Saturday, August 30, 2008

New Graduate Programs

EFLJ is involved in two new graduate programs. This fall, the Master of Applied Arts in Integrated Media--a program involving EFLJ and the departments of Music, Art, and Communication Studies and Theater--began delivering courses to its first cohort of students. The program's website (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/Graduate/aim.html) explains that the new MAA program "has been specifically conceived as an interdisciplinary laboratory where students combine the traditional foundations of design and visual communication, video and music with a view towards developing fresh creative strategies. The Master of Applied Arts in Integrated Media at Missouri Western State University is a professional degree program focused on producing technically sophisticated, artistically talented graduates who are sought after by corporations, advertising agencies, graphic design studios and by the growing electronic arts industry."

The MAA in Written Communication (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/EFLJ/MAAWCprogram1.pdf) is divided into two options: Writing Studies and Technical Communication. The Writing Studies option is ideal for teachers who wish to develop professionally as writing teachers. The Prairie Lands Writing Project, an affiliate of the National Writing Project, is a large component of that option. The option in Technical Communication offers students course work in writing for media, writing for management, interactive web design, publications management, as well as technical writing.

We have offered a Graduate Certificate in the Teaching of Writing for a couple of years now, and this certificate satisfies many requirements in the MAA in Written Communication's option in Writing Studies (http://www.missouriwestern.edu/plwp/graduatecertificate.html).

Three EFLJ Faculty Promoted

Last spring we received word that three of our faculty were promoted. Dr. Robert Bergland was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of Journalism; Dr. Susan Hennessy was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor of French; Dr. Patricia Donaher was granted tenure and promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor of English. Congratulations to them for this significant achievement!

EFLJ Joins the Blogging World

And so begins EFLJ's blog. We hope that our alumni will visit this blog in order to find out what's happening in their old college home as well as to share information about their accomplishments (see alumni update link on the right). We hope to have news on a regular basis about your fellow alumni, your "old" faculty (none of us is over 39, you know), and our current students.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Welcome to the EFLJ Blog!

Greetings from the Department of English, Foreign Languages and Journalism at Missouri Western State University, in beautiful Saint Joseph, Missouri.