Faculty-produced videos on the value of the humanities earn honors

MCKEESPORT, Pa. — Gold, silver and bronze are not colors reserved solely for Olympic athletes. Unique video work done by Penn State Greater Allegheny faculty member Rosemary Martinelli, assistant teaching professor of marketing and communications, garnered gold, silver and bronze awards on the local and international stages.

“Humanities Works: Schell Games Bridges Humanities and Stem” and “Humanities Works: The Queens Gambit—Life Lessons on 64 Squares” are two videos that received international silver and bronze awards in the 45th annual Telly Awards. The Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens. Global leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks and production companies judge the awards.

Martinelli is executive director and one of the original principal investigators on the “Humanities Works” project. In partnership with international award-winning Pennsylvania-based videographer/producer Paul Ruggieri of Glass Valley Media LLC, their video productions were recognized in two categories: "Online Video, Non-Broadcast, Miscellaneous" and "Online Video, Non-Broadcast, Thought Leadership."

“The research and scholarship through this project are unique in the sense that ‘Humanities Works’ is more of a journalistic/multimedia initiative with real-life stories of successful people and their connection to and value of the humanities,” Martinelli said. “The old term of soft skills of communications, creativity, critical thinking and even teamwork are shown, through video storytelling, that they are not soft at all, and that real-life career success is essential to all of us. It can be found through connections in humanities studies.”

Ruggieri added: “These awards are a reminder of how important it is to protect the humanities within education, and I thank Penn State for recognizing this need and for allowing me to be part of this great project.”

In addition to Penn State, this year’s Telly winners included Adobe, Calvin Klein, ESPN, LinkedIn, Mother Jones, MTV Entertainment Studios and NASA. The Telly Awards are committed to pushing the boundaries of creative video, centering on innovative technologies and storytelling formats that are actively evolving within the video and television industry.

Locally, Martinelli and Ruggieri garnered gold from another competition — the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania’s 60th annual Golden Quill Awards for Journalistic Excellence. “Humanities Works” competed against Pennsylvania TV stations and their news and public affairs broadcast programs when it took the gold for the same two videos in education and in business/technology categories. The Golden Quill competition highlights the best journalistic work in 29 counties in Pennsylvania and in counties in eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.

“Humanities Works” began as one of the 10 original nodes in the University’s former C3N (Commonwealth Campus Center Nodes) program, an interdisciplinary initiative that focused on unique faculty research and scholarship. With original funding from the University and support from Penn State’s Humanities Institute and its director, John Christman, “Humanities Works” showcases, through video storytelling, the value of the humanities outside of the classroom in various aspects of professional career pathways and the world of work.

The latest production on which Martinelli and Ruggieri collaborated, “Humanities Works: Band Together Pittsburgh: In Concert with Those on the Spectrum,” will be screened during Curiosity and Collaboration: A General Education Colloquium on Oct. 18 beginning at noon on Zoom.     

Established 45 years ago, Telly Awards entrants are judged by the Telly Awards Judging Council, an industry body of more than 200 leading experts, including advertising agencies, production companies and major television networks, reflective of the multiscreen industry the Telly Awards celebrate.