Responding to an Image

From time to time our journalism blog will publish excerpts of the academic writing of the students of Mount Angel Seminary.  The posts will contain both informal writing and more polished work.  Through these posts, our readers will get a glimpse into the daily activities of our students.

During their first year of college, students at Mount Angel Seminary take Writing in the Humanities.  During the last two weeks, the students in this year's class have been working on an essay in which they respond to a visual image.

Frank Villanueva

Frank Villanueva, a seminarian for the Diocese of Honolulu, shares with our readers some of the informal writing he did for an in class exercise on visual images.  Frank Villanueva:

In March of 1971, the music group Bread had a single hit entitled "If."  The song's most famous line was "If a picture paints a thousand words, then why can't I paint you."  This song was the very first thing that came to my mind as we started our new lesson in Writing in the Humanities.

In the Eyes of a Queen

Sister Hilda Kleiman began our lesson by looking at various techniques on how to respond to an image.  These techniques help bring to light different variations on how one might approach, better understand, and come to appreciate various images.  After reviewing these techniques, Sister Hilda broke the class into groups and gave each of us an image to study.  
With the help of these techniques, I was able to see many things in the image I got of the young Queen Elizabeth. (Editor's Note: click here to see a short piece about the Queen's coronation and the photo that is the subject of Frank's writing).

Theology on the Hill

Tonight the first session of "Theology on the Hilltop" for the fall semester was held in the Store at the Press, a part of Mount Angel Seminary.  Brother Jonah Wright, OSB, STL, offered a talk entitled "Man During the World" that was followed by discussion among off-hill guests, seminarians, and seminary faculty.

Brother Jonah and an off-hill guest enjoyed some drinks and visiting before Brother Jonah started his talk.

Future sessions of "Theology on the Hill" are excellent story possibilities for our journalism students.  On October 28th, seminary philosophy professor Mark Woolman will speak on the New Atheism.  The third session will be on December 9th.

Brian Bergeron served as a host for the evening.  Some of the colorful mosaics in the Store at the Press are behind him.

Brother Jonah explained that Christianity gives people a structure for their suffering rather than removing their suffering.  Humanity's life in this world is focused on the coming Kingdom of God, a time in which all of our desires will find their proper fulfillment.

Okoberfest 2011

The annual Mount Angel Oktoberfest was in full swing this weekend with lots of food, music, and dancing at the various venues.  The Oktoberfest, a celebration of the Bavarian heritage of Mount Angel, is a major fundraiser for the many nonprofit organizations that have booths at the festival.  

Each year Mount Angel Abbey has a booth downtown near the bandstand, and seminarians of Mount Angel Seminary volunteer to sell Abbey products and to visit with the crowds.

Doug Krings and Brian Sattler greeted visitors and sold candles, fudge, rosaries, and other items from Mount Angel Abbey last Friday evening.

 

The annual harvest pole, decorated with hops, in downtown Mount Angel during the Oktoberfest.

Simple Professions for Mount Angel Abbey

Yesterday evening, two monks of Mount Angel Abbey who are also students at Mount Angel Seminary made their simple professions and received new names.

Brother Jesus Maria and Brother Andre pause for a picture outside of Annunciation the morning after their simple professions.

 The family and friends of the brothers, the seminary community, and friends of the monastic community attended the mass for the Feast of the Nativity of Mary, the day on which the monastic community traditionally holds its simple professions.

As our journalism students begin their coverage of seminary people and events, the monks who are also students would be excellent subjects for a profile.

Congratulations Br. Jesus Maria and Br. Andre!

Seminary Writing Assistants

The Mount Angel Seminary Writing Center is a great resource for all of our students.  Any student may bring any writing project to the Writing Center and work with an assistant.

This year's writing assistants, pictured below, begin holding appointments today.  The writing assistants may also be an excellent subject for a profile by one of our journalism students.

William Hall

Thien Dang

Stephen Tilley

Joshua Keeney

Hans Mueller

Dean Marshall

News Tips with David Folkenflik

This Sunday on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, David Folkinflik, NPR's media correspondent offered "News Tips," a piece in which he commented on some of the practices he recently observed in the media.

He discussed two points we will see in our journalism class as we get further into reading The Elements of Journalism: verification of the facts and making the news comprehensive and proportional.  For now, our journalism students can listen to this story for a preview of some of our discussions to come, as well as for some good illustrations of these two points.

The Vocation of the Journalist

In our first journalism class of the year, we read the address that John Paul II gave to an international gathering of journalists in Rome during the Jubilee of Journalists in 2000.

The Pope mentioned the vast changes in technology that have affected the media, changes that have only deepened in the years since his address.  He asked the journalists to consider their vocations "as committed Christians in the world of communications."

He also emphasized the need to respect and promote human dignity through their writing, photography and other work.  The world needs, he said, men and women who work with the conviction "that it is possible to be both authentic Christians and excellent journalists."

May our class also promote the dignity of those we cover and strive for excellence as we begin our work.

New Journalism Students

This fall the Mount Angel Seminary journalism class has five students who will be reporting on stories and people associated with the seminary.  Perhaps they will approach you for an interview or photograph.  You may also approach them if you have a story idea.

Together we will sharpen our writing skills and help more people learn about the work of Mount Angel Seminary.

The Fall 2011 MAS Journalism Students

Ace Tupasi - Theology 2

Bryce Lungren - College 4

Emmanuelle Del Castillo - College 2

Matthew Olsen - College 4

Michael Khong - College 4

Some Mount Angel email accounts may not show the pictures, so click on the title of the post to go directly to the blog and see our students.