eric thomas creative

TEACHING

Launching

new ideas

My favorite days at work are meeting with students, teachers and professionals about brave new ideas. Over the past three decades, I have presented in more than a dozen states in classrooms, workshops and conferences. Whether it’s a 1200-seat auditorium or a small group of leaders, I love sharing my ideas and experiences.

  • Risk & Curiosity

    How can your group break out and try something different? Being willing to ask new and original questions is the first step.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Interviews: Conversations with a Risk”

  • Bold new journalism

    Why is your group covering the stories in the same way, over and over? The key is to ask original, narrow and local questions.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “(Re)Creating Story Ideas:

  • On Assignment

    Photojournalists can create comprehensive and engaging coverage if they remember the many possibilities.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Ten Must-Have Images of Photojournalism”

  • Take a Close Look

    Messages buzz past us so quickly that we don’t fully understand them. Slow down and see the full meaning in even the simplest media messages.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Time for a Close Analysis

  • A fine line on campus

    How do students feel about their free speech rights? And how are those sentiments changing?

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “College Free Expression”

  • A Sustained voice

    I never thought I would publish 150 opinion columns. But here's how I got started — and how I keep going.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Word by Word. Column by Column”

  • In this moment

    My mentor told me to seek out stories that won’t exist in a few weeks, a few days or a few hours.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Cover Now What You’ll Never Be Able To Cover Again”

  • Simple storytelling

    We are taught so many boring forms of writing that we forget the structure and allure of a story.

    ERIC’S PRESENTATION: “Design Is Storytelling — and you can do it.”

OTHER possible TOPICS

  • You name it: Photoshop, Bridge, Lightroom, InDesign, Premiere, Audition

  • How to use visuals to tell stories

  • Our brains group items in predictable ways that are defined by psychology.

  • We often misunderstand how our brains process color — and what those colors mean to our audiences.

  • Consider case studies of journalists caught in dilemmas — and try to find the best next steps.

  • Consider how brands of chewing gum are crafting a message aimed at a very particular consumer.

  • What does it mean to us, the consumers of media, that media companies have become so large and powerful?

  • We often teach exposure to new photographers is confusing ways. There’s a better way.

  • What should we do when we are tempted to change images?

  • How can we use light to signify emotion and meaning? And how can we make light beautiful on our subjects?

  • Where should you stand — and where should you point your camera — to arrange the objects in your scene?

  • We spend so much time on exposure in photography that we forget about the lens. That’s a wild mistake.

  • Journalists, especially student journalists, rely on misleading polls far too often.

SCHOOLS

& NON-PROFITS

During my teaching career, I’ve found three great places to work with students. Below are some of the highlights of my time at KU, KSPA and STA.

University of Kansas

2014-present: Lawrence, Kansas

Instructor, William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Accomplishments

  • Renovated the teaching of the school’s largest class, Media & Society. The class, often with more than 450 students enrolled, now provides interactive small group writing activities during class. Responding to a survey, students said they were 70 percent more likely to attend the redesigned class on a daily basis.

  • Hosted 10 years of the Jayhawk Media Workshop, a summer camp for high school journalism students. The five-day camp included instructional sessions, fun activities, ice breakers and guest speakers in an effort to recruit students to attend college on campus.

  • Taught 10 different courses during the first 11 years of teaching, ranging from writing classes to technology classes.

  • Mentored students in their move to the professional media, including Hearst Awards, practicum classes and special projects.

  • Assisted journalism school in responding to the pandemic, including the design and execution of welcome boxes that were shipped to students who would be attending college in the fall but could not attend summer orientation.

Classes

  • JMC 101: Media & Society

  • JMC 212: Tech Tools: Audio/Video

  • JMC 213: Tech Tools: Photo

  • JMC 300: Visual Storytelling

  • JMC 304: Media Writing

  • JMC 406: Media Practicum

  • JMC 410: Media Photography

  • JMC 415: Multimedia Journalism

  • JMC 610: Advanced Visual Media

  • JMC 636: Documentary

Other duties

pandemic response committee; student retention committee; scholarship committee; speaker at events for prospective students

participation on Kansas State Department of Education curriculum redesign committee

Awards

Pi Beta Phi Sorority

  • teaching award, 2014

Kansas Scholastic Press AssocIation

2014-2024: Kansas

Executive Director, educational non-profit

Accomplishments

  • Advocated for student journalists who were being unlawfully censored by school administrators.

