University of Arkansas — School of Journalism and Strategic Media

Degrees offered

The school offers a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, with broadcast, journalism, and multimedia storytelling and production concentrations, and a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising/Public Relations. A Master of Arts in Journalism is available at the graduate level, along with a minor in journalism and strategic media and microcertificates in strategic media skills and writing for modern mass media.

Programs and emphasis

The Journalism Concentration covers traditional news and editorial training; the Multimedia and Digital Storytelling concentration prepares students for video, audio, and digital content careers; and the Broadcast Concentration focuses on television news production. The school also runs the Lemke Journalism Project, an annual six-week multimedia program for area high school students founded in 2001.

History

The Journalism Department at the University of Arkansas was founded in 1930 by Walter J. Lemke, originally housed on the first floor of Old Main. The department later moved to Hill Hall and, in the early 1970s, to Kimpel Hall, its current location. The unit was renamed the School of Journalism and Strategic Media, reflecting its current focus on journalism, advertising, and public relations.

Key faculty and leadership

Bret Schulte: Director of the School of Journalism and Strategic Media and professor.
Robyn Starling Ledbetter: Director of Student Media, overseeing the school's converged newsroom.
Gina Shelton: Advanced instructor and director of the Center for Media Ethics and Literacy.

Student-run media

The Arkansas Traveler is the university's student newspaper, based in Kimpel Hall. Other student media outlets include UATV, the student television station; KXUA 88.3-FM, a student-run radio station; Hill Magazine, a narrative-journalism magazine founded in 2011; the Razorback Yearbook; and Main Hill Media, a student-run advertising agency. These outlets operate from the Sue Walk Burnett Center for Journalism and Student Media, a renovated space within Kimpel Hall.

Location and contact info

Address
205 Kimpel Hall
University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Phone
(479) 575-3601
Email
jour@uark.edu
Website
https://journalism.uark.edu