Language, Culture, and the Arts

The Communication Showcase

ambriggs — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 19:45:03 +0000

The Communication Showcase ambriggs Wed, 03/26/2025 - 15:45

Are you undecided on what courses to take for Fall? Are you interested in Communication courses? Do you want to feel more confident about your public speaking and communication skills?

Did you know public speaking is the #1 skill employers are looking for in their hiring process?

Join our Communication discipline for our Communication Showcase, where you can learn all about our different Communication offerings - from speech to health communications, business communication, public relations, and more! Interested students will hear from our current communication students about their experiences in the courses, navigating the coursework, and what skills they have gained from our breadth of communication courses. Faculty will be available to discuss classes, content, future careers, and to ask any questions.

Pizza, Pop, Dessert & Swag will be available for attendees!

You don't want to miss it!

Tuesday, April 8th, 2025

2:30 - 3:30p

1071 CB

2025-04-08T14:30:00-0400 to2025-04-08T15:30:00-0400

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters Building

CASL Building

4901 Evergreen Road
Dearborn, MI 48128
United States

https://goo.gl/maps/NJDERJjscn8n6jqm6

1071

United States

On Campus

Department of Language, Culture, & the Arts

Karen Shaper

wtan@umich.edu

Admitted Students

Current Students

Free Food;Free Stuff

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Info Session

Presentation

Special Event

Be present, be receptive, be curious

kapalm — Mon, 24 Feb 2025 14:29:28 +0000

Be present, be receptive, be curious kapalm Mon, 02/24/2025 - 09:29

Adam Sekuler has made an artistic career of looking — literally — at people and situations from which most others turn away. An assistant professor of journalism and media production, Sekuler has directed three full-length documentaries, along with numerous short films. His first feature, "Tomorrow Never Knows," centers on Cynthia and her partner, Shar, who, after a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's, embarks on a conscious death. The next, "36 Hours," follows a woman through a lengthy labor. Sekuler’s most recent film, “The Flamingo,” documents 60-something Mary Phillips’ late-life journey of sexual adventurousness and self-discovery. The film had its world premiere at the Camden International Film Festival last fall. Reviewing the film on Letterboxd, a viewer noted it portrays Mary and her community “as what they usually are: inspiring people who believe in radical empathy, softness, and clear, respectful communication.”

Sekuler has recently returned from screenings at the Helsinki Documentary Film Festival and the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Missoula, Montana. He spoke with Reporter about his films and the ways he applies his approach to filmmaking in the classroom.

“The Flamingo” and “Tomorrow Never Knows” seem to be, at their core, films about connection. Does that assessment ring true to you?

I definitely see that in “The Flamingo” — there’s no question that theme is central to the film. And in “Tomorrow Never Knows,” there’s a profound human connection at its core. It’s about these spouses facing one of the hardest decisions any couple could ever make, yet they navigate it together, leaning on and supporting each other. That’s the heart of the film’s narrative.

More than anything, all three of my feature films explore subjects that are often considered taboo — topics people tend to avoid. My goal is to present them in a way that invites engagement, making space for empathy and humanity within stories that many would prefer to turn a blind eye to, that they just would rather not really be thinking about. I want to make people think about these subjects and help them realize that they're not frightening.

How do you develop the relationships for people to trust you enough to welcome you into often very intimate moments?

I'll start by saying, for all of the films — with the exception of the birth film, but I had a deep relationship with that person in advance — I actually start the process by not bringing a camera. And I spend time with the people before we ever start filming. So this is an opportunity for us to get to know each other in advance of the film ever starting. I think that that's an important first step, to show up without the camera.

The other interesting thing about these films is that I made a film before “Tomorrow Never Knows” about an open-air cremation ceremony in central Colorado. It's the only public funeral pyre in the United States. The people who are in “Tomorrow Never Knows” saw that movie and then their Buddhist spiritual advisor approached me and asked if I was interested in making this film because they had seen that other film. So there's that. “Tomorrow Never Knows” was seen by Mary in “The Flamingo” and she approached me about making a film — initially, she said about her community but then, in conversation with her, it turned into a film about her and her community is in the film.

Then at some point you do bring a camera into the room. What is that process like?

Because I'm also working for a long period of time, there's a point where the camera vanishes. If you were to see the earliest images of any of these films, it would be really different, because it does take a little bit of time to socialize the camera into the space.

In “Tomorrow Never Knows,” you see somebody's last breath in that movie. So many people told me, "Don't do it," and I was like, "That's why I have to do it." But actually, what I do is I keep rolling. I don't just end there. It's not like, "Last breath, cut." It’s the last breath, and then Shar's partner comes in the room and sits down and she looks for a long time at the body, and then puts her ear to the body and then looks at the camera and says, "Is that the last one?" If I cut before that, then it's sensationalizing that moment. Instead, what follows is a space — an emotional and human space — that’s just as important as the breath itself.

How does your filmmaking process influence your teaching, particularly in relation to a new course you’ll be teaching in the fall, with support from the Ravitz Foundation, Peace Through the Lens: Arab and Jewish American Film Initiative?

I'm going to bring guests into the classroom. There will be people coming in from Jewish backgrounds, Arab backgrounds, talking about the conflict and their personal relationships to that. Especially now, we’re in social media bubbles in which the information that we're consuming is so specific. And there are truths in all of those places, right? I have a lot of Jewish friends in my life who are posting about the experiences right now of the release of all these hostages, and the parallels of that experience to the Holocaust. Absolutely true. At the same time, I have a lot of people in my life who've been posting for a year and a half now about the terrible experiences that the Palestinian people are going through and comparing that to the Holocaust. Also absolutely true. Finding a space where the students are able to see the parallels of those experiences — that is the goal.

