J School: Week one in review

I had my first week of classes. "Week" this semester means Wednesday and Thursday. I'll be taking all 12 hours of courses in a 26-hour period. Here's the line-up:

Writing and Reporting-- the journalistic technique boot camp. We'll be pitching stories, researching, reporting, and writing. Our first assignment is profiling a fellow student. Next week, our class is scheduled for September 11, so we are going to the New York memorial service to cover the event. Led by Mary Quigley, a former Newsday reporter. (Most of the profs prefer to be called by first name, but she is Professor Quigley to us. Which sounds a little like a Hogwarts teacher from a Harry Potter book.)

Journalistic Traditions-- this is a reading course with the dean of the department, Rob Boynton. We'll be looking back at magazine articles from the ages, starting with The New Yorker articles from the 1920s and 30s, in order to develop a magazine sensibility. And to start seeing magazines as institutions.

Press Ethics-- this is a free-wheeling course on ethical questions in the practice of journalism. Led by former Vanity Fair and now Portfolio writer, David Margolick. He seems to like tangents and an improvisational syllabus.

I am excited for the semester-- I'll be balancing the classes with my continued writing for Above The Law and an internship at Allure magazine.

Fun stuff this week included seeing The Veils and Liam Finn at Bowery Ballroom with my sis and her bf, a wine and cheese reception for grad school students, and a faint smell of gas in my Gramercy apartment that led to two fire trucks paying us a visit.