Fall 2010 - St. Cloud State University

U n d e r g r a d u a t e P r o g r a m
Study Abroad
Mass Communications Pilot Program in England, Fall 2009
four-day trip to London, an opinion article about their visit to Acklington
Prison (most chose to write about differences between British and
American prison systems), a broadcast news release about Durham,
and a newsletter about their travels over the two-week break. At the
end they compiled these into a media kit about their semester abroad.
Two days of promotional events were held for Lionheart Radio in
Alnwick marketplace in November as part of the Public Relations Cases
and Campaigns class. This gave the students hands-on experience with
a “real-life” project as well as developing a written campaign plan they
can use in their professional portfolio.
Student Dan Doherty, trainer James Boyd and student Richard Krueger.
By Lisa Heinrich
The group visited the London offices of Weber Shandwick, the world’s
largest public relations firm.
The group went to Durham University, the fifth-ranked university in
England, to hear about the university’s media relations and tour the
offices.
Sixteen students in mass communications studied abroad last fall in
SCSU’s British Studies Program in Alnwick, England. They took three
upper-level courses and a course in contemporary Britain as part of a
pilot program created and led by Dr. Lisa Heinrich. While there, they
studied British media as much as possible.
Fifteen students worked in pairs to broadcast weekly two-hour programs
for Lionheart Radio, a community station in Alnwick that is developing
a sister-station relationship with SCSU’s KVSC Radio.
The Public Relations Writing course incorporated group field trips into
writing assignments. The students wrote a news release and fact sheet
about their trip to the Lake District, a speech about Edinburgh, two
advertisements for their tour of the nearby coastal castles, a brochure
about their travels during the one-week break, a feature article about their
Faculty Arts
Two mass communications faculty are artists as well as teachers and scholars. Marie Dick, who
teaches research and theory, has displayed paintings and Mark Eden, who teaches graphic design
and advertising, has been creating and presenting sound pieces.
Eden’s recent “Ma Minute” is a 47-second composition compiled from material on nine separate
tracks on Yo Yo Ma’s Solo album. The piece has been presented at the Museum of Contemporary
Art in Chicago. It has also been presented internationally in Istanbul, Turkey. His “Scraps from a
Solo Trumpet,” synthesized from an extended session with jazz trumpeter Jon Pemberton, offers a
sonic slapstick and oblique tip of the hat to Carl Stalling and Harpo Marx. This piece was performed
in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this year and was performed as a dance collaboration with Amity Perry
in New York City. It has been performed from San Francisco to Oxford, England, and 13 states in
between.
Dick, who studies media images of women and medicine, has collaborated with visual artist Keith
Fox to create a series of 21 acrylic paintings called “GynTalk: Visual Fiction” that combine design
and text with subtle three-dimensional elements like sand and Kleenex. “Art therapy is growing
in acceptance as an important tool in healing,” Dick said, citing studies of art in healing and
empowerment among people with breast cancer.
For three years, she has worked with a team on a nationwide study of crisis communicatioin. Their
most recent publication, “We tell people. It’s up to them to be prepared: Public relations practices
of local emergency managers,” appeared in the Handbook of Crisis Communication.
C
Marie Dick and Keith Fox, GynTalk, Visual Fiction No. 7
•M A S S omments • • • • 10
The group heard from a reporter/editor for the county’s Northumberland
Gazette newspaper about working for regional community publications
in the twenty-first century. Perhaps the most interesting part of the talk
was Robert Brooks’ demonstration of shorthand, which reporters in
Britain are required to learn to record quotations accurately.
The group visited BBC offices in Newcastle on Dec. 1, then the
following day heard a speaker who had worked for BBC for 40 years.
This was an excellent chance for the students to broaden their knowledge
of international media and experience the differences and similarities
firsthand while making significant progress toward their degrees. The
involvement in Alnwick activities was a bonus for the community as
well as the students and expanded the university’s ties in England.
Visual and Audio Art