Rather than prepping for classes and handing out syllabi to Public Speaking students, Dr. Tim Kowalik spent the last part of August getting ready for a three-month trip to Africa. 

Kowalik, who has been teaching at Northwestern for 20 years, has been awarded a sabbatical for the 2011-12 academic year. He will be spending September and October co-teaching a number of communication courses at Daystar University in Nairobi, Kenya.  

"Northwestern College and Daystar University have had a partnership for many years," explained Kowalik, "And I am excited to be a part of a unique teaching and learning opportunity."

In November, Kowalik will fly to South Africa to join the NWC Intercultural Studies team for a week of ministry and will return to Minnesota just before Thanksgiving.  

You can follow along with Kowalik's African adventures at tkowalik.blogspot.com.

The idea for the major grew out of the need to provide training for a new type of writer, one who has the skills to write across a variety of print and digital media. The Professional Writing major is a multidisciplinary major combining coursework in English, journalism, marketing, public relations and web content management.

Students in the major will practice professional writing in all of their courses and assemble a portfolio of writing samples as a capstone to their program. In addition, students will participate in the journalism workshop and complete an internship.

Click here to find out more details on the Professional Writing major. 

Professor Ann Sorenson explained the history behind the change. "Up until six years ago, students who attended NWC received an education in television production. When we started offering a workshop and classes in single camera production, interest in this arena of production grew."

So much so that the department elected to create a brand new emphasis in film to accommodate the growing interest. The new film production track of the EMC major draws primarily from existing video courses but allows for students to spend a semester at the

Los Angeles Film Studies Center, where they will experience an intensive production and internship experience.

"Students' work has grown in sophistication," said Sorenson, "And has received attention outside of the walls of Northwestern College...The addition of the film production track will provide a streamlined education for those students interested in working in the film industry."