Page 2
Portfolio class prepares students for future careers By Becca Anderson
The winter 2013 semester ushered in a new class, Portfolio and Career, to SJ&C students who were looking to advance their portfolio and appear more marketable to future employers. Previously, SJ&C students were encouraged to take Meet the Firms, a similar class designed to prepare students for the workforce. While Meet the Firms is still highly recommended to juniors or seniors in all departments, Portfolio and Career is specifically tailored to SJ&C students. Lorraine Ball, professor of
Portfolio and Career, says, “Information is power.” She gives this power to her students by asking them to construct resumes, participate in mock interviews with professionals and by providing a collaborative atmosphere for peer response. “Good digital portfolios are so important for our generation because everything is online now, and without this class I would not have had one of my own,” said Annalyse Hasty, senior mass communication major. A majority of the class is based
on projects and guest speakers—both teach students how to be more professional and organized. The biggest project is to construct a digital portfolio, which utilizes online resources such as Wordpress.com. Some students purchased their own domain name for their portfolio project. Lexi Alvidrez, junior public relations/graphic design major, said, “I feel like because of this class, I am now prepared for the next step- finding an internship and eventually landing my dream job.”
Communication class attracts students across campus By Raquel Levy
Dr. Linda Potter Crumley, a professor in Southern’s School of Journalism and Communication, has taught the course Intercultural Communication for three years. The winter semester of 2013 was the first time the class had to be split into two sections due to record enrollment.
Crumley said the increase is due to students from other departments on campus signing up for the class. The majority of students are not communication majors, but come from majors such as international studies, international business, and psychology. “I think there’s more recognition on campus that communication is one of the things you need to know,” Dr. Crumley said. In Intercultural Communication, students are asked to observe or participate in a culture not their own and document 12 hours with the culture or subculture of their choice. Students then write an ethnography, a qualitative research paper, on their observation. The course is disDr. Linda Crumley in her Intercultural Communication class. cussion-based, which Photo by Stephen Ruf is the primary reason Previously, the number of students it was split into two sections. enrolled in the course has never reached “An important part of learning more than 25, but this year 36 students is being able to participate,” said Dr. signed up—a 44 percent increase. Dr. Crumley. “If you’re in a huge class it’s
hard to participate, especially in talking about something that matters to you. And culture does matter.” Students like Aurianna Anobile, a senior liberal arts education and international studies major, are beginning to see just how much other cultures matter. Anobile is doing her ethnography on the deaf culture, focusing specifically on interpersonal relationships in marriages, and found that one partner being deaf did not affect the intimacy of their communication. “I really enjoy learning about people,” Anobile said. “You learn there isn’t just one way of doing things. Now I can look at my Puerto Rican family, and the people I met during my year abroad in Italy, and not only know that they do things in a different way, but understand why.” Dr. Crumley says this is exactly the kind of thinking she wants to leave with all her students. “I want them to be more aware of how communication creates culture, so when they go to cultures on their own they have more recognition,” said Dr. Crumley. “They can see what’s happening, learn to observe it correctly, and write about that observation efficiently.”