How can journalists tell stories about the LGBTQ+ community with depth, sensitivity, and clarity? At Columbia Journalism School,
Master of Science Program students learn these reporting skills in Professor
Alisa Solomon's class
Covering Issues of Gender and Sexuality.
During the 15-week class, students examine historical and theoretical frameworks for understanding gender and sexuality and analyze how media practices shape public perception. They learn how to become sensitive, thorough, and contextual reporters on these topics, developing skills and insights that can inform and improve coverage of any beat.
Covering Issues of Gender and Sexuality has included units on "outing," on understanding Christian-right efforts to be exempted from LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws, on Caster Semenya and other athletes whose gender identity is being challenged, and on transgender youth. Students have also addressed the concept of intersectionality and its importance for reporters in a joint session with Professor
Jelani Cobb's
Covering Race class.
In the classroom, students expand their knowledge about the legal, political, social, and cultural dimensions of gender and sexuality through discussions with scholars, journalists, and artists. Recent class visitors have included
Katherine Franke, the Sulzbacher Professor of Law, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Columbia;
Tey Meadow, an associate professor of sociology at Columbia;
Zach Stafford, the editor-in-chief of
The Advocate; and
Hamed Sinno, the outspoken gay lead singer for the Lebanese band
Mashrou' Leila.
At the end of the course, students produce deeply reported final projects. These have included stories about how gender-nonconforming and nonbinary people of faith deal with church dress codes, the challenges faced by the Gay-Straight Alliance club at a NYC high school for recent immigrants, and hospitals that refuse to perform gender-affirmation surgery.
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As you consider the possibility of furthering your career as a journalist at Columbia, please explore our
website to learn more about Columbia Journalism School's
faculty members,
course offerings, and
career development services.
At Columbia, a top-tier journalism education can be within financial reach. Please visit our website to learn about our
scholarship opportunities.
If you would like to make an appointment to speak with an admissions counselor or sit in on a class, please email us at
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