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In 2020, the Social Communication Journalism Faculty offered its graduates numerous outreach activities

To strengthen the relationship with its graduates and provide learning and interaction spaces, the Externado de Colombia University Social Communication - Journalism Faculty organized a full schedule of academic extension activities, all carried out during the isolation period.

Some of the activities were:

  • MOOC «Journalism in Magical Realism»: A Massive Open Online Course consisting of four modules covering Gabo’s over fifty-year trajectory in journalism. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about his reports, chronicles, opinion columns, and portraits, as well as the stories behind each of these works.
  • SIPConnect 2020 Meeting: The invitation to the free, virtual event was received because the Social Communication – Journalism Faculty is part of the Latin American Council for Accreditation of Education in Journalism and Communication (CLAEP) and is internationally accredited by the organization of the Inter-American Press Association. The event brought together famous journalists, journalism thinkers, and researchers around topics of interest, such as artificial intelligence, content automation, post-pandemic journalism, new technological options for journalists, and mass audiences.
  • Free forum-webinar« Sports Challenges and Opportunities in a Pandemic«: The Masters in Sports Communication and Management Program of the Externado Social Communication – Journalism and School of Management organized the event. The open and free online forum was attended by the Sports Minister, Ernesto Lucena; the vice president of the Colombian Olympic Academy and researcher, Clemencia Anaya; coach Freddy Amazo, and ESPN producer Javier Barbato.  Antonio Casale, director of sports content at RCN Radio, and Germán Arango, journalist, and director of the Masters in Sports Communication and Management at our House of Studies, acted as moderators.
  • Free forum-webinar «Sports without borders: the reinvention of management and communication«: With more than 200 attendees from 12 countries and an international agenda that included the participation of sports management personalities from Spain and Colombia, the Masters in Communication and Sports Management from our University and the Masters in Sports Journalism from Villanueva University, Spain, carried out this free onlineevent, which was broadcast live by the sports newspaper ‘La Titular.’ 
  • WOBI Remakers: The Social Communication – Journalism Faculty and the Externado de Colombia University, an academic associate of the World Business Forum – WOBI, offered an exceptional invitation to 10 graduates to register for free and participate in this renowned management This space for business experiences, insights, and content was held November 4-6, 2020.
  • 76 IAPA General Assembly: As an active member of the Inter-American Press Association – IAPA, the Social Communication – Journalism Faculty invited its graduates to participate, free of charge, in the 76th IAPA General Assembly, held  October 21, 22, and 23, 2020. This version’s agenda dealt with a topic of great substance: how renewed media emerges from the pandemic.
  • First creative brainstorm « Mobile environments and platforms for the expansion of creative proposals«: The meeting brought together specialists such as Uruguayan video game designer Gerson Da Silva, creative director of the popular game Iron Marines; Nicolas Rodriguez, director of 7BLab Entertainment Inc. and creator of the Colombian comic Zambo Dendé, and María Cecilia Reyes, Ph.D. in Digital Humanities and researcher at the National Research Council of Genoa, Italy. The event, held November 20, 2020, organized by the Externado’s new Masters in Creative Communication and Emerging Media program of the Social Communication – Journalism Faculty, drew a large number of attendees interested in the guests’ “creative brainstorms.”
  • SmartFilmsCongress: As an academic associate of the film festival made with mobiles, SmartFilms, the Social Communication – Journalism Faculty actively participated in this prestigious creative industries congress. The event, held in a virtual reality environment, invited its graduates and the academic community to visit, at no cost. The academic unit had a presence with a stand at the Social and Cultural Zone Pavilion.

Faced with the problematic panorama produced by the pandemic and the impossibility of organizing face-to-face meetings, Darío Fernando Patiño, coordinator of the Faculty Graduate program, stated, “we would have loved to continue with the meetings that have allowed us to meet, reunite or able to promote the celebration of an anniversary. But things changed radically. However, life goes on, and the University continued with its activities, albeit virtually. Despite it all, the good thing is that this virtuality allowed us to invite the graduate community to several of the academic events this year. We want the link between alumni and their Faculty to continue to strengthen.”

Also, Patiño, a well-known journalist and a graduate of the Faculty, wished the alumni a year-end “as peaceful as possible and confident that we will find many ways to keep in touch.”