The School of Communication is hosting the annual Communication Week from March 24 to 31, with events being held in the Wolfson building, Cosford Cinema and Whitten Learning Center.
This year’s theme is “Freedom: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to Communicate.”
Sam L Grogg, dean of the School of Communication, said that this year’s program provides an opportunity for all students to focus on the variety in the communication field.
“We’re having a huge week of various activities with Pulitzer winners, all kinds of folks from various aspects of journalism, broadcast journalism and other fields to share their experiences, their knowledge, their wisdom with students,” he said.
Grogg said he hopes that all communication students can find something that interests them.
“Every program has a piece of the action and hopefully the students will take a bite of all the action,” he said.
The goal of in all of this is clear, according to Grogg.
“The idea of Communication Week is to every year provide an opportunity to focus all of the students on the variety and diversity of the communication fields, the professions past, present and future and to really celebrate the diversity of our professions,” Grogg said.
Throughout the week, movies from an archival collection that the school recently acquired will be shown at the Cosford Cinema.
“Let’s make sure we don’t forget that movies should be seen the way they were meant to be seen, that we don’t only look at them on our entertainment centers and DVDs, but that we also see them on the big screen,” said Grogg, the former dean of the American Film Institute Conservatory.
Over the weekend, the School of Communication hosted a two-day, all-day newspaper design conference.
In addition, a number of lecturers and panels will be held in the School of Communication courtyard.
One panel discussion held last Friday, “Political Change in Latin America,” featured three journalists who cover aspects of Latin America.
Veronica Crespo, junior, attended that discussion and thinks highly of Communication Week.
“I think it’s great,” she said. “It gives you insight into what you’re getting yourself into. I think [the events planned] seem really interesting. I’m going to see if I can catch a couple of them between classes.”
Other speakers will also be featured, Grogg said, such as a public relations guru coming to discuss careers in the field. Similarly, there will be an advertising leader who will discuss contemporary advertising and how it the field has changed.
According to Grogg, the formal dedication of the School of Communication courtyard as “The Common Ground,” where many of the events are being held, will take place in the fall.
“We’ve been, all year long, trying to program and demonstrate the strength of this space as a site for a variety of types of activities,” Grogg said, “and we’ll culminate it in the fall with a naming and celebratory dedication.”
For a complete schedule of Communication Week events, go to www.com.miami.edu/comweek.
Greg Linch can be contacted at g.linch@umiami.edu.