Pablo Correa
McKnight Dissertation Fellowship
School of Communication

My success began with a failure - I was denied entry into the Communication and Media Studies program as an undergraduate. The only way to pursue using cameras and media production was to apply for the graduate program. Once I graduated with my Master’s degree, I figured I’d go all the way to my doctorate degree.

My research is based in critical theory, rhetoric, and media production. More specifically, I focus on the visual rhetoric of the civil rights movement, looking at who was represented as well as whose voices were left out of the story. It is my goal through my research to highlight marginalized voices of instrumental figures who participated in the civil rights movement but may not be as popular as Rosa Parks or Martin Luther King, Jr. Hidden in archives across this country is the story of black struggle, resistance, and resilience. My research endeavor is to bring black history out of the archives and tell it in new media formats that will interest people of all races and work toward challenging and exposing the social and historical constraints that faced minority citizens in this country. In addition, my research is based in searching out new technological advancements, equipment, and software programs and learning to use them in innovative and creative ways to tell these stories and advance the discourse in an exponentially growing, technology-driven society.

Receiving a McKnight Doctoral Fellowship award has given me the ability to travel to historical places and archives across the country to gather archival research, interviews, and footage. It also has granted me the means to acquire new technologies in which to tell these important stories with the latest audiovisual trends. The fellowship will allow me to purchase cameras, filming equipment, and editing software to provide a more professional quality to my media projects. Through the fellowship, I have also met other McKnight fellows with whom I am able to collaborate, creating a network of professional contacts and support.

My future career aspirations involve teaching at the collegiate level in the media production field. Additionally, I would like to create and work in summer camps teaching disadvantaged youth how to use media production equipment to tell their own stories.