The Department of Communication and Journalism started in August 2003. This department blends the 'traditional' with the 'professional' in an endeavour to produce value based media persons who are up to any intellectual or business challenge that the industry throws at them.
The GOAL of the Department is to
- Prepare students to become professional content developers across
a) Media
b) Language
c) Subjects/issues. - Develop critical thinking, creativity and personal integrity.
- Train students to become competent professionals with a vision and understanding of public affairs, philosophy and functioning of legislative bodies and public institutions.
- Give the students adequate grounding in theories and philosophies of the profession so that they will be equipped to act as mature and perceptive teachers of journalism and communication.
About the Department
The Department of Communication and Journalism started in August 2003. This is a two year Masters Degree course that blends the 'traditional' with the 'professional' in an endeavour to produce value based media persons who are up to any intellectual or business challenge that the growing news media industry throws at them.
The GOAL of the Department is to
- Prepare students to become professional content developers across a) Media b) Language
c) Subjects/issues. - Develop critical thinking, creativity and personal integrity.
- Train students to become competent professionals with a vision and understanding of public affairs, philosophy and functioning of legislative bodies and public institutions.
- Give the students adequate grounding in theories and philosophies of the profession so that they will be equipped to act as mature and perceptive teachers of journalism and communication.
The above goals are in line with the present need of the news media industry that demands entrepreneurial skills, the ability to lead, multi-tasking, a broad understanding of all communication technology and a very high degree of personal and professional commitment to the work at hand. The Department of Communication and Journalism is unique in the University in that it is never closed. Just as television channels, newspapers, radio stations, websites are open ALL the time, so is this Department open all the time. The environment of a newsroom cannot be simulated. It has to be nurtured. It is an environment that is without hierarchies, vibrant, tense because of the pressure of deadlines, highly informal and focused on deliverables.
The course is divided into four semesters. The first three semesters have four papers of 100 marks each. Term work comprises 50 per cent of these marks. The term work involves presentations, dissertations, projects, producing websites, short films, conducting seminars and talks, writing, editing, graphic design etc depending on the paper at hand. The 50-mark theory is generated out of the term work of each class. Say for instance that in a paper each student is expected to make a presentation. This will mean as many presentations as there are students in the class. These presentations are treated as 'text' for the theory exams. So students are expected to know each other's presentations thoroughly. To pass, the students have to score 50 per cent marks in the term work as well as the theory. Therefore one has to excel in both. Students are not allowed to keep terms so if a student fails in a paper in a semester the student remains there till s/he clears that paper.
The fourth semester is a dissertation and viva voce. A sound training and understanding of the methods and practice of research is essential for intellectual activity. Credible journalism can only come from serious research. If investigative journalism is the backbone of serious journalism then serious research is the backbone of investigative journalism. The dissertation is the most serious and the toughest part of this course and stretches for almost eight months after the third semester is over. In fact, it is stressed in this Department that students must begin thinking of their dissertation topics, working on a hypothesis, the research design and the methods from the day they join the department.
The Department believes that the levels of excellence are not set by teachers but by the students. Students are therefore expected to come up with ideas and seek their own heights of experience, excellence and expertise. The Department endeavours to encourage students to constantly raise the bar. In media one never fails, one only gives up trying, to the detriment of one's career and growth. The Department encourages students to never give up. We believe that teachers are facilitators not lecturers because communication and journalism is about defining one's reality from the decidedly subjective perspective of individuals. Journalism further involves the undying urge to go out there and tell the world "I was there first and this is what I experienced". Both these, the constant defining of reality and the urge to spell it out through media, requires high self esteem and the Department encourages students to believe in themselves, to be ruthlessly critical of themselves and their understanding of their reality and respect the 'other' point of view.
Given the state of the news media industry, professional burn out is quick. If one has to stay in this industry for long then one has to stretch innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity to the limit. This requires individuals to be energetic mentally as well as physically.
The Department conducts two study tours every year. These tours are a means to meet the above goals. At the end of each tour students make a short film and write articles.
The first tour was taken to Ganeshgule, a village in Ratnagiri district, that was among seven others where a naval jetty was going to be built. It would have meant the displacement of the entire village housing about 1200 families. The village is itself about 400 years old and families have been living there for several generations. Although the plan for the jetty is now on hold it may resurrected any day. How does it feel living in this condition of uncertainty? Does one plan for a future that one cannot anticipate?
The second tour was taken to Anandwan, the project of Baba Amte. What are the models of communication that are necessary to build a project of this size and scale? Students spend four days at this project travelling to Hemalkasa too and meeting Baba Amte, his sons, their wives and the people there.
The third trip was to Wai, at the foothills of Mahabaleshwar. This sleepy, pensioners' town made news as a film shooting location with the success of 'Swades'. But how does a town, something that is in between a village and a city, come into being and then just stay that way for years on end? What stops it from becoming a city? What made it give up its village-ness?
December 2004 saw the tsunami strike the shores of Tamil Nadu. Six students from the Department were rushed to Cuddalore within two weeks of the calamity. They stayed there for ten days and produced a short film 'When Mother Came Calling'. These experiences are meant for students to sensitize themselves to the 'reality' around them.
Four short films produced by students of the Department participated in the 'Sixty Seconds to Fame' national short film competition conducted by the Ability Foundation in Chennai. Two of these films were selected for the final screening in this festival.
Each batch of students has its own yahoo group, an exclusive space, where they share, debate, discuss and even fight over their views, interpretations and experiences. Thus every batch has its own yahoo group that is interconnected to the other batches like the mcj2003, mcj2004, mcj2005, mcj2006 and mcj2007 yahoo group that is active and abuzz with everything from silly forwards to serious discussion on news, current events, films, books and the works. The Department ensures complete transparency in its affairs. Students have access to everything in the department and the Department recognizes the right of the students to know what is happening in the Department.
Each year, as part of the course, the students conduct two seminars - 'Issues, Ideas and Challenges of the 21st Century'. This is a paper in the third semester. Students are expected to choose a topic, present a research paper as well as invite two guests who are experts on the issue.
The faculty includes:
Mr. Mangesh Karandikar, Asst. Prof and Head
Mr. Sanjay Ranade, Associate Professor.
Dr. Sunder Rajdeep, Asst. Professor.
Mrs. Daivata Patil, Asst. Professor
Ms. Meenakshi Upadhyay, Asst. Professor.
- Prepare students to become professional content developers across a) Media b) Language
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