Catching Up with Alumni
SOU alumni, Michael Kerr, graduated Summa Cum Laude Laude with a degree in English and Writing from SOU in 2009. After graduation, Kerr ventured into the writing world and has written for dozens of publications including VentureBeat, Portland Business Journal, Forbes, and the Financial Times.
I was late to the party! I didn’t decide to pursue an EMDA minor until my final year at SOU, but I’m so glad I did. The instructors helped me learn interactive media skills that mesh well with my Business degree. After I graduated and landed a job, my manager even told me I was chosen based on my experience with interactive media.
In the wake of a year of national protest grounded in issues of equity and diversity, the Digital Cinema faculty at Southern Oregon University took an opportunity to quickly respond to current events and launch an innovative course on Black screenwriting in Fall 2020.
Just where was Erik Palmer last year? Instead of his usual gig serving as the Communication Program’s chair and teaching courses such as Strategic Social Media, Creative Industries and Design Thinking, Dr. Palmer completed a sabbatical year in Ghana, supported by a Fulbright award from the U.S. State Department.
Born in Lewiston, Idaho, Kendall Meador moved up and down the west coast before completing her BA in English at Southern Oregon University. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in American literature at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. In her free time, she enjoys writing poetry and cooking.
I have been working as a Visual Information Specialist at Little Rock Air Force Base for the last 5 years. My responsibilities include developing print and digital graphics for internal and external audiences; I also develop short animations for a base-wide digital marquee system.
Dante Fumagalli is a 2017 summa cum laude graduate of Southern Oregon University, with a double major in English and Art History. A member of the founding class of SOU’s Honors College, he was the 2017 student commencement speaker.
EMDA is a winning program because it allows students to ideate and find their voice in the digital world. The mindset to have when heading into a class is to know that you are learning how to learn.
The EMDA idea was built on projects like the Applied Multimedia Unit (AMU) and Digital Media Foundations (DMF) courses over a decade of innovation, curriculum development, and a vision for interdisciplinary design at SOU.
My EMDA degree has given me such a wide variety of skills and has pushed me to try things I never would have tried on my own!