Creighton’s annual backpack journalism trip is headed to the tundra of Alaska this summer to film a documentary focused on poverty and the role of the church in the community.
Guided by Theology professor John O’Keefe and associate professors of Journalism Tim Guthrie and Carol Zuegner, 15 students will take on the role of the videographer, the interviewer, and the editor to create a documentary. Students enrolled in the five-week course will earn six credits total.
“The first week we do a video boot camp where we teach the students the basics of camera operations, shooting video and documentary storytelling,” O’Keefe said. “About 10 days of the trip are working – shooting video and interviewing people with the end of the trip being more touristy; we are going to do a river trip and a glacier cruise. Then we’ll come back to Omaha and spend the rest of the time editing.”
For the first time since this project was established in 2010, the backpack journalism trip is at full capacity and will take place in the United States.
“We had gone to the developing world and for a long time we had wanted to do something in the United States with Native Americans,” Zuegner said. “To be honest, we thought Alaska was a little bit more appealing than South Dakota, and that has proven true. We had no problem getting students.”
The students will be fully emerging themselves into the culture of the Alaskan tundra focusing completely on the interviews, blogs, and film making, which is essential to the course.
“Their cell phones won’t work. There will be internet, but we’re going to discourage people from bringing their laptops because the internet is super expensive,” O’Keefe said. “In some ways this trip will be rougher than the Uganda and Dominican Republic projects. (In Bethel) we’re staying in a church Hall and we’re going to have to bring some of our own food because the food there is too expensive.”
Because the trip will occur over the summer solstice the students will be up against an unexpected challenge.
“It will be summer so it will never get dark,” O’Keefe said. “It will be interesting to see how that impacts us.”
Bethel, home to the Yup’ik people, one of the largest native groups in Alaska, suffers from some of the most extreme poverty in the United States.
“It’s really incredibly beautiful. It’s one of the last wild places on earth and a lot of students have never been into a place that’s that wild,” O’Keefe said. “This is going to be pretty interesting. Even though this is the United States, it really doesn’t feel like the United States. For students it will be really challenging because I don’t know that they are aware that this kind of poverty exists in America. They may have heard about it but to actually see it. It’s a really different kind of poverty because it’s such a remote cult place. They need to be prepared for surprises.”
The course has filmed in Uganda and the Dominican Republic in the past.
“Our films have been shown in film festivals and won awards,” Zuegner said. “This is a great opportunity for students to learn how to shoot and edit a film, tell a story, and experience life in a very different way, in a very different part of the world.”
More information on this trip and the past trips can be found at http://cubackpack.org