Newhouse MPD Faculty, from left: David Sutherland, Seth Gitner, Soo Hong, Sherri Taylor, Ken Harper, Bruce Strong, Claudia Strong, Mike Davis, Renée Stevens, Larry “Doc” Mason, Greg Heisler and Hal Silverman. (Photo by Greg Heisler)
Multimedia Photography & Design is a department in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University located in Syracuse, New York. We are a committed group of educators passionate about visual storytelling.
Working within a collaborative and holistic environment, our design students learn to create rich interactive experiences and craft smart print solutions. Multimedia/photography students gain experience in both commercial and journalistic settings. This approach equips students with crucial skills in their discipline and the know-how to work with creative partners, clients, budgets and deadlines.
If you want to tell stories — factual or fiction — utilizing video, design, audio, photography, animation or infographics, check out our degree programs in multimedia, photography & design.
Degrees we offer
Why MPD at Newhouse?
We understand in today’s multi-media world, you need more than software and technical chops so we also guide you on:
- How to brainstorm, iterate and determine a strong concept
- How to craft a strong edit and produce a polished piece, one worthy of your portfolio
- How to create and pitch your stories
- How to package and present your stories and solutions for multiple devices and formats
- Market and brand your skills, services and expertise
We value cross-media partnerships, workshops and collaboration so students are exposed to a variety of people and environments to diversify their skills, experiment with new tools and expand their minds.
MPD students work in groups with students across disciplines within Newhouse and the university to gain insight into different specialties. They learn the language to speak confidently with partners to produce products, stories and experiences on a much larger scale.
Develop your technical skills. Hone your “seeing”. Cultivate your business acumen. Get the most from hands-on learning experiences with MPD.
Our Graduates
The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, MediaStorm, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Adler Planetarium, Major League Baseball, People magazine and social media upstart Brewster, among other impressive organizations are just a few places where our most recent students have interned and where our most graduates have moved on to work.
Many have also started their own studios and founded non-profit organizations, including the Vanishing Cultures Project.
MPD graduates:
- Follow their passions
- Stretch their imagination and execute ideas
- Embrace technology
- Inspire change and understanding
- Push the possibilities of packaging and presentation
- Craft imagery and visual stories that elicit emotion and move audiences
We are proud and privileged to be part of a community of storytellers. We would be proud to have you join us.
Our Faculty
MPD has a reputation for offering first-rate guidance to our students. Collectively, the MPD faculty has a vast network of industry relationships; some with high-profile organizations, companies and award-winning professionals. Our relationships offer you the possibilities for remarkable experiences.
Gregory Heisler
Distinguished Professor of Photography
Gregory Heisler works with undergraduate and graduate students in class and individually to identify and develop their unique visual signature as he teaches them the language of image-making. This signature transcends genres like documentary, commercial or fine art, and reveals itself in both still and moving imagery. It’s a unique point of view informed by the history of the medium, shaped by mastery of its tools, and expressed with clarity of intention.
Claudia Strong
Adjunct Faculty
ccstrong@syr.eduClaudia Strong teaches various graphic design and writing courses to undergraduate, graduate and military students. On the design side, she teaches majors and non-majors fundamental visual principles and strategies; she also teaches how to create a digital typeface from scratch, how to use typography powerfully, and how to design magazines, books and newspapers. On the writing side, she helps photographers and videographers hone the skills they need to create compelling captions, titles, story summaries, proposals and other text that helps support their visual projects.
Learn more about the extended family and faculty at S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications