As promised several days ago, a wee update on what I've been doing at j-school, here at KU. Classes are in full swing. I'm taking an editing crash course, which is truly humbling. I consider myself a pretty good writer who is able to edit in a competent manner, but I know I'll be learning a lot in this course. To wit: we were assigned some readings on grammar. And gadnummit, if I haven't thought about parts of speech, gerunds, participles, etc. for years. Talk about a refresher course.
I'm also taking a writing for multimedia course. It's pretty cool so far. I was worried that it was going to be heavy on the PR writing -- after all, the textbook is entitled, "Strategic Writing: Writing for Public Relations, Marketing..." But it's light on that stuff, and tonight I'm writing a radio broadcast script.
The biggest and most exciting news is that I am a graduate assistant for Professor Simran Sethi, a visiting professional chair at KU. Professor Sethi is well-known for her work in environmental journalism; she's a reporter for TreeHugger.com, she's headed up the news desk for MTV India, interviewed Al Gore, and is soon to begin work as a correspondent with NBC News.
I'm going to be helping Professor Sethi in gathering materials for her course on Environmental Reporting; assisting in researching topics for a new book she is writing; compiling materials for her various speaking opportunities across the country, and researching topics for her class on multimedia reporting this semester.
It's an incredible opportunity to work with a smart journalist, and on topics that are incredibly pertinent, not only in journalism, but also in our everyday life. Woohoo!
