Kristen DiFate

Position

Assistant Professor, Digital Advertising; Program Coordinator, Advertising and Marketing Communications

Department

Communications and Journalism

Home Campus

St. Louis (Webster Groves)

Courses Taught

ADVT 2350: Introduction to Visual Communications
ADVT 3500: Visual Communications for Advertising and Public Relations
ADVT 4040: Advertising Production: Internet
ADVT 4040: Advertising Production: Print
ADVT 3150: Topics: Advanced Digital Design
ADVT 3150: Topics Advertising Production: Packaging
INTM 1600: Intro to Interactive Digital Media
INTM 2000: Writing for Interactive Media
INTM 2200: Visual Design for Interactive Digital Media
INTM 2350: Production Tools for Advertising and PR
INTM 3150: Topics: Advanced Digital Aesthetics
MEDC 3150: Topics: New Media and Social Engagement

Education

MA, Journalism, University of Missouri, Columbia; BFA., Washington University in St. Louis; fine art study at Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy

Teaching Philosophy

As technology excels at an exponential rate, the practical skills we teach students during their freshman year will be obsolete by the time their tassel turns, yet we’re tasked with educating them for a future that has yet to be defined.

With this in mind, I educate students not only to become communication practitioners — advertising executives and art directors — but also to become creative thinkers and innovators, which is no easy task.

The process begins by arming students with the tools — both conceptual and practical — to survive in their industry. Technology. Terminology. Theory. Strategy. With that universal foundation, I drive students to be inquisitive, test theories and challenge conventions in an interactive learning environment where students become teachers and the teacher becomes a student; where no question is too silly except the one that goes unasked. I press students to fearlessly conquer complex real world communication problems with unabashed, childlike enthusiasm for risk taking because there’s no such thing as a fruitless mistake. If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original.

Together, my students and I ask questions and challenge traditions as we learn to adapt to the contemporary challenges of communication industries in order to define the future of their industry.

About

In addition to teaching, Kristen has lived and worked across the world in a number of professions. After spending nearly a decade in graphic design, advertising and international marketing, she switched her focus to photojournalism and interactive storytelling. Once an illustrator and multimedia specialist, her preoccupation with the Internet led her to intern with Slate Magazine and the St. Louis Beacon. Kristen has also been awarded the William T. Kemper Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Media

Webster Today
Faculty and Staff Honored at Annual Recognition Breakfast
New Media: Students Contribute to 'Stay Tuned' on PBS
2013 Cohort of Global Leadership Academy Selected
Communications Professor Asks for Your Story

School of Communications RSS Feed
Creative Professionals from 'Stay Tuned' to Participate in Panel Discussion on New Media and Social Engagement 
Webster Students Contribute to 'Stay Tuned' Television Show on PBS

 

Contact information

Office phone 314-246-8238
E-mail

Web Site

Kristen DiFate