Media fields have far-reaching impacts — and our college we stands out as a leader in media education. We offer the most comprehensive media arts program in Illinois’ public university system, and we have attained international recognition for the quality of our faculty and curriculum.
Our students learn to tell powerful stories in a variety of forms – cinema, photography, video, gaming, radio, television, animation and multimedia journalism. They gain a solid conceptual understanding in the classroom and find myriad hands-on opportunities to put their ideas to work. These include running the Big Muddy Film Festival, playing key production roles in Saluki athletics telecasts for ESPN3, and working on WSIU radio and television and the “Weekend” series of books (which feature local communities and highlight our photojournalism program). Our students produce professional-quality work before they graduate.
Our college provides a vibrant intellectual and artistic environment where award-winning, internationally respected faculty pursue significant research and creative work, often including their undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students as partners.
Achievements in our college span an impressive range:
- Our partnership with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting gives students an opportunity to report on global issues through reporting fellowships.
- Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016, the Daily Egyptian consistently earns awards from the Illinois College Press Association.
- The Big Muddy Film Festival is the oldest student-run festival in the United States, and has garnered global recognition for the quality of its programming.
- “alt.news 26:46,” a student-produced television magazine program, has won seven College Television Awards and 31 regional Emmys.
- The New Media Study Group, composed of tenure-track faculty and graduate students, has published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals on the impact of social media on traditional media and society.
- River Region Evening Edition student reporters have won awards from the Illinois News Broadcasters Association.
Our goal is to build on our many successes, integrating our legacy media programs with contemporary media platforms to provide our students with experience. To accomplish this, we must focus on several key areas.
Increased Scholarships
Our college gives students access to a world of creative and professional opportunities. But the first and most fundamental opportunity we need to provide is the chance to attend SIU and earn a degree in media and communications. The key to doing so is increased scholarship support that will put SIU within financial reach for more families and reduce the burden of debt our students assume. This will open the doors of learning for more talented and hard-working students, including first-generation college attendees.
Expanded Opportunities
Internships are one of the most powerful learning experiences a student can have, and our students secure placements with some of the top organizations in the media world. Unfortunately, many face financial barriers. Nearly all media internships are unpaid, so students need assistance to take advantage of these great opportunities. We seek funding that will give students the latitude to accept unpaid summer positions.
Enhanced Facilities and Resources
We want to ensure that our students have access to state-of-the-industry equipment that puts them in a position for success when they graduate. Recently, we expanded our programs to include game design and virtual reality media-making, and we created a converged newsroom where students practice multimedia journalism. These are exciting steps forward, and we need to continue to invest in the latest technology to maintain and expand these areas.
Deeper Community Engagement
Since 1979, The Big Muddy Film Festival has been a highlight of the SIU and the Carbondale community calendar. One of the oldest student-run, university-affiliated film festivals in the nation, it attracts films and artists from around the world, brings viewers from across the region and showcases independent films. We are committed to seeing the festival thrive long past its 40th anniversary and are looking to secure increased, stable funding to ensure that outcome.