Visual journalist joins A.Q. Miller School Faculty as Seaton Chair
Sara Quinn, a long-time member of the faculty of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida, is joining the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications in the College of Arts & Sciences at Kansas State University as the Seaton Chair in Professional Journalism.
Quinn served at the Poynter Institute from 2003 to 2014 and engaged in several collaborative research projects that studied eye movements as consumers read the news and look at photos in news media. Her study “Eyetrack: Photojournalism” was commissioned and published by the National Press Photographers Association in 2015. It follows a long line of research that investigates how people consume news content online and in print.
"She brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience that will benefit our students and the community,” said Sam Mwangi, journalism sequence chair. “She is a highly respected media trainer and, as the newest addition to our faculty, she will help elevate the profile of our school both nationally and internationally."
At Poynter, Quinn also led initiatives for journalism curriculum innovation, visiting and advising universities across the U.S. She is on the board of the Associated Collegiate Press and National Scholastic Press Association.
Quinn, who will be leading the Society of Newspaper Design as its president next year, is also a visual journalism consultant facilitating workshops, seminars and webinars on visual storytelling, multimedia and leadership.
Before coming to K-State, Quinn was a visiting professor at Ball State University. In 2013, she received the Spark Design Camp Fellowship at Stanford University and in 2010 she held the Atwood Visiting Chair at the University of Alaska. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Graphic Design is from Wichita State University and a Master of Arts in Illustration from Syracuse University.
“I am extremely proud to welcome Sara to our faculty and to welcome her back to the state of Kansas,” says Birgit Wassmuth, director of the A.Q. Miller School and two-time Poynter Fellow. “Our students are eager to learn more about photojournalism and visual storytelling.”
For more information about the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, visit http://www.poynter.org.
