UJ launches interdisciplinary student storytelling project in collaboration with Brand South Africa and PRISA

Date: Mar 25, 2021 | College of Business and Economics, Faculties, Faculty of Humanities, News

A new collaboration between various UJ departments aims to provide students with an opportunity to tell their stories of hope, resilience and ‘how they play their part in society’. The students from the Department of Strategic Communication in the Faculty of Humanities, Applied Information Systems representing the College of Business and Economics and Applied Legal Studies from the Faculty of Law will work together to produce inspirational stories featuring their own experiences and those of others. The stories will be published on digital platforms developed by senior Applied Information Systems’ students following the legal council of senior Law students.

Brand South Africa and the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) partnered with UJ on the project to provide the theme and the industry support. “Public relations and strategic communication have the power to change society if we understand more of each other’s worlds while we communicate and build relationships” says Prof Rene Benecke (HOD of Strategic Communication and Immediate Past President of PRISA).

The project takes place in two phases. The first phase of the project required the Public Relations (PR) students to choose from a list of South African social issues and tell a personal story of hope. The second phase will require the PR students to tell the stories of local heroes (involved with community projects or businesses or micro influencers). For each phase the Applied Legal Studies students will council other students to ensure that the POPI Act, Copyright regulations and digital privacy laws are adhered to.

The launch of the first phase took place on the 25 March 2021 at 13:00 on various digital and online platforms.

View a selection of these stories here.

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