Department
News
Take
a tour of the Media Lab
By Mary Elaine Ramsey
'11
When the Communication Department moved to Campanella several
years ago, the department's former space was renovated into
the Media Lab. Comprised of a demo room, five video suites and
four audio suites, the lab allows students to produce professional
quality audio and video projects. Its facilities are restricted
to students in four classes- Audio I, Audio II,
Television Field Production, and Advanced Video
Production.
Adjunct Associate Professor William Stanwood, a former television
writer/producer/director for over 30 years, is director of the
lab. He originated many of the television production courses
offered by the Communication Department. "Hello, Mary Elaine."
He stands before me, a jovial presence. His light-heartedness
and good humor find their way into the ambiance of the lab as
evidenced by "The Simpsons" portrait parodying "Sunday in the
Park with George" by George Seurat adorning the lobby wall.
The lab appears to be very comfortable or, as Prof. Stanwood
puts it, "plush but not overly ostentatious."
Continued
in Department News »
Meet
the Adjunct:
Don
Aucoin, a reporter for the Boston Globe and a member
of the adjunct faculty in BC's Communication Department, is
coauthor of the New York Times best-seller Last
Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy.
Last Lion was described by Kirkus Reviews as a
"balanced, nuanced, warts-and-all portrait'' of Sen. Edward
M. Kennedy. Chris Matthews of MSNBC, speaking on his TV show,
Hardball, said: "What a great book… Written
by the best reporters around.''
As of the first week in March, Last Lion had climbed
to No. 7 on The New York Times best-seller list. The
book was also listed at No. 10 on Publisher's Weekly's
national best-seller list.
Aucoin, who wrote Last Lion along with several colleagues
at the Globe, has taught at BC since 2003. He currently teaches
Feature Writing in the Communication Department, and
he is also a lecturer in BC's Woods College of Advancing Studies,
where he teaches a summer course called Techniques of Precise
Expression.
Meet
more of our Adjunct Faculty »
2008 Presidential Election Analysis with Dr. William Schneider
Our
sister Political Science Alumni Network has generously offered
to share its interview with CNN political analyst, journalist,
and former BC professor Dr. William Schneider. From 1990 to
1995, he served as the Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Visiting
Professor of American Politics in the BC Political Science Department.
Election
Analysis »
(Links to the Political Science Newsletter)
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Welcome BC Communication Alumni!
Communications Career Night a Big Success
By Erica Shaw '09
On
Wednesday evening, February 18, 2009, the College Career Center
hosted a Communications Career Night in the Heights Room of
Corcoran Commons. The Career Center put together an informal
networking opportunity for students interested in careers in
communications to speak with BC alumni, currently working in
the field. The purpose of the event was to allow these students
to meet and mingle with communication professionals in order
to pose questions about their jobs, how they got started in
the field, and other types of career related concerns.
Several hundred students, many of them seniors, attended the
event above "Lower Live", looking forward to building
relationships with people who could potentially offer jobs down
the road. Phil Kowalski, a senior, seemed to agree with others
in attendance that the career night was a huge success. "I've
been frustrated by other career events in the past. This one
is way more laid back and casual. It's nice to know that it's
all BC people here, which is a great way to break the ice in
what can be a very awkward networking situation. I don't know
what I want to do with my life yet, and talking to BC alumni
is a great way to get advice and ideas."
There were about 30 different alumni present at the Career Night,
representing a range of companies in the communication field.
These included such well-known Boston organizations as Hill
Holliday advertising agency, JH Communications, Lois Paul and
Partners, WHDH TV and the New England Revolution. Students present
spoke to alumni who graduated last year, all the way up to owners
of companies who graduated in the '70s and '80s. Paula Gonzalez,
a BC grad student who also studied as an undergraduate here,
organized the event for the Career Center. She worked hard to
find a diverse range of people in different fields, representing
different job positions. "I contacted over 30 alumni to
join us tonight, and there are about 100 students floating around
the room at any given time. That's a great turnout number for
these students to meet communication professionals face to face."
The alumni present also seemed happy with the opportunity to
give back to the Boston College community and talk to students
interested in working in their fields. David Wedge, '93, the
chief enterprise reporter at the Boston Herald commented,
"It's nice to give back, this way, to the BC community.
It's a great opportunity for alumni to network as well, in order
to meet qualified workers for the near future."
Bill McLaughlin, '78, an executive vice president at Lois Paul
and Partners explained "It's very challenging to go from
college to career. My advice: networking. Don't be afraid to
leverage relationships with other people that you know. Talk
to them. Tell them what you want. Give them your résumé."
If you are interested in presenting at a future Communications
Career Night, please contact Janet Costa Bates at the Career
Center janet.bates@bc.edu
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