Undeclared

Class of 2027 Undeclared Track

First Year:

Course #	Course Title	Credits
	Grammar Competency
COM 107	Communications and Society	3
COM 117	Multimedia Storytelling	3

Note: Students who have declared a major may take a major course in spring of their first year. Students who are still exploring or who do not want to commit to a major, will not be behind if they choose to take just COM 107 and 117 in their first year. That said, undeclared students may explore a major by taking an introductory, 200-level Newhouse major course.

Jobs are skills, not majors and each major teaches skills that can be used in many areas of the communications industry.

You must declare a major by the end of your second year at Newhouse.
Explore skills and gather information your first year by doing the following:

Get involved with student media!
1. Daily Orange Newspaper
2. WAER
3. CitrusTV
4. Other student media organizations can be found on the Syracuse University Organizations webpage
Speak with faculty, upper class students and industry professionals. They can provide valuable information about skills used, how they chose their field of study and insights into the future of these fields.
1. Here is a list of our faculty members at Newhouse
Explore other majors through campus or the Career Development Center in Newhouse

In each major, you will learn how to do the following…

Advertising

Skills

Suggested Course

Advertising, as a form of persuasive communications, will teach you how to sell a product, an idea or a way to change society for the better.
You will learn to think strategically and write creatively in order to get your audience to do or think what you want them to.
You will learn to organize and run a successful creative business with team building and accountability. And, you’ll have a lot of fun!

ADV 206 – Advertising Practice in a Diverse Society (class size~35 students)
Introduce students to the role of advertising in business. Students will learn basic concepts, regulations, ethics, and diversity associated with advertising as well as how advertising fits into the marketing structure of most industries.

Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Skills

Suggested Course

Hands-on training to report stories on a range of topics across TV, web, and social media platforms.
The ability to produce video and written stories, from your initial pitch in an editorial meeting to publication.
The ability to find and report on local stories while also connecting those stories to broader topics.
Understanding of the critical issues facing journalism today, including those related to diversity and ethics.

JNL 211: Cross-Media News Writing
Introductory news writing across media platforms. Learn style, formats, and convention for broadcast and online writing and the rationale for each. Emphasis on news values, judgment, and ethics among journalists. Introduction to the criminal justice system.

Magazine, News, and Digital Journalism

Skills	Suggested Course
MND journalists learn to tell stories that help people understand their world and each other. MND journalists know how to ask questions with empathy or find information people don’t always want the public to know. MND journalists use different platforms to connect with audiences: social, text, audio, video, data visualizations, etc.	JNL 211: Cross-Media News Writing Introductory news writing across media platforms. Learn style, formats, and convention for broadcast and online writing and the rationale for each. Emphasis on news values, judgment, and ethics among journalists. Introduction to the criminal justice system.

Public Relations

Skills

Suggested Course

The knowledge, skills and abilities to strategically manage the stakeholder relationships that every organization relies on for their existence and success. This involves audience research, strategic planning, message and media development and implementation, and program evaluation.

Effective writing is essential to a public relations career, and is the basis for constructing powerful organizational narratives.
The ability to link strategic communications outputs and outcomes with an organization’s outputs and outcomes, and to execute communications programs effectively and efficiently.

PRL 206: Public Relations Principles and Practice
Introduction to the field of public relations, its history and future; careers; job requirements; role as management function building two-way communications for organizations and their publics; ethics and social responsibility; social media trends; emerging technology.

