UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — There’s certainly a more direct route from Arizona to New Mexico than one that includes a stopover in State College — but a two-year visit to Penn State was important and productive for one postdoctoral scholar in the Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications.
“My experiences here have been so wonderful,” said Leah Dajches, who joined Penn State to help get the News Literacy Initiative off the ground in 2022 and will depart Happy Valley for a role as an assistant professor at New Mexico State University in a few weeks. “My interactions with faculty and graduate students were consistently positive, and there were many positive opportunities and skillsets I gained, for example I wasn’t expecting to host a podcast — that resulted from being here.”
Dajches, who earned her doctoral degree in communication and media studies at the University of Arizona, said helping launch the News Literacy Initiative — which involves multiple academic units and partners, on and off campus — has been challenging and rewarding.
She knew from the start it would not be easy, and she embraced everything involved with the effort. In fact, Dean Marie Hardin of the Bellisario College and Matt Jordan, the director of the initiative and an associate professor and head of the Department of Film Production and Media Studies, were clear about the work involved.
“They were both up front. I think Dean Hardin asked, ‘How are you at herding cats and managing multiple moving pieces?’” Dajches said. “I thought, well, I have four cats of my own, so it’ll be OK.”
Thanks to Jordan and Dajches, the News Literacy Initiative built connections for the Penn State community, created resources for K-12 educators, launched a podcast, and emphasized and outlined the importance of news literacy.
They developed a rich set of resources, empowered a team of Penn State students as News Literacy Ambassadors, delivered webinars for educators and partnered with groups like the National Association for Media Literacy Education, the News Literacy Project, the Poynter Institute and WPSU on a variety of outreach projects.
What sounded ambitious and aspirational became a reality in less than two years thanks to ample top-down support and Dajches’ determination and talent.
Not long ago she considered Penn State as the place to pursue her doctorate, and although that did not happen, she’s happy about how this two-year visit turned out.
“There was something about the position and the outreach involved with it that felt right to me, and it turns out it was,” she said. “I was already drawn to Penn State because of my previous interest in the program, and the people here — faculty, graduate students, everyone — proved to be a wonderful community.”
The postdoctoral position helped her interact and learn from faculty members and get a glimpse at tenure-track duties. At the same time, the community and networking available in the Bellisario College and at Penn State included abundant interaction with graduate students.
“It seems like the secret here is that there’s no hard hierarchy,” Dajches said. “It’s a wonderfully collaborative and respectful community.”
Dajches hopes to build on what she’s learned as she moves to her next step. The postdoctoral experience strengthened her credentials, and she begins her tenure-track career at New Mexico State for the 2024-25 academic year.