Illustrated
Journalism and
Memoir Certificate

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Reimagine journalism. Illustrate your story.

Tell true stories by merging the power of words and pictures. Juxtapose text and images for optimum impact, feeling, and efficiency, opening up opportunities beyond what writing, illustration, or photography can offer alone. Dig into the theory, practice, analysis, and production of comics journalism and documentary sketching. Learn from experts in the field as you sharpen your skills, deepen your knowledge, and gain a sense of the medium’s scope and potential. This program welcomes diversity of technique and expression. Students will use their preferred image-making media and tools (digital or analog) to tell stories with individual style, expression, and authorial voice.

Who Should Enroll

Anyone intrigued by the potential of comics journalism or graphic memoir
Journalists working in multimedia storytelling
Anyone interested in exploring comics and illustrated narrative
Visual artists who want to add writing to their skill set
Writers who want to add drawing to their skill set
Business and technical communications professionals
Filmmakers working in both scriptwriting and storyboarding
Experience in cartooning, journalism, graphic design, or creative writing is useful but not required.

What You'll Gain

The ability to document real-life events, situations, and people and tell their stories
The fundamentals of comics and sequential narrative visual art
The ability to tell your own stories in a way that is engaging to readers
Knowledge of the “third art” that emerges from the combination of words and pictures
The ability to produce your own finished illustrated stories, regardless of drawing skill or experience
Confidence in your original style and authorial voice and proficiency in employing them

How You'll Learn

Engaging video lectures and interviews with industry experts
Direct interaction with faculty practitioners at the top of their fields
Online collaboration and video conferencing
Project-based learning focused on developing real-world skills and portfolio assets

Courses

Explore more details on each of the required courses below.

Fundamentals of Illustrated Journalism and Memoir

Introduces the fundamentals of telling true stories in words and pictures, from single images to multipanel strips. Students become acquainted with the tools and terminology of the field. Quick bootcamp-style exercises build an immersive environment, enabling students to develop familiarity with concepts quickly and comfortably.

Reporting the Visible World: Documentary Storytelling

Documentary drawing — from casual urban sketching to reporting dynamic events — is a useful and powerful medium. Learn to make accuracy and transparency priorities in evidence-based storytelling while maintaining your creative voice. Develop skills in reporting on real-life characters and situations, combining text and images.

Telling Your Story: First-Person Narrative

Develop and present your personal narratives through autobiographical and diary comics and illustrated personal histories and essays. In this course, students examine approaches to illustrated memoir, balancing autobiography with illustration to showcase themselves as main characters.

Illustrated Journalism and Memoir Authors Group

Complete a long-form story or anthology of short work, from outline to publication. Discuss and critique work-in-progress with your instructors and classmates. Visiting professionals will discuss their work and experience. Final projects will be published online.

Download Brochure

“Everyone has an interesting story — By telling it with words and pictures, you can express much deeper and broader experience than with words alone.”

Jason Das, New School journalism instructor and creator of the Illustrated Journalism & Memoir certificate

Why The New School?

The professional landscape as we’ve known it has changed dramatically, and ongoing learning is more important now than ever before. At The New School, we champion every student’s creativity and growth. By combining integrated disciplines with collaborative problem solving, we deliver an immersive, transformative learning experience. With the leadership of Parsons School of Design — a globally top-ranked design school — our faculty imparts the critical expertise students need to advance their careers or pivot to new ones in a constantly evolving world.