May 2004

New visual communication major announced

In May 2004 the Board of Trustees at the University of South Carolina approved Visual Communications as a new major for the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. The School will begin accepting students into this major for the Fall 2004 semester, and this includes current students who may wish to change their majors.

The Visual Communications major is designed to prepare students to enter the fields of photojournalism, graphic and multimedia design in a mass media setting by exposing them to visual communication theory and practice that would enable them to:

• produce photo essays for print and online publications
• cover breaking news events as photojournalists
• produce commercial photography
• use skills in design, typesetting, illustration, photography, writing and editing to prepare materials for the mass media such as books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters and web sites
• create graphic communication for informative and persuasive messages in the mass media, such as logos, animation, software interfaces, statistical charts, diagrams, timelines and maps.
• create audiovisual communications for internal and external publics
• supervise the printing, production and delivery of print and online publications to a mass audience.

Current students can apply to be accepted into the major by filling out a Change of Major form and returning the form to the Student Services Office, room 4001 Coliseum. If you have any questions regarding the change of major process please call (803) 777-8528.

Visual Communication Curriculum and Requirements

General University Requirements, which also includes a minor. (90 hours)

These general university requirements will follow the current program required of students in the Ad/PR program.

• Journalism and Mass Communications Core Courses (9 hours)
• Jour 202 Writing for Mass Communications
• Jour 303 Law and Ethics of the Mass Media
• Jour 304 Mass Communications Research
• Visual Communications Courses (18 hours)
• Jour 364 Introduction to Visual Communications
• Jour 337 Photojournalism I
• Jour 438 Mass Media PC Graphics Applications
• Jour 515 Photojournalism II
• Jour 529 Informational Graphics for the Mass Media
• Jour 564 Advanced Graphic and Multimedia Design
• Journalism and Mass Communications Electives (9 hours)

For more information e-mail Professor Van Kornegay at kornegay@sc.edu