by Acecily Alexander
Instead of teaching classes this summer, Denise McGill, an assistant professor in the visual communications sequence, traveled to places her students may only see in National Geographic or on the History Channel.
McGill spent three weeks along the Mediterranean to retrace the steps of Paul the Apostle through Turkey and Greece. This gave her an opportunity to experience the history and culture of the church. It was McGill’s first visit to Greece, but her third trip to the Mediterranean in the past three years.
“It’s amazing that the Christian holy land is Israel. The New Testament is all about the Mediterranean, and that’s fundamental to the Christian faith,” McGill says.
Her Mediterranean trip is part her project “Sacred Sites,” which will be a publication of the images she has captured. She is interested in the sacred sites of all religions, but says the Mediterranean is an important part of the Christian faith.
Paul the Apostle spent a great amount of time in the Mediterranean area. More than halfof the New Testament was written in Greek around what is now Turkey. “The cities are like museums. It’s living through history,” says McGill the 2009 Beckman Stewart Academic Excellence award winner.
McGill is already using her experience here at USC. She’s made presentations in her classes and to the campus chapter of the National Press Photographers Association, a chapter she founded for SJMC students.
“The fact that I'm working in the field means I know a lot more about current issues for journalists working in the industry. They come up in class conversations on a regular basis,” McGill says.
McGill wants this experience to bring more than breathtaking images and thrilling stories to her students and colleagues. She believes her projects give her a type of energy that has an impact on the people around her. It influences her as a person, the type of work she expects from her students, and her own conversations throughout the campus. The visual communications expert is also learning how Greek, Roman and Islamic sites relate to each other. Those sites have potential to be in the future publication.
“I think travel is essential for all students, especially journalism majors. It helps us learn about the world around us,” she says.
Next spring McGill’s students will get to share her photo adventures during a popular Maymester course in multimedia journalism that includes travel to Germany.
Along with traveling to the Mediterranean this summer, Denise McGill spent a week in Las Vegas with the National Press Photographers Association. She is the secretary of NPPA and recently became the advisor of the student chapter at USC. The organization changed their constitution to help the members with jobs and “respond to changes in the industry.” The trip was full of seminars and guest speakers. McGill also got the opportunity recruit speakers to visit USC.
NPPA has gone from having one member on the USC campus to now having a student chapter. The student chapter consists of 15 members. The club recently applied to be an official University of South Carolina club.
The new changes include changing the way the NPPA board is handled. There will now be student board members. The combination of experienced and “fresh ideas,” as McGill tells it, will take the organization to another level.
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