I think the course will be very challenging, given the topic. I will be encouraging students to approach the topic curiously, that's the most important thing. Approach with curiosity and without feeling as if you know anything. You're there to learn. You're not there to come in with assumptions. It's hard to leave everything that you have experienced in your life at the door and be like, "I'm a blank slate while I'm in this experience with you, and I should be checking the things that I feel like I need to respond to and just be here. I just need to be present." That's the most important part of the process: presence, being receptive, being curious. And you know it will lead you into somewhere interesting and it will change you. It will change the assumptions you've come into, the experience with it will change that for you if you're open to it.

How do you create that space for students?

What I say to all my students is that I function in a field where there is an agreed upon grammar of thinking. But I also tell them this agreed upon grammar is evolving all the time, so there's no necessarily right way to do this. There are lots of different ways. There are millions of ways that none of us have ever thought about before. And hopefully you find the one that feels most comfortable to you, and you get into it, and you're swimming through that and evolving your own filmmaking as you go through the process. Saying "there's no right answer" is a very liberating thing for a student. But I increasingly find that students have a hard time with that because they feel like there only are right answers, and it's tough for them to realize that there aren't.

Back to “The Flamingo,” another thing that stands out is how ordinary everyone in the film is. They look like people we would see on campus.

The younger people are totally that. And then the older people are like your grandparents. That's actually the part that I'm hoping people take away on some level: You don't know what your grandmother's up to, and you don't know what's going on in your neighborhood, and you shouldn't, really. And none of this should bother you. None of it is dangerous. It’s actually beautiful and offers human connection in a way that you're not really thinking about.

###

Interview by Kristin Palm

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Off

Mon, 02/24/2025 - 14:10

As he works the festival circuit with his new documentary, “The Flamingo,” Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler discusses how ‘radical empathy’ impacts his filmmaking — and his teaching.

Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Production Adam Sekuler. Photo by Annie Barker

Bringing fresh perspectives to the Freep Film Festival

stuxbury — Wed, 03 Apr 2024 13:34:11 +0000

Bringing fresh perspectives to the Freep Film Festival stuxbury Wed, 04/03/2024 - 09:34

Growing up queer in a conservative Kansas town, filmmaker Sav Rodgers didn’t realize that the 1997 indie hit “Chasing Amy” was controversial. He regarded the Kevin Smith film, with its lesbian lead character, as lifesaving. It played an important role in Rodgers’ coming out as a trans man.

Filmmaker Sav Rodgers, center, with actor Joey Lauren Adams, left, and director Kevin Smith, right. Photo courtesy/Freep Film Festival

Rodgers has turned his personal experiences with the film, along with some of the difficult feelings around and behind it, into a documentary, which was submitted for consideration for this year’s Freep Film Festival, an all-documentary festival produced by the Detroit Free Press. It was selected by a panel of first-time reviewers who festival organizers say bring a new and welcome perspective to the festival: 51��Ƶ-Dearborn students.

The partnership is part of Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Production Adam Sekuler’s new “Film Festival Programming” course. Working closely with Freep Festival organizers, students reviewed numerous submissions, assessing each for its artistic merit, storytelling prowess and thematic relevance. In addition to “Chasing Chasing Amy,” the group selected “The Herricanes,” the story of the first women’s full tackle football league in the 1970s.

The effort was an exercise in consensus-building, says Natalie Albrecht, a senior majoring in journalism and screen studies. While “Chasing Chasing Amy” was a shoo-in for many students, sentiments about “The Herricanes” were a bit more varied. “It was on a lot of people’s lists, but it wasn't at the top,” Albrecht explains. But broad appeal is a key consideration in curation, so that made the film a strong contender. Also, both films got the students talking, which Albrecht sees as a harbinger of how festival audiences will respond. “I feel like the ones that we chose were ones that we felt we had the most dialogue about,” she says.

Kathy Kieliszewski, the festival’s artistic director and co-founder, says the students’ involvement brought viewpoints she and her colleagues have been seeking for some time. “We've had diversity in the programming pool as a mission, because obviously different people have different perspectives. And so (with the students) we had a different demographic. It was incredibly diverse,” she explains, noting that even the festival’s interns have been a bit older than Sekuler’s students and also that the 51��Ƶ-Dearborn crew brought a range of cultural backgrounds into the mix. The students “came at it with all of their own history and all of their own perspectives,” Kieliszewski observes.

That said, Kieliszewski says she’s thrilled that the two films selected by the students were two of her favorites as well: “Ultimately, a good film is a good film, you know? Is it relating to you on a very human basic level? And in this instance, ‘Chasing Chasing Amy,’ and ‘The Herricanes’ do that very well.”

As a part of a film course, 51��Ƶ-Dearborn student Aaron Vensko, left, records local rapper Esa Mighty for the documentary "Becoming Mighty." The short film was selected to be shown in the Freep Film Festival.

Curation is only one aspect of Sekuler’s course — the students are also learning about event planning, festival logistics, marketing and publicity, and fundraising. Through regular Zoom visits with film industry professionals and filmmakers, including Rodgers, the students are hearing firsthand about filmmaker experiences, compensation and other labor practices, organizational structures, and the often difficult realities of making a living as a film programmer, a job Sekuler himself held for many years.