Television, Radio, and Film

Skills [7 tracks]	Suggested Course
Custom Blend In this track, students should work closely with their faculty advisors to identify most effective coursework for their specific educational objectives and prepare them for an independent capstone that celebrates and exemplifies achievement of these objectives.	TRF 205: Sight, Sound, and Motion Study and practice of the aesthetic structures and production processes involved in creating effective motion picture, television and sound content.
Screenwriting Screenwriting track focuses on the foundations of storytelling and creative storytelling practices. Students gain an intrinsic understanding of entertainment and creative storytelling through introductory courses and lifelong learning opportunities. The track combines in-depth coursework and experiential learning to challenge and expand students’ knowledge of new media and the changing landscape of the media industry.
Entertainment Business Focuses on enabling students to meet their full potential in entertainment and creative storytelling (scripted and non-scripted) business across all platforms. The business track is designed to help students look beyond the “art” of any particular piece of creative work, intellectual property or business enterprise and perceive its financial and economic underpinning in the marketplace. Our focus is on making the entertainment business track graduates multi-hyphenate contributors to the bottom-line or boardroom in any major sector of entertainment business.
Media innovation and entrepreneurship To help students LAUNCH their own ventures in media and entertainment, PREPARE them to work at high-growth, digital media startups – as well as innovators and “intrapreneurs” at established media companies, and ESTABLISH the mindset and personal thesis they need to become leaders in shaping the future of media and entertainment.
Production Students choose from a wide variety of electives to focus on specialties within the production umbrella, including sound design, visual effects, producing, directing, editing, cinematography, and more! Students in the production track will be involved with all aspects of production and by the end of their studies, will have a large body of work to highlight in their portfolio, establishing who they are as artists, technicians, collaborators, and storytellers.
Cinematography Students will look to become versatile image makers and storytellers who can execute and thrive in a multitude of production modes. In addition to mastery of storytelling form and aesthetics, today’s director of photography must have a firm grasp of a wide variety of image capture devices and tools as well as knowledge of post production workflows and protocols for a variety of ever-changing distribution/exhibition platforms. As we look out into the virtual storytelling needs of tomorrow, it is inevitable that emerging modes of virtual production will lean heavily on practitioners who possess these critically diverse experiences and skill sets.
Sports Media & Communication Students in the sports media and communications track will experience all aspects of sports production to develop a better understanding of cinematography, script development, set design, latest trends in editing and sound design as well as live game graphics and story development.

Visual Communications

Photography • Graphic Design

Skills [4 Tracks]	Suggested Course(s)
Graphic Design Human-centered design to overcome daily problems. Interactive design using various programs. Multidisciplinary portfolio including branding, motion, UI/UX, 3D, and immersive design.	VIS 207:Introduction to Graphic Design Teaches underlying principles of visual communications and the fundamental strategies, tools and practices of graphic design; emphasizes visual problem-solving, including conceptualization, typography, layout, image editing and production of print and digital communications. *Required course for all VIS tracks (and many other Newhouse majors)
Photography: Photojournalism and Editorial Visual storytelling using stills, audio, and video. Photojournalism skills working in the field. Documentary and editorial photography.	VIS 201: Introduction to Photography for Multimedia A required course for all VIS tracks that explores basic creative principles including composition and lighting; provides technical instruction; develops workflow and post-production processes; and teaches basic editing principles-all in the context of communications photography and multimedia storytelling.
Photography: Commercial and Advertising Commercial and advertising photography. Portraiture and fashion photography. Studio and environmental lighting.
Cinematography Creating and editing motion pictures focused on storytelling. Learning cinematic movement, color, composition, lighting, and lens on set. Multidisciplinary projects including documentary, branded content, industry films, commercial, and virtual production.

Class of 2027 Undeclared Track

First Year:

Course #	Course Title	Credits
	Grammar Competency
COM 107	Communications and Society	3
COM 117	Multimedia Storytelling	3

Jobs are skills, not majors and each major teaches skills that can be used in many areas of the communications industry.

You must declare a major by the end of your second year at Newhouse.
Explore skills and gather information your first year by doing the following:

Get involved with student media!
1. Daily Orange Newspaper
2. WAER
3. CitrusTV
4. Other student media organizations can be found on the Syracuse University Organizations webpage
Speak with faculty, upper class students and industry professionals. They can provide valuable information about skills used, how they chose their field of study and insights into the future of these fields.
1. Here is a list of our faculty members at Newhouse
Explore other majors through campus or the Career Development Center in Newhouse

In each major, you will learn how to do the following…

Advertising

Skills

Suggested Course

Advertising, as a form of persuasive communications, will teach you how to sell a product, an idea or a way to change society for the better.
You will learn to think strategically and write creatively in order to get your audience to do or think what you want them to.
You will learn to organize and run a successful creative business with team building and accountability. And, you’ll have a lot of fun!

Broadcast and Digital Journalism

Skills

Suggested Course

Hands-on training to report stories on a range of topics across TV, web, and social media platforms.
The ability to produce video and written stories, from your initial pitch in an editorial meeting to publication.
The ability to find and report on local stories while also connecting those stories to broader topics.
Understanding of the critical issues facing journalism today, including those related to diversity and ethics.

