Teaching
In spring 1991, I initiated the J-school’s international reporting courses. That semester I drove with 16 students to Tijuana. For 12 days our reporting team swarmed over the city; we shared a two-bedroom apartment and spent less than $1500 for the trip. The experience launched an annual international reporting course; I’ve continued to teach some of the classes, others have been taught by UC faculty or visiting journalists from other countries. The program has also generated an in-house magazine, stories for various media, websites and a book.
Currently I run the India Reporting Project, which invites an Indian journalist to spend a semester at Berkeley and prepare students for a reporting trip in India.
As for my own teaching, after 22 years it’s still a work in progress. Each new crop of students exposes the fault lines in my well-laid plans. Not a year goes by that I don’t change and improve my syllabus.
I’ve linked below a general outline for my basic Reporting and Writing Course. And because others wanting to take students abroad have asked for advice, I’ve also attached a memo I wrote some time ago on what I’ve learned teaching international reporting.