This year has been another exciting and productive year for the Harrington School, filled with many events and opportunities for our students, faculty, staff, and community at large. Looking back at the year, these are some of our highlights:
Fall 2024
2024 Amanpour Lecture
The 2024 Amanpour Lecture featured Nancy Gibbs, the Edward R. Murrow Professor of Practice and Director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and the first female editor-in-chief of TIME. Her lecture, “Our Information Emergency: Truth and Trust in a Polarized Age,” discussed what it will take to build an information environment that best serves the interests of individuals and society.
Networking 2024 Event
As part of Ragan Communications‘s CommsWeek, Harrington students had the chance to network with communication professionals from a number of industries. Alums from companies including Cox Communications, Brown University, and Boston Children’s Hospital sat down with current students to give them advice and guidance. The event was planned by Regina Bell, associate teaching professor of public relations.
December Commencement Ceremony
Nearly 100 Harrington students graduated this Fall. At the December Commencement Ceremony, students and families celebrated their achievements.
Spring 2024
Ruha Benjamin Lecture
In February, Ruha Benjamin, the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, delivered her talk “Utopia, Dystopia or… Ustopia? Reckoning with the Future of Technology & Society” at URI. In the lecture, Benjamin sought to give the audience the tools to analyze the social impacts of technological advancement.
Diversity in Writing
On February 27, the Department of Professional and Public Writing hosted a Diversity in Writing Career Panel and Discussion to discuss diversity and writing in the workplace. The event kicked off with a keynote presentation by Dr. Sherri Craig, assistant professor of writing and rhetoric at Virginia Tech. After Craig, a panel of four alums from the program, Naleen Camara, Michael Falaye, Wongo Okon, and Sylvia Vaccaro, shared their career stories and talked about how writing skills can help students get good jobs.
Networking Event and Career Fair
In March, many Harrington alums visited campus to network with students and share advice on career preparedness. The next day, the annual Harrington Career Fair invited more than a dozen employers from a wide array of industries. Students had the chance to meet and interview for positions with the companies in attendance.
SXSW Trip
During Spring Break, Professor Keith Brown, teaching professor of film/media, took a group of students to the South by South West (SXSW) Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The group was able to attend a number of film screenings, lectures, and exhibitions during the nine-day event.
NYC Trip
More than 30 students were able to visit Netflix, the Associated Press, and Paramount Studios in New York City. Faculty chaperones Kamilah A’Vant, Ashish Chadha, Angie Chiang, Matthew Hodler, Mandy Zhang, and Daniel Zweifach joined the students. The trip, funded by the Harrington School, gave students the opportunity to network with professionals and learn more about these industries. In the evening, MikeWorldWide hosted a reception for the groups and members of the Harrington School’s Executive Advisory Council.
John Craig Freeman Visiting Artist Event
With financial support from the Harrington School, the Department of Professional and Public Writing hosted renowned artist John Craig Freeman to share his expertise in emerging technologies such as augmented reality. Freeman hosted a number of events throughout the week, including a public lecture and a hands-on augmented reality workshop.
Harrington Capstone Showcase
Harrington seniors shared their digital portfolios and original research and creative projects at the Capstone Showcase.
Honors Ceremony
At the Harrington honors ceremony, more than 200 students received stoles, and seven students received a President’s Award for Academic Excellence for their extraordinary academic achievements.
Film/Media Production Capstone Screening
Students in the Film/Media capstone created 19 films this year. Covering a wide range of genres and styles, students put a great deal of care and effort into these films. A screening of all of these films was held in Edwards Hall at the end of this semester.
College of Arts and Sciences Commencement Ceremony
More than 400 Harrington students participated in the College of Arts and Sciences’ graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 19. The University also presented Viola Davis, Deborah Goodrich Royce, and Charles M. “Chuck” Royce with honorary degrees. Davis, one of nineteen people to ever achieve EGOT status, delivered a speech at the commencement ceremony.