Social Justice and Solutions Journalism Seminar

The topic of this seminar changes annually. The recent topic was: "Police, Race and Community in Chicago".

In this weekly workshop, we will develop skills useful in your social justice specialization, building the class around one of the most complex, confounding and emotional challenges faced by the city of Chicago. Policing is a topic that has prompted protests and pushback for years. Most recently, the issue helped define the 2019 mayoral elections, won by Lori Lightfoot, a former prosecutor. She spoke of the city's racial and economic inequality and styled herself a reformer. There are deep disagreements about causes and solutions of the city's violence, and everyone seems to have an opinion, including Donald Trump. Come prepared to explore Chicago history and recent events from myriad angles, drawing on a wide array of voices and sources, in class and outside. We will spend time learning to develop a reporting specialty and how to build a body of work that is authoritative, yet nuanced. Expect to examine your own assumptions, working creatively and collaboratively, as you would in a newsroom, always benefiting from one another's experiences and smarts.