The Mass Media Arts Department at Clark Atlanta University has formally adopted an academic internship program facilitated by the African American Film Critics Association to train future journalists in the film and entertainment industry. Beginning this fall 2013 semester, the program, available only to junior and senior level students, represents the first academic partnership between AAFCA and an institution of higher learning.
“We are excited about this collaboration with AAFCA and our campus,” says Dr. Kandace Harris, associate professor and chair of the Department of Mass Media Arts at CAU. “Members of the association have a long history of engaging our students, so we look forward to the new opportunities that this formal internship partnership will bring.”
Mass media arts students Ariana Pyles and Shatondra Caldwell were selected for the program and will earn academic credits for their work over the course of the fall semester.
“I am so excited to be a part of AAFCA’s Internship Program and look forward to the learning opportunities that this experience will bring,” said Caldwell.
Caldwell and Pyles will assist the organization’s production team in creating segments to be shown during the annual AAFCA Awards Show on Friday, Jan. 31, 2014, at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, Calif. The two students also will contribute movie reviews on behalf of AAFCA that will be disseminated via the association’s online content relationship with Radio One stations across the country and serve as award show “online ambassadors.”
“We are thrilled to begin this program at a historically black institution such as Clark Atlanta University, with its strong Mass Media Arts legacy. Our support of African-American youth interested in careers in the media will give them the training, experience and confidence that will add value as they develop their careers,” said Edward Adams, AAFCA member, online manager for Creative Loafing magazine and co-supervisor of the program.
For more information on AAFCA, visit www.aafca.com.
