david.blumenkrantz@csun.edu

EDUCATION/CREDENTIALS
MFA, Visual Communication CSUN, 2009
M.A., Art Education CSUN, 2003
B.A., Journalism, CSUN, 1985
California Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, Clear

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2004-present
California State University, Northridge
Assistant Professor, Tenure Track, Journalism Dept.

2001-2004
Part-time Faculty, Journalism and Art Departments

1997-2000
Los Angeles Community College District,
Los Angeles Valley College
Photography Instructor, Journalism Department.

1996-2004
Los Angeles Unified School District

• Taught History and English Honors classes at Millikan Middle School Performing Arts Magnet, Sherman Oaks
• Kittridge St. Elementary School, Van Nuys. Taught third, fourth and fifth grade classes, with Gifted & Talented (GATE) students.

1995-96
Los Angeles City Cultural Affairs Department
Watts Towers Arts Center
Designed and implemented photography curriculum for at-risk youth, ages 8-12. Culminated with publication of a calendar, and a photo exhibition at Santa Monica Place, November, 1996.

KENYA, EAST AFRICA
1988-1994
Conducted black and white photography training courses for several organizations and agencies, including: ALL AFRICA CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES (College students); FRENCH CULTURAL CENTRE, NAIROBI (General public); GOVERNMENT OF ERITREA (Former rebel soldiers working in the new nation's Ministry Of Information); KODAK (Independent entrepreneurs).

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1994-96
FREELANCE PHOTOJOURNALIST
Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Reader

1988-94
FREELANCE PHOTOJOURNALIST/DOCUMENTARIST, EAST AFRICA
Worked for various Kenyan and international publications and relief agencies, including: UNICEF (African street children documentary); ALL AFRICA CONFERENCE OF CHURCHES (Documentary of refugee camps in several African countries); KENYA FORESTRY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (Documentary of herbalists throughout Kenya). Photographs published in TIME and other magazines.

1992-94
INFORMATION DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR
Undugu Society of Kenya: Nairobi, East Africa
A non-governmental organization involved in development issues related to street children and urban poverty. Responsibilities included the supervision of an information office and research library; public and media relations; grant proposal writing; donor relations; newsletter and other publication production. Required skills in photography, video, desktop publishing, writing, editing and media relations.

1986-90
INFORMATION COORDINATOR/PHOTOJOURNALIST
InterAid International
An American-based, non-governmental relief and development organization. Responsibilities included: establishing and managing an information office in Nairobi, Kenya; visiting and documenting field projects in Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Zaire; producing fundraising materials for use by worldwide affiliate offices; writing, editing, and producing publications and videos.

1983
PHOTOGRAPHY INTERN, Los Angeles Daily News

PUBLICATIONS

• Editor, UNICEF Cameroon Annual Report/CD-ROM presentation, July 2007
• Book,Survival, a 68-page documentary on the Undugu Society of Kenya’s integrated approach to urban development and street children. Produced with assistance from UNICEF, September 1994
• Exhibition/book publication,Initiatives: The Church’s Response to the Refugee Crisis in Africa, for the All Africa Conference of Churches General Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, October 1992
  

CONFERENCES/ACADEMIA

• Presenter and Panelist, Pacific Sociological Association, Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon, April 2008
• Moderator and discussant, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Annual Convention, Visual Communication Division, research paper session, San Francisco, August 2006
• Peer reviewer, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Visual Communication Division, research paper competition, April 2006
• Organizer and Panelist, Academic Freedom Series, The Center for Innovative and Engaging Learning Opportunities, CSUN, April 2006

  EXHIBITIONS

  Curator

  • Photography exhibition, “Patzicia 1940-1980,”Kaqchikel Indigenous Collective Museo Kaqjay, Guatemala, CSUN, May 2008
  • Photography exhibition, “Argentina,” by Dercum Over, CSUN, May 2007
  • Photography exhibition, “Japanese Flowers,” by Midori Tsuzura, CSUN, September 2006
  • Photography exhibition, “Hitting the Skids,” the work of Documentary Photojournalism students in collaboration with CSUN Social Work program graduate students, April 2006

    Contributing photographer/artist

    • Photography exhibition, “Camera and Community: Photographs From the Collection of the Institute for Arts & Media,” CSUN, May 2008
    • Video exhibition, “Digital Video Walk,” Art Department, CSUN, May 2007
    • Photography exhibition, “Convergence,” MFA candidate artwork, CSUN, October 2006
    • Digital photography exhibitions, “Snap to Grid,” Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, September 2006, September 2007
    • Photography exhibition, “Family Portraits,” based on the work of photographers from Los Angeles, Berlin and Moscow, June 2003

      One-person shows

      • Photography exhibition, "The Surreal Theatrical: Street Photography on Broadway, Los Angeles, CSUN West Gallery, April 2009
      • Photography exhibition, “The Way We See It,” a Master’s thesis project featuring photographs taken by elementary school students and their teacher in the community, CSUN, West Gallery, December 2002
      • Photography exhibition, “Images of Africa,” a culmination of eight years of documentary/photojournalism work in Africa, at the Watts Towers Arts Center, Los Angeles, March 1997
      • Photography exhibition, “Initiatives: The Church’s Response to the Refugee Crisis in Africa,” for the All Africa Conference of Churches General Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe, October 1992
      • Photography exhibition/auction, “Off the Streets,” in support of the Undugu Society of Kenya’s work with street children and urban poor, Trade Bank Gallery, Nairobi, October 1992
      • Photography exhibition, “Resolution: African Lives,” French Cultural Centre, Nairobi, July 199
  HONORS

• Polished Apple for Outstanding Teaching:
  CSUN, 2006
• Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society
• Golden Apple Recipient, LAUSD District Intern Program, 1997-99.
• National Press Photographers Foundation Scholarship "College Photographer of the Year," 1984. Selections from winning portfolio were published in Columbia University textbook Basic News Writing, 2nd Edition, by Prof. Melvin Mencher. (Wm. C. Brown Publishers)