EXETER COLLEGECOURSE GUIDE

JOURNALISM, CULTURE AND POLITICS

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Exeter College, the fourth oldest college in Oxford University, proposes to create a new and unique summer programme for participants from Japan. It will draw upon the expertise of the head of the College, Rector Frances Cairncross, a senior editor of The Economist magazine for 20 years, working together with Ms Linda Christmas, former Director of the Masters Programme in Newspaper Journalism at City University, London, and Senior Adviser to The Guardian Foundation, and with Dr Chris Ballinger, Academic Dean of Exeter College. The aim is to expose participants to Oxford’s world-famous teaching methods and to one of the world’s most vibrant and diverse newspaper cultures. Oxford University has educated many of Britain’s most distinguished journalists, including Lionel Barber, editor of the Financial Times, and John Micklethwait, editor of The Economist.

The programme aims both to improve participants’ use of spoken and written English, and to give participants an understanding of techniques of journalism and of different areas of reporting. It will be highly interactive, but it will also make use of a wide network of expertise, including those at Oxford University’s Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, the most prestigious institution for the study of journalism at any European university. It will be very participatory, giving participants direct experience of interview techniques and the thinking that lies behind creating a newspaper. Many Oxford University students have gone into careers in journalism, making good use of a method of education that encourages them to ask question and argue persuasively. The Japanese participants will also work alongside British students, some of whom intend to follow careers in journalism and have already had considerable experience in student journalism.

Journalism, Culture and Politics:Improving English and Understanding Politics

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Journalism, Culture and Politics:Improving English and Understanding Politics

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In these courses, participants will benefit from a good understanding of English – ideally, an overall TOEFL score of at least 90 iBT or 575 PBT (IELTS 6.5), or equivalent competence in English. Participants will not need any previous qualification in or experience of journalism, and indeed, the course would be fascinating for students who wanted to understand how journalists write and think, but who envisaged a different future career.

The first trial course will run from September 1 to September 15 2012. There will be a maximum of 20 participants, chosen from a from a single University or a specially selected group of leading Universities. It will be suitable for both undergraduate and graduate participants. A second and longer course is envisaged for September 2013, and will run for either three or four weeks, depending on demand. The 2012 course will be designed to give two academic credits by providing for a minimum of 22.5 hours of tuition over the two weeks; the 2013 course may offer more choice of courses to a larger group of participants.

Internships:

Internships in the London bureau of a Japanese media organisation will be available for up to four students who are registered for the Exeter College Journalism, Culture, and Politics, programme, and who are available to come to the United Kingdom for the month of August 2012. Students applying for the programme should state in their application that they wish to be considered for the internships. Internships are not paid. Candidates for interships will be responsible for arranging their travel, accommodation, and visas for the internship.

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Course Description

Weeks 1 and 2: mornings:

English language skills for future journalists. This part of the course will cover all four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing. Particular attention will be paid to the special idioms (and sometimes grammar) used in British journalism. The content of the course will exploit to the full the media in all areas. Participants will also acquire an overview of British newspapers/broadcasting/television and realise the importance of considering the specific readership for a newspaper or audience for a broadcast or TV programme. English will then be taught via (a) reading and analysing the newspapers (b) listening to broadcasts and news bulletins from the perspective of language and communication. The long morning session will include a break, during which students can discuss the morning’s news stories, practise their English informally, or Skype or e-mail home. At the end of the first week the participants will be divided into three groups; each group will concentrate on newspapers, television or radio and at the end of the course the “exam” content will be the submission of a critique on one of the three areas.

Week 1: afternoons

This week will concentrate on news reporting and the basic skills needed. The lessons will be classroom-based with much interactive participation, and supplemented with visits from senior journalists to talk of their own experience. The course will cover:

• The role of the media in society: to inform, educate and entertain

• The qualities needed to be a good journalist

• Spotting and researching a story: the need to make and nurture contacts, plus the use of social media

• Conducting interviews, attending a press conference and reporting a speech

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Course Descriptioncontinued...

