesthetic and how to apply what they have learned to their own documentary projects at an advanced level.

Spring Semester Junior Year
Journalism 4560 Photojournalism and Documentary Staff Reporting (3 credits)
Students get the real-world experience working as a staff news visual journalist in a daily newsroom managing deadlines, storytelling, teamwork, and creativity while working professionally and accurately. Coursework included covering the community using high standards of visual communication. This will include still images, video and audio. Classwork will appear in print and digital formats of the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine, KOMU or KBIA. Experiences from this course will provide visuals and relevant conversation topics for interviews with future editors who are looking to hire for jobs and internships.

Journalism 4373 Documentary Development (3 credits)
This course will concern itself primarily with the formation of projects: from theories behind different kinds of documentaries, through real world investigations and research into possible projects, into the pitching and writing stage and lastly to the final idea that will be the basis of students' senior films. The ability to properly think of, clearly articulate, pitch and hone a project idea often makes the difference between a successful and unsuccessful final film. Still these ideas don't materialize out of thin air; inspiration for great documentaries can come from many places. Understanding how to seize viable project ideas is a crucial skill for a documentary filmmaker. Graded on A-F basis only.

Fall Semester Senior Year
Journalism 4377 Documentary Senior Project (2 credits)
Students in this course will begin work on a yearlong documentary project to be the capstone of their work in the documentary journalism program. This course will concentrate on the research, reporting and field acquisition work for the senior documentary project. Students will show and discuss their work in group settings to share progress and report results. Each will also meet individually with the instructor to fine tune the direction and content of the project.

Spring Semester Senior Year
Journalism 4379W Documentary Senior Capstone (3 credits)
This course is focused on the completion of a long-form documentary work and its place in current documentary programming. Students will apply knowledge from previous documentary courses in this capstone experience through writing, in-class presentations and their finished work.

graduate students

Graduate students begin the program immediately upon admission to the program. An even mix of hands-on and theoretical courses in the documentary field prepare students to complete a documentary film, work on a professional project in the field or write a thesis centered on the study of the documentary form. Recommended documentary courses include:

Journalism 7540 Photojournalism and Documentary Reporting I (3 credits)
The course addresses the skills, theory and ethics of photojournalism documentary filmmaking for students who intend to pursue careers where they will produce visual content. The foundations of the course are in traditional newspaper/magazine photojournalism, applied to an environment that includes online presentation for multiple types of organizations, as well as experiences producing and directing documentary content. This course will cover most of the basic challenges that face photojournalists and documentary filmmakers, including the photo story and the short documentary.

Journalism 7560 Photojournalism and Documentary Staff Reporting (3 credits)
Students get the real-world experience working as a staff news visual journalist in a daily newsroom managing deadlines, storytelling, teamwork, and creativity while working professionally and accurately. Coursework included covering the community using high standards of visual communication. This will include still images, video and audio. Classwork will appear in print and digital formats of the Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine, KOMU or KBIA. Experiences from this course will provide visuals and relevant conversation topics for interviews with future editors who are looking to hire for jobs and internships.

Journalism 7371 Documentary Theory (3 credits) - taught in Fall semesters only
Documentary and other long-form story telling methods involve a complex series of decisions made in the creation of the work that determines its style, length, direction, point of view and more. These and a thousand other editing decisions are the difference between a successful project that touches its audience and one that falls short. The focus of this course is on the craft of editing, as seen in a variety of documentary and other works and explained through the decisions made in and out of the editing room that lead to the final product. The course will introduce important concepts of editing, the work of significant editors in both documentary and narrative fiction films, and seek to apply those techniques to the conceptualization of documentary work students will do as part of their degree. Students will understand the history of documentary editing as it evolved on its own and as influenced by narrative fiction films, the language of editing, the work of important editors and directors and how it influences today's aesthetic and how to apply what they have learned to their own documentary projects at an advanced level.

Journalism 7373 Documentary Development (3 credits) - taught in Spring semesters only
This course will concern itself primarily with the formation of projects: from theories behind different kinds of documentaries, through real world investigations and research into possible projects, into the pitching and writing stage and lastly to the final idea that will be the basis of students' senior films. The ability to properly think of, clearly articulate, pitch and hone a project idea often makes the difference between a successful and unsuccessful final film. Still these ideas don't materialize out of thin air; inspiration for great documentaries can come from many places. Understanding how to seize viable project ideas is a crucial skill for a documentary filmmaker.