Northwest to offer class on spirits
by Jimmy Myers
MARYVILLE, Mo. — Witnessing a translucent human being as a little boy has a way of leaving a permanent imprint.
Jason Offutt wasn’t traumatized by the brown-haired kid wearing a flannel shirt that he saw through in his home in Orrick, Mo., as a pre-teen. It spurred an interest that he’s turned into a book, a popular blog, a newspaper column and now a 300-level journalism class.
The journalism instructor at Northwest Missouri State University is continually finding ways to teach his students how to research, interview and write news stories. As a former newspaper reporter, photographer and editor, Mr. Offutt knows the tedium that comes with covering bureaucratic powwows. So he’s offering an outlet to students that allows them to hone their reporting skills while exploring a quirky and fun subject.
“Every culture on the planet, separated by oceans, all have ghosts in their belief systems,” Mr. Offutt said, explaining that there must be something to the phenomenon of ghost sightings.
