Jena Heath, Prof. Journalism & Digital Media, Coordinator Journalism and Digital Media minor, Program Director Digital Storytelling and Content Creation major, Associate Dean Arts and Humanities.
Professor Heath spent 20 years in newsrooms as a reporter and editor before joining the St. Edward's University faculty in 2008. She covered cops, courts, local and state government and the 2000 Bush campaign and White House. As an editor, she supervised teams of education reporters at two Texas newspapers, covering public schools and higher education. Journalism and Digital Media students analyze and think critically about the news. They also report and produce stories for today's digital newsrooms. Professor Heath helps students learn professional skills and secure internships, jobs, and admission to top graduate journalism programs.
As Program Director of Digital Storytelling and Content Creation, Professor Heath works with all students interested in learning to tell stories in the digital space. Transfer students can accelerate their path to graduation with a BA in DSCC, which is a 30-hour program. With an associate’s degree, you can merge your accomplishments with our comprehensive curriculum to graduate in two years. If you’ve completed the Texas Common Core, you’ll be able to finish in two-and-a-half or three years. You could also consider adding a related minor like User Experience Design or Digital Marketing.
Professor Heath's research focuses on oral history and digital storytelling. She serves as managing editor of Sound Historian, the research journal of the Texas Oral History Association and she is the recipient of a from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This grant is supporting her work creating an oral history/audio storytelling curriculum to be embedded in the Digital Storytelling and Content Creation major (which also works well with the Journalism & Digital Media minor).
St. Edward's University Journalism and Digital Media and Digital Storytelling and Content Creation students are learning highly transferable, in-demand skills in a liberal arts context designed to prepare them for rewarding careers as they confront the big questions facing us all in this digital/AI world. Join us!
Academic Appointments
- Professor Journalism & Digital Media, Fall 2021
- Associate Dean School of Arts & Humanities, Fall 2018 - current.
- Associate Professor Journalism and Digital Media, Fall 2015.
- Assistant Professor Journalism and Digital Media, Fall 2008 - Spring 2015.
- Journalism and Digital Media Coordinator, Fall 2008 - current.
Languages Spoken
Some French, some Mandarin
- M.S., Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York, N.Y., 1989
- A.B., English, Smith College, Northampton, Mass., 1984
Honors and Awards
- 2012-13, University Distinguished Teaching Award Finalist, St. Edward's University
Community Service
- Nominating Committee of the Alumnae Association of Smith College.
- Smith College Alumnae Admissions Coordinator for Austin.
- Volunteer training of Journalism teachers in the Austin Independent School District.
- Helped launch Mandarin Chinese Immersion program at Doss Elementary School, Austin.
Organizations, Boards and Memberships
- Texas Oral History Association, member of the Board of Directors
- Online News Association, member
- College Media Association, member
Articles
- and the failure of Texas leadership to provide help during the 2021 snow storm,
- Commentary on the pandemic and remote teaching, , 2020
- Our China Stories, a digital storytelling site and oral history archive for the Chinese adoption community.
- on the value of oral history, Austin American-Statesman, April 2019
- Delivered paper, “The Most Difficult Story: Covering Suicide on College Campuses,” with co-author Brooke Blanton, at the national conference of the College Media Association, March 2013
- “The Voice of God is Dead,” American Journalism Review, April/May 2012
- Contributor, News Reporting and Writing, Melvin Mencher, various editions
- Contributor, News writing on Deadline, Tony Rogers.
- Contributor, Austin American-Statesman, columns on a range of topics.
Presentations
Presentations on Our China Stories, an oral history and digital storytelling project, at the April 2018 Texas Oral History Association conference at Texas A&M University and the Sixth Biennial Conference for the Alliance of the Study of Adoption and Culture, October 2016, Minneapolis.
Delivered paper, “The Most Difficult Story: Covering Suicide on College Campuses,” with co-author Brooke Blanton, at the research panel of the national conference of the College Media Association, March 2013, and at the national conference, March 2015, NYC.
Class Preparation
- For information about my classes and internships, please feel free to contact me at jennah@stedwards.edu
- St. Edward's University offers a Minor in Journalism & Digital Media and concentrations in JDM in the Literature, Writing and Rhetoric (LWR) and Communication majors. The Digital Storytelling and Content Creation major (and minor) is open to all students.
Why I Teach
Humane, intelligent societies have the courage to share stories across differences. Through these stories, we are reminded of what unites us. I teach because I believe in my students and in a future that can be welcoming to us all if we will only read, watch, and hear one another's stories.