HISTORY AND CONTEXT OF JOURNALISM is the main theorectical course supporting the BA journalism degree at the University of Winchester in the UK.

The course aims to give a broad education in the field of the the history of idea and the history of journalism. Subject disciplines such as philosophy, politics and economics are explored against a background of artistic and cultural history, mostly within a European and North American context.

The course has four sections, each of which last for a single semester. Thus section one of the course dealing with the concept of The Enlightenment is taught in the first semester of the first year; section two in the second semester of the first year; third part in the first semester of the second year and the fourth and final part of hte taught course is taken in the second semester of the second year.

Students taking this course (module) are required to lead a seminar group on an allocated topic once a semester, and must also maintain a blog commenting on the topics raised in lectures and in seminar papers. The blog must be kept up to date with entries at least once a week.

In addition there is a test on all the material given once a semester. 50 percent of the available credit for this course (module) is given for the test. 25 percent of credit is given for the semianr paper; and 25 percent for the quality of blogging on the course as a whole.

In year three students are encouraged to participate in the Innocence Project as the final year project. Those who do not participate in the Innocence Project are required to explore one of the given topcis on the HCJ course as their final year project (FYP) as the culmination of their studies.