1. Welcome to Carleton and your Bachelor of Journalism degree program
  2. Your Degree Program
  3. Courses Required for First Year
  4. Courses Not Included in the Major CGPA
  5. Contact

Welcome to Carleton and your Bachelor of Journalism degree program

First-Year Course Selection Guide

Please read this degree guide prior to registering.

Your Degree Program

The Bachelor of Journalism (B.Jour) degree is a 20.0 credit, four-year Honours program. Students who are interested in science journalism may add a Concentration in Health Sciences. The program is carefully designed to give students the skills and knowledge they need for careers as journalists and media professionals, along with a broad academic education in a variety of other subjects.

You will take required Journalism courses for a total of 8.0 credits, along with a 0.5-credit Canadian History course and a 0.5-credit Indigenous Studies course. You will choose the remaining degree credits in other subjects that interest you.

At least 4.0 of the remaining credits must be concentrated in a subject area outside of Journalism. This gives you the opportunity to take a Minor in a subject offered by another department or school.

Or you may, as many students do, combine your Journalism Major with a second Major such as History, Political Science, Film Studies or Law, to name just a few. This will result in a Combined Honours degree in Journalism and your second Major.

Courses Required for First Year

  • JOUR 1001 Foundations of Journalism: Journalism in Context [0.5]
  • JOUR 1002 Foundations of Journalism: Practicing Journalism in a Diverse Society [0.5]
  • 4.0 credits of electives that you choose based on your own interests from first-year courses (1000 level) offered by various faculties. See “Courses Not Included in the Major CGPA” for some course options.
    • May include an optional first-year Journalism course: JOUR 1004 Writing with Style [0.5].

If you choose to add the Concentration in Health Sciences you must take the following core Science courses in Year 1 along with your mandatory Journalism courses:

  • BIOL 1103 Foundations of Biology I [0.5]
  • BIOL 1104 Foundations of Biology II [0.5]
  • HLTH 1001 Principles of Health [0.5]

Courses Not Included in the Major CGPA

Although it is not required, many students in their first year prefer to use 1.0 or 0.5 of their elective credits to complete the 0.5-credit Canadian History and/or 0.5-credit Indigenous Studies requirements of the Bachelor of Journalism program. These requirements may also be fulfilled by taking courses offered at the second-year level.

0.5 credit in History from:

  • HIST 1301 – Conflict and Change in Early Canadian History [0.5]
  • HIST 1302 – Rethinking Modern Canadian History [0.5]
  • HIST 2301 – Canadian Political History [0.5]
  • HIST 2304 –Social and Cultural History of Canada [0.5]
  • HIST 2311 – Environmental History of Canada [0.5]

0.5 credit in Indigenous Studies from:

  • INDG 1010 — Introduction to Indigenous Peoplehood Studies [0.5]
  • INDG 1011 —Introduction to Indigenous-Settler Encounters [0.5]
  • INDG 2011 — Contemporary Indigenous Studies [0.5]

Journalism students are required to complete a minor in a subject other than journalism. If you know what you would like to study as your minor, you can start by taking the 1000-level course in that subject in your first year.

Contact

Phone number: 613-520-7404
Email: journalism@carleton.ca
Location: Room 4309, Richcraft Hall