Caroline D'Angelo, social media editor at the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, spoke to two courses in the School of Communication Studies. D'Angelo visited campus to moderate the panel presentation, Social Media and Democracy: Giving a Voice to the Silenced, which featured Director of the School of Communication Studies Paul Haridakis, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science Steven W. Hook, Ph.D., and Jenna Krajeski, a Pulitzer Center journalist based in Istanbul, Turkey.
D'Angelo spoke to two Foundations of Communication classes about the impact of global communication and potential communication careers as part of an overview of School of Communication Studies' undergraduate global communication concentration.
"Her comments were useful to all of the students, as she discussed commonalities with other concentrations and connections to several careers and skill sets," Assistant Professor Rekha Sharma said.
D'Angelo also covered the Pulitzer Center's non-profit journalism model, the differences between journalism and activism, and the impact of global communication on macro levels such as social trends and micro levels such as consumer purchasing decisions.
"Some of the stories she discussed helped open students' eyes as to what globalization means and how their careers and lives will intersect with global communication issues," Sharma added.
D'Angelo emphasized the importance of effective communication and writing in obtaining employment and succeeding in the workplace.
"She noted that it is not enough for students simply to tell employers about the topics that excite them, but also to provide evidence of their passion for those topics," Sharma said. "She explained that students should get involved in projects that connect their communication skills with their interests, think about how to describe their efforts in their cover letters and resumes, and provide examples of their work in their portfolios."
D'Angelo showed students some ways to use social media tools that would allow them to spark a dialogue with readers as well as some mapping tools to help them communicate informational patterns visually.
D'Angelo came to the Pulitzer Center from the University of Pennsylvania where she was the communications coordinator and staff writer for the Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership at Wharton. D'Angelo has a master's degree in environmental studies, focusing on international environmental policy and communications. She is co-founder of wH2O: The Journal of Gender & Water, the first journal on global water and women's issues, for which she serves as editor-in-chief.