Exploring Faith & Values in the Media

On November 18, 2025, students studying Faith & Values in the Media (course #0146) spent the day exploring Digital Media with professors at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

The students participated in classes through the Digital Design program as part of the Art & Design Department.

Our students were able to:

• examine how media content is created
• analyze different forms of media (direct connections to our course content)
• learn the ethics of AI usage
• experience a day in college
• identify career paths in media

The experience was coordinated by their teacher, Mrs. Kristin Nelson, Religious Studies Faculty.

"It was a great day - the students really appreciated being able to sit in on college classes," notes Mrs. Nelson. "The professors did a great job engaging them."

Schedule

• 9:00 AM Welcome Digital Media Presentation – Pavel Romaniko
• 9:30 AM – 10:45 AM Lighting Principles – Ian Sexton
• 10:45 AM – Admissions presentation about UML and admissions process
• 11:00 AM – 11:40 AM South Campus Tours with Admissions
• 11:40 AM – 12:30 PM Lunch
• 12:30- 1:00 Class Visits and Tour of Digital Media Facilities
  • DGMD.4980 Capstone – Prof. Kate Way and Ian Sexton - Mahoney B-7 / MAH 101
  • DGMD.4200 Podcasting – Prof. Dan Thibeault - O’Leary 140
  • DGMD.1050 Intro to Film – Prof. Theus Tyler – Dugan 211 

"Many thanks to Mrs. Kristin Nelson for organizing this experiential learning opportunity, partnering with UMass Lowell's Digital Media group," notes Principal Andy Murray.

"Our students were enriched with hands-on experience and discussion."

 

About Faith & Values in the Meda

Course #0146, Religious Studies Department

This semester one senior elective course focuses on the essential elements of media literacy to enable students to navigate how they view and are exposed to media.

Students critically evaluate media representations of race, class, gender, money, power and materialism that can lead to peer pressure, social conditioning, and systemic injustice.

The course encourages students to examine both personal and societal values, with special focus on how they are expressed and learned through advertising and social media. Students then compare and contrast those values to universal and Christian values of human dignity, justice, simple living, social connection, and concern for the poor.