Magazine, News, and Digital Journalism

Skills	Suggested Course
MND journalists learn to tell stories that help people understand their world and each other. MND journalists know how to ask questions with empathy or find information people don’t always want the public to know. MND journalists use different platforms to connect with audiences: social, text, audio, video, data visualizations, etc.	JNL 211: Cross-Media News Writing Introductory news writing across media platforms. Learn style, formats, and convention for broadcast and online writing and the rationale for each. Emphasis on news values, judgment, and ethics among journalists. Introduction to the criminal justice system.

Public Relations

Skills

Suggested Course

The knowledge, skills and abilities to strategically manage the stakeholder relationships that every organization relies on for their existence and success. This involves audience research, strategic planning, message and media development and implementation, and program evaluation.

Effective writing is essential to a public relations career, and is the basis for constructing powerful organizational narratives.
The ability to link strategic communications outputs and outcomes with an organization’s outputs and outcomes, and to execute communications programs effectively and efficiently.

Television, Radio, and Film

Skills [7 tracks]	Suggested Course
Custom Blend In this track, students should work closely with their faculty advisors to identify most effective coursework for their specific educational objectives and prepare them for an independent capstone that celebrates and exemplifies achievement of these objectives.	TRF 205: Sight, Sound, and Motion Study and practice of the aesthetic structures and production processes involved in creating effective motion picture, television and sound content.
Screenwriting Screenwriting track focuses on the foundations of storytelling and creative storytelling practices. Students gain an intrinsic understanding of entertainment and creative storytelling through introductory courses and lifelong learning opportunities. The track combines in-depth coursework and experiential learning to challenge and expand students’ knowledge of new media and the changing landscape of the media industry.
Entertainment Business Focuses on enabling students to meet their full potential in entertainment and creative storytelling (scripted and non-scripted) business across all platforms. The business track is designed to help students look beyond the “art” of any particular piece of creative work, intellectual property or business enterprise and perceive its financial and economic underpinning in the marketplace. Our focus is on making the entertainment business track graduates multi-hyphenate contributors to the bottom-line or boardroom in any major sector of entertainment business.
Media innovation and entrepreneurship To help students LAUNCH their own ventures in media and entertainment, PREPARE them to work at high-growth, digital media startups – as well as innovators and “intrapreneurs” at established media companies, and ESTABLISH the mindset and personal thesis they need to become leaders in shaping the future of media and entertainment.
Production Students choose from a wide variety of electives to focus on specialties within the production umbrella, including sound design, visual effects, producing, directing, editing, cinematography, and more! Students in the production track will be involved with all aspects of production and by the end of their studies, will have a large body of work to highlight in their portfolio, establishing who they are as artists, technicians, collaborators, and storytellers.
Cinematography Students will look to become versatile image makers and storytellers who can execute and thrive in a multitude of production modes. In addition to mastery of storytelling form and aesthetics, today’s director of photography must have a firm grasp of a wide variety of image capture devices and tools as well as knowledge of post production workflows and protocols for a variety of ever-changing distribution/exhibition platforms. As we look out into the virtual storytelling needs of tomorrow, it is inevitable that emerging modes of virtual production will lean heavily on practitioners who possess these critically diverse experiences and skill sets.
Sports Media & Communication Students in the sports media and communications track will experience all aspects of sports production to develop a better understanding of cinematography, script development, set design, latest trends in editing and sound design as well as live game graphics and story development.

Visual Communications

Skills [4 Tracks]	Suggested Course(s)
Graphic Design Track Human-centered design to overcome daily problems. Interactive design using various programs. Multidisciplinary portfolio including branding, motion, UI/UX, 3D, and immersive design.	VIS 207:Introduction to Graphic Design Teaches underlying principles of visual communications and the fundamental strategies, tools and practices of graphic design; emphasizes visual problem-solving, including conceptualization, typography, layout, image editing and production of print and digital communications. *Required course for all VIS tracks (and many other Newhouse majors)
Photojournalism and Editorial Track Visual storytelling using stills, audio, and video. Photojournalism skills working in the field. Documentary and editorial photography.	VIS 201: Introduction to Photography for Multimedia A required course for all VIS tracks that explores basic creative principles including composition and lighting; provides technical instruction; develops workflow and post-production processes; and teaches basic editing principles-all in the context of communications photography and multimedia storytelling.
Commercial and Advertising Track Commercial and advertising photography. Portraiture and fashion photography. Studio and environmental lighting.
Cinematography Track Creating and editing motion pictures focused on storytelling. Learning cinematic movement, color, composition, lighting, and lens on set. Multidisciplinary projects including documentary, branded content, industry films, commercial, and virtual production.