  • Organized dozens of events that served thousands of journalism students in locations that were close to their high schools

  • Emerged from social distancing of COVID-19 pandemic with greater financial resources than before, despite social distancing shutting down all programming.

  • Transitioned contests to online platforms that allowed students and teachers to submit more easily.

  • Assisted six Kansas students who were named National Student Journalist of the Year or runner-up in the NSPA contest.

  • Coached the “Pittsburg 6,” student journalists who made national news when they exposed their newly hired principal as a fraud.

  • Celebrated to landmark anniversaries for the non-profit: 1) an overnight KSPA conference in Topeka to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Kansas Student Publications Act, 2) the association’s 50th anniversary in 2024

duties

  • Strategic planning for a non-profit focused on supporting scholastic journalism in the state of Kansas

  • Budgeting and forecasting the financial future of the non-profit and securing board approval

  • Managing a relationship with the University of Kansas to continue status as an affiliate organization

  • Hiring staff and student workers from the University of Kansas to help with KSPA programming

  • Advancing projects at the association, including website communication, newsletters, event planning, endowment funding and grant solicitation.

NEW PROGRAMS

Under my leadership, KSPA started many new awards and programs, including:

  • The Portfolio of the Year contests

  • Renaming signature awards for teachers Susan Massy and Mary Patrick

  • Launching a robust web page to support student free speech on kspaonline.org

  • Transitioned financial support for mentoring from JEA to KSPA

  • Created the Courage in Journalism Award

Awards

Columbia Scholastic Press Association

  • Paschal Award for leadership of state or regional press associations, 2024

ST. TERESA’S ACADEMY

2002-2014: Kansas City, Missouri

Teacher, all-girls private Catholic high school

Accomplishments

  • Elevated journalism and publications classes at the school to encourage dozens of students to pursue journalism and communications, including two Missouri Student Journalists of the Year.

  • Supervised two major redesigns of the paper, leading the publication to be name one of the top 50 student newspapers in the country.

  • Re-created curriculum for the two classes to reflect national standards and college expectations. 

  • Rescued the yearbook from an initial $8,000 financial debt while driving down the cost of yearbooks to the student body—from $50 to $30 per student. 

  • Added a new course to the curriculum in 2009 with digital photography

Awards

Missouri Interscholastic Press Association

  • Selected Missouri Interscholastic Press Association Journalism Teacher of the Year, 2008

  • Numerous awards, including student publications awarded All-Missouri for past five years

Columbia Scholastic Press Association

  • Teresian yearbook earned Crown Award as one of the country’s best yearbooks

National Scholastic Press Association

  • Special Recognition Adviser, Yearbook Adviser of the Year Contest, 2008

  • Pacemaker Awards and finalist designations for all three publications at St. Teresa’s

  • Students regularly nominated as finalists for Best of the Year competitions across categories, including Newspaper Design of the Year, Photos of the Year and Story of the Year

Journalism Educators of Metropolitan Kansas City

  • Numerous awards, including signature awards for student editors and photographers

Classes

Introduction to Journalism, Photography, Yearbook, Newspaper & Writing

Other duties

basketball coach, department head, mentor, homecoming dance sponsor, capital campaign faculty adviser, homeroom adviser, photography club moderator

Presentations at Workshops, Conventions & Events

Ball State University Summer Journalism Workshop

Jayhawk Media Workshop & Kansas Journalism Institute

University of Missouri Summer Journalism Workshop

National Scholastic Press Association/Journalism Education Association

Journalism Educators of Metro Kansas City

Missouri Interscholastic Press Association

Shawnee Mission School District & Tall Oaks Workshop

St. Teresa’s Women’s Circle of Giving

Kansas Scholastic Press Association

Columbia Scholastic Press Association

University of Kansas Dole Institute for Politics

University of Kansas: The Commons