Sekuler was intentional in exposing his students to the nitty gritty of the industry, even convincing a guest programmer to pull up her budget spreadsheet and share it with the class. Such practical skills have wide application, Sekuler points out. “I mean, the dream job is obviously going into film programming,” he says. “The immediate job is you could work in any sort of event production whatsoever. There are skills that you learn from this that are just about how does a cultural organization work, which is really different than, say, a corporate organization.”

While Albrecht has found much of what she has learned sobering, she is glad to have gained a realistic view of the arts industry as she prepares to enter the job market. Practice-based learning, after all, is not just about acquiring the skills related to a potential career choice, but discovering whether that choice aligns with a student’s goals, financial and otherwise.

As her graduation approaches, Albrecht — who has also been a teaching assistant for the Art & Agency project on campus as well as co-editor of the literary journal, Lyceum — says she is considering communications work, where she envisions stability while applying the skills she’s gained in her courses and extracurricular projects. She plans to continue to pursue her creative interests on the side. “What I think I'm figuring out is that I still feel more complete when I am involved in creative work,” she says. “But I am very much aware of the realism now that, like every creative industry, it is kind of a struggle.”

The Freep Film Festival runs April 10-14 at locations in Midtown Detroit and Birmingham, with some streaming options. In addition to the student-selected films, 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s involvement includes a panel discussion following ‘Chasing Chasing Amy’ moderated by Associate Professor of Women's and Gender Studies Amy Brainard. “Becoming Mighty,” a short film produced by students in Sekuler’s "Arab American Perspectives" documentary filmmaking course last semester, screens as part of the festival’s Real Fresh University Showcase.

Story by Kristin Palm

Experiential Learning

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Student Engagement

Off

Wed, 04/03/2024 - 13:22

Students in a new course designed by CASL Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler helped curate the all-documentary event, now in its 11th year.

Assistant Professor Adam Sekuler and his students discuss "Chasing Chasing Amy," one of their Freep Film Festival selections. Photo/Max Parham

Celebrating baseball’s unsung heroes

lblouin — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 13:30:19 +0000

Celebrating baseball’s unsung heroes lblouin Mon, 03/25/2024 - 09:30

Baseball scouts are responsible for discovering and recruiting the next generation of players for each Major League team. So who is your favorite scout? If you struggle to name one, you're not alone. Unlike other roles in pro sports, the talent and dedication of scouts often goes unrecognized. Retired University of Michigan-Dearborn professor Jim Gilmore hopes to bring scouts and scouting into the limelight with his new documentary “Fielding Dreams,” which debuted earlier this year at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Gilmore was a clinical professor of communication in Journalism and Screen Studies, the department now known as Journalism and Media Production. While he does not see himself as one to carve a niche in the field of sports documentaries, the success of “Cracking Aces,” Gilmore's recent film about the women of professional poker, and a family connection led him to create “Fielding Dreams.”

Image courtesy Acadia Pictures

"I have a cousin who is a baseball scout for the Texas Rangers," Gilmore says, and this cousin's parents live right down the road from him. "Whenever he would come over, he'd always tell us these stories of the life of a baseball scout. After ‘Cracking Aces,’ I said to him, ‘Look, if you're going to keep telling these stories, I'm going to pick up a camera and I'm going to start recording, because I think it's going to be interesting,'" Gilmore says. "He was really helpful in connecting us with a bunch of other baseball scouts as well."

When Gilmore began filming for “Fielding Dreams,” he conceived of the film as a quick, fairly straightforward oral history project. "I thought this one I could crank out in a year," he recalls. "Well, we started in the summer of 2019, and all hell broke loose." The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically altered the focus of the film and, of course, took a significant toll on the work of the scouts themselves.

"They were shut down from doing their work," Gilmore says. "They couldn't go visit schools, they couldn't go to any games." So instead of being a broad film about the lives of baseball scouts, “Fielding Dreams” by necessity incorporated the impacts of a pandemic on a very specific group of professionals. But, with the worst of pandemic restrictions over, Gilmore wanted to make sure the film would be relevant to viewers today and in the future. "We wanted to make sure that COVID wasn't the focus of the documentary, but a part of the documentary," he says.

That left Gilmore with the challenge of defining the film's arc. "That came when we were doing an interview with John Odell, curator of history and research at the Baseball Hall of Fame, who was telling us that there are no baseball scouts in the Hall of Fame," Gilmore says. As it turns out, scouts are essentially the only baseball industry professionals who are not represented in Cooperstown.

"That ends up becoming the hook of my documentary," Gilmore says. "Who are these people that aren't part of the Hall of Fame, that are perhaps the most important people to the game itself?" The conversation with Odell also created the opportunity for Gilmore to debut “Fielding Dreams” at the Hall of Fame. Sadly, Odell passed away before the film's premiere, but members of his family were in attendance.

Gilmore says that he hopes his film will draw attention to baseball scouts and get some of these professionals inducted into the Hall. But even outside of being denied the prestige of Cooperstown, Gilmore says, "What I came to find out is oftentimes they're treated kind of terribly." The filmmaker spoke of scouts' working conditions: they often operate on year-to-year contracts with no job stability. "As soon as a new general manager comes in and hires a new scouting director, often that scouting team is let go. And it's not always easy to find another job," Gilmore says. He adds that the salaries scouts receive are often modest, without substantial benefits, and the toll of constant travel makes it difficult to maintain a family life. "All of these people have spent their life loving baseball," he says. “And they'll do anything to be part of the game."

