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In America, conversations about grief and loss are often avoided, and in art, tend to be sugarcoated, or even “corny.”

����Թ� State Assistant Professor and independent filmmaker Dana White is changing that narrative through her work, and was recently recognized by the Ohio Arts Council.

As a digital media production student, Ailene Joven, '21, began creating the short film “Define” during the early days of COVID-19. Several years later, that film is set to be screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on March 28, 2023.

����Թ� State alumna Courtney Flickinger, ’20, has been using communication skills to advocate for aging populations since her senior year of college. In 2019, she was a communications intern with Direction Home Akron Canton Area Agency on Aging and Disabilities, and has since begun her career there as a communication specialist. This semester, she’s sharing her knowledge and experiences with students in two Communication Studies courses.

Peter Bobkowski will join the School of Media and Journalism this fall as ����Թ�’s second Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism, dedicated to leading national efforts to revitalize journalism in the nation's high schools.

The ����Թ� State School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) welcomed Mizell Stewart III, award winning reporter, corporate news executive and president and CEO of Emerging Leaders LLC, to give the third annual Dix Media Ethics Lecture, “Journalism as a Civic Good,” on March 1, 2023.

Mandy Jenkins began her robust journalism career during a time where the news industry was changing quickly, and faculty who taught her say she was particularly well-suited for this challenge.

“I could see that she thought on a trajectory that was light-years ahead of other people when it came to holding people close and saying, ‘What is it you really want to do? What should this thing really look like?’" said Emerita Associate Professor Barbara Hipsman Springer. That was important in the mid-2000s when newsrooms were adapting to the emerging digital landscape; they needed people like Jenkins who were fast learners and didn’t feel bound by rules.

Walking down the streets of Manhattan, surrounded by 49 college students of diverse backgrounds, ����Թ� State student Rafael Guedes Bonacin, ’23, felt at home, even though he was far from his native Brazil.

When senior visual communication design major Jordan Edgar, '23, was asked to design the logo for Homeslice Pizzeria, ����Թ� State’s newest dining location, she wanted to create a logo that would match the environment of the ����Թ� Student Center and incorporate elements of a pizza restaurant. 

In Spring 2019 Jenna Gilbreath, ’23, was an incoming communication studies student, unsure and nervous about what her new life at ����Թ� would look like.