Media School visiting professors include award-winning media executive and NPR TV critic
Media School students have several opportunities this fall semester to learn from elite media professionals, such as visiting professors of practice Eric Deggans, BAJ’90, and Mark Bauman.
Bauman’s course, How to Succeed in Media, will introduce students to a variety of processes to help them identify and refine their individual creative voices. Students will learn how to network, develop focus groups for refining their creative voices, and support other media creators.
“Most people who are interested in media production will make dozens of pitches before getting any traction on a project,” Bauman said. “Finding coping strategies for rejection is probably the toughest skill to learn in any business. But it may be the most important.”
Bauman is an award-winning media, journalism, and impact communications executive that specializes in multi-platform content strategies and the education of next-generation talent. He has been a guest lecturer on media at Columbia University, Harvard University, Russia’s Moscow State University, Charles University in the Czech Republic, IU, and many other colleges.
“New media businesses are born and die every day. New business models are constantly emerging. I hope to teach my students professional resiliency and time-tested approaches that will give them the best chance for success in any market,” Bauman said.
He will not be the only one joining IU this fall.
Eric Deggans graduated from IU’s School of Journalism in 1990 and is returning to campus from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 to teach a weekend bootcamp course called How to Write About Entertainment. This course will dive into coverage of entertainment/pop culture, writing techniques, and reporting strategies, including tips for interviewing and developing sources.
“I’ve always been impressed by the level of students I’ve met over the years in my visits to The Media School, so I’m really looking forward to interacting with the students who will be taking the class and hearing their ambitions,” Deggans said.
“I’ll ask each student to come to the course with a potential story idea they want to work on, and hopefully by the end of the bootcamp, they will have either completed the story, made substantial headway on developing it, or produced a solid strategy for pursuing it,” Deggans said.
Deggans is an NPR guest host and television critic, helping audiences decode confusing messages on race, inclusion, and society in media platforms today. He has a focused interest in race and critical race theory, especially as it relates to current media. His book, “Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation,” discusses how media outlets leverage prejudice to build profits.
During his time at IU, Deggans enjoyed writing for the Indiana Daily Student and Arbutus yearbook, and he wrote for Herald Telephone and local independent publications. Since there was no internet or social media, he and many other aspiring journalists had to seek out publications that would feature their work.
Deggans learned valuable lessons that can still be applied to today’s journalists starting their careers. His advice for Media School students is to develop a game plan for establishing their careers that is ambitious but realistic.
“And be flexible about how you might get to your goals,” Deggans said. “When I was at IU, I dreamed of writing for The New York Times or Rolling Stone magazine. But I have become an arts critic with a national voice working for a radio network and public media – I reached my goal, but in a way I never could have predicted 30 years ago.”
Bauman and Deggans both look forward to the opportunity to meet the students they will be teaching this fall.