Students from SU’s Newhouse School to document life in Auburn

Nearly 100 students from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications will turn their attention to the local town of Auburn this fall, spending the weekend of Oct. 15-17 getting to know the community during an annual multimedia and photo workshop. The students will document life in Auburn through photographs, sound recordings, video and the written word. Ultimately, they will publish their work online, in the Post-Standard and in a student-produced book.

“For many Newhouse students, the workshop is a pivotal point in their education,” says associate professor Bruce Strong, who is directing the workshop. “They are able to ‘learn by doing.’ Some learn through their mistakes and others through their successes, but all of them grow in numerous ways throughout the weekend. It’s a real-world, real-time exercise.”

The students will work out of the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES, where 30 journalists from across the country will be on hand to offer advice and guidance. “The students get to interact with some of the best professionals in the field,” says Strong.

This year’s professional workshop faculty members include two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Michel duCille, assistant managing editor for photography at The Washington Post; and Bert Fox, director of photography for The Charlotte Observer and former National Geographic magazine picture editor. In addition, multimedia editors and photographers from the New York Times, Washington Post, National Geographic, NPR, Newark Star-Ledger, Roanoke Times, Seattle Times and San Antonio Express-News will participate as coaches. Many of them are Newhouse alumni who participated in similar workshops when they were students.

Each student will complete at least one story, capturing a visual record of the community of Auburn. Several of the stories will be published in the Post-Standard and most of the student work will appear online at http://www.thefallworkshop.com. In addition, graphic design students will produce books (Blurb.com) featuring the students’ work, due for release in 2011. The students will hold a community presentation on Sunday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES.

Follow the project on Twitter at @TheFallWorkshop and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31386807822.

For more information about the workshop, contact Mary Buttolph at (315) 857-5224 or mary@buttolph.com.