51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s College of Arts, Sciences and Letters played an outsized role in creating the film. Gilmore used faculty development and travel funds from the CASL Dean’s Office and elsewhere to support production. And he turned to Instructional Learning Assistant Rick Morrone, an alum and Gilmore’s former student, to design the music for the film. "Music's very hard to secure for a documentary, so in many ways, it's easier if you can get a composer to create an original score," Gilmore says. Having kept in touch with Morrone after his student's graduation and hiring him for his current position at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, their collaboration seemed a natural fit.

"The score of the film is amazing. It's what makes the film sing in many ways," Gilmore says.

Following its Hall of Fame premiere, “Fielding Dreams” will make its festival debut at the Sarasota Film Festival April 5 to 14, and Gilmore is hoping to schedule a screening in Michigan as well.

In the meantime, Gilmore is working on a documentary project with students at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida, where he has been a visiting filmmaker since retiring from 51��Ƶ-Dearborn. Their film explores the history of Fort Mose, the first free Black settlement in what would become the Americas.

###

Story by Shaun Manning

Arts

Faculty and Staff

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Off

Mon, 03/25/2024 - 13:24

In his documentary, “Fielding Dreams,” Professor Emeritus Jim Gilmore celebrates the lives of baseball scouts — the game's only professionals not represented in the Hall of Fame.

51��Ƶ-Dearborn Professor Emeritus Jim Gilmore (left) with producer Tracy Halcomb at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Photo courtesy Acadia Pictures

'Art is a bridge to learning'

stuxbury — Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:41:04 +0000

'Art is a bridge to learning' stuxbury Wed, 03/15/2023 - 13:41

Dental students often take art classes, like calligraphy, for finger dexterity. Engineers and architects use illustration to visually highlight their projects to audiences. And studying art improves bedside manner — research found that medical students who study art are better able to interpret the emotional expressions on patients' faces.

“Art is a bridge to learning. These are just a few examples to show that you do not need to be an art major to benefit from studying art,” said Lecturer Madeleine Barkey, who teaches in the applied art/art history program. “Art also has a wellness component that will benefit you at work and at home. It gives us ways to express ourselves and alleviate stress.”

In short, art benefits everyone. And so does nature. Thinking about these two universally available mental health boosters, Barkey wanted to connect them to show students how closely aligned the two are.

To do this, Barkey created the course ART 327: Scientific Illustration. Students worked closely with subjects related to geology, biology and botany. For their last project, they created a layered anatomy of an animal.

“Students in the class majored in biomedical engineering, environmental science, psychology, pre-health disciplines and more,” Barkey said. “They didn’t all see themselves as art students and were concerned that they wouldn’t deliver. By the end of the course, they were amazed at the level of work they produced."

Art in the Scientific Illustration Showcase by Bella Porbe and Keziah Eggert. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

Barkey, who wanted to expand her student’s experience beyond the university’s art studio, worked with 51��Ƶ-Dearborn’s Environmental Interpretive Center. The EIC provided the students with resources when they needed samples and references. Barkey and EIC then partnered with the class to showcase the work. The art exhibit “Scientific Illustration” is on display in the EIC’s lobby now through the end of April. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.

EIC Program Supervisor Rick Simek said he’s impressed with the caliber of work in the show and encourages the campus community to take a look.

Simek also wants 51��Ƶ-Dearborn community members to know that EIC staff is available to share hands-on nature and environmental studies lessons and the EIC team welcomes ideas for course collaboration. “We are here as a resource for professors and students. We have classroom space, an observation room and acres of natural areas. Our natural areas have lessons that change by season, so there’s a lot of ground we can cover.” Interested? Let the EIC staff know.

Senior Alexis Kott is a student in the Scientific Illustration class. The urban and regional studies major dreams of designing cities and neighborhoods. And she is especially passionate about bringing green spaces to heavily developed areas.

Growing up in northern Michigan, Kott said the woods were just steps from her home. She’d birdwatch with her grandmother and hike with her father. And sometimes she’d be inspired to draw. A lily pad painting in grade school ended up in an art show at her local museum.

With her dad’s military career, Kott moved around a bit. With each move, she began to realize the lakes and woods that inspired her as a child weren’t a universal experience. She saw factories that lined bodies of water and neighborhood streets that had much more gray than green.

“We need nature to live. If we embrace it, nature can provide a lot. It reduces pollution and improves mental health. If you don’t consider the environment when planning, there are consequences like poor air quality, flooding and decreased health outcomes,” Kott said. “Everyone should have access to parks, trees and greenspaces. One of my professional goals is to help make that happen.”

Kott, an applied art minor, said she uses art skills she’s learned from Barkey’s classes in her work. In addition to the Scientific Illustration course, Kott also took Barkey’s intermediate drawing class that allowed her to focus on her own interests, like architectural and perspective drawing.

Alexis Kott draws birds that she sees outside of the EIC observation room.

Kott said potential employers in the city planning industry have told her that they like how she merges art and function. At a recent Michigan Association of Planning Conference, Kott interacted with city managers and planners. She’d talk about green infrastructure ideas for a community and share some of her artwork.

“Art is important in the urban planning field because it’s a language that helps people understand future projects no matter your age or background,” Kott said. “Even if your community members speak different languages, art can help communicate an idea clearly.”

But until graduation comes, Kott connects communities with nature by serving as a student naturalist at the EIC. She takes out elementary student groups to teach them about the land and nature’s benefits. She birdwatches with them in the observation room and even shows them her sketches.

A group of children on a field trip to the EIC recently told Kott that they’d never seen the woods. She said there was wonder in their faces as they looked for wildlife and viewed tapped maple trees that dripped sap for syrup.

