Jessica Birthisel | June 19, 2009
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| Photo by Brian Buckey |
| At last year’s Mini University, assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major talked about "framing the news." |
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Since 1972, the IU Alumni Association and IU Bloomington Continuing Studies have hosted the week-long sessions. This year, participants choose up to 15 classes from more than 100 ranging in a variety of topics, from current events to computing, from arts to science and health. IU professors and experts lead the classes. Classes are in the Indiana Memorial Union’s "tree suite" on the mezzanine level.
Associate professor Claude Cookman has taught at Mini U several years, and this time, he plans to engage students in a two-session, hands-on photography course focusing on visual elements and principles of design. His course is entitled, “20-20 Photographic Vision: A Workshop in Photography.”
“This is away for them to begin to see the form of pictures, not just content,” he said. The course will include presentation materials, shooting photos and a class critique.
“The ultimate goal is not to make great photos or to even to improve composition, though I think those things will happen,” said Cookman. “The ultimate goal is to help them see more deeply.”
This is a course that Cookman has presented for other groups outside of the traditional college classroom.
“I’m really eager to see how Mini participants respond to it,” he said. “Mini is a wonderful thing. I want to go to 90 percent of these classes myself. I’m a deep believer in lifelong learning and I applaud all those who come back. They’re a fun group.”
Assistant professor Lesa Hatley Major’s presentation, “The Impact of Race and Gender on News Coverage of Political Candidates,” will cover just what the title promises, specifically referencing media coverage of Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama. She taught her first Mini class last summer and says she enjoyed the experience.
“The Mini participants are so attentive and they ask wonderful questions,” said Hatley Major. “I look forward to doing it again.”
In addition to the content of the sessions, Hatley Major said that participants are often curious about scholarly work in the field.
“They want to know about journalism students and they want to know what we do as professors and scholars,” she said.
Associate professor Jim Kelly’s course will be based his 20 years of experience in public diplomacy and his journalistic teaching experiences around the globe. He looks forward to teaching an audience of adults, explaining that the teaching he does in his international work is often for a similar audience.
Associate professor Steve Raymer will be teaching a course based on his 2007 book, Images of a Journey: India in Diaspora. India, was one of the first countries Raymer visited in his early career with National Geographic.
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| Photo by Brian Buckey |
| Flags went up this week to welcome the Mini University participants. |
Recently, Raymer has refocused his work on the region. He says he’s been asked to participate in Mini University before, but the timing has never worked out. Raymer says he looks forward to the opportunity to share his experiences with the participants this summer.
This is the also the first summer that assistant professor Mike Conway has been able to fit a Mini University class into his schedule. He will be presenting a talk on Edward R. Murrow and materials from his forthcoming book, The Origins of Television News in America, due out this fall.
“TV news in the 1940s was very innocent and creative,” said Conway. “This is similar to talks I’ve done before, and audiences tend to enjoy learning about the early days of television.”
Conway added that Mini University is not just a great opportunity for the students, but for the presenters as well.
“We like the work that we do and we like to get our research out to the widest population of people possible,” said Conway. “It’s an honor to be asked to do something like this.”
Other representatives from the department include professor emeritus Peter Jacobi, whose presentation is “A Morning Gala: Performers and Performances,” and assistant professor Hans Ibold, presenting “You and Me Together: New Media, New Citizens, New President.”
