College Connect Summer Program

Instructor: Sandra Guy Kolina

Students will learn basic rules of newswriting, along with how to critically analyze the latest issues in journalism, ethics, and social media reporting. Students will engage with outside speakers from a variety of media, visit local newsrooms, interview people in their communities, and write their own news stories on topics important to them. In addition, students will discover their journalistic voice while working ethically in pursuit of truth, accuracy, fairness, and diversity.

Instructor: Brian Barker

Exploration of distinct characteristics of the hospitality industry, organizational structures, and principles of service excellence will be delivered in this course. Using Chicago-as-classroom, topics and assignments will engage minority–owned and managed hospitality businesses. Students will engage with hospitality professionals ranging from independent community restaurants to well established hotels with minorities serving in key leadership positions. Using pragmatic hands-on learning tactics, leadership theories, customer service principles, and job skills development will be central to the curriculum, as will a focus on community and connections to Chicago.

Instructor: Kaitlin Creadon

Focusing on the art of photography, students will showcase different lifestyles, human interest stories, and social impact stories. Students will learn new photography skills and use various techniques to create a series of images to tell a story. Class will focus on photography and storytelling both as art forms and influential communication methods. Students will create a portfolio of still images on a Chicago-focused topic that holds importance to them and a short-form essay explaining their work.

Instructor: Sal Barry

The internet is the preeminent medium for sports fans to get the sports news they want, when they want it. So today’s sportswriter needs to be well-versed in a variety of multimedia and interactive tools to report and enhance their stories. This class will introduce students to the field of sports reporting, provide an understanding of the technical and digital skills needed to thrive in this field, and give them a foundation of journalistic ethics necessary to get their start as multimedia sports reporters.

Instructor: Jacqueline Brennan

The art of animation was developed a little over a century ago and it combines narrative powers or visual art such as painting and photography, and theater, and the newly developed language of the motion picture. Its power lies in its ability to transcend a world as it exists and create a world as we imagine it can be. In this course, students will explore the world of visual communication through the study of animation in terms of analysis, production, and the ability to represent the social and cultural changes they would like to see in their futures. Class time will be divided between exploring topics in animation— representation, propaganda, self-expression, political allegory, career paths— and learning hands on digital animation techniques with the goal of creating projects which foster self-expression and create a platform for social change.

Instructor: Jerica Arents

In this course, we will develop the critical thinking skills necessary to engage with and more fully understand the ways small groups of youth activ-ists have historically acted on behalf of the com-mon good, both locally and globally. We will build a framework to critically analyze relevant case studies of youth-led social movements, including the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, the Otpor! move-ment in Serbia, and movements for immigrant and racial justice. A handful of practical skills necessary for budding activists will be explored. Finally, as an integral part of the course, students will also have a hands-on experience completing a project that embodies activist involvement, outlining a campaign that would transform a social issue impacting youth in Chicago.