Magazines
Degree Options
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Mass Communication degree with a major in magazines.
Description of Program
The magazine major prepares students to be magazine writers, editors, designers and creative directors. As part of their coursework, students:
- Write magazine articles for consumer, trade and organization magazines;
- Work as staff members for the nationally award-winning 515 Magazine and other titles and Web sites published through the E.T. Meredith Center for Magazine Studies;
- Produce a business plan and design for a magazine of their own.
In recent years, students have also produced magazines for the Annie E. Casey Foundation on the Making Connections initiative in Des Moines and on the issue of Prisoner Re-Entry in Iowa.
Unique to Drake: Drake is one of the few private, liberal arts colleges to provide a full four- year sequence for magazines. Competition comes from larger schools such as Northwestern, the University of Missouri at Columbia and the University of Kansas. Many magazine majors also work outside of classes on the nationally award-winning Drake Magazine.
The magazine major is one of the most popular with an average of 130 students in the major. Class sizes are usually around 18 students after the core classes are complete.
Accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Drake is among 109 accredited programs nationwide. To win accreditation, schools meet 12 standards, which address such issues as class size, diversity within the faculty and curriculum. Accreditation reviews occur every 6 years. Drake's program has been continuously accredited, most recently in 2004.
Requirements for Major
Thirty-one journalism credits with 6 journalism elective hours (optional) and 3 nonjournalism courses are required to complete the Magazine major.
Suggested progression of classes:
All classes are 3 credit hours except when indicated ( )
| Magazines | ||||
| First-Sophomore Years | Junior-Senior Years | |||
| JMC 30 | Communications in Society | JMC 91 | Magazine Staff Writing | |
| JMC 40(1) | Pre-professional Workshop | JMC 92 | Magazine Editing | |
| JMC 54 | News and Reporting Principles | JMC 119 | Magazine Publishing | |
| JMC 59 | Intro to Visual Communication | JMC 120 | Freelance Writing | |
| JMC 66 | Media Responsibility Over Time | JMC 122 | Magazine Practicum | |
| JMC 104 | Communication Law and Ethics | JMC | Elective (0-6) | |
| ECON 1 | Macroeconomics | |||
| POLS 1 | American Political Systems | |||
| SCSS 1 | Survey of Sociology | |||
Students must also:
- Meet all requirements of the Drake Curriculum.
- Complete a minimum of 124 total credit hours.
- Complete 87 credit hours outside of the SJMC course list; 65 of those hours must be in Arts and Sciences.
- Declare an Area of Concentration with their Journalism adviser.
- Maintain a 2.0 GPA the first 60 hours at Drake and a 2.25 after the 60th hour.
Students should see Graduation Requirements and Regulations sections of the catalog for additional information.
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