Required Credit Hours and Courses for a Major

All students working for a bachelor's degree at Drake must complete the Drake Curriculum (Areas of Inquiry). A minimum of 124 total credit hours are required to graduate, including 31 to 37 credit hours in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication(SJMC). All SJMC majors must successfully complete JMC 30 Communications in Society, JMC 40 Pre-Professional Workshop, JMC 54 News and Reporting Principles, JMC 59 Introduction to Visual Communications, JMC 66 Media Responsibility over Time, and JMC 104 Communications Law and Ethics. A minimum of 65 credit hours must be taken in Arts and Sciences course work and must include Economics 1, Political Science 1 and Sociology 1. 40 credit hours must be in upper division courses numbered 100 or above.

Area of Concentration: In addition the JMC graduate must have completed a 21 credit-hour block of non-JMC courses approved by the adviser and dean. This concentration, taken in a single department or as a unified area of concentration crossing departmental lines, usually is one particularly appropriate to the student's major or otherwise of special interest. At least 12 credit hours in the concentration must be taken in courses numbered 100 and above. Courses taken to satisfy other graduation requirements also may count toward this requirement.

Required Courses for Magazine Major

• JMC 91: Magazine Staff Writing - 3 hours
  Professional approach to writing as part of a magazine staff includes planning sessions and multiple drafts, peer editing, interviewing, and writing editorial  philosophies and formulas of specific magazines.  Students write and revise briefs and three feature articles (service, profile, and general feature).  Prereq: JMC 54.

• JMC 92:  Magazine Editing - 3 hours
  Micro and macro magazine editing includes grammar, usage, and style; page editing; issue planning; and issues of editorial management, including law and ethics, diversity and sensitivity.   Prereq: JMC 54. (Interchangable with JMC 70)

• JMC 119: Magazine Publishing - 3 hours
  Overview of the magazine industry includes its history, ethics, and social influence, including racial, ethnic and other demographic shifts; market considerations such as advertising, audience research, circulation, marketing, and ancillary revenue; and editorial philosophies and formulas, design principles, and production. Students put concepts to practical use in detailed business plan, including 3-year budget and 16-page prototype for a magazine they create. Prereq: JMC 59.

• JMC120: Magazine Freelance Writing - 3 hours
  Article writing for specifically targeted magazines including market research; in-class editing of student articles; and critiques and analyses of award-winning articles.  Students research, write and rewrite main editorial package including article, sidebar and query; department piece; essay; and short profile. Prereq: JMC 91.

• JMC122: Magazine Practicum - 3 hours
  Senior capstone course in which students produce a magazine for the Des Moines market, including all editorial, design, circulation, promotion, marketing, distribution and ancillary activities such as Web site. Prereq: JMC 119 and JMC 120.

See the Forms/Handbooks page for downloadable checksheets!

Academic Preparation
There are no specific academic requirements for students entering the program directly from high school other than those mentioned above, as set forth by the school. Students are, however, encouraged to take writing courses while in high school.