Journalism and Design, BS (Boston) < Northeastern University Academic Catalog

The combined major in journalism and design integrates the ability to gather, investigate, analyze, and present information in journalistic contexts with the practice of understanding humans, their surrounding contexts and systems, and designing alternative futures. Students have an opportunity to gain reporting and writing skills aligned with journalistic norms and goals while developing a broad understanding of design for journalism through the principles and systems of perception, applying visual form and the interrelationships of text and image to construct narratives and create meaning. They engage visual composition, form, and pattern to enhance written language and create navigable interfaces in support of journalistic creations to facilitate human understanding of complex and vital knowledge, connecting people to people and people to information in today’s digital age.

This informs their choice of a design option: experience design, a holistic and integrative approach that focuses on the quality of the human experience in concrete situations related to domains such as digital news products; graphic design, the integration of text and image to communicate critical concepts in domains such as visual journalism and infographics; information design, the visualization and physicalization of data to enhance human understanding of complex knowledge in domains such as interactive visualization and data journalism; or interaction design, the creation of navigable interfaces and systems that allow audiences to take an active role to achieve meaningful goals in domains such as interactive online news.

Complete all courses listed below unless otherwise indicated. Also complete any corequisite labs, recitations, clinicals, or tools courses where specified and complete any additional courses needed beyond specific college and major requirements to satisfy graduation credit requirements.

Universitywide Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the Universitywide Requirements.

NUpath Requirements

All undergraduate students are required to complete the NUpath Requirements.

Introduction to College

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
JRNL 1000	Journalism at Northeastern	1
or ARTF 1000	Art and Design at Northeastern

Journalism Major Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Journalism Introductory Course
JRNL 1150	Understanding Today’s News	4
Journalism Foundations
Must receive a C or better in the following:
JRNL 1101 and JRNL 1102	Journalism 1: Fundamentals of Reporting and Writing and Journalist’s Toolbox	5
JRNL 2201	Journalism 2: Intermediate Reporting	4
JRNL 2301	Visual Storytelling in Journalism	4
JRNL 3610	Digital Storytelling and Social Media	4
Law and Ethics
JRNL 3550	The First Amendment and the Media	4
or JRNL 4650	Ethics and Diversity in the News Media
Journalism Electives
Complete three JRNL courses.		12

Design Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Art + Design Fundamentals Required
ARTF 1220	Elements of Visual Composition (with optional ARTF 1221)	2
Art + Design Fundamentals Electives
Complete 6 semester hours of the following:		6
ARTF 1200	Representational Drawing
ARTF 1210	Abstract Drawing
ARTF 1230 and ARTF 1231	Making with Form and Materials and Making with Form and Materials Tools
ARTF 1240 and ARTF 1241	Making with Video, Sound, and Animation and Making with Video, Sound, and Animation Tools
ARTF 1250 and ARTF 1251	Designing Interactive Experiences and Designing Interactive Experiences Tools
Design Required
ARTG 1001 and ARTG 1002	Design Perspectives: An Introduction to Design in the World and Seminar for Design Perspectives	4
ARTG 1270 and ARTG 1271	Design: Process + Practices and Studio for Design: Process + Practices	4
ARTG 1290 and ARTG 1291	Typographic Systems and Studio for Typographic Systems	4
Design Elective
Complete 4 semester hours of ARTG courses not already required as long as prerequisites have been met. ARTG 2262 and ARTG 2263 are recommended. ¹		4
Art + Design History Elective
Complete 4 semester hours of ARTH courses. ARTH 1001 Visual Intelligence and ARTH 1002 Seminar in Visual Intelligence are recommended.		4
Art + Design Elective
Complete 4 semester hours of ARTD, ARTE, ARTF, ARTG, ARTH, ARTS, EXRE, or GAME course for which prerequisites have been met and course has not been used to fulfill other requirements of the program.		4
If ARTG 5000 Topics in Design (or any other topics course in the subjects listed above) is completed more than once, the additional completions may be allowed toward the electives.
Degree Capstone Project
ARTG 4550	Design Degree Project	4

¹: For students interested in the PlusOne in Information Design and Data Visualization, speak with an advisor about an alternative course option to Prototyping with Code (ARTG 2262) and Lab for ARTG 2262 (ARTG 2263).

Design Options

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Complete one of the following options:		8
Creative Fabrication
ARTG 2810	Creative Fabrication Design Principles
ARTG 3810	Topics in Creative Fabrication Inquiry
Experience Design
ARTG 3462	Experience Design Principles
ARTG 3464	Topics In Experience Design Inquiry
Graphic Design
ARTG 2252	Graphic Design Principles
ARTG 3452	Topics In Graphic Design Inquiry
Information Design
ARTG 2242	Information Design Principles
ARTG 3444	Topics in Information Design Inquiry
Interaction Design
ARTG 2400 and ARTG 2401	Interaction Design Principles and Interaction Design Principles Tools
ARTG 3400	Topics In Interaction Design Inquiry

Integrative Requirements

Course List
Code	Title	Hours
Note: ARTG 4550 double counts with the specified requirements above.
ARTG 4550	Design Degree Project	4
JRNL 5311	Design for Storytelling	4

Program Requirement

129 total semester hours required

Sample Plans of Study

Four Years, Two Co-ops in Spring/Summer First Half

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 1000 or ARTF 1000	1	JRNL 1101 and JRNL 1102	5	ARTG 1290 and ARTG 1291	4	Elective	4
JRNL 1150	4	ARTG 1270 and ARTG 1271	4	ARTF elective	2	Elective	4
ARTG 1001 and ARTG 1002	4	EEAM 2000	1	ARTF elective	2
ARTF 1220 (with optional ARTF 1221)	2	MATH elective	4
ARTF elective	2	Elective	4
ENGW 1111	4
	17		18		8		8
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 2201	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
JRNL 5311	4					Elective	4
Design option level 1	4
ARTH elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 2301	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
JRNL elective 1	4					Elective	4
Design option level 2	4
Art+design elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
JRNL 3610	4	JRNL 3550 or 4650	4
JRNL elective 2	4	JRNL elective 3	4
Design elective	4	ARTG 4550	4
Elective	4	Elective	4
	16		16
Total Hours: 131

Five Years, Three Co-ops in Spring/Summer First Half

Year 1
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 1000 or ARTF 1000	1	JRNL 1101 and JRNL 1102	5	ARTG 1290 and ARTG 1291	4	Vacation
JRNL 1150	4	ARTG 1270 and ARTG 1271	4	ARTF elective	2
ARTF 1220 (with optional ARTF 1221)	2	MATH elective	4	ARTF elective	2
ARTF elective	2	EEAM 2000	1
ARTG 1001 and ARTG 1002	4	Elective	4
ENGW 1111	4
	17		18		8		0
Year 2
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 2201	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Vacation
Design option level 1	4
ARTH elective	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		0
Year 3
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 2301	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Elective	4
JRNL elective 1	4					ENGW 3302	4
Design option level 2	4
Art+Design elective	4
	16		0		0		8
Year 4
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours	Summer 1	Hours	Summer 2	Hours
JRNL 3610	4	Co-op	0	Co-op	0	Vacation
JRNL elective 2	4
Elective	4
Elective	4
	16		0		0		0
Year 5
Fall	Hours	Spring	Hours
JRNL 5311	4	JRNL 3550 or 4650	4
JRNL 3550 or 4650	4	JRNL elective 3	4
Design elective	4	ARTG 4550	4
Elective	4	Elective	4
	16		16
Total Hours: 131

Academic Catalog 2025-2026

Journalism and Design, BS (Boston)