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.

Each 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, including the Omaha Film Festival. 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 tentatively planned for Northern Uganda in 2018.

For more information or to apply to participate in the Uganda 2018 project, contact Dr. John O’Keefe (jokeefe@creighton.edu) or Dr. Carol Zuegner (carolzuegner@creighton.edu).

Tag Archives: Light

Darkness/Light

June 24, 20142014 AlaskaBethel, darkness, glacier Backpack Journalism, Light, SewardCarol Zuegner

I love the lingering twilight of a Nebraska summer, when it seems it stays light so long.

Picture of Backpack Journalism group in front of a glacier — The Backpack Journalism 2014 group and a glacier.

That is, until I went to Alaska for two weeks and grew accustomed to only a glimmering of darkness and mostly light. When we were in Bethel, the sun set about 12:30 a.m. but it never got completely dark before the sun would come up again around 4. (I’m guessing here — I was not awake for the sunrise part.)

I’m glad to be back home with my dog and my shower and my couch and my bed. But I do miss the light. And the horizon of Bethel. And the mountains of Seward. And the group of people I spent so much time with. That light I will carry with me.