HSDC South Downs students have created an online human rights exhibition this January entitled ‘Together’.
The students are in their second year of the UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Journalism and Digital Communications course. They produced their work after many weeks of research connected to Unit 9 of the course, ‘Characteristics and Contexts in Media and Communication’, examining a range of issues affecting members of the local community. These included social action campaigns and how these target audiences and how organisations such as City of Sanctuary work to create awareness of vulnerable people and build a network of establishments offering safe spaces for those in need of help. The project was designed to be an educational and awareness campaign of those suffering from racism, discrimination, abuse, and those affected by homelessness.
HSDC Journalism and Communications Course Leader Louise Parker Reed explains, “The virtual exhibition enabled us to explore some tough subjects and for the students to gain a greater understanding of the extent of the problems in society by interviewing people affected. They also looked at the work being done to offer support to those in need by contacting local charities and the council. The project allowed students to build on the skills developed in the first year of their course to choose the media in which they wanted to communicate their message, it also enabled them to develop new skills, challenging themselves to produce work to a professional standard.
“They have chosen to produce magazine articles, take photos, create posters and some chose to write poems and short stories. This is the students’ first virtual exhibition; for the last couple of years we have produced physical ones. I think it is very important for the students to have their work publicly accessible, it gives them a chance to work to professional expectations.”
Exhibitor Miah Munro, who wrote an article on Hate Crime, said, “This exhibition I believe is very important because it can inspire others to help make a change. It covered a lot of topics and highlighted the seriousness of each one – this is important because it can also give people more knowledge on these topics and inspire them to do more in the future to help overcome these issues.” Fellow student Pepe Lacey created a poster on Homelessness: “During this project it really helped open my eyes to how bad the homelessness problem is, not just in Portsmouth but in the whole of the country … Creating posters was the best way I thought to get the message across, after researching more about homeless posters it really helped me to understand how to present them as well as using different texts, fonts and colours to present the message to the audience.”
The exhibition can be viewed at https://www.artsteps.com/view/5fc8ffef392f02443b0c29b6.
The UAL Level 3 Extended Diploma in Journalism and Digital Communications course is designed for students wishing to pursue a career in the communications sector. Students develop research, written and presentation skills across a range of platforms. These are highly transferable skills, desirable across communications industries from journalism, marketing, advertising, and PR.