Kott said she’s proud to be on a campus that provides that type of education and experience. After graduation, Kott’s goal is to take the lessons she’s learned from her time at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn and meet communities where they are by creating spaces outside of their homes that will evoke wonder, promote wellness and possibly even inspire a future career.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Arts

Nature or Environment

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Environmental Interpretive Center

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Natural Sciences

Social Sciences

Off

Wed, 03/15/2023 - 17:40

In the new Scientific Illustration art course, Dearborn Wolverines created pieces that focused on biology, botany and geology — and discovered how art can advance careers in health, conservation and more.

Senior Alexis Kott has multiple works of art on display in the Scientific Illustration Showcase, which is up through the end of April in the EIC lobby. Photo/Sarah Tuxbury

Students gain appreciation for Spanish peninsular culture and history through food in one 51��Ƶ-Dearborn course

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 22:20:36 +0000

Students gain appreciation for Spanish peninsular culture and history through food in one 51��Ƶ-Dearborn course Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 11/05/2022 - 18:20

Speaking over the blender, Spanish Professor Jorge González del Pozo said gazpacho was created to both nourish and cool Spanish field workers who toiled in the summer heat.

Students watched as he blended the tomatoes, garlic and cucumbers until everything was taken over by the tomatoes’ red hue. He drizzled olive oil into the soup mixture and stirred until it had a smooth, creamy consistency. The smell of garlic and fresh veggies floated in the air. And, after the gazpacho chilled, each student had a bowl.

It looked like a Food Network cooking show. But to students in the SPN 321: Spanish Food and Cuisine course, it was just week six.

“Jorge takes the learning experience to another level. And the way he teaches, what we learn just sticks,” said Jamie Tocco, a junior majoring in international studies. “I haven’t been to Spain, but I’d really like to go one day. Since many of us aren’t in the position to travel, Jorge brings Spain to us through his teaching.”

Created by González del Pozo, the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters course provides students with an overview of Spanish peninsular culture, civilization and history through the analysis of foods, products, dishes and social events around its eating habits.

“Spanish food culture represents an important culinary pillar for many current gastronomical conceptions. Spain has a vast and solid culinary tradition, a diverse and well-positioned present balancing old habits and avant-garde trends, and also a bright future ahead,” said González del Pozo, who is also the Language, Culture and Communication chairman and director of International Studies & Global Cultures. “This course gives students an opportunity to learn and experience Spanish food and cuisine, improve their linguistic competence and become more culturally aware.”

In class, students sampled foods like escalivada, a Spanish roasted vegetable dish, and paella, a Valencian rice dish, and watched films like Cocinando un Tributo and Campo a través.

González del Pozo said cooking demonstrations and food sampling are a must in a cuisine-focused course. But the films are essential, too, because they give cultural insight.

For example, Cocinando un Tributo — a 2015 film about a famous restaurant taking their kitchen crew on a road trip to learn more about Spanish local cuisine — showed that Colombian food has African influence, which is connected to the large population of African descent in the country; Peruvian food is influenced by the Japanese, who moved there centuries ago.

“The hybrid composition and multicultural condition of Spanish cuisine has been influenced and it is influential to other cultures,” he said. “It is very important to recognize this.”

To have students best understand Spanish food and its origins, the course’s final project was a research paper about a region, a local recipe and a filmed presentation on both — produced by journalism and screen studies students — in the CASL JASS Studio. Collaboration with JASS faculty Jim Gilmore and Jennifer Proctor, JASS students and senior television engineer Greg Taylor made the final presentation possible, González del Pozo said.

While JASS students filmed, Rosa Gonzalez gave a cooking show-style presentation, tipping a large red pot so the studio audience — and the viewers watching the CASL televisions in the atrium — could see the finished product.

Gonzalez focused on the Dehesas for her research paper, a cultural landscape of southern and central Spain that is uniquely thriving with a man-made ecosystem that now sustains itself. On the land, pigs are raised. So her recipe was guiso de cerdo, a pork-based stew.

“It is very good. It has potatoes, pork, garlic, tomatoes, vegetables and seasoning,” she said. “But I need to be honest. When I first made it, I had a special ingredient: advice from the best cook I know — my mom.”

After students finished filming, they — both the JASS students and the SPN 321 class — gathered to share a potluck meal. They sampled each other’s food and discussed their dishes.

“Spanish food is a celebration of the senses,” González del Pozo said. “And this is really what it is all about — gathering together to enjoy the food and each other’s company.”

Experiential Learning

International

College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters

Language, Culture, and the Arts

Off

Mon, 12/03/2018 - 06:00

SPN 321 creates a tasty dish that mixes education, collaboration and appreciation.

Students in this semester’s Spanish Food and Cuisine course, including Rosa Gonzalez (above), researched a Spanish-speaking region and a recipe from that region before filming a cooking show-style presentation on both

Mohamad Jaafar has a campus fan club

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 19:09:28 +0000

Mohamad Jaafar has a campus fan club Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/29/2022 - 15:09

This article was originally published on February 15, 2019.

If you want to see a social influencer in action, hang out with senior Mohamad “Moejay” Jaafar for the day.

His reach is wide as he helps run social media sites for the College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters and maintain department websites. But his offline social reach is just as impressive: Visiting table to table in the University Center, he greets everyone by name and introduces strangers to each other so effectively that they continue to talk after he leaves the conversation.

After following him around for a day, it’s clear his affable approach reflects the commitment he has to make the world a more open and inclusive place.

