LSU Mass Communication Students Cover Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Manship School Study Abroad Program

July 19, 2024

Olympics Project GroupBATON ROUGE—Twenty-five LSU mass communication students are headed to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for two weeks in July through an LSU Manship School of Mass Communication study abroad program.

From July 20 to August 4, 22 undergraduate and three graduate students from all mass communication concentrations—digital advertising, journalism, political communication and public relations—will participate in The Olympics Project, a study abroad experience first announced by the Manship School in November 2024. Students will earn three hours of course credit in a special topics class focused on sports communication, specifically the Olympics.

The program is led by Kim Bissell, dean of the Manship School; Meghan Sanders, associate dean for graduate studies and research; and Chad Sabadie, professional-in-residence in sports broadcasting. The Olympics Project coursework and experiential learning will teach students how to produce written, visual and digital stories about people, places, food, culture and history via an immersive experience in Marseille, Lyon and Paris, three distinct regions in France, during the Paris Olympic Games.

“The Olympics Project is an opportunity of a lifetime for our students,” said Dean Kim Bissell. “Not only will they witness this international cultural phenomenon firsthand, but more importantly, they will be part of history in the making. Our students will create digital, written and visual content on everything from politics and sports to food, fashion and culture. It’s an unparalleled experience that we, at the Manship School, are tremendously proud to offer to our students.”

The study abroad course will consist of multiple phases: group meetings via Zoom while in the United States; several days in the field conducting interviews and gathering content in Marseille, Lyon and Paris; attending official Olympic events; and discovering how the different regions of the country prepare for and host the Olympic Games. As an upper division elective course for Manship School undergraduate and graduate students, the course will culminate with each student producing online stories, blogs, podcasts, vlogs and other digital content reflective of the stories they develop in France.

Digital advertising sophomore Emily Boudreaux plans to create a photojournalism story centered around tourists in Paris—a visual representation of the convergence of various cultures and people, as they navigate the city at the epicenter of the 2024 Olympic Games. 

Not only is the Breaux Bridge, Louisiana native looking forward to sharpening her photography and journalism skills, but she’s thrilled to study abroad in Paris, the same city where her father completed his study abroad program in 2004.

“Twenty years later, it’s a full-circle moment,” Boudreaux said. “I’m excited.”

Stay up to date with the students as they document their experience:

For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.

###

LSU Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree. 

 

 

LSU