• Writing a news story that readers/viewers/listeners can understand

• Writing at speed to a deadline

Week 2: afternoons:

• Where possible, participants will work outside the classroom. They may attend a court; attend a press conference; do a “vox pop”; or interview a real person with a story to tell. (A distinguished guest will be invited to agree to be interviewed three times covering three different areas. The rest of the group listen to these interviews and try to write a story from them.) Each day the participants will be required to complete a story to a deadline.

• Guest speakers: The participants will be required to write a news story from the presentation. They are likely to include senior journalists from The Economist, the Independent and the Guardian, and at least one British politician.

• One evening will involve a visit to the theatre or to a movie. Participants will be required to write a review the next day. This will be help with English “listening” and sharpen critical faculties.

• Exam: Submission of a portfolio of work carried out over the two weeks, plus the reporting of a speech under exam conditions. This will test participants’ ability to “listen actively”, and will reveal if they have grasped the essence of writing a good report, including the most important points and using quotations from sources.

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Example course time-table: Week One

Week/Day Morning (9am - 1pm) Afternoon (2pm - 5pm) EveningWeek 1, Day 1 Arrival: students are

met at HeathrowWelcome meal

Day 2 Orientation Orientation Group social activity with Oxford students

Day 3

English language skills for future

journalists

The Role of the Media in society: to inform, educate. The qualities needed to be a good journalist.

Day 4 The need to understand your audience. The ability to transform complex issues into readable stories.

Day 5 How to spot a story that appeals to your readership/audience. How to make and nurture contacts.

Formal Hall, preceded by a talk from a guest speaker

Day 6 The art of the Interview, both on the phone and face-to-face.

Day 7 Reporting a speech plus sharpening observation skills.

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Example course time-table: Week Two

Week/Day Morning (9am - 1pm) Afternoon (2pm - 5pm) EveningWeek 2, Day 8 Summer School visit to

LondonDay 9 Free Time: practising English language skills outside the

classroomDay 10

English language skills for future

journalists

Conducting vox pops. Theatre trip (review writing)

Day 11 Covering a press conference

Day 12 Conducting an interview

Day 13 Covering a court.Day 14 End of course tes:

covering a speech.End-of-programme event

Day 15 Depature: students are escorted to London Heathrow

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Third week (2013):

The current intention is to explore the desirability of adding a third and fourth week to the course for 2013 and beyond, and increasing the intake of participants to allow more than one university to participate and to create two separate classes.

In this case, the third week will concentrate on Feature writing and other components of newspaper journalism such as editorials, columns of opinion. It will explain the influence of Europe on Britain, both politically and socially, through an examination of the European Institutions that impact on British life.

Fourth week: (2013)

Participants will produce their own newspaper to demonstrate what they have learned. Further credits will be given for work accomplished in weeks three and four.

Course Descriptioncontinued...

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This will be an intensive and specialized course, taught in small classes and with an unusually high ratio of Oxford students to Japanese participants. It will give course credits and a final certificate, and it will prepare participants for a professional career in journalism.

Accommodation will be in single rooms on the main site of Exeter College, where the College has stood since 1315. Meals will be in the Dining Hall, built in 1618. Participants will be escorted to and from Heathrow airport by Oxford University students, who will also join them on trips and visits.

The course will therefore be more expensive than typical English language summer schools offered at British universities.

For the two-week course this year, the price per student will be £3,000 for two weeks, excluding the cost of air travel and of health insurance. This will break down as follows:

Accommodation for 14 nights; three meals a day including gala dinner with speaker: £1,260

Teaching: £1,290

Other expenses (including meeting at Heathrow, visits to London and entertainment): £450

Note:Each student will need to bring with them their own laptop computer, which is capable of writing in the English language.

Cost

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Contact us

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Please contact:

FRANCES CAIRNCROSS

Rector

Exeter College, Turl Street, Oxford OX1 3DP

T: +44 (0)1865 279647

E: frances.cairncross@exeter.ox.ac.uk