“The more people you know, the more languages you speak, the more cultures you understand, the fewer barriers we all have,” said Jaafar, a communication and political science double major. “Global citizenship is important and it is something we can experience — if we choose to — right on this campus. I want more people to take advantage of it.”

And with Jaafar’s already well-established connections, he may just have the reach needed to make that happen.

9:38 a.m. The start of a good day begins with preparation … and coffee.

My first class today is at 12:30 p.m. But I have a bit of anxiety about being on time, so l come to campus hours early and find ways to be productive. I’ll answer emails, check in with friends, edit videos for work, review my class notes and drink my coffee.

It’s always black coffee. I drink it in this cup from the 1990s that I found in my house. I’m not totally sure if it’s safe to drink from a steel insulated cup after 30 years, but I’m a big believer in sustainability. Until it leaks, I’m keeping it.

12:45 p.m. Take time to study what can strengthen you personally and professionally.

Professor [Margaret] Murray’s classes are so dang good. She has guest speakers and real clients. She teaches us about developing a public relations strategy based on good research from surveys and client interviews.

I’m majoring in communications because it is at the heart of everything that we do in our personal and professional lives. By studying communications, I’m gaining a better understanding of its role in social movements; I’m learning how communication applies to my personal life, and I’m learning how to develop communication strategies for companies, orgs and institutions. I believe identity and image is sacred and I’m interested playing a role in communicating the identity of an organization, company or institution that I believe in to different publics.

I’m also majoring in political science. That’s so I can be a more informed, better citizen.

1:21 p.m. Remember that a little bit can go a long way.

On the University Center stage today, people are making goodie bags that [student organizations] MedLife and Unicef will give to Children’s Hospital. There are so many great organizations on this campus. I know you can’t always join and do everything; there is only a certain level of commitment that can be successfully sustained. But there are also small ways to help. When I’m busy, I try to think about the impact. Ten minutes of my time could make a big difference for a sick child. When I think about things this way, I realize there is time.

2:57 p.m. Every day there’s something new to hear.

I’m working on short videos for both the CASL dean’s office and the Social Sciences Department. For CASL, I’m highlighting majors. For social sciences, I’m highlighting courses. These go on social media platforms and on the website.

In each of these positions, I hear so many different perspectives. Students share why their education will help them make the world a better place. Faculty talk about their expertise and what they hope students will gain. From making these videos, I’m learning new things all the time.

People let me into a little part of their world so I can share their experiences with viewers.

5:34 p.m. Learning a language removes the foreign.

I studied French here and there in the past, but I’ve really improved since I met Rosine in my Speech 101class. Rosine is from the Central African Republic where French is an official language. I told her that I wanted to be fluent, but wasn’t there yet. She offered to help. That was a big moment for me. I was nervous to speak with someone that I didn’t know well in a mess of English and French. But Rosine was glad to help. We’ve learned from each other and a good friendship has come from it.

The dream is to get good enough to make it in Paris. Understanding a language removes a divide and shows a respect for another person’s culture. Rosine said more and more people are speaking English there now. But when I go, I’ll speak French.

6:27 p.m. Agree or not, it’s your right.

In Amnesty International, we plan events and sign petitions to shed light on human rights violations. It’s a small way that we can better understand and show solidarity to these things that might not seem to impact us directly, but in a way do since we are all human.

We need to speak up here because other people in the world don’t have the right to. Freedom of speech is something I strongly believe in. Even if you and I don’t agree, at least we can openly express and debate views that people in other countries die over. Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are so important. I don’t understand why people attack this idea, but I’m OK if someone wants to debate it with me because it’s their right.

7:30 p.m. The day ends here; which is also where it all started.

My mom and I try to make dinner together once a week. We like to make a variety of international foods like sushi, stuffed grape leaves, macaroons and homemade Italian red sauce with noodles. Yes, mom makes the noodles too.

We watched Anthony Bourdain’s shows together for years and still rewatch them because they are so good. I really like that he traveled the world and approached different foods with respect; he never acted like it was this weird thing he was going to eat. Instead, he saw it as another way to be a part of the culture. That’s how mom and I see it too.

I’m definitely a mama’s boy; she’s a big influence in my life. My mom went to school at a French-speaking school in Lebanon. English and Arabic were mainly spoken in our home growing up, but — because of my mom — we’d get these bits of French too. She’d say bonne nuitwhen we went to bed. Mom would play [pop French vocalist] Dalida’s music right into the CD player and I’d listen. I was curious about what was being said. So learning French connects me to my family story.

Understanding culture doesn’t only broaden your understanding of others; it helps you better understand yourself and where you came from too.

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The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters senior says he doesn’t have a connection with everyone on campus — but our experience following him around for a day says otherwise.

Michigan Journal editor, CASL graduate: "We have a job to do. The public good depends on it."

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Aug 2022 18:04:37 +0000

Michigan Journal editor, CASL graduate: "We have a job to do. The public good depends on it." Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 08/18/2022 - 14:04

This article was originally published on December 5, 2019.

Cars were parked in the middle of the street. People were holding signs. And Chanel Stitt was stuck in a traffic jam on her way to school.

But, as she sat stranded in her car, the emotion she felt wasn’t frustration. It was curiosity. So she got out of her vehicle to see what was going on.

What Stitt saw was a protest. So she, at the time only 17, decided to ask people what was going on. She got quotes. Made sure all sides were represented. And then wrote up a story that was published in a local paper.

