A team of UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications students recently returned from a trip with Global Eyewitness to Mongolia. Professor Bruce Thorson led the team of five students on the nearly three-week trip. A key emphasis for the trip was to hone the students’ visual storytelling skills while showcasing the Mongolian people and their culture.
The team worked on a variety of stories including ones about a Mongolian herding dog, Buddhist nuns and contortionism. The team met twice a day to work on the visual storytelling aspect of their projects. Then team members worked individually to capture the images and video needed.
The benefits of taking part in the trip weren’t just professional. “It gives you a cultural experience that you can learn from and bring back into your everyday life,” said Peyton Stoike, one of the students on the team. The team faced obstacles in their work. The weather in Mongolia was very different from what was experienced in Nebraska during the same timeframe. The typical temperature the team faced was about -28 degrees Fahrenheit.
“The students bundled up and worked well under those conditions,” said Thorson. The team was comprised of Ken Ferriera, Ike Somanas, Peyton Stoike, Maddie Washburn and Jessica Moore. The team is now putting finishing touches on their stories. The students’ completed work will be presented later in the semester. Past work done on Global Eyewitness trips by UNL students can be found at https://journalism.unl.edu/photojournalism.
by Dexter Nordhues