First SMPA Online Class Explores Media Organizations
February 15th, 2013

Media Organizations and Audiences, SMPA's first ever online course, will provide an introduction to the American entertainment media industry, specifically with regard to organizations and economic relationships in television and film. Dr. Patricia Phalen will teach the course this summer to both undergraduate and graduate students.

"I'm really looking forward to teaching an online course, though I'm not entirely sure what to expect. The learning curve is still pretty steep, but the folks at the Online Learning Initiative (OLI) have been amazing. I've learned so much from them already," commented Phalen.

Phalen will guide the class through the history of the broadcasting and film industries and discuss the ways both have evolved and are currently structured, particularly with regard to the relationships among and within organizations. The ultimate goal of the course is to develop an understanding of how media industries operate, how media professionals carry out their work and why we have the kinds of movies and television programs we have.

Professor Patricia Phalen

Phalen added, "Online education is a totally different way of planning and teaching courses...there are so many variables to consider. How do you connect with every student? How do you create an environment that feels like a "class" rather than an independent study? What are reasonable expectations when it comes to the time students should spend online? As a professor, you no longer have the instant feedback of the classroom setting. Besides - there will likely be a mix of traditional and non-traditional students, all in different geographical locations. I want to make sure they all have a good experience taking this course. This will certainly be a challenge - one I'm happy to have the opportunity to take on!"

Interested students can register for the course starting on March 1. Class will begin toward the end of May. Course registration numbers for undergraduates are 72515 and 72516. For graduate students, the course registration number is 72517.

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Faculty Position Announcement: Journalism/Multimedia
February 24th, 2012

The School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University seeks a leading journalist and educator to advance the school’s commitment to preparing students for our diverse and multi-platform media environment.  This is a full-time, non-tenure-accruing, fixed-term, renewable faculty position offered at the rank of assistant or associate professor, rank commensurate with the candidate’s experience and body of work.  Basic Qualifications: Bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field, professional experience in nationally recognized print/broadcast/online media outlets, multi-media competency, and a proven agenda of continuing practice and/or research as demonstrated by publications or works in progress.  Preferred Qualifications: Master’s degree or higher in journalism or a related field; communication skills consistent with excellent teaching, mentoring and motivating students from a broad range of cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds; and teaching and professional experience in more than one of the following fields:  print, broadcast, digital media production, online reporting and engagement, and entrepreneurial journalism.

Application Procedure:  Send curriculum vita, samples of professional work, a statement of current and future practice or research interests, a statement of teaching philosophy, and three letters of recommendation (sent directly by references) to Albert L. May, Journalism Search Committee Chairman, School of Media and Public Affairs, 805 21st Street, N.W. Suite 400, Washington, DC  20052. Only complete applications will be considered. Review of applications will begin April 9th, 2012 and continue until the position is filled.

An internationally recognized center for research and teaching in political and international communication, The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs is a dynamic, interdisciplinary program based in the heart of Washington, D.C., where media, public affairs and politics intersect. We offer two undergraduate majors (journalism/mass communication and political communication) as well as a MA degree in media and public affairs. We also offer a MA degree in Global Communication jointly with the Elliot School of International Affairs.  More information on the School can be found at http://smpa.gwu.edu/.

The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  The university and department have a strong commitment to achieving diversity among the faculty.  We are particularly interested in receiving applications from underrepresented groups and strongly encourage women and persons of color to apply.

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Position Announcement: Political Communication Professors
August 30th, 2011

Position Announcement

The School of Media and Public Affairs invites applications for two positions in strategic communication.  The department is looking to fill one tenure track position at the assistant professor level and one tenure track position at the level of assistant, associate or full professor.  We seek promising scholars with a strong research profile or demonstrated scholarly potential and teaching interests in strategic communication with a focus on political campaigns, advocacy and interest groups, social movements and/or crisis communication in the domestic or international context.  

Appointment begins September 1, 2012.  Responsibilities include teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate level; conducting a successful program of research; advising students; and performing department and university service.

Basic Qualifications: Ph.D. in field related to media and public affairs (ABDs will be considered but must complete the PhD by August 1, 2012 to be appointed as an assistant professor; otherwise, the initial appointment would be at the rank of instructor with the understanding that the Ph.D. must be completed by May 31, 2013); potential to establish a sustained program of scholarly research resulting in a strong publication record as evidenced by scholarly publications, works in progress, or letters of recommendation; potential for teaching excellence as demonstrated by teaching evaluations or research presentations; ability to teach strategic communication courses for MA program. Appointment as an associate or full professor requires submission of evidence related to teaching and scholarship sufficient for that appointment.  

Preferred Qualifications: One or more peer-reviewed or other scholarly publications; prior teaching experience and demonstrated excellence in teaching as evidenced by teaching evaluations; professional experience in strategic communication. 

Application Procedure: Send curriculum vita, samples of scholarly work, a statement of current and future research interests, a statement of teaching philosophy, evidence of potential for teaching excellence, and three letters of recommendation to Professor Steven Livingston, Search Committee Chair, School of Media and Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20052.  Review of applications will begin on October 17, 2011 and will continue until the position is filled.  Only complete applications will be considered.

An internationally recognized center for research and teaching in political and international communication, The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs is a dynamic, interdisciplinary program based in the heart of Washington, D.C., where media, public affairs and politics intersect. We offer two undergraduate majors (journalism/mass communication and political communication) as well as an MA degree in media and public affairs focused on strategic communication. We also offer an MA degree in global communication jointly with the Elliot School of International Affairs.  More information on the School can be found at  http://smpa.gwu.edu/. 

The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  The university and department have a strong commitment to achieving diversity among the faculty.  We are particularly interested in receiving applications from underrepresented groups and strongly encourage women and persons of color to apply.

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Position Announcement: Media Law/Media History Professor
August 30th, 2011

Position Announcement
Assistant or Associate Professor of Media and Public Affairs

The School of Media and Public Affairs invites applications for a tenure track position at the rank of Assistant or Associate Professor.  We seek a promising scholar with a strong research profile or demonstrated scholarly potential and teaching interests focused on media law or media history.

Appointment begins September 1, 2012.  Responsibilities include teaching courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level; conducting a successful program of research; advising students; and performing department and university service.

Basic Qualifications: Ph.D. in field related to media and public affairs or J.D (ABDs will be considered but must complete the PhD by August 1, 2012 to be appointed as an assistant professor; otherwise, the initial appointment would be at the rank of instructor with the understanding that the Ph.D. must be completed by May 31, 2013.). Applicants must have potential to establish a sustained program of scholarly research resulting in a strong publication record as evidenced by scholarly publications, works in progress, or letters of recommendation; and potential for teaching excellence in area of specialization as demonstrated by teaching evaluations or research presentations.  For consideration at the associate level, must have Ph.D or J.D., at least six years of college teaching or commensurate experience, documented evidence of excellence in teaching as evidenced by teaching evaluations and a strong research record as demonstrated by scholarly books and/or publications in leading peer reviewed journals.   

Preferred Qualifications: One or more peer-reviewed or other scholarly publications; prior teaching experience and professional media or journalism experience. 

Application Procedure: Send curriculum vita, samples of scholarly work, a statement of current and future research interests, a statement of teaching philosophy, evidence of potential for teaching excellence, and three letters of recommendation to Professor  Janet Steele, Search Committee Chair,  School of Media and Public Affairs, 805 21st Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC 20052.  Review of applications will begin on October, 17, 2011 and will continue until the position is filled.  Only complete applications will be considered.

An internationally recognized center for research and teaching in political and international communication, The George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs is a dynamic, interdisciplinary program based in the heart of Washington, D.C., where media, public affairs and politics intersect. We offer two undergraduate majors (journalism/mass communication and political communication) as well as an MA degree in media and public affairs. We also offer an MA degree in Global Communication jointly with the Elliot School of International Affairs.  More information on the School can be found at  http://smpa.gwu.edu/. 

The George Washington University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.  The university and department have a strong commitment to achieving diversity among the faculty.  We are particularly interested in receiving applications from underrepresented groups and strongly encourage women and persons of color to apply.

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Professor Jason Osder Makes His Own Teaching Tools
February 3rd, 2011

Professor Jason Osder in his latest Lynda video.

Many professors teach students to embrace technology in the digital age, but Professor Jason Osder is taking the discussion one step further by teaching with a technology tool he produced himself.

Professor Osder recently had his fourth and fifth online training courses published with Lynda.com, the market leading online training library of software and other practical technology skills.

Through Lynda, professionals, students, or curious people can use the vast selection of training titles to watch a series of videos that can teach you a wide range of other technological skills. The “trainers,” such as Osder, narrate the videos and systematically demonstrate for the user how to use programs such as Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Digital Cameras, and what they can do.

He initially became involved with the project through connections with his business partner, who was already producing training videos for Lynda. Professor Osder felt the gig was an easy fit for him because “I move a mouse and talk most of the day anyway.”

Since the program naturally lends itself as an educational tool, Osder has been incorporating his and other Lynda videos as “reading” assignments for his students.

Osder co-teaches a Online Journalism Workshop course that prepares advanced students for multimedia web reporting. He said the Lynda videos privately “help the students that want to learn more,” which helps to solve both a learning and a curricular problem.

He said that students inherently progress at different rates. When some students are ahead of their classmates or want to learn at a more in-depth scale, then he has offered them books from his office library, but there were obvious physical limitations to that solution.

“I only have so many books, so how do you solve that problem?” he said.

Osder has now been suggesting or assigning Lynda videos to his classes, so he could teach with the assumption that the students were already at the same place knowledge-wise.

“It allows me to focus more on the why and less on the how,” he said.

The development of this teaching method happened organically because he is able to assign Lynda videos in the same class whose subject matter inspired him to make the titles initially. For instance, he recently released a video focused on using YouTube, which many students need to be proficient with by the end of the semester for his course.

While many SMPA professors regularly publish their research in books or scholarly journals, Osder enjoys the process of recording the Lynda titles more than writing a textbook, which he has done as well.

“Book writing is laborious...This way I get to go to Southern California for a week,” he said, where the videos are recorded.

Osder said there is a problem with writing textbooks about software because once the information is outdated, then a new edition has to be published. There is no way to catch up with outdated textbooks fast enough.

With Lynda, he said, “I just have to record some voice and record some video, and they’ll change it.”

All five of Professor Osder’s Lynda videos about using YouTube, Vimeo, OmniGraffe, and Final Cut Pro can either through free highlights on YouTube or with a subscription on the Lynda website (users can still access some content on the website for free, as well).

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Alum adjunct wins teaching ideas competition
August 12th, 2010

SMPA alum and adjunct professor Becky Sher recently won a teaching ideas competition sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Her idea, "Writing a Brief: Start to Finish in 75 Minutes" took first place in the adjunct/part-time faculty division of the contest, called "Teaching News Terrifically in the 21st Century."

Sher says: "Every semester, I use this assignment, which is to write a 200-word brief on a general topic that I provide. The catch is that students do all the reporting and writing in the span of one 75-minute class. This exercise is right in line with the 'do more with less' philosophy of today’s media outlets. And though it’s a challenge for most of the students, I always get at least three or four stories (out of 18) that could easily go straight into the campus (or even a local) newspaper."

One judge described Sher's idea as “one of those deceptively simple ideas that is extremely valuable because it is well-though-out.” The judge went on to note, “I think we always tend to underestimate the shyness of students in talking to strangers, their ability to source a story. This is one way to get at that. The deadline writing is effective as well.”

 Sher graduated with a bachelor's degree in political communication in 1999 and has been teaching SMPA's introductory news writing course since 2007. Most recently, she was an editor at McClatchy-Tribune News Service.

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