That’s when Stitt knew journalism was her calling. Stitt, editor-in-chief of the Michigan Journal and graduating senior, says her time at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn has only solidified her love of information sharing.

Sitting in the Michigan Journal office, Stitt — a Journalism and Screen Studies (JASS) major — typically spends from morning to night (thanks, production days) in the University Center or in the College of Arts, Sciences, & Letters Building. She says her time on campus has helped strengthen her leadership skills, she’s the president of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Inc. and served on Public Relations Student Society of America’s executive board; has given her social media and marketing experience, she works in the CASL Dean’s Office doing promotion work; and has encouraged her to make community connections, she’s an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists.

As she closes out her time at 51��Ƶ-Dearborn, Stitt won’t miss the sometimes difficult time balance of classes, internships, sorority life and the Michigan Journal — although she knows there’s a life lesson in there. “I now know I can handle whatever you throw at me.”

But she will miss her mentors and professors. She says the diversity of skills within the JASS faculty — with Telly awards for documentary filmmaking and Pulitzer Prizes for writing — have prepared her for what’s next. But the education goes beyond skillset; there’s also been important life lessons.

“One of most valuable pieces of advice I’ve been given here is that criticism is going to happen and I need to find ways to cope with it and not let it drag me down,” she says. “Now when I read comments, I treat it as a reframing exercise. If there is something constructive in there, I’ll write it down so that I can do better next time. Otherwise, I disregard it.”

Stitt’s experiences have gone far beyond the classroom and MJ newsroom. To see what different news telling avenues had to offer, she’s also had a variety of internships. Stitt gained marketing and public relations experience during an internship at Garden City Hospital, which earned her the designation of Intern of the Year in 2018. She’s also wrote for Model D Media, where she had the most read story of 2018. And she worked at WDIV-Local 4 where she’d travel to filming locations with broadcast journalists like Koco McAboy and Hank Winchester.

During her Channel 4 internship, Stitt saw the importance of broadcast journalism’s visual news reporting. Stitt was involved with a news segment on how Detroit neighborhood residents were renting from landlords who weren’t keeping up the facilities — many of the homes she went into were heated with ovens, lacked running water and had mold. She said landlords were ignoring the tenants concerns so the news crews stepped in to get answers. After the story aired — with residents speaking about the conditions and images backing up their words — Stitt saw how getting the information to the public put pressure on the landlords to make changes.

“It was a powerful thing to see. Journalists share information — that includes all sides and is objective — to help people. I have two people read everything I put out there to make sure any bias I may have doesn’t show. We want to shed light on what’s going on and connect people to resources, to answers.

“What we do is for the public and we can’t take criticism personally. Sometimes that’s hard to remember when criticism comes from many directions, even from the highest authority in the country. But we need to remember that it’s not about us. We have a job to do and we need to do it well no matter what. The public good depends on it.”

And whether that means asking tough questions to uncover truths or leaving the comfort of her vehicle to cover a protest, this Fall 2019 graduate will be there.

Campus Life

Commencement

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Thu, 12/05/2019 - 06:00

As Michigan Journal Editor-in-Chief Chanel Stitt prepares for graduation, she’s thankful for the experiences and advice she’s gained on campus — especially what’s helped her gain a thicker skin when it comes to processing the criticism that comes with today’s career in journalism.

New Health Communication Certificate offers personal and professional benefits

stuxbury — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 01:28:08 +0000

New Health Communication Certificate offers personal and professional benefits stuxbury Mon, 08/08/2022 - 21:28

Health is a central part of life. Whether you are a caregiver, medical professional or just want answers to a health concern, nearly everyone seeks information to keep ourselves and our loved ones in the best health possible.

But, even with its importance in nearly everything we do, communication surrounding health can be confusing, difficult and ineffective.

So 51��Ƶ-Dearborn professors designed a new Health Communication Certificate to promote professional competence and personal confidence.

Associate Professor Nick Iannarino

“Quality health communication is crucial to success in healthcare encounters. It can affect policy, save time and money in an already unwieldy healthcare system, and provide a critical source of confidence and coping ability among patients, healthcare providers and family caregivers,” said Health Communication Associate Professor Nick Iannarino, who is the certificate’s faculty adviser.

The 16-credit program, which begins this fall, focuses on helping people become better producers and consumers of messages about health and wellness. Students in the program can choose from a wide variety of courses that include risk and crisis communication, psychology of aging, medical ethics, community organizing for health, environmental filmmaking, and more.

The certificate can be added to any student’s major. Iannarino said the appeal goes beyond the obvious medical career — it will prepare people who want to work in marketing, public relations, journalism, public health or public policy. “With a society that continues to become older and more diverse, our healthcare needs and the job market in health-related fields will continue to grow.”

Additionally, he said the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) was recently updated to have a larger focus on social sciences — like self identity and social economic impacts — because of the roles those play in health outcomes. “This certificate provides students with a range of psychosocial health courses, which can help better prepare 51��Ƶ-Dearborn graduates for post-graduate medical programs.”

Guest students who are not enrolled in a 51��Ƶ-Dearborn program can also earn the certificate if they have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.

Iannarino said that the past 15 years has brought forth necessary conversations about health in the United States — like healthcare reform, climate change, racial/socioeconomic inequality, the proliferation of social media, healthcare technology, an aging society and beyond. But no event has demonstrated the need for effective health communication quite like COVID-19.

“From a health communication perspective, COVID-19 and the information surrounding it showed us the importance of good communication and the dangers of ineffective communication across all areas — interpersonal, organizational, community, intercultural and mass/social media,” he said. “Effective communication surrounding health can provide benefits at individual, family and community levels. Better communication creates trusting, strong relationships, and that leads to better health outcomes. That’s why we want to get this certificate in front of as many people as possible.”

