Pitt merges creative nonfiction, journalism programs

The English department announced Monday that it will merge the creative nonfiction and… The English department announced Monday that it will merge the creative nonfiction and journalism tracks of its English writing major to form one nonfiction track.

“There was no good reason to subdivide nonfiction into these two subgenres,” David Bartholomae, chair of the English department, said in an e-mail to journalism professors Monday night.

Under the controversial new program, which will go into effect next spring or in the fall of 2010, students will take an introductory nonfiction course instead of the Introduction to Journalism class they currently take before moving on to higher level courses.

The new program would most likely eliminate the Newspaper 1 and Newspaper 2 classes that follow the introductory journalism course, and students would instead take Nonfiction 1 and Nonfiction 2, which will focus on works of both creative nonfiction and journalism.

Bartholomae, who will be replaced as chair by professor John Twyning in mid-August, said he hopes to keep journalism electives such as Advanced Reporting andand Sports Writing and to add courses in journalistic ethics and online media. The final decision, he said, will be up to a curriculum committee that will meet next year.

The 115 students who have declared a focus in creative nonfiction and 60 who have declared one in journalism will still be able to take Introduction to Journalism, Newspaper 1 and Newspaper 2 next year, although Introduction to Journalism will be taught by nonfiction professors, instead of journalism professors and follow a new course outline. Students enrolled in the classes have not been made aware of the change in the course outline.

Bartholomae said the department plans to have the same number of professors and that their hours and salaries will remain the same. The courses that will still be offered will be offered with the same frequency, he said.

He added that he didn’t think he’d see any difference in the number of students interested in Pitt’s writing program because “the students who are interested in newspapers are those who will be interested in nonfiction.”

In his e-mail to the journalism faculty, Bartholomae said he supported the idea to combine the tracks because he didn’t want to appear as though the University was offering a journalism major when it couldn’t compete with the programs offered at universities with journalism schools.

He also cited the fact that the journalism program doesn’t have any tenured faculty. Most of its professors are adjuncts who work for publications, including but not limited to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Bartholomae said, “There was no one to assume primary responsibility for the students or the curriculum.”

Tara Bradley-Steck, who teaches Advanced Reporting, said she understood the need to have someone “shepherd” the journalism program, but she still had some reservations about the merger.

Bradley-Steck, a former Associated Press bureau chief, said she’s worried that when Newspaper 1 and Newspaper 2, the pre-requisites for her Advanced Reporting class, are eliminated, she will have to make her class easier, leaving her students less prepared for jobs in journalism.

“To me, that’s like taking French 4 when you haven’t had French 2 or French 3,” she said.

She also said she’s concerned that some aspects of creative nonfiction wouldn’t be compatible with some aspects of journalism.

“In the creative nonfiction world, making up a quote is not a big deal,” Bradley-Steck said. “In my world, it’s grounds for dismissal.”

Pitt’s journalism program isn’t the only one undergoing significant changes. The College at Brockport, at the State University of New York, will merge its broadcast and print journalism programs this fall to help students expand their resumes.

Texas A&M dropped its formal journalism major but now offers a journalism minor and a major in agricultural communications and journalism.

Pitt News editor in chief Drew Singer said in a statement that he looks forward to seeing Bartholomae fulfill his commitment to offer more journalism electives.

“A strong journalism background benefits all students, regardless of their career aspirations,” he said. “The ability to effectively gather information and articulately redistribute it is an invaluable skill, and removing the journalism track threatens Pitt’s ability to develop that in its students.”