Western Kentucky University / H / James L. Highland

Highland is one of those professors who has been there when our parents attended WKU, and is still alive and kickin'. He is quite the character (he reminds me of Professor Slughorn from HP6 lol), and is boisterous and has a good sense of humor. Sometimes he can be kind of draining though to listen to his hour-long stories though (which can really get off-topic)!

Pretty much in this class you better be ready to write, write, write. *At least* once a week he will assign an article in which you either are expected to complete in the time period of the class or the next day usually. Don't be shocked when you keep getting grades back of B's and sometimes C's on your articles. The good thing is that he will let you revise them and turn them in at the end of the semester for re-grading.

The whole point of this class is to learn how to write journalistically, and that is something that you do learn. I personally feel like I've learned a lot, which is good. He offers a lot of extra credit opportunities (go listen to a speaker and turn in a paragraph summary for 5 points, up to 6 times), so overall this class is manageable.

Overall I would recommend him, but I gave him an Okay because sometimes he just really got on my nerves!

Mr. Highland is the craziest professor I've ever had! I really don't know where to begin with this class. I do know that the most important thing is to turn in the stories he assigns from his workbook. And if you don't have any experience writing public affair stories (most people won't)- just ask him! He will tell you exactly how to write them. After that, it's pretty pointless to go to class. The field trips, which you will either write a paper over or have questions on the test about, can also be skipped if you know people that go and can bum info from. The test are very interesting- there is no point in studying since he makes them up off the top of his head. You will more than likely have no idea what the answer is. That's OK- just draw pictures! He loves creativity and will give you half credit on any question where you draw. And he also gives outrageous curves- we had one that was 30 points. All in all, Highland is a fun professor with a lot of good stories, and his class is not that hard at all. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Highland is the nicest/happiest professor you could have for this class. There isn't much writing and he doesn't even give you a grade for stuff until the end of the semester, so there's plenty of time to do it. There are a few field trips that are always interesting and as long as you are breathing at the test you will get a good grade. Seriously, Highland is awesome.

What an awesome course with an awesome teacher.

Guys, the material is not difficult at ALL. The book is cheap, he tells you almost exactly how to write the stories, and if you don't know something on a test, make something up and you may get creativity points. Seriously, I wrote one thing about Cinderella suing Mickey Mouse for sexual harassment and I got credit.

He wants you to know the info and if you don't, don't fret. Oh yeah--if you bomb on a story, you can re-write it at the end of the semester and get improvement points to bring your grade up!

The the field trips are COOL....especially the jail. Go to that one! Plus he teaches you how to use the public record system....perfect for spying on your friends too....hehehehhe!

I really liked this course and this teacher because you did more than sit in the classroom. there are several field trips though so be prepared to sacrifice some of your free time but most of the trips were fun and those that weren't were at least educational. He is a wonderful teacher who knows what the hell he is doing and he will help you get a job if you need one.

Highland is very knowledgeable in journalism, but don't ever expect him to know what's going on or when something is due. Everything is arbitrary, but if you stay in contact with your UC mentor, it's okay. Highland likes to hear himself talk, but not really about anything. So expect to be confused and laugh cause he sounds like a confused old man because he just kinda says whatever thought happens to go through his mind at the time, relevant or not. The only reason i didn't rate him poor is because he made me laugh.

Highland is a good teacher. You take a lot of field trips to places around town. He does not want anybody to fail his class. He gives you so many opportunities to make a good grade in his class. He loves to tell stories also.

Highland was quite possibly the best professor I've had in the entire department. He is the most helpful, both inside and outside of class, and he will do anything he can to answer any question you have. The class field trips were always interesting, especially the walk-through of the jail. I would recommend to anyone to take his class.

Mr. Highland is a great guy. He will help you in any way, outside or inside class.

Mr. Highland rocks! The field trips freak you out but they're so much fun. The stories never stop, and you will hear the industrial-sized puke story at least twice. Don't bother worrying about the tests because you just have to know it...either you do or you don't. Watch out for those long boring news articles...if you don't have them, you fail, regardless.

Dr. Highland is the most awesome teacher! This man is willing to help his students at basically any time, and deeply cares about each and every one of them. I took JOUR 202 as a 3-week course with Dr. Highland... there were a lot of stories to complete, but it's nothing one can't handle. You learn a lot of valuable skills from this class. *Recommended!*

Simply one of the kindest and most human professors you could hope to meet. Mr. Highland will go out of his way to help you with any troubles you have in the course. The outside of classtime fieldtrips are very interesting.