In her first semester at Hunter College, Professor Seyman Bayram brings journalism to life in her Reporting and Writing II class. The course guides students through multimedia storytelling, challenging them to produce three major projects: a text story, an audio story, and a visual project.
“I want them to gain experience in different formats of storytelling,” Bayram said. “You don’t know your gifts or interests unless you’ve been exposed to different options. I want that to be a takeaway from the course.”
Bayram emphasizes learning through practice, detailed feedback, and examples of strong journalism. She encourages an interactive classroom environment where students build skills and create work they are proud of, even projects that push them out of their comfort zones.
Bayram previously taught journalism at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and policy writing at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs.
In those courses, she helped students build transferable journalism skills for policy-focused careers. They wrote press releases, op-eds and policy memos – documents designed for decision-makers rather than traditional research papers.
In addition to her work at Columbia, Bayram taught World Literature and Composition at Binghamton University. She also taught investigative reporting at The New York Times during the summer.
Bayram encourages students to experiment and take creative risks.
“Be flexible,” she said. “I never thought I would work in radio journalism. You just never know what you’ll fall in love with or what you’re really good at.”
She stresses that college is the time to explore different storytelling formats, while also mastering the fundamentals of reporting.
Looking ahead, Bayram will teach a new course this fall semester, Photo Journalism MEDPL 399.04, designed for students who want to develop technical and aesthetic photography skills along with research and reporting abilities needed for compelling images and photo essays.
Students will complete weekly assignments such as shooting, editing and producing news portraits for feature stories, and study historic and contemporary photojournalism with a focus on visual literacy and ethical issues.
During the first six weeks, students will photograph events across New York City, including the NYC Marathon, the Veterans Day Parade, and neighborhood-based projects. Over the semester, they will develop a photo-driven project focused on a human rights or social justice issue. Guest speakers, including freelancers and staff photographers, will introduce students to various career paths.
Bayram encourages students to arrive with ideas and stories they are eager to tell visually.
For a closer look at her reporting and storytelling, check out Bayram’s work at NPR.
