Date: May 06, 2009

School of Communication Students Provide Free Strategic Media Services to Not-For-Profit Organizations

Senior Level Thesis Class: Media Action Projects

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY –School of Communication students are partnering with not-for-profit organizations in the metropolitan area as part of a senior Media Production Capstone course titled Media Action Projects.  The course incorporates action research, media advocacy and civic engagement in a real world setting.

The course, taught by School of Communication Professors Aasish Kumar and Douglas Morrow, is showing the students how to affect society and culture through media. The students are put into groups of three to four and instructed to set up a conference call or reach out to a perspective clients they would like to work with. After the initial conference call, if the client chooses to work with the students, they will work together to create the product the client requests.

“The students put in many long hours throughout a 15 week semester under real budget constraints,” said Professor Morrow. “They need to work together to decide what type of video would work with the client, how it would benefit the client and then integrate their ideas with those of the client to produce an end product, a very real world approach”

“This is a great way to teach the students outside the classroom,” said Professor Kumar. “They are learning how to be resourceful, produce a product, and at the same time experience the importance of civic engagement.”

Some of the organizations the students are working with are The Riverhead Foundation for Marine Research and Preservation, Groove with Me, Gemini Youth Orchestra, Circulo De La Hispanidad, Canine Companions for Independence, and Island Harvest.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution where students can choose from about 150 undergraduate and more than 160 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business; engineering; communication; education, health and human services;  and honors studies, as well as a School of Law. With a student-faculty ratio of 14-to-1, our professors teach small classes averaging 22 students that emphasize interaction, critical thinking and analysis. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence. The University also provides excellent facilities with state-of-the-art technology, extensive library resources and internship programs that match students’ interests and abilities with appropriate companies and organizations.  The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future.