Bill Gentile speaks at the Double Exposure Investigative Film Festival (photo: Esther Gentile)

Filippo Trevisan was interviewed by the French weekly L’Express about how Donald Trump was able to expand his voter base and what the Democrats will need to do to bring back these voters to their fold. “Since Obama’s 2008 campaign, the Democratic Party has been focused on investing in identity politics to ensure that all minorities feel represented within it - Trevisan points out. - But the issue of jobs and a future that can work for all, which have been further sidelined, are two issues that Democrats are going to have to think about very seriously.”

On October 5th the Game Center welcomed an international delegation of 28 educators, leaders, and policymakers from 24 different countries around the world, for the purpose of discussing our approach to experiential learning through games, and using games as both tools and subject matter for STEAM-based learning, communication, and economic development. This delegation was brought together and hosted via the International Visitor Liaison Program (IVLP) at the US Department of State, who also attended in conjunction with the delegation. After a 30-minute presentation on the Game Center by Director Andrew Phelps, delegates asked questions and requested feedback from various perspectives for over 2 hours, well past the scheduled time for the event. Hartmut Koenitz, an international scholar on interactive narrative from Sweden, also attended as he was concurrently visiting the Center at Andrew Phelp’s request.

"The Test" co-directed and produced by Claudia Myers and Laura Waters Hinson, has screened at nearly 25 film festivals, won 6 awards, and had a weeklong theatrical run in Los Angeles. The film is now Oscar-qualified and has been submitted for consideration as "Best Short Documentary" to the 2025 Academy Awards.

Jill Miller (Left) and Eric Frimpong (Center) -- both subjects of the short documentary "The Test" -- with U.S. Representative Don Beyer (D-VA) after screening the film on Capitol Hill

As part of Claudia and Laura's ongoing social impact campaign, "The Test" has had two dozen community screenings and was the centerpiece film at the LeadingAge Annual Conference in Nashville. LeadingAge is a community of over 5,400 nonprofit aging services providers across the country. As a result of this event, Lois Bowers wrote an article for McKnight Senior Living titled "This ‘Test’ could be an answer to workforce challenges." 

Brigid Maher and Dara Padwo-Audick team up to produce We Persist, a timely documentary that follows the extraordinary journeys of three women who have defied the odds and fought for change in the face of adversity. Brigid and Dara filmed with Roslyn Harmon, the first person of color elected mayor of Golden Valley, Minnesota, over four days in Minnesota before and during the elections. They captured examples of restorative justice in action along with in-depth interviews about race, ethnicity, and deeply held beliefs. We Persist demonstrates how social and restorative justice and peace building practices in local communities can make a lasting impact on society at large. You can watch a trailer here.

Aarushi Sahejpal gave two talks at the 2025 Computation + Journalism conference at Northeastern University on October 25-27. Titled “Using LLMs To Help You Build Data Visualizations In D3” and “Data Journalism Teachers’ Club: A New Community For Data Journalism Educators.”

Aarushi also gave an invited talk to Armenian Broadcasts Journalists here in DC on October 16th hosted by the Poynter Institute about techniques in data-driven journalism across mediums.

As part of the new Civic Life Initiative, Molly O’Rourke was a panelist on an AU post-election panel entitled “What Just Happened.”  The event was moderated by SPA’s Betsy Fischer Martin and included Republican pollster & cable commentator Kristin Soltis Anderson and Cheyanne Daniels, race and politics reporter for The Hill. CSPAN covered the panel and it has aired multiple times featuring a standing-room only crowd that included Q&A from several very articulate and well-informed AU students.

#SOCtotheSouthPole: SOC Journalism student Gabe Castro-Root has been selected to cover an exclusive Antarctic expedition, Space2Sea. This immersive expedition is made possible by FUTURE of SPACE, which aims to elevate young voices in journalism, inspire global dialogue, and foster cross-disciplinary partnerships for the future of our planet. Follow his adventure at #SOCtotheSouthPole Read more.

Alumna Emme Watkins parlayed an internship with NASA into an outstanding MFA thesis film about the role of the PACE satellite in building our understanding of how climate is impacting our oceans and full-time fellowship. "The Center for Environmental Filmmaking has a long-standing relationship with NASA and is dedicated to creating these kind of opportunities for the next generation of science, conservation, and environmental filmmaking communicators," said professor Maggie Stogner. Read more.

Christie Parell and Scott Talan hosted a book talk for their Crisis Communication and Understanding Media classes, featuring author Phil Elwood’s new memoir, All the Worst Humans: How I Made News for Dictators, Tycoons, and Politicians. The memoir offers a rare glimpse into the complex ethical challenges of representing controversial clients and recounts Elwood’s own journey of struggle and redemption. The discussion was moderated by Public Relations & Strategic Communication alum Max Marcucci (SOC '15), now Managing Director of Risk & Reputation at Leidar.

Phil Elwood (Left onstage) and Max Marcucci (Right onstage) speak to PRSC students in the Doyle-Forman theater 

Chris Halsne and Terry Bryant, along with former Journalism master's student Kate Hapgood, were interviewed by a Norwegian newspaper for a story on the possible future of journalism in the U.S.