SUSI 2011 Scholars to Receive Preparatory Materials

By Xueying Luo

The Institute for International Journalism (IIJ) in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism has shipped two books to the SUSI 2011 scholars in 18 countries in preparation for the summer institute. The books are meant to provide scholars with some stimulating literature as they get ready for SUSI at Ohio University. The books provide a starting point to some of the pedagogical and scholarly issues they are about to encounter or experience in the academic sessions, cultural tours, and media visits.

The SUSI summer institute is funded by an annual renewable grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Study of the U.S. Branch in the Office of Academic Exchange Programs.

The books highlight salient issues to be discussed in the program, including press freedom in the United States, media ethics, democratization, American higher education and media accountability in a democracy. Scholars and OU faculty will use these books to generate ideas on various topics and issues involving U.S. journalism education and media practice.

The two books are American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political and Economic Challenges (3rd Edition), and The Elements of Journalism.

Edited by Philip G. Altbach, Robert O. Berdahl, and Patricia J. Gumport, American Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Social, Political and Economic Challenges addresses key issues from a macro perspective that American higher academic institutions are dealing with and contemporary challenges in academe and in the future . It explicates and discusses the relationships between students, educators, academic institutions, and society.

The Element of Journalism,edited by PEJ (Project for Excellence in Journalism) Director Tom Rosenstiel and CCJ (Committee of Concerned Journalists) Chairman and PEJ Senior Counselor Bill Kovach, outlines several major principles of being a responsible journalist to reach the central purpose of journalism, “to provide citizens with accurate and reliable information they need to function in a free society.” The easy-to-read book is actually suited for undergraduate students, but it also reminds journalism educators, journalists, and journalism students what they should do in the profession, as well as what citizens want them to do.