Student-produced PSA on positive gender roles to air in October on Channel 8
Janl Shoun-Smith |
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Department of Communication and Journalism
Wednesday, Oct. 17
Snacks will be served. |
The first of the five “Guess Who” children’s educational videos funded by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in partnership with the Independent Television Service (ITVS) began airing Wednesday on Nashville Public Television (NPT).
NPT will air the children’s educational video produced by students at Lipscomb University on Channel 8 twice a week throughout October.
The video was produced by Lipscomb communications students: Jason Michael Fox, junior from Nashville; Kathryn McKinley, senior from McMinnville; Kyrsten Turner, junior from Lawrenceville, Ga.; Marlee Vogel, junior from Kingsport; and Brynn Watkins, junior from Freeburg, Ill.The spots are designed to teach children about gender stereotypes by highlighting two women in non-stereotypical careers usually associated with men: an airline pilot and a race car driver.
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| The PSA used stop-motion animation. |
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| Kathryn MicKinley was one of five students who produced the videos. |
See our students’
one-minute PSA here.
You can check out the
two-minute version here.
And the "making-of" video
right here.
In addition to traveling to Atlanta and Bowling Green, Ky., to film their two role models, the students used stop-motion animation in the video and conducted interviews with second-graders from Lipscomb Academy, a K-12 private school operated by Lipscomb University. The kids’ comments and surprised reactions reinforced today’s conventional wisdom that pilots and race car drivers are all men.
“This was an extensive project spanning three states and requiring hundreds of hours of shooting and editing,” said Jimmy McCollum, acting chair of the Lipscomb communication and journalism department. “This project provided a rare holistic, professional experience for our students. They had a hand in everything from meeting with clients, developing the concept, shooting video in-studio and on-site, and editing. They really learned to appreciate the value of teamwork.”
“I've always been interested in the way the media presents gender roles. When I heard about the project, I immediately jumped on the bandwagon,” said Watkins, a journalism and new media major. “This is a perfect opportunity to spread awareness about something I fervently believe in: Women and men can have equality on the work platform.”
The Lipscomb department of communication and journalism plans to have an on-campus viewing party for the PSA Wednesday, Oct. 17, at 3:30 p.m. in Shamblin Theatre.
Women and Girls Lead is a public media campaign by the ITVS designed to celebrate, educate and activate women, girls and their allies across the globe to address the challenges of the 21st century.
Lipscomb’s Guess Who spot debuted in May 2012 for a local audience when Academy Award®-winning actor and advocate Geena Davis, along with executive director Madeline Di Nonno, visited the Lipscomb campus as part of a fundraising luncheon held by the Nelson and Sue Andrews Institute for Civic Leadership.