School of Journalism faculty member’s proposal selected for conference

By Paige Wilkerson
University News Service
February 21, 2012

David Nolan, professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Texas State University-San Marcos, was recently selected as one of eight submissions for the first-ever Visual Educators Teach-a-thon session to be held Mar. 9 at the Northern Short Course in Fairfax, Va.

The Northern Short Course is a three-day event featuring various workshops, visual educators training and advice on social media and other forms of journalism.

There were 21 total proposals submitted for the Northern Short Course in photojournalism. Three judges reviewed each proposal for originality, innovation, creativity, practicality and effectiveness.

“This project is the first one students accomplish as part of MC 4356I Visual Storytelling,” said Nolan. “My idea is that to tell someone else’s story you must first be able to tell your own.”

The visual storytelling assignment revolves around a specific moment within students’ lives. The moment is created into a personal story and is later backed by a digital, video story complete with photographs, graphics and newspaper clippings.

“The moment can be the date of a major achievement, a setback, a birth, death or other fork-in-the-road experiences,” said Nolan. “This assignment teaches students of the very basic concepts about narrative storytelling, storyboarding, editing and using advanced video editing software.”

Each professor will have seven minutes to present their innovative idea to attendees. The top three winners will be announced at the Northern Short Course event. They winners will be awarded cash prizes sponsored by the Temple University Department of Journalism.

For more information, please contact David Nolan at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at (512) 245-9653 or by email at dn15@txstate.edu.