The School of Journalism at Michigan State University has announced a new, strategic partnership with the Smithsonian Latino Center.
This long-term partnership will focus on the SLC's online expansion project that will create experiential learning opportunities for MSU students interested in Latino culture.
The Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum Educational Advisory Committee selected MSU’s School of Journalism as a partner because of its effective use of immersive journalism strategies to engage audiences. MSU will aid the SLC in research and design of eProducts and services as they apply to its rebranding initiative.
“We are excited to partner with Michigan State University’s School of Journalism to create immersive learning experiences using faculty and student knowledge of state-of-the-art virtual reality technology, animation and 3-D modeling that will showcase Latino programing, research, collections and outreach,” said Melissa Carrillo, director of new media and technology at the SLC.
The goal of the partnership is to create opportunities for learning about Latino culture, specifically through the use of innovative technologies and digital storytelling.
MSU journalism professor Stacey Fox will head the initiative and work with students to produce animated stories, interactive and animated comics and immersive 3-D journalistic works for Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard. The students also will produce iBooks, games and augmented reality experiences.
“This collaboration creates the highest level of scholarly research and industry-level production experiences for our students,” said Lucinda Davenport, director of the MSU School of Journalism. “This real-world opportunity will help our students to be better prepared to exceed the current expectations that await them in the industry.”