The future of journalism and communication was represented well last Monday morning at the student showcase in the Fireside Lounge.

Students, organization leaders and faculty gathered around the bagels and fruit spread to celebrate featured works from COM/JRN classes including photojournalism, media ethics and more.

Future professionals utilized technology at the forefront of the industries to represent their best work from the semester thus far.

Professor Holly Gilbert, who has been involved with the showcase since its inception, said that this year, more than ever, digital and live entries were represented more than poster board or text.

“It’s a chance for our students to show off their work – the pieces they’ve labored over during the year – to be recognized and set examples for others,” Gilbert said when asked about the showcase. “It’s also an opportunity to experience the community of communication and journalism and to network.”

A wide variety of assignments, from photography projects and magazine spreads to CD covers and comic strips, hung on temporary walls, giving students the opportunity to see the diversity of work in these two departments.

Garry Gilbert’s media ethics students were first up to present. I started off the morning with a WordPress site to present my analysis of bias in recent Detroit media coverage.

Students Taylor Clayton and Kathryn Ausilio followed with their PowerPoint project, which studied the ethics behind being a celebrity journalist.

The ethics portion was followed by organizations. The Oakland Post and WXOU, both award-winning student productions, were represented, followed by journalism professors introducing new courses for the fall semester.

Professor Beth Talbert joked that, “all you have to do is change your schedule” in order to sign up for her upcoming course, “Women in Leadership,” which will analyze and de-stigmatize our society’s prototypical leader image.

Students from contemporary music classes spoke about their projects, utilizing every form of social media available to present their work.

Iota Eta, Oakland’s chapter of the communication national honor organization Lamda Pi Eta, closed out the showcase.

Afterward, seniors gathered for celebration and anticipation for their upcoming graduation.

Although the showcase conveyed just how diverse journalism and communication courses, and their work, are, one common thread ran throughout the afternoon.

No matter what platform students chose to represent their work, the utilization of technology was forefront in storytelling and it helped convey powerful and creative messages from all involved.