Catholic Media Journal

During our 2005 Spring Break, 25 Franciscan University of Steubenville students and four faculty members traveled to United Nations headquarters in New York and spent the week at the UN’s “Beijing Plus 10″ conference on the Status of Women. Working with the talents of the Communications students and staff, that week we inaugurated Franciscan University’s Podcasting services - which have had more than 100,000 downloads since March, 2005. As another means of sharing our experiences there, we established a Web-based communication outreach, Catholic NGO Voice, focusing on issues involving authentic Catholic Human Rights around the world. The NGO Voice website is presently being redesigned and will be online again by late February, but our many podcasts are available online. Several of the participating students and staff members were interviewed by Vatican Radio and featured on their global English language programmes.

Upon returning to Franciscan University, students and faculty attending the “Beijing + 10″ conference shared about their experiences and impact at a live presentation to the University community. The live reports concluded with some of the photos and comments recorded in New York. On this small screen, I invite you to see and hear that closing presentation:

Franciscan University students and faculty members have participated in several other UN commissions since then, and during our Spring Break next month, students and faculty members will be spending a week at the UN’s 2008 Commission on the Status of Women, with reports throughout the week on the NGO Voice website and Podcast site. We’ll let you know when the updated website is up so you can follow the story as we return to the United Nations.

Jim Coyle