UGA Bulletin

Course Description

Teaches students to write engaging feature articles suitable for a range of platforms. Students will write several publishable-quality stories of various lengths and formats, and they will learn to critically read and analyze good writing.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Evaluation of graduate students differs significantly from that of undergraduate students. Not only will graduate students be assigned more readings and additional projects, they will also be graded with higher expectations than undergraduate students. Specifically, graduate students will be assigned an additional research or applied project depending upon the discretion of the instructor. Research projects may involve secondary research reviews and synthesis, whereas primary research studies will involve collection and analysis of data. Applied projects will consist of an original professional-level project delivered as a written report and/or oral presentation.

Athena Title

Feature Writing

Undergraduate Prerequisite

JOUR 3090 and JOUR 3190 and permission of department

Graduate Prerequisite

Permission of department

Semester Course Offered

Offered every year.

Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

Student Learning Outcomes

This course aims to help students develop and hone their writing skills, with a focus on the fundamentals of feature and narrative-style journalism.
With frequent writing assignments and visits from a diverse range of professional writers and editors, the class also will strengthen students’ reporting skills, sharpen their ability to think critically, and make them more informed media consumers.

Topical Outline

Developing, refining, and articulating story ideas and pitching them to editors
Conducting effective interviews
Reporting for narrative and long-form stories
Writing concisely and creatively
Meeting deadlines, self-editing, and receiving editing feedback
Writing well-focused, well-organized feature stories
Finding one’s voice

Syllabus

publish