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Home > Faculty of Creative Arts > School of Journalism a... > Welcome to JCW at FCA

The School of Journalism and Creative Writing at UOW

The School of Journalism and Creative Writing offers a number of programs at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level for people who aspire to build a career around writing.

For those who aspire to work in Journalism, we offer one of the newest and most exciting Bachelor of Journalism programs in Australia, as well as a suite of new Postgraduate programs that have been designed to enable students to develop a skill set that is not only geared to industry’s latest needs, but also enables the individual to tailor the program to their own needs (be this in Journalism or a combination of Journalism and Professional Writing).

The Programs

Journalism:

Our flagship program is the undergraduate Bachelor of Journalism degree, as well as a major in Journalism (the latter is for students studying the Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies in the Arts Faculty). The Bachelor of Journalism is a hands-on degree which provides students with the skills they require to move job-ready into a position in Journalism. Students have the opportunity to specialise in print or broadcast Journalism, with all students studying convergent journalism, web design and graphic design subjects. Students electing to study the Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies degree via the Arts Faculty study a suite of print-based subjects.

All Journalism students study in new, purpose-built facilities under the guidance of staff who have considerable industry experience, including Marcus O’Donnell and Eric Loo (print media), Shawn Burns (print, television and political advising), Susan Angel (radio), Siobhan McHugh (print and radio) and David Blackall (broadcast). My background is in print media and political advising. For more information about individual staff, have a look at their profiles.

Picture: Journalism Newsroom

At a Postgraduate level, students have a choice of two Graduate Certificates – one in Print Media, the other in Broadcast Journalism. Both offer the opportunity to articulate into and count towards a 48 point 12 month Master of Journalism. This program is ideally suited to people who have an Undergraduate degree in another discipline, but see their future in Journalism, or working journalists who are looking for a professional qualification to add to their industry-based skill set.

Working journalists who have a minimum of 10 years industry experience can also apply for entry into our Advanced Masters program. The latter is designed to cater for people who have a major project they would like to undertake to perhaps highlight their readiness to move into a management or senior production position.

Further information about the Journalism program can be obtained from the Program Coordinator, Marcus O’Donnell. Please refer to the About Us/Contacts page for contact details.

Pictures: Journalism students in the Newsroom

Creative Writing

The School offers one of the most highly regarded and comprehensive Creative Writing programs in Australia, one that combines the practical and the theoretical, mainstream writing and the cutting edge.

The program comprises:

• Practical workshops, in a range of mediums: prose (short forms and novels), poetry, script-writing (theatre, film and radio), digital and new media writing;

• Theoretical subjects, which analyse creative texts and their cultural context;

• Editing and professional practice seminars, which give writers strategies for beyond graduation.

Creative Writing staff include:

• Mr Alan Wearne, who writes poetry. Alan was awarded the 2002 New South Wales Premier's Award Book of the Year and the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry;

• Dr Merlinda Bobis, who writes prose, poetry and for performance. Merlinda is the winner of the Philippine National Book Award 2000, the Steele Rudd Award for the Best Published Collection of Australian Short Stories 2000, and was shortlisted for the Australian Literary Society Gold Medal 2006;

• Dr Shady Cosgrove, who writes prose. Shady was shortlisted for the Australian/Vogel award in 2007; her work is included in The Best Australian Stories 2006;

• Dr Joshua Lobb, who writes for theatre and works as a narrative theorist. His work has been performed at Belvoir Street Theatre and The Australian Conservatorium of Music;

• Dr Catherine Fargher, whose work crosses the traditional performance (radio, television and theatre) with innovative work in new media.

For more information about individual staff, have a look at their profiles.

Students have the opportunity to major in Creative Writing through the Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA) degree. Many of our Undergraduates undertake the BCA as part of a double degree with other Faculties at the University of Wollongong. Exceptional students are encouraged to undertake Honours, which allows them to pursue an extended creative piece and a large scholarly project.

At Postgraduate level we offer:

• Master of Creative Arts, which comprises a large creative work (25000 words) and courses on writing and textual analysis;

• Master of Arts (Research), which comprises a large creative work (50000 words), a scholarly project (5000 words) and courses on writing and textual analysis;

• Doctor of Creative Writing, which comprises a large creative work (75000 words) and an exegesis (20000 words);

• Doctor of Philosophy, which comprises EITHER a large creative work and a scholarly thesis OR a scholarly thesis (90000 words).

Further information about the creative Writing program can be obtained from the Program Coordinator, Dr Joshua Lobb. Please refer to the About Us/Contacts page for contact details.

Professional Writing:

This is the latest addition to our suite of programs and can be tackled at either an Undergraduate level (via the Bachelor of Communication and Media Studies) or Postgraduate level (via a Graduate Certificate, Masters or Advanced Masters). These programs come on line in 2010 and provide students with an opportunity to add a readily transferable skill set to the skills they acquired while studying another discipline, or the opportunity to turn their industry-based skills into a formal academic qualification. The 24 point Graduate Certificate can be studied in six months (fulltime or part time equivalent). Students who do well may articulate into the 48 point 12 month Master of Professional Writing Program. Applicants who have considerable industry experience may be invited directly into the Masters program. Students who have a minimum of 10 years industry experience may be invited to enrol in the Advanced master of Professional Writing degree.

The three programs offered by this school – Journalism, Creative Writing and Professional Writing – all provide students with skills that will equip them for a range of exciting career options. In many instances these skills, while having a particular badge, for example Journalism, do not just equip people for a career in that field. The skills are readily transportable across a range of fields.

If you feel that one of these options may be for you, please don’t hesitate to contact the school.

Professor Stephen Tanner,

Head, School of Journalism and Creative Writing.