Student exhibit sheds light on hunger, malnutrition in Guatemala

December 1, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Twelve University of Florida communication students will showcase their photographs and stories Dec. 9 at the opening of “Guatemala In Words and Pictures” at “the gallery” in the Reitz Student Union.

Undergraduate and graduate students teamed up to document hunger and malnutrition in the Zacapa region as part of the College of Journalism and Communications’ Florida FlyIns course.

“When people come to the show, I think they’ll be impressed by the truly professional level our students are able to achieve,” said professor John Kaplan, who leads the course.

The two-hour opening starts at 7 p.m. It’s open to the public. The exhibit continues through Dec. 19.

The FlyIns course, Advanced Journalism Practicum: Latin America in Words and Pictures, visits a different Latin American country for eight days each fall semester. Previous locations included Belize, Costa Rica, Brazil and Ecuador.

In its ninth year, the program has won several major awards and honors, including the top prize in the Florida Magazine Association’s in-depth reporting category and first place in the Hearst Photojournalism Championship.

For more information, or to see work from previous years, visit www.internationaljournalism.com. In January, a new edition of the program’s online magazine will debut on the site, showcasing this fall’s work.

The college is a national leader in the professional education of future journalists and other communication practitioners. It offers undergraduate programs in advertising, print and broadcast journalism, public relations, and telecommunication production and operations; and graduate programs in science/health communication, media law, political communication, international communication and documentary filmmaking.