ABSTRACT
This chapter presents research findings on teaching literary journalism in higher education, based on five years of survey results and twenty-six interviews with college and university literary journalism instructors. The study employs the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) essential learning outcomes developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) to suggest that literary journalism is uniquely positioned to help schools across the United States respond to their charge of providing students with a liberal education. Additionally, the authors propose that literary journalism has potential to aid academic departments in communications and humanities as they seek to address national trends in enrollment declines. Literary journalism integrates skills-based learning across a range of topical inquiry within the broader context of personal and social responsibility. It brings together factual information, interpretative understanding, and creative application. Furthermore, its narrative form provides an accessible channel for students to encounter good writing and robust consideration of real-world challenges. Thus, the authors suggest, educators seeking to achieve the goals of a liberal education might benefit from incorporating literary journalism into their curriculum.
