News

Game Hopes to Tackle Tough Talks and Tout Tolerance

By Janette Neuwahl Tannen A new video game crafted by students and faculty members at the University of Miami delves into difficult conversations about identity and discrimination to illustrate more accepting responses. Throughout her educational experiences, University of Miami alumna Phidela Cheng often felt that some of her classmates could not look beyond her Asian heritage. There were jokes about the shape of her eyes, what her family ate for dinner, and insinuations that her ancestors created the COVID-19 virus. Fabrizio Darby, an alumnus who hails from Jamaica, will never [...]

2023-08-14T14:15:44-04:00August 14, 2023|Interactive Media|

VR Offers Teens a Glimpse into the Future of Coastal Cities

By Janette Neuwahl Tannen Created by an interdisciplinary team at the University of Miami, the Mangrove City app aims to give students an up-close lesson about the importance of ecosystems. With sea levels rising at increasing rates worldwide, University of Miami interactive media professor, Kim Grinfeder, wondered: could he create a virtual experience that teaches students how they might navigate a coastal city like Miami 100 years from now?About two years ago, he formed a small interdisciplinary group of students and faculty and staff members with expertise in virtual reality, [...]

2023-08-14T13:58:34-04:00August 14, 2023|Interactive Media|

MMA Meeting Recap: Brian Norris Shares Career Advice with MMA Students

By Rachel Schlow A frequent speaker to the Media Management Association (MMA), Brian Norris kindly stopped by the School of Communication during his short stay in Miami to share his career experiences in advertising and sales over the last 20 years. Norris is currently senior vice president, SMB Growth Division, Advertising & Partnerships at NBCUniversal, as well as adjunct professor at Fordham University Gabelli School of Business. He previously led the first direct-to-consumer team within the Advertising & Partnerships division at NBCU, with a focus on creating an environment for [...]

2023-05-08T17:39:19-04:00May 8, 2023|Media Management|

Ramos Receives Top Award from School of Communication

Acclaimed journalist Jorge Ramos, who recently endowed scholarships in the School of Communication, was honored during the University of Miami Student Media Awards. By Karina Valdes With the academic year coming to a close, the University of Miami School of Communication celebrated the achievements of student media at the 74th Annual University of Miami Student Media Awards. During the ceremony, alumnus and acclaimed journalist, Jorge Ramos, was recognized with the 2023 South Florida Communicator of the Year Award for his distinguished contributions to the media profession. He spoke with students [...]

Debate Team Hosts First Miami Oceans Debates

By Barbara Gutierrez The tournament brought 14 schools and colleges to the University of Miami to engage in a verbal exchange about the pros and cons of aquaculture. Capitalizing on Miami’s unique proximity to the ocean and its vulnerability to the effects of climate change, the University of Miami Debate Team hosted its first Miami Oceans Debates during the weekend of April 22-23 to discuss if “Accelerated Open Ocean Aquaculture Would Be Desirable.” “We were interested in a topic about the ocean because we live here,” said David Steinberg, associate [...]

The Importance of Connecting to the Audience in Advertising

By Leen Shlomo In March 2023, the Media Management Association (MMA) invited Lucia Sotres to discuss the evolution of media and advertising in the last 10 years. Originally from Mexico City and speaking four languages (English, Spanish, French, and German), Sotres is currently Condé Nast's luxury account director for Mexico and Latin America. Condé Nast, owned by Advance Publications, has been a leading media company for more than 100 years, publishing such magazines as Vogue, GQ, Glamour, and Vanity Fair, and reaching over 270 million consumers in 32 markets. Before [...]

2023-05-02T11:34:34-04:00May 2, 2023|Media Management|

Graduating Senior is All About Clubs, Communication, and Now Commencement

By Karina Valdes Katarina Jenkins is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Communication majoring in public relations and with two minors; one in media management and a second in marketing. Visit https://commencement.miami.edu/ for more information on commencement at the University of Miami. For Katarina Jenkins, the decision to attend the University of Miami was an easy one. Her mom, a member of the air force, completed ROTC at UM and graduated with her bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees from the university. As a military child, Jenkins moved every year or [...]

Class Seams Fashion and Technology

By Jenny Hudak A new special topics class in the School of Communication teaches students how to bring clothes to life by integrating them with wearable technology. The clock struck 10:45 a.m. during Lorena Lopez’s “Wearable Technologies” class last week. Though the period had concluded for the day, not a single student enrolled in the new course budged from their seats. So enthralled with the work they were doing, the time continued to pass as students intricately sewed coded circuit boards into their fabrics, preparing for their final projects.  Among [...]

2023-05-02T11:06:33-04:00May 1, 2023|Interactive Media|

Crafting Films to ‘Unjudge,’ Celebrate Humanity

By Michael R. Malone Student filmmakers in the School of Communication “Human Book” project have generated short films, all entries in the Canes Film Festival, that challenge stereotypes, celebrate resiliency, and bring the best of humanity into sharp focus. Charged with using their cameras to tell the stories of extraordinary individuals, student filmmakers in the M.F.A. Documentary program have crafted short narrative films that explore a spectrum of inspiring personalities—a Ukrainian ballet dancer, a reformed felon in Coconut Grove, and entrepreneurial sisters who share their love for dance. The films [...]

2023-05-01T12:44:39-04:00May 1, 2023|Motion Pictures|