Interested in more information regarding the Health Communication Certificate? Reach out to Professor Iannarino.

In addition to Iannarino, Interim Chair of the Department of Health and Human Services Lisa Martin was involved in creating the certificate.

Article by Sarah Tuxbury.

Academic Excellence

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The 16-credit program, which begins this fall, focuses on helping students become better producers and consumers of messages about health and wellness.

A newsroom view on election night

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jul 2022 18:44:22 +0000

A newsroom view on election night Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 07/14/2022 - 14:44

This article was originally published on November 4, 2020.

Election night is arguably the most exciting time to be in a newsroom. Phones are ringing with results. Reporters are writing down notes. And the adrenaline often lasts until the early hours of the morning.

“Even under social-distancing norms. It's like being blasted out of a cannon — which is great, if you like that kind of thing,” says Communications Associate Professor Tim Kiska, who joined the Detroit Free Press at age 22 and has covered most elections since 1974. “Election night is the greatest night ever in a newsroom."

Associate Professor Tim Kiska

Naturally, Kiska wants his journalism students to get in on this first-hand experience. So he, like he’s done for the last few elections, invited them into the newsroom to assist with the election coverage. Twenty mask-wearing 51��Ƶ-Dearborn students showed up on Tuesday to collect the called-in vote tallies from Michigan’s 80 precincts — all while following COVID safety measures.

As the sun went down, students started to get hungry. “I heard food is on the way. What are we having?,” one student asked. Kiska replied: “Something that won’t make you puke.” In a nail biter election — during a historic pandemic — food might be the last thing causing that reaction. But like seasoned journalists, they continued answering the ringing phones, shouting out numbers, and didn’t let the stress of a hectic news night rattle them.

When asked about their 2020 election night in the newsroom experience, here’s what some of Kiska’s students had to say.

51��Ƶ-Flint Professor Thomas Wrobel watches election coverage at the Detroit Free Press. (Photo by Madisyn Bradow)

Gail L. Monds

Gail L. Monds, Journalism and Screen Studies (JASS) major
“Election night 2020 was like no other for me. I spent the night in the Detroit Free Press newsroom. My assignment was helping three election desk vote tabulators as they documented results coming in from around the state. In the calm before the storm, we watched the network coverage and ate pizza. When the polls closed, the pace picked up. The phones were ringing. Getting an accurate vote count was harder than it seemed. The precinct reporters did not always have full tabulations. Absentee vote counts were scarce at times. The lights went out more than once. The hectic pace left me breathless, literally and figuratively. Seeing the election process come together from behind the scenes and working with a great team is something I’ll never forget. I had been looking forward to this since Professor Kiska mentioned it to our class last year.”

Matthew Catoni, JASS major
“Election night at the Detroit Free Press proved to be everything I expected it to be and more. I was initially unsure about how the evening would go due to the circumstances surrounding this year’s election, but it turned out to be much less hectic than I was anticipating. Two other students and I were assigned to monitor the status of precincts online — which I found fascinating, as the time it took to process the ballots varied by precinct. The night proved to be an enlightening experience that made me appreciate our voting system more.”

Megan Corder

Megan Corder, Communications major
“This was a unique experience for me because I have never been a part of anything that had to do with politics, so this was an excellent opportunity to get in on the action while building new journalism skills. Everyone working along with me was very amiable, which made the experience fun. I helped answer the phones to count Michigan counties absentee and precinct votes. There were about two hours in the night where the phones were ringing nonstop, so we all had to be fast while ensuring accurate information. This experience showed me that the election process could be somewhat hectic. You never knew when you would receive the information needed from the polls. Sometimes it took a few minutes after the polls closed, but other times it took a couple of hours. It gave me insight into what it is like to be a journalist.”

Richard Tharrett, JASS major
“It has become an important theme in this election: Count every vote. That was exactly what I was tasked with doing as a volunteer at the Detroit Free Press election desk. You could feel the energy building in the newsroom as phones began to ring from counties and precincts across Michigan. From Marquette in the U.P. to Grand Rapids on the west side, I recorded votes coming in to compile into the Free Press election database. It was fascinating to be a part of a process that would inform the state and country of such a highly important player as Michigan in the 2020 election.”

Ta'Kira Coleman

Ta'Kira Coleman, JASS major
“As I entered floor two of the Detroit Free Press building. I knew that I’d be getting a glimpse into my career as a journalist and taking part in something that will be seen as an historic event, the 2020 presidential election. Professor Tim Kiska first explained to us what to expect. After a quick discussion, everyone went to their assigned desk and prepared for the highly anticipated election. I sat at my desk, pulled out my laptop and jotted down important factors to ask when we received a call from our reporters at the voting polls. At around 8:30 p.m., I received my first call. Talking with people came natural to me. Speaking with the volunteers giving each county’s voting results was fun and it also provided a taste of a journalistic sourcing for a story when I needed to call the county clerk to see if they would have the mail-in ballots counted. I was grateful for this experience and I would love to do this every election year.”

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Wed, 11/04/2020 - 06:00

Associate Professor Tim Kiska and 20 of his journalism students spent Tuesday night in the Detroit Free Press newsroom assisting with election news coverage and gathering voting results for the too-close-to-call presidential race.

JASS major Megan Corder writes down poll results at a Detroit Free Press desk. (Photo by Madisyn Bradow, JASS major)