From the frontlines to the classroom: War correspondent joins UB faculty to teach new course
Journalism and Communication Studies is one of the UB's faculties continually updating its curricula to reflect the evolving demands of journalism and media. So the new courses launched this autumn - War correspondence; Totalitarianism, the press, and censorship; and AI for Journalism: tools, practices, and ethical use - are no surprise.
In a world where the history of communism is being forgotten or rewritten, we believe it’s our duty to ensure every graduate of FJSC understands the horrors on which totalitarian regimes were built and the price Romania paid under such a criminal system. Students will also benefit from electives covering conflict journalism, war correspondence, AI in media, and the new business models shaping journalism—freelancing, donation-based funding, and European and international project financing. These skills will help our graduates remain competitive in a profession that is constantly evolving to keep pace with technological, economic, political, and social changes,” said lecturer Bogdan Oprea, PhD, and Head of the Journalism Department at FJSC.
Living in a world which needs journalists to report from the front lines
The War Correspondence course will be taught by the renowned journalist and war correspondent Mircea Barbu, who has reported from conflict zones such as Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, and Gaza, and now wanted by the Russian authorities, for allegedely illegal crossing of the Russian border, to report on events in the Kursk region.
When he saw me down, my teacher told me that there are moments in life when you don't do things just for yourself. You do them to leave a mark, however small. To ensure continuity, tradition. You do them for those who come after you, so they don't have to start from scratch. Looking back, I realized that a course to prepare me for what conflict journalism really means would have been a real help at the beginning of my journey. A place where I could understand more clearly what it means, from an ethical point of view, to be present in a war zone and, above all, how to prepare myself logistically and mentally for such an experience. And the world we live in needs, as we all see, journalists to report from the front lines. As Marie Colvin, the famous British war correspondent, said: 'In my job, there is no risk of unemployment. The real difficulty is having enough faith in humanity to believe that anyone will care', recalls the journalist.
The course aims to prepare students for the realities of war reporting by covering both journalistic practices and risk management strategies in conflict zones. Topics include:
- Logistical Preparation and Personal Safety in War Zones,
- Legal Aspects and International Conventions for War Reporters,
- PTSD in Journalists: Symptoms, Risk Factors, and Coping Strategies,
- First Aid and Emergency Medical Techniques in Conflict Situations.
Keeping knowledge alive
Mircea Barbu is joined by Cosmin Popa, PhD - a scientific researcher specialized in the history of the USSR–Russia, Central and Southeastern Europe, and the communist and contemporary periods. He will be teaching the course Totalitarianism, the press, and censorship, which aims to provide students with the analytical tools needed to critically examine totalitarian regimes by exploring their ideological and cultural foundations, propaganda techniques, mechanisms of repression and social control, and their impact on media, public communication, and society at large.
The Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies was founded in January 1990 and remains Romania’s only dedicated journalism faculty. This year, it had a post-pandemic record number of applicants, for both undergraduate and master’s programmes.
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