Goldring Arts Journalism and Communications

Whether you’re a writer with a passion for the arts or an artist with an interest in reporting, the Goldring program was created to train the next generation of arts journalists and communicators.

Arts journalism students at the Spoleto Festival

The Goldring arts journalism and communications program offers a uniquely flexible combination of courses designed to meet the educational objectives of each student while also providing training in multimedia communications

As the first master’s degree program in arts journalism at an accredited communications school, the Goldring program pioneered the concept of training journalists to write about the arts for a range of outlets-from publications like The New York Times and Entertainment Weekly, to organizations like the Metropolitan Opera and Sundance Film Festival.

Goldring Arts Journalism Master’s Program Basics

The Goldring arts journalism and communications master’s is a 12-month program. It is designed to hone your reporting and writing skills across different types of media on multiple platforms. You will have the opportunity to travel to Toronto for the Toronto International Film Festival and New York City for an arts immersion trip that includes attendance at theater and music performances, film screenings, museum and gallery tours, and lectures. You will visit with artists and administrators at major arts institutions, and take part in writing workshops with arts editors and writers in Charleston for the Spoleto Festival USA.

Students at Toronto Film Festival sign at night

Who Should Apply to the Arts Journalism Master’s Program?

Traditionally, arts journalists have started their careers either as artists who learned to write or as writers who became passionately interested in writing about an art form.

Whatever your background, this program can be tailored to your needs. You will have the opportunity to learn from your peers-casting directors, actors, designers and more-as well as from professors with years of real-world experience in the field.

What Will I Learn in the Goldring Arts Journalism Graduate Program?

As a student in the arts journalism program, you will take the same introductory reporting courses as other journalism students at the Newhouse School. The grad program offers a flexible combination of courses designed to meet journalistic and artistic/cultural educational objectives. Two advisors will help you shape your arts journalism graduate studies, with one specially focused on the areas of arts and culture you wish to explore.

Goldring students stand under movie marquee

Why Apply to the Goldring Arts Journalism Master’s Program?

An arts journalist does more than report on what is happening in the cultural moment. Your ability to report on and analyze a topic with well-researched and thoughtful opinions requires a vast knowledge of culture and the arts. This program provides you with the historical knowledge to put issues in cultural context, while understanding that art is a constantly evolving and growing field. You will learn how to write reviews, news and think pieces while making the arts accessible for diverse audiences.

Application Deadline

For more information about the M.A. in arts journalism and communications, contact Professor Eric Grode (ejgrode@syr.edu), Program Director.

For more information about graduate studies at the Newhouse School, contact Martha Coria (macoria@syr.edu), Assistant Director of Graduate Programs.