About Backpack Journalism

Backpack Journalism at Creighton University is a collaboration between the Theology Department and the Journalism, Media, & Computing Department. It came about because of a theologian interested in social justice and filmmaking and a journalist and an artist interested in filmmaking and social justice.

Every other summer, a small group of students travels to a community in search of a story. Led by professors Dr. John O’Keefe, Tim Guthrie, and Carol Zuegner, the students immerse themselves in the communities, interviewing, filming, recording, and writing. When they return to Creighton, they take the stories they have collected and develop them into a short documentary film. The Backpack Journalism documentaries have been accepted at several film festivals across the United States. The class has traveled to such far-flung places as the Dominican Republic and Uganda, Bethel Alaska and Nogales Arizona/Sonora.

The next project is scheduled for the summer of 2020 and will focus on deforestation in Eastern Africa.

The journey begins

May 23, 20182018 UgandaCarol Zuegner

It starts today. The 2018 Uganda Backpack Journalism crew begins the process of learning vid

Carol Zuegner bending over small tree sapling in Uganda — Carol Z and the tiny tree she planted when in Uganda in 2012.

eo, theology, blogging, journalism, filmmaking and — most importantly — about themselves.

We meet in class for the next week and leave for Uganda on May 31. We’ll be in Uganda — mostly northern Uganda — until June 18. Then we meet again in the Hitchcock Building to produce a rough cut of the film.

The process is one of constant discovery as students learn about the cameras and group dynamics and the personalities of the three professors. In Uganda, we all will be stretched to work to tell the stories we find there. It’s a journey I’m privileged to be a part of and one I’ve looked forward to since 2016 Arizona.

Our last Backpack Journalism trip to Uganda was in 2012. As part of that trip, I planted a tree, thanks to our generous hosts there. I hope it has grown as much as I have since then.

About Backpack Journalism

Creighton Backpack Journalism

The journey begins

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