What is the English-taught semester Journalism?

As a journalist, you look at society with an open view and a critical eye. You are a curious go-getter, keen on telling your audience what is really going on in the world. You are the extra pair of eyes and ears for your listeners, viewers or readers.

Technological evolutions have created challenges for traditional journalism, but also offer plenty of opportunities to cover news more creatively. You can upscale vital new skills that are much needed as a digital, creative journalist, such as visual and digital storytelling, entrepreneurship and an international, cross-media mind-set.

As a professional ‘digital creative’ you will not only be able to make full use of the existing information technology to create captivating content, but also to plan and organize projects, to keep track of budgets and generate state-of-the-art communication plans. To stand out, creativity is the key.

Together with students from different nationalities and backgrounds, you learn to use information technology in order to plan, coordinate, communicate and illustrate a professional project. You put your knowledge and skills to the test in an integrated (radio) project. You take on the role of the journalist/content creator in a multidisciplinary team.

This English-taught semester is organised by our Bachelor of Journalism (JRN).

This programme is only available in English!

Studenten aan de slag in marketing en communicatie.

What makes this semester unique?

the combination of multidisciplinary courses with specific journalism courses
the focus on digital skills
the focus on creative and innovative content creation
the international dimension in several course units
the challenging integrated project in which you will be coached to assume the role of journalist / content creator in a multicultural and multidisciplinary team
the collaboration between Belgian and international students from Europe and beyond
the exclusive use of English as the working language and the possibility of acquiring extra language skills: introduction to Chinese and/or Dutch

Prerequisites

Minimum 2 successfully completed semesters or an equivalent of 60 ECTS in a related Bachelor programme. This will need to be confirmed by means of an official certificate, a survey of completed courses, or a signed letter from the sending university.

All students should bring their own laptop. To be sufficient the laptop should have a minimum i5 intel processor and minimum 6Gb RAM. Howest is focused on innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Explicit respect for intellectual property is the logical consequence. Howest wants every student to work with legal software.

For the required software Howest has an agreement for all its students with Academic Software. You will benefit from the Howest discount on the license fee. During the first classes an English version of MS Office (required MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint, MS Outlook) and an English version of Adobe CC14 will be installed on your laptop. There is no need to install the software beforehand.

Click here for Howest language expectations.

Non-exchange students can only attend the international semester as a Postgraduate course and need to have completed at least a full Bachelor degree programme at the time they start the international semester course at Howest.

Non-exchange students are not able to attend this international semester.

Course overview

Find the course unit descriptions for this programme (course catalogue) here.

Journalism courses

Newsroom (6ECTS )

This course stimulates students to develop a journalistic attitude. You will take part in a list of diverse workshops, to improve your journalistic skills with the help of people working in the media field. You will also be immersed in cross-media newsrooms. The cross-pollination of international and Belgian students will lead to a diverse journalistic product, with the all-important thrill of the deadline.

Editorial Audio Project (3ECTS)

You will tackle a real-life audio project for a stakeholder within the broad media field. Applying creativity techniques as well as newly acquired technical skill, you will deliver a qualitative, innovative and deadline-driven result that satisfies both the customer and the end-user of your project. You will learn to handle communication challenges, group dynamics and feedback and self-reflection.

International Media (3ECTS)

This course aims to guide students through the international media landscape. It gives students insights into the development and trends that characterize today’s globalized media landscape. The focus lies on a comparative approach and the interaction of media models with political, historical and cultural backgrounds. The course combines (academic) theory with illustrative case studies.

Lifestyle Media (6ECTS)

In this course, you will explore different branches of this media domain. Field professionals will guide you through the foundations of lifestyle media, in order to develop your personal voice. You will learn practical skills and work on lifestyle cases for a broader community, engaging yourself in disciplines such as publishing, advertising, public relations and media communications.

Multidisciplinary courses

Strong Belgium Stories (6ECTS)

This course deepens your knowledge about storytelling by showing you the most characteristic stories of Belgium. Along with our international journalism students, we dive into several “typical” themes, such as heritage and remembrance, arts, European institutions, sports and, of course, chocolate and beer. We explore cutting-edge museums and the European parliament, visit various Belgian cities, be guided by experts, and reflect on Belgian and homeland culture through lectures, visits and assignments related to both tourism and journalism. Please note that this course costs between 150 and 170 euros extra for travel and tours. All excursions are required.

The Collective (6ECTS)

The collective is an extraordinary, interdisciplinary and co-creative project, embedded in various educational departments at Howest. Students, who have developed different skills in their first years of study, bring a variety of professional expertise to their respective projects. Together, they apply methods of design thinking to complex and real-life case studies for a client or company. Imagine what happens when tourism experience designers meet game designers, when tourism experts meet experts in health and wellbeing, or when tourism experts meet experts in multimedia and communication technology? The possibilities are endless!

Elective courses

English for Exchange Students (3ECTS)

This English course provides exchange students with a training in speaking, listening, reading and writing skills, all focused on their ongoing or upcoming academic experience. The lecturer will take the diversity of academic areas of the participants into account, by addressing a range of topics and choosing subjects that are relevant to the attending students wherever possible. The course aims at the B2 proficiency level. We strongly recommend it to all exchange students who have not fully achieved the B2-level in English at the moment of application for their mobility project. For the more proficient students, we see the course as an interesting immersion experience.

This course is optional. Classes take place in the evening.

Basic Dutch for Exchange Students (3ECTS)

Through short, lively lesson units, you will learn basic Dutch grammar along with typical expressions and introductory vocabulary to help you during your stay in Kortrijk and Flanders. This language course is complementary to the Meeting Flanders Today lessons and gives additional insights into Flemish and Belgian society and culture.

This course is optional.