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About Karina Valdes

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So far Karina Valdes has created 747 blog entries.

Patrick Cunnane: From Sky Blue Waters to the West Wing

Whether he’s working within the White House walls or crafting scripts for White House-inspired television, Patrick Cunnane is no stranger to politics. The Washington D.C.-bound ‘Cane graduated in 2010 with a B.S.C and no inclination of the six-year journey he would soon embark on with former President Barack Obama. As the former president’s senior writer and deputy director of messaging, Cunnane developed statements in Obama’s voice and partook in many significant visits around the world. “Miami was key. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life [...]

The UM Debate Team are Champions Again

The UM Debate Team collected yet another tournament championship by winning the Sweepstakes of the Chicken and Egg Debate Tournament hosted by the University of North Georgia from Sept. 29-30. Fourteen UM debaters traveled to Gainesville, Georgia to compete in British Parliamentary Debate. UM’s Spanish-language debate team took four of the top five speaker awards, advancing three teams into finals. UM debaters Christian Guevara and Rafael Gonzalez won the Spanish-language division placing UM as a leader in Spanish-language debate in the United States.  “It's so exciting that UM has a Spanish-language [...]

Four UM SoC Students Win Ev Clay/PRSA Miami Chapter Scholarships

University of Miami School of Communication students were celebrated at the 31st annual Ev Clay/PRSA Miami Chapter Endowment Fund Luncheon for receiving four out of seven Ev Clay/PRSA Miami Scholarships, totaling $2,750 each. Nathaniel Derrenbacher, Sofia Estevez, Izabella Felpeto and Jiaying Li, SoC students and Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) members, were selected after submitting 500-word essays detailing the steps they would take to ensure a quick and effective reaction to a potential public relations crisis. “It's unprecedented for UM students to win so many of these scholarships, [...]

Undergraduate Interactive Media Major Now Available at the SoC

A new undergraduate major is now available at the University of Miami School of Communication. In fall of 2018, the SoC began offering the Interactive Media major, equipping students with design skills and a technological fluency that allows them to explore the expressive possibilities offered by emerging forms of communication. The interdisciplinary major, developed by Kim Grinfeder, associate professor, originates from the thriving Interactive Media M.F.A program, which has groomed graduate students for careers in the academia, not-for-profits, government or at corporations like Sapient, Univision, Disney, Visa amongst others. Grinfeder [...]

Cairo’s Visual Trumpery Lecture Tour

The very title of Knight Chair in Visual Journalism and Professor of Professional Practice Alberto Cairo’s lecture tour, Visual Trumpery, is an example of its content. It’s designed to provoke ideological defenses, but the discussion is completely non-partisan.  Trumpery means worthless nonsense, something that is showy and deceitful at the same time, which can arise in text, verbally or visually. Cairo observed misleading charts, graphs, and data maps designed by individuals and organizations from all over the political spectrum after the 2016 election. This led to his international lecture tour, crafted [...]

SoC Dean Gregory J. Shepherd Announces Retirement

A message from Jeffrey L. Duerk, Ph.D., Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost When Gregory Shepherd joined the University of Miami in July 2011 as the new dean of the School of Communication (SoC), Instagram was barely a year old, and “fake news” was simply referred to as propaganda. At the time, the school needed a leader who would skillfully navigate the rapidly changing world of communication. Today, eight years later, we can say with certainty that Greg did not disappoint. Greg has informed me that this will be his [...]

UM Debate Wins Tournament Championships in National Opener

The UM Debate team dominated its competition at the National Opener hosted by Georgia State University in Atlanta, one of the largest and most intensely competitive intercollegiate policy debate tournaments in the country. This year’s tournament, held from September 15-17, saw the UM Debate Team winning two of the three championships offered by the event. Harvard won the third.  In Novice Debate, Sana Hasija and Zach Homeijer were undefeated, advancing into the final round where they won a 3-0 decision against student debaters from Indiana University to earn the title [...]

2019-12-17T19:21:35-05:00September 21, 2018|Communication Studies|

Crafting Movie Magic

Although her position is regularly behind the scenes, University of Miami School of Communication alumna Rachel Schreibman, B.S.C. '10, is certainly one to watch.  Since settling in California, Schreibman has contributed to highly notable films. Her latest Hollywood credits include The Jungle Book, Transformers: The Last Knight and Star Trek: Beyond. As an assistant editor, Schreibman’s specialty is ensuring a fluid filming and editing process. Ultimately, this talented ‘Cane is responsible for conjuring cinematic magic. “University of Miami gave me the tools I needed to hone my craft and learn [...]

Revamped Classic Leads to Worldwide Distribution

What began as an independent film project in Greece headed by a group of UM students, alumni and faculty quickly spiraled into an internationally-recognized LGBTQ love story. With a Kiss I Die — the story of the reincarnated vampire Juliet Capulet who finds love all over again with a young woman — is now available to buy through most streaming services, cable networks and select stores.  Ed Talavera, associate professor in the Department of Cinema and Interactive Media, initially brought on Barbara Leibell, assistant professor of professional practice, and alumnus [...]

Grace Returns as Knight Chair in Interactive Media

By: Karina Valdes When students think of studying journalism, the furthest thing from their minds is creating video games. Lindsay D. Grace is changing that at the University of Miami School of Communication through his groundbreaking work on news games, an innovative medium for journalists to engage readers and motivate them to become active in addressing the issues facing their community. Grace, an award-winning game designer, is returning this semester to UM as the Knight Chair of Interactive Media and will continue his work on rapid game development. He began [...]

2020-04-23T15:19:04-04:00September 6, 2018|Interactive Media, Journalism|