Macromedia Berlin updates its lecture series on the challenges in the creative industries in winter semester 2020/21 in a most inspiring way. This academic year will focus on sustainability and the many questions the topic raises in business practice. Mid October, Prof. Dr. Magdalena Taube and Prof. Dipl.-Des. Karolin Violante started the new series with two great inaugural lectures on journalistic storytelling and sustainability in fashion practice.
The lecture “Unboxing Digital Longform Journalism – Historical Perspectives and Current Challenges in Storytelling“ by Prof. Dr. Magdalena Taube addressed the long tradition of storytelling in journalism from the perspectives of techniques valid and valuable in reporting news. While today’s media landscape seems to be shaped by a never-ending stream of news bits in the form of video, text or photos in the digital environment, a renaissance of the storytelling tradition in journalism can be witnessed at the same time. “Teaching journalism goes beyond theories beyond theories”, Taube highlighted. “It is about empowering students to find their own voices and give them the ability to tell stories. In this regard, longform storytelling is an important tool and I hope I was able to encourage students to start experimenting with it.”
In contrast, the lecture „Sustainable design practices – Reinventing the fashion industry“ by fashion designer Prof. Karolin Violante from Atelier Chardon Savard Berlin raised awareness to unobvious fashion practices that contrast the glamorous fashion visibility. She believes in the necessity to align consumers and industry in their efforts to overcome unsustainable behaviors in the future. “Students are sometimes afraid that using sustainable design practices will reduce their creative freedom. This is not the case – rather the opposite. By applying those it will open doors to completely new design possibilities that will take the students creative thought processes beyond their wildest imaginations,” she encouraged the new generation of fashion designers.
Associate Dean Prof. Dr. Martin Lücke is proud to have attracted these two forward-looking and inspiring personalities in the fashion design and journalism study programs: “We are taking sustainability very seriously and, therefore, integrate this topic in all our study programs, teaching and research activities at Macromedia University.” Great initiative.
(bkl)