This FYS course will involve close reading of classic journalistic books on complex social issues and opportunities for students to write their own articles on social and political concerns of interest to them. Texts will include William Finnegan's COLD NEW WORLD, Charles Barber's CITIZEN OUTLAW, Bryan Stevenson's JUST MERCY, Rebecca Skloot's THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, Barbara Ehrenreich's NICKEL AND DIMED, and Jennifer Gonnerman's reporting in "The New Yorker." The distinction and tensions between advocacy and "objective" reporting will be an ongoing point of discussion in the course.
Students will produce three feature-style pieces based on their own original research and reporting. |