Contact: Dr. Donna M. Simon (304) 766-3363 dsimon@wvstateu.edu

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Students from the West Virginia State University (WVSU) Media Studies and Communications Department will be spending their spring break working on a documentary film project in Bangladesh.
From March 24 through April 4, WVSU students will travel to Dhaka, Bangladesh, where they will participate in forums and workshops on new media. WVSU students will also be working with students from the University of Dhaka on the documentary project.
“We are very excited for this first-ever film collaboration between students and faculty at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh’s film program and West Virginia State University’s Media Studies Graduate Program,” said Dr. Robin Broughton, Media Studies graduate coordinator.
The trip to the southern Asian country comes after the Media Studies and Communications Department formed a partnership with the Department of Television and Film Studies at the University of Dhaka in May 2012 to promote the exchange of educational and technological ideas between the two universities. “Through this partnership students from both countries will work together on all elements of film making — from scriptwriting to cinematography, directing, editing and post-production,” Broughton said. “Our students will also get to experience a culture very unlike their own. However, we know that in the end, we will all discover we have more in common than we have differences.”
Two $500 stipends will be awarded to WVSU students to help defray the cost of the trip. In order to be awarded one of the stipends students must submit a 250-500 word essay to Broughton by Feb. 5 explaining why they would like to travel abroad and participate in the project.
In addition to the experience of traveling and studying in another country, students going on the trip will earn course credit for their participation.