Improving teaching methods in Afghanistan
UNO and Kabul University, partner institutions since the Center's founding in 1972, launched a new collaborative project in 2010 to upgrade the teaching of journalism at Kabul University.
Exchange of Ideas and Faculty
Starting with a needs assessment, faculty at KU and UNO's School of Communication have been conducting faculty exchanges, holding regular online meetings, and creating new curriculum in the areas of online journalism and public relations.
The project has also been translating key journalism textbooks into Dari, including:
- Investigative Reporting from Premise to Publication by Marcy Burstiner
- Online Journalism: Principles & Practices of News for the Web by James C. Foust
- InDesign CS4 for Macintosh and Windows by Sandee Cohen
- Final Cut Pro 7: Visual QuickPro Guide by Lisa Brenneis
- It's Not Just PR: Public Relations in Society, 2nd Edition, by W. Timothy Coombs
Journalism in Kabul
The journalism program at Kabul University is well established, and many prominent professionals in the country's rapidly expanding media industry are alumni. But as technology changes and Afghanistan's media industry matures, students will need new skills. The journalism partnership is working on a modular workbook to address topics of importance to the future of Afghan media.
Those topics include:
- Journalism and writing
- Internships and Applied Journalism
- Advertising
- Design Essentials
- Design and Graphics
- Radio Basics
- Television
- Public Relations
- Public Opinion
- Investigative Journalism
- Online and Social Media
- Development Communication, Journalism, and Media
Collaboration Between Universities
To support these collaborative efforts between site visits, faculty from UNO's School of Communication and Kabul University communicate frequently via e-mail, Skype, and a Facebook group.
UNO also shares promising practices with similar partnerships between other U.S. universities and institutions throughout Afghanistan. All of these journalism partnerships are supported in part by funding from the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Embassy Kabul.