The following faculty who teach courses that count as electives in journalism are now affiliated with the program. These include faculty from the departments of Documentary Film, Communication, and Law.
Mark Rabil, Director of Innocence and Justice Clinic, Associate Clinical Professor of Law.
Since January 2013, Mark Rabil has been an Associate Professor at the School of Law. He has been the Director of the Innocence and Justice Clinic since 2009, and he also teaches Trial Advocacy and Criminal Procedure. Rabil’s zealous advocacy led to the release and exoneration of Darryl Hunt after 19 years of incarceration. Rabil had been practicing law for four years in 1984 when he was court-appointed to assist a senior partner in his law firm in representing Hunt, a 19-year-old black man charged with raping and stabbing to death Deborah Sykes, a young, white, newspaper reporter. He continued to represent Hunt for the next 20 years, through trials, hearings, investigations, appeals, and clemency and pardon proceedings. In the summer of 1993, post-conviction hearings regarding witness intimidation and discovery violations led to DNA tests proving that neither Hunt nor another suspect, Sammy Mitchell, were involved in the rape of Sykes. In December 2003, Rabil’s further efforts forced more DNA testing that led to the arrest of the true killer, and the release of Hunt. From 2003 until 2013, Rabil was an assistant capital defender in North Carolina and represented individuals charged with first-degree murder and facing the death penalty. Prior to becoming a full-time professor, Rabil served the Wake Forest University School of Law as a supervising attorney for the Litigation Clinic from 1983 until 2013, and as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy from 2003 until 2013. In 2004, the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers awarded Rabil the Thurgood Marshall Award for his work representing Darryl Hunt. The story of the case is told in Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg’s award-winning documentary, “The Trials of Darryl Hunt,” which premiered on HBO in 2007, and won numerous film festival awards around the world. Rabil tells his story about his work in the Hunt case in his law review article, “My Three Decades With Darryl Hunt.” 75 Albany L. Rev. 1535 (2012). rabilsm@wfu.edu
Peter Gilbert, Creative Director and Outreach, professor of the practice, affiliated with the Department of Communication, the Documentary Film Program, and the Journalism Program.
Peter Gilbert teaches courses in documentary storytelling, sports storytelling, cinematography and sound and entrepreneurship. Gilbert has had a distinguished career in producing, directing, and photographing documentaries, feature films, commercials, and music videos. He is one of the filmmakers who made Hoop Dreams, serving as a producer and director of Photography. The film won numerous awards including The Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, Producers Guild of America, Independent Spirit Award, and The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for Journalism. Hoop Dreams was on 100+ top ten lists for 1994. Also with Kartemquin Filmsand Steve James, he also directed At the Death House Door, which premiered at South by Southwest in 2008, and won awards at several other festivals, including the inspiration award at Full Frame. It aired on the Independent Film Channel in May of 2008. In 2004, he produced and directed, With All Deliberate Speed, the first work in the new series “Discovery Docs,” for the Discovery Network. The nationally released film portrays the drama of the monumental Brown V. Board Supreme Court decision that helped change the racial fabric of our country in 1954. With All Deliberate Speed was nominated for a Prime Time Emmy for Distinguished Work in Non-Fiction Film. gilberpm@wfu.edu
Woodrow Hood, Director of Film and Media Studies, professor of the practice, affiliated with the Department of Communication, the Documentary Film Program, and the Journalism Program.
Woodrow Hood (Ph.D. in Theatre, University of Missouri–Columbia, M.A. in Speech/Theatre, Louisiana Tech University) joined WFU in 2011. As a member of the performance faculty, he specializes in on-camera performance. Previously, he served as Dean of the Shuford School of Performing Arts, Professor and Department Chair of Theatre Arts at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. Dr. Hood has also taught at Harlaxton College in the UK, Pfeiffer University, the University of Texas—PanAmerican, Illinois Wesleyan University, Illinois State University, and High Point University (as Head of Theatre Arts). Dr. Hood has also served for many years on the North Carolina Theatre Conference Board of Directors. He is also a member of the Southeastern Theatre Conference. He has also served as a reviewer/consultant for other theatre programs during self-studies and on several arts boards and councils.As an author, critic, and theorist, he has just completed the sixth edition of the co-authored textbook, Theatre, Its Art and Craft, and wrote a section for the recently published book, Women in American Musical Theatre. He has written for national and international journals and publications such as American Theatre magazine, Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation, Theatre Journal, PAJ (Performing Arts Journal), Postmodern Culture, The Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, Theatre Topics,TheatreForum, and others. Dr. Hood is a founding member of the Terra Incognita theatre company. He directed Dr. Janice Moore Fuller’s DIX (Minneapolis Fringe Festival, 2004) for the company. In the fall of 2004, his production of ISLAND won Metrolina Theatre Award for Outstanding College Production. In 2010, he received an award from the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival for “Excellence in Direction” for his production of Caryl Churchill’s Far Away. His research interests include film studies, pop culture, Japanese theatre and film, performance art, and copyright law. hoodwb@wfu.edu
Cara Pilson, Documentary Film Program Director, teaching professor, affiliated with the Department of Communication and the Journalism Program.
Cara Pilson teaches in the areas of documentary storytelling, research, clearance and fair use, ethics and documentary history. She has worked as associate director, chief researcher and web producer on multiple award-winning films that were broadcast nationally and internationally, including, Negroes With Guns: Rob Williams and Black Power and Freedom Never Dies: The Legacy of Harry T. Moore. Both films aired nationally on PBS and received the Erik Barnouw Award for Outstanding Historical Documentary. She also served as Associate Director and Director of Research on The Last Flight of Petr Ginz an award-winning documentary that has screened in more than 40 countries and is distributed by First Run Features and Forward Entertainment. Other past films include Giving Up the Canal, Campaign for Cuba and Last Days of the Revolution, all of which aired nationally on PBS. Through her work with the Documentary Film Program at Wake Forest, and previously with the University of Florida’s Documentary Institute, Pilson has helped students produce work that has received national and international attention. pilsoncm@wfu.edu
Chris Sheridan, Online & MA Program Coordinator, associate professor of the practice, affiliated with the Documentary Film Program and the Journalism Program.
Chris Sheridan teaches courses in documentary and sports storytelling, digital and social media, and the business of sports media. He also supervises student internships. Sheridan is an award-winning, journalist, content creator and media executive who has built and led content teams at some of the biggest media companies including ESPN, CNBC, NBC and ABC. A true cross-platform executive, he has helped those major brands adapt to the digital space including leading the digital video team at ESPN, helping launch the SportsCenter social media experience, launching The CNBC Digital Workshop and running abcnews.com The editorial, management and thought leadership in the digital space comes after a distinguished 17-year career in television news where he quarterbacked coverage of some of the biggest news and sports stories of the decade for ABC News and NBC News. He began his career in local television. sheridcj@wfu.edu
Chris Zaluski, Graduate School Media Director, assistant teaching professor, affiliated with the Department of Communication, the Documentary Film Program, and the Journalism Program.
Christopher Zaluski teaches courses in editing and visual storytelling and supervises Wrought Iron Productions, a student production company housed in the graduate school. He is an award-winning multimedia producer specializing in video production, web design and writing/reporting. He is also a freelance documentary videographer, editor and producer for Honest Eye Productions. Zaluski has won awards for multimedia storytelling and filmmaking from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, Broadcast Education Association, American Association for Sunday and Features Editors, Virginia Press Association, National Broadcasting Society, and the Online News Association. His documentaries have screened at festivals nationwide and his film, Wagonmasters, was acquired by PBS and Amazon for distribution. zaluskem@wfu.edu