News Item
Press Release: Pace University’s Student Documentary ‘Puerto Rico: Hope in the Dark’ to Air on PBS to Mark One Year Anniversary of Hurricane Maria
New York (September 20, 2018)—"Puerto Rico: Hope in the Dark,” a student-made documentary from Pace University will air on PBS next week to commemorate the one-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria which struck on September 20, 2017 and devastated the island. The documentary will air on Friday, September 28 and Monday, October 1 on Chicago’s PBS station WTTW 11.
Last year, 18 Pace graduate students went to Puerto Rico to film the destruction that began in September when Hurricane Maria, the most powerful storm to make landfall on the island in 85 years with sustained winds of 155 mph, knocked out power and destroyed homes and infrastructure, affecting all of the island’s 3.1 million people. The students conducted more than 50 interviews in their effort to tell the story of the people of the island and capture their spirit as they attempt to rebuild with little assistance.
“Today marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria making landfall on Puerto Rico and devastating the island,” said Maria Luskay, EdD, professor and program director, Master of Arts in Media and Communication Arts. “I am so proud of all of my ‘PaceDocs’ students for their hard work and tenacity. This is indicative of their drive to make sure we are all aware and never forget the people of Puerto Rico. We are very excited to be shown on PBS and cannot wait for the official telecast.”
In observation of the last day of their exhibit Relational Undercurrents, Sugar Hill Children’s Museum of Arts and Storytelling will be host a film screening and panel discussion this Sunday, September 23, on the film in partnership with Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance.
The student film producers are part of the BA in Communications and/or the MA in Media and Communication Arts. The Producing the Documentary course, offered by the Media, Communications, and Visual Arts (MCVA) program in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences on Pace's Pleasantville campus, is highly regarded for preparing students for careers in media, journalism, communications, public relations, advertising, video production and film. The documentary is the 15th student-produced documentary resulting from Pace’s Producing the Documentary course.
For more information about this class and trip, visit https://www.pace.edu/dyson/departments/media-communications-visual-arts and to view the documentary, https://www.pace.edu/dyson/news-and-events/pacedoc-hope-in-the-dark.
About the Producing the Documentary Course at Pace
The Producing the Documentary course at Pace is a fast-paced, hands-on faculty-led study abroad course that allows Pace University documentary students to research, shoot, edit, and promote a short film exploring efforts in various places across the globe. Students travel to different places to experience a first-hand view of environmental, social, or political issues and bring awareness to them. Destinations have included The Netherlands, Portugal, Florida and Mexico.
Two years ago, the Pace students were the first student group to travel to Cuba from the U.S. after the travel ban was lifted. The Pace documentary production class has taken students around the world to study environmental issues and gain filmmaking experience—from endangered turtles in Baja to sustainable shrimp farming in Belize to the future of the cork industry and forests in Portugal. The previous documentaries the course has produced can be viewed here.
About Dyson College
Pace University’s liberal arts college, the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as numerous courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.
About Pace University
Since 1906, Pace has educated thinking professionals by providing high quality education for the professions on a firm base of liberal learning amid the advantages of the New York metropolitan area. A private university, Pace has campuses in Lower Manhattan and Westchester County, NY, enrolling nearly 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in its Lubin School of Business, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, College of Health Professions, School of Education, Elisabeth Haub School of Law, and Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems. A 2017 study by the Equality of Opportunity Project finds that Pace graduates are out-earning their parents and peers, bucking a nationwide trend for millennials. www.pace.edu.
