Prof. Glenn Lewis has been appointed director of the new Bachelor of Arts in Journalism Degree officially launched by the York College English Department this semester.

Lewis, who teaches Feature Writing and Narrative Journalism at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, created the curriculum for the York degree and wrote a dozen or so new courses for the program. He had previously been the Coordinator for the Journalism minor he originated in 1991.

The York B.A. in Journalism provides a cutting-edge approach to teaching a broad cross-section of skills in the field. All majors are required to take courses such as Beat Reporting and Community News Coverage, Essentials of Editing, Journalism Ethics and Legal Issues, and Basics of Online Journalism. “What’s more, just about every course has a strong interactive component built in,” said Lewis.

Students now majoring in Journalism at York can choose from concentrations in News Writing & Reporting, Broadcast Journalism (with television, radio, and Web radio), and Book & Magazine Publishing. All Journalism majors and minors also have an opportunity to publish in print and online for York’s award-winning student newspaper. Lewis pointed out that York already has “a state-of-the-art HD television studio and multi-media laboratory, and a new radio facility and news bureau are in the works.”

Some of the innovative electives developed by Lewis for the major include Journalism Literature; Advanced Reporting and Writing for Broadcast News; and Editorial Writing, Commentary, and Criticism. In addition, all candidates for the major take at least one hands-on fieldwork course in their selected concentration before graduating. Lewis noted that many of the finest concepts for the York B.A. in Journalism grew out of his work on the founding curriculum committee for the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

As a veteran journalist and author, Lewis has written extensively about journalism, business, health, sports and societal trends. His articles have appeared Publishers Weekly, Car & Driver, Library Journal, Sunday Daily News and Philadelphia Inquirer, among many others. He also co-authored a popular health and advice book for Henry Holt and co-created The Southside Sluggers Baseball Mysteries series for Simon & Schuster.

Lewis serves as editor of the Key Documents Volume of the Encyclopedia of Journalism due out in September 2009 from Sage Publications, and as an on-air journalism and media expert for Channel 5 News. He has an M.A. in Creative Writing from the City College of New York.