Webster University School of Communications Announces Fall Speaker Series Line-up

The School of Communications (SOC) at Webster University announces its 2010 Fall Speaker Series. Topics cover a wide spectrum of the communications area providing interest to a broad audience.

The School of Communications 2010 Fall Speaker Series line-up includes:

Friday, September 24, 2010

Van McElwee: Recent Video Work

Van McElwee; Video Artist and Webster University Professor

Noon, Winifred Moore Auditorium, Webster University

Free and open to the public

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Gateway Guardians: A Documentary

Rebecca Ormond; Independent Filmmaker and Webster University Professor

7:30 p.m., Winifred Moore Auditorium, Webster University

Free and open to the public

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Search for Truth in a Fictional Society

Dave Senay; President & CEO, Fleishman-Hillard

7:30 a.m. Breakfast, 8 a.m. Presentation, Sunnen Lounge, Webster University

Free and open to the public

Presented in conjunction with the George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology

RSVP through the GHWSBT website: www.webster.edu/depts/business/index.php

Friday, October 29

Murat Türemis: After the Tsunami

Murat Türemis; Freelance photographer

1 p.m., Sverdrup, Room 101, Webster University

Free and open to the public

About the speakers and their topics:

Van McElwee: Van McElwee: Recent Video Work

Van McElwee's body of video work includes over fifty single channel pieces, installations and web projects. Grants and awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship, The American Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Award, The National Endowment for the Arts Independent Production Fund (seven time recipient) and a grant from the Government of India. McElwee’s work has been exhibited extensively worldwide and is represented by The Kitchen in New York, Bruno David Gallery in St. Louis, Heure Exquise! in France, LUX in the UK, the Inter Media Art Institute in Germany and Trabant Gallery in Austria.

Professor McElwee will show and discuss three new experimental video works: Alternity, Varifold and Liquid Crystal. Each was screened recently at a retrospective at Anthology Film Archives in New York.

Rebecca J Ormond: Gateway Guardians: A Documentary

Rebecca Ormond began her career in San Francisco working in post-production (Film, TV and radio). She holds degrees in film (theory and production), theatre and English literature. As an active independent filmmaker, Rebecca has made experimental, narrative and documentary films of both feature and short lengths in all formats from 35mm, multi-media to consumer HD flip-cams. Her films have been picked up for distribution, taken numerous awards and played at festivals in the United States and abroad. Ormond currently teaches at Webster University.

The documentary, Gateway Guardians, provides a glimpse into an organization that daily feeds, rescues and adopts hundreds of animals each year off the streets of East St. Louis, Illinois. Capturing what no film crew could capture, personal cameras both 'worn' and 'held' by the volunteers on the streets, in the vet clinics and in the foster homes show us these dogs as they have never been seen. This documentary recently received the St. Louis Film Critics Association’s “Humanitarian Award.” Ormond and the rescue group, Gateway Pet Guardians, will answer questions about the documentary after the screening.

Gateway Guardians is a feature documentary written, directed and edited “pro bono” by Rebecca Ormond for which all proceeds will go to benefit local St. Louis animal rescue.

Dave Senay: The Search for Truth in a Fictional Society

Dave Senay has worked across multiple communications practices throughout several regions of the world during his decades-long career in public relations. He has led or participated on account teams in industries ranging from telecommunications and information technology to healthcare, food and automotive. His experience includes corporate and crisis communications, consumer marketing, international, public affairs and environmental programs. Since joining Fleishman-Hillard in 1984, Senay has taken on increasingly broader responsibilities, serving at various times as a group leader and as general manager of the firm’s St. Louis headquarters office; and then as regional president for the Midwest, Canada, Europe and the Middle East, and Africa. Soon after being named president and CEO in July 2006, Senay made a full-fledged commitment to "switch on" the agency, integrating digital into every aspect of the business. Senay is a member of various public relations organizations including the Public Relations Seminar, the Arthur W. Page Society, the Council of Public Relations Firms and the Public Relations Society of America. (This information was taken from the Fleishman-Hillard website: www.fleishmanhillard.com).

Dave Senay will speak about his experiences.

Murat Türemis: After the Tsunami

Murat Türemis is a freelance photographer based in Germany, but has pursued photo documentary projects around the world for several decades. An award-winning photojournalist, he arrived in Banda Aceh, Indonesia shortly after the devastating Tsunami in 2005 and recently returned to show what has happened in the interim. His work has appeared in National Geographic, among many publications. Murat Türemis: After the Tsunami will be on view in the May Gallery at Webster University from October 29 – November 24. The opening reception of Murat Türemis: After the Tsunami is on Friday October 29 from 5 – 7 p.m.

Türemis will give a talk about his work at 1 p.m. in Sverdrup 101 at Webster University on Friday, October 29.

About the School of Communications

For more than 25 years, Webster University’s School of Communications (SOC) has offered an exceptional media communications education to thousands of undergraduate and graduate students interested in a hands-on approach to learning. Students receive a reality-based view of their future professions because classes are taught by accomplished professionals and feature state-of-the art equipment. The SOC houses two academic departments: the Communications & Journalism and Electronic & Photographic Media departments. The School features well-seasoned faculty from the entire spectrum of the media communications field including broadcast and print journalism, film, video and audio production, interactive media, photography, oral communications, advertising, marketing communications, public relations, scriptwriting and media literacy.

About Webster University

With its home campus in St. Louis, Webster University is a worldwide institution committed to delivering high-quality learning experiences that transform students for global citizenship and individual excellence. Founded in 1915, Webster offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs through five schools and colleges, and a global network of more than 100 campuses. Its 20,000-plus student population represents almost 150 nationalities.

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