Numerous exciting courses are coming to Montreat next year. Next fall the Communication Major is offering Web Studies & Design, CM 346. This class will teach web design, aesthetics and architecture. It will be taught by Mike Landis from the Information Technology Department. Mr. Landis did doctoral work at Duke University and has worked extensively in this field. He runs his own software development company. Web design is a very important skill in the information age and looks great on a resume. The class will also examine how we create identity, community, and various aspects of our culture using the internet. We anticipate this to be a very popular class campus-wide.
Another communication course next fall is Newswriting, EN 328. This journalism class will be taught by Michael Flynn, a reporter at the Asheville Citizen Times. Mr. Flynn brings with him an excellent background from Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill. He is also teaching at UNC-A. Students will learn how to write excellent and exciting news stories, how to properly research and cover stories, and the day-to-day realities of working in journalism. We look forward to our students learning journalism skills from someone who is actually doing it for a living!
Next spring, Jim Southerland will offer a new course called Graphics & Photojournalism, AR/CM 348. This class will teach both single-reflex and digital photography. This first half of the class will explore the design choices that must be made when the goal is creating photographic images for the graphic arts. The second half will examine photography aimed at photojournalism. The history of photography will be examined as a way of teaching what has worked in the past, so that students can make creative choices with their own graphic art and photojournalistic projects.
Also next spring Callan Hinman-White will be offering an Acting for Camera course. This class takes skills taught in basic acting and applies them to on-screen work. How do you connect with the camera in a compelling way? How do you get work in film? How does a journalist or teacher connect with the camera effectively? This promises to be a really fun course, but one that teaches essential skills that all of us at some point will need to know.