Interested in pursuing KPU’s Journalism Honours Program?
There are two deadlines for applying for the Honours program each year:
- October 15
- April 15
If you want to start one of your Honours courses in the Spring, you should apply before October 15. If you want to start in the Summer or Fall, you should apply before April 15.
In addition to the 120 credits required for the Bachelor of Journalism degree, Bachelor of Journalism Honours students complete three additional courses:
- JRNL 4190 Honours Research
- JRNL 4290 Honours Thesis
- JRNL 4295 Honours Seminar
These courses are completed over three terms as guided-study courses. That means a student works independently on a research or journalism project of their own choosing, under the supervision of an instructor. The project can either result in a research paper or in a series of journalism stories, which can be a combination of text, audio, video, multimedia or data journalism. Regular tuition fees are paid for the Honours Program. Students should apply when they have completed approximately half of the required courses for the Journalism degree, or early in their third year, because the program takes a year to complete.
Faculty Supervisors and Research/Journalism Interests
Before you can be admitted into the Honours Program, you will need to get support from a faculty member in the Department of Journalism and Communication Studies who will serve as your project supervisor. This is not necessary before you apply, however it would be good to start a discussion with possible supervisors. Ideally, your supervisor should share interests in a similar area of research or journalism with you. Acceptance into this program is competitive and students are accepted based on their academic history, the viability of their idea and if an instructor can be matched with the project.
Please copy and paste the questions below in an email to tracy.sherlock@kpu.ca with the subject line “Honours Application”. Please put the text in the body of your email, and not as an attachment:
Name:
Email:
Area of interest:
This can be quite vague at this point, such as diversity in newsrooms, or the long-term effects of COVID-19, or how selfies change the world, or whether comments should be allowed on news stories. Through the research process, your topic will be honed and fine-tuned.
Are you planning a research paper or a series of news stories? If you are planning a series of stories, which medium or mediums do you hope to work in: text, print, audio,video, interactive, multimedia, data journalism, or a combination of these?
Are you applying for the Honours Program because it is a requirement for a Masters program you are applying to? If so, please provide a link to the program and requirement details.
What instructor do you think would be best to supervise your project? Why? Have you spoken with this instructor about your proposal?
The Honours Program involves a lot of self-directed work. Please provide any examples you can think of in which you worked successfully with limited supervision.
What is your current cumulative GPA?
Is there anything else you wish to add?