New York Times’ media columnist left behind reading material for an entire generation.

Last week, David Carr passed away.

If you didn’t know him, he was known for his reporting and analysis of publishing, television and social media (for which he was an early evangelist) at the New York Times.

Often, reading David Carr was like looking into the future.

He will be missed. He left behind a lot, and it is one of those things that I wanted to share with you this week.

Last August, he joined Boston University’s communications school to teach a course he named Press Play. A course that, as he puts it, “aspires to be a place where you make things. Good things. Smart things. Cool things. And then share those things with other people.”

Everything about this course was web-based, on a platform called Medium. So much that even the entire course syllabus was published, publicly, on it.

If you are exploring content, or even if you swim in it daily, reading the syllabus is a must. He had nailed exactly how to approach, at 10,000 feet, content strategy, production and distribution.

The post on Medium is separated into the course’s 14 weeks, each filled with details of what would be discussed, but most important, what students should read before coming into class.

That is the true value of this, for anyone who did not attend Carr’s classes.

Here is a selection of some of the weekly themes:

  • Choosing Targets
  • Collaboration
  • New Business Models for Storytelling
  • Distribution Models
  • Beyond Clicks, a Look at Reader Engagement
  • Telling Stories in a Visual Age
  • Imagine the rest.

I invite you to take the 15 minutes required to go through the syllabus. And get your bookmarks ready, you might well end up with an additional 15-20 articles you will absolutely want to read.

Farewell, Mr. Carr.

Read the entire Press Play course syllabus, including links to must-read articles (14-min read)