CBC Intern Selected from Trent University for 2012
Graduating Trent student demonstrates excellence in many areas
Jenna Cameron, International Development Studies/Indigenous Studies graduate, has been awarded the prestigious Gzowski Internship at CBC, one of four university students chosen annually.
After receiving a week of training in the basics of radio production at the CBC in Toronto, Ms. Cameron will spend the summer gaining first-hand experience and contributing to radio programming and production.
Jenna’s commitment to a diverse range of global issues including contemporary Indigenous Canadian relations, along with her interest in Latin American history make her a unique and interesting fit for the internship. Extensive family travel, and the experience as a recipient of the Rita Chiu study abroad bursary at Trent University, encouraged her to “take risks, learn another language and confront the many challenges which come with studying, living and working in another culture.” The Indigenous Studies field course in Mexico gave her the exciting opportunity to approach a broad range of social and political concerns.
Originally from Ingersoll Ontario, Cameron’s interest in Trent began with the Trent in Ecuador program, which she completed last year. During her undergraduate years she sat on the board of Arthur, created an Indigenous issues multi-media website with nine other students (redalliances.com), and studied photography at Fleming College. An avid runner, she has taken part in numerous 10km races and completed the Toronto Half Marathon in 2011. Employed by Parks Canada as an assistant for the past two summers, Jenna hopes to continue to travel and “use the critical perspective [her] studies have given [her] to create critically informed, socially conscious and accessible media.”
Trent Radio greatly influenced her career choices and the upcoming internship. She cites the student-run organization as being “hugely influential in giving [her] the confidence and passion to pursue the [Gzowski award].”
Red Alliances Media, a company that began originally as a class project at Trent in INDG 4200, enabled Cameron to develop media content “collaboratively, respectfully and across a wide array of platforms (film, radio, written, digital etc).” She “loved every minute of working on this project, and the decision by the group to take it from the classroom to ‘the real world’ was easy because [they saw] the need within the broader community for this website to exist.”
Jenna’s most positive Trent memories come from “small class sizes, the opportunity to engage with the broader Peterborough and regional community and most importantly the many professors…who really care about their students and go above and beyond to ensure [they] get the most out of their education.”
“It is incredible to walk around a university campus and every day see Profs, T.A.’s and administrative staff who know your name and care about your success -- academically, personally and professionally,” said Ms. Cameron.
Professor David Sheinin (history), Indigenous Studies Ph.D. candidate Heather Shpuniarsky, and Professor Lynne Davis (IDS) rank high among individual faculty members and graduate students who Cameron feels have contributed to the development of her critical faculties, her knowledge of the subjectivity of Indigenous people from her “perspective [as] a young non-Indigenous Canadian,” and her skills within the areas of Alliance building and “settler” studies.
Nick Davis, the internship coordinator at CBC explained, “the Gzowski Internship Program was created to honour the memory of Peter Gzowski, a man who spent his life as journalist and who many called "Mr. Canada." The Internship Program in his honour has, over the years, helped many young students began their path as journalists. The Trent University Gzowski interns have always been of a high quality, and some of them have ended up working at CBC as full-time employees. A testament to the rigour that goes into Trent University's selection process for the Gzowski Intern.”
The internship program with CBC Radio is available to final-year university students at four institutions across Canada that have a link to the well-known author, broadcaster, and columnist. They are: Trent University, McGill University in Montreal, Memorial University in St. John’s, and Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.