In this seminar, Mrs. Jennifer Deayton will share how the USC Annenberg School of Journalism and Communication uses professional journalism’s apprentice model to teach converged media skills. Jennifer will describe how the program’s “Newsroom as Classroom” offers experiential, cross-platform learning while fostering a strong sense of community and collaboration among students. As her department prepares to launch the School of Future Media, she will also look at ways to modify and apply Annenberg practices to this new learning environment.

Drawing on a Teaching Exchange Fellowship at Furman University (South Carolina, USA), this session considers how a liberal arts institution has integrated transferable skills and technology training into its humanities curriculum. Through interviews, course observations, and academic and co-curricular programs and workshops—including the Pathways Program, the Furman Humanities Center, the Visual Strategy minor, and the university’s suite of interdisciplinary, skills-based minors—the exchange offered an inside look at how Furman prepares students for post-graduate success. Key observations include a university-wide emphasis on experiential learning, faculty-supported undergraduate research, and structured career development integrated within a four-year educational model. Additional insights from Furman Fellows Program, Humanities Center, and technology-rich environments such as the Media Lab illustrate how the university operationalizes an “entrepreneurial mindset” within the arts and humanities.

This session will focus on how these models—emphasizing hands-on learning, AI-integrated pedagogy, digital humanities research, and multi-disciplinary skill building—can enrich HKU’s curriculum, particularly within arts and humanities courses.