Session 1

Blogs, Vlogs, Podcasts and Reels

Journalism in the 21st Century

What makes a popular blog or vlog? How do reels and podcasts go viral? Students in this program develop skills to create entertaining, informative and concise reports on the daily activities of the Summer Institute. During their time together, students practice writing professionally for the 21st Century, which includes a multimodal approach on blogs, vlogs, podcasts, and reels.

This course not only benefits those who seek a career in journalism, but who want to strengthen their written and oral communication skills for a diverse range of future opportunities. 

Students who are passionate about writing, entertaining and new technologies benefit from this program that is led by Pacific's Writing Faculty, in collaboration with the Media X Department. Students' daily work is published on our webpages and social media accounts, available to our followers, including the students’ families.
 

Curriculum

Students work in groups to create daily publications for our web site and social media accounts. Students discuss and set strategies for writing and delivery scripts as well as creating infographics and aesthetically appealing web pages. They visit other programs and also conduct interviews on campus to collect content for their publications. By the end of the session, students develop skills to:

  1. Write informative and entertaining scripts for Vlogs, Podcasts, and Reels.
  2. Produce aesthetically pleasing, informative, and concise Blogs with original images and infographics. 
  3. Delivery video and auditory content with vocal energy and enthusiasm and effective gestures and facial expressions. 
  4. Create and edit video and audio files to be published online.
Working on a podcast
Planned Topics

Each day starts with a team meeting and distribution of roles, followed by breakout sessions around campus, where students make observations and conduct interviews about the campus events. After these activities, they participate in debriefing meetings and sketch proposals, delivered to the class for feedback, before the publication is created. By the end of the day, each student team produce either a podcast, blog, vlog, or reel. 

The distribution of media forms rotates daily so that all students have the opportunity to create multiple podcasts, blogs, vlogs, and reels.
 

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Emily Brienza-Larsen
Faculty Lead
Emily Brienza-Larsen

Lead Developmental Writing Professor, College of the Pacific

BA in English, University of the Pacific, 2002
MA in Education, National University, 2004
MA in English, National University, 2017 
Doctor of Arts in English Literature and Pedagogy, Murray State University, 2026

Professor Brienza-Larsen has been teaching college composition courses since 2003.  She is the current Developmental Writing Professor and Director of Placement at University of the Pacific. She is also working on her Doctor of Arts Degree in English, researching the evolution of composition and literature studies. In addition to teaching, she has worked as a professional web designer, advertising manager and ghost writer. Professor Brienza-Larsen is also an experienced entertainer with over 30 years of stage performance as actress, singer and director.  

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