Partnering to Reimagine AP Seminar Through Journalism and Media Literacy

Northwestern University

• Institution Type: Private, research university
• Location: Evanston, Illinois
• Founded: 1851
• Student Body: ~8,500 undergraduates, ~13,000 graduate/professional students

Known For:

• Top-ranked journalism (Medill), engineering, and business programs
• Interdisciplinary research and global impact
• Selective admissions and academic excellence
• Robust civic engagement and Chicago partnerships
• Member of the Association of American Universities (AAU)

In response to declining interest in journalism majors, faculty at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism saw a dual opportunity: to strengthen high school pathways into the field, and to deepen civic learning for a new generation of students. The result was a groundbreaking collaboration between Medill faculty, local educators, and the College Board—one that reimagined AP Seminar through the lens of journalism, media, and democracy.

Developed in partnership with four Chicago-area high schools and the McCormick Foundation, the AP Journalism and Media module brings together rigorous academic instruction with real-world civic relevance. Topics include media literacy, social media and society, and the role of journalism—giving students the tools to analyze, question, and participate in public discourse.

What began as a mission-driven initiative to create a stronger pathway to the field of journalism for underserved students in Chicago has expanded to include administration of the Scholastic Press Association of Chicago and the Illinois Journalism Education Association to provide a stronger infrastructure to support the work of student journalists around the state of Illinois. The work continues to expand on a national level through the development of the AP Seminar module, which has now been used in more than 60 schools from 27 states (including the District of Columbia). For Medill faculty, it reflects a deeper mission: to engage more students in rigorous journalism in a fragmented media landscape.

Program Highlights and Outcomes

• Curriculum Integration: The custom-designed module fits fully within the AP Seminar framework, meeting all course requirements while adding a unique civic lens.
• High-Touch Faculty Collaboration: An advisory board of AP teachers co-developed the course with Medill professors, ensuring alignment with both classroom needs and AP standards.
• Scalable Implementation: Since its pilot phase, the course has been adopted in schools nationwide and continues to evolve with feedback.
• Mission-Aligned Innovation: The course embodies Northwestern’s commitment to public impact, access, and educational innovation. 

"Today’s students are navigating an information ecosystem that is more complex, more contested, and more consequential than any previous generation has faced. Students deserve an education that meets the world that they interact with everyday, and right now that means intentionally guiding students toward developing critical frameworks for seeking, evaluating and acting on reliable information. The Journalism, Media and Democracy module grew out of that belief. AP Seminar already builds the research and synthesis skills that are crucial for today’s students and our module gives those skills a real-world context by examining the role that journalism plays in producing the shared knowledge that democracies depend on. We developed this module because we believe that those two things belong together in classrooms. “

Michael A. Spikes, Ph.D.
Professor of Practice, Journalism 
Director, Teach for Chicago Journalism

Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications
Northwestern University