This site is hosted on
a server at George Mason University (see a campus map)
in Fairfax, Va. I
have taught for 20 years at GMU,
American
University, Michigan
State University and Cape
Cod Community College, the first 14 years as adjunct
faculty while working as a full-time journalist. This
is my sixth year in a full-time academic position at
GMU and 10th overall.
I teach
two sections of Comm203/Introduction to Journalism and
Comm374/Political Journalism during fall semester. Students
interested in either of these courses can review the
syllabi and others from the pull-down menu at the top
of this page under "GMU Courses" or by accessing
Townhall,
GMU's conferencing and collaboration software program.
During
the spring semester of 2008, I will teach Comm203/Introduction
to Journalism, Comm361/Online Journalism, and Comm371-001/Sports
Writing & Reporting.
During the Summer
A term, I teach Comm303/Writing Across Media.
This past summer,
I led a journalism program (Comm307/Field Study in Communication)
to
Sligo, Dublin and Belfast in Ireland. I plan to
continue the program during the summer of 2009.
My office
is located in 219-B Thompson Hall.
Office hours during the fall semester
are 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Monday and Wednesday and 9:30
a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday. Occasional, I work and meet
students in 311 Johnson Center. Updates and changes
to my office hours and location are posted on my office
door.
What's
happening in the GMU Journalism program
Mitch
Albom, an old friend from my days as sports
editor of the Lansing State Journal, spoke at GMU's
Fall for the Book '07 celebration in September. Don't
miss Fall
for the Book '08!
This
isn't the George Mason campus. It's the lovely town
of Sligo
on the northwest coast of Ireland, where I was host
to a Global
Education Program July 6-20. Interested in the summer
of 2009? See me or Sarah
Mournighan in the CGE office.
The
George Mason statue
by the Johnson
Center is a popular gathering spot on the GMU campus.
Although I got to pose this time, I often take pictures
of my guests here.
George Mason students
join C-SPAN Political Editor Steve Scully
(on screen) in two-way live collaborative classes
as part of my Political Journalism and Online Journalism
classes in the GMU-TV video studio. Students from
the University of Denver and Pace University also
participate.
Guest speakers the 2007-08 academic year have included (from left) Rodger Streitmatter, author of "Mightier Than the Sword;" WJLA and News8 sports anchor Greg Toland; and journalist and GMU Robinson Professor Roger Wilkins.
George
Mason Journalism students, including members of Student
Media, engage in conversation with Rob Curley,
Vice President/New Media for Washington Post-Newsweek
Interactive, in a chat session March 4. Students on
the right with Rob are (from left) Isaac Pacheco,
Whitney Rhodes (director of Connect
Mason) and Emmy Crawford, one of
three Mason-WPNI interns.
(Photo on the right by Isaac Pacheco;
photo on the left by Steve Klein)
Also
This
fall, students from other classes, faculty
and staff are invited to attend guest lectures
in the 455 Innovation
Hall GMU-TV video studio classroom as space
allows. Guests this semester include historian Doris
Kearns Goodwin, Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.),former Washington Post executive editor
Ben Bradlee, andpolitical
commentators Pat Buchanan and
Tucker Carlson.
In the United Arab Emirates
with Magda
Abu-Fadil, director of
the Institute for Professional Journalists
at the Lebanese American University (Beirut)
To view websites,
blogs
and class projects from Comm361/Online Journalism
Spring 2008, please click
here.
To learn something about me,
click on the links to mybio
and resume.
I write about integrated media
and convergence, online sports content and online
journalism as a regular contributor to a weblog
called E-Media
Tidbits on the Poynter Institute
site.
From time to time, I get quoted
in the media. Most recently, Stefan Fatsis quoted
me on my Master's thesis research on Hugh
Fullerton; and by Jennifer Dorroh
in the American
Journalism Review on online journalism.
Instructors at universities
throughout the United States are now podcasting
their lectures and making them available online.
Here's a short lecture
(under seven minutes) that I gave dealing with
bias to my Comm203/Introduction to Journalism
students. Click
here for the RSS feed file of this lecture
(the first of a lecture series) to copy into your
iTunes (or other podcatching software).
Listen to an audio
clip about the Electronic Journalism Minor
(mp3).
The
late Kurt Vonnegut had something
important to say about the United States'
effort to bring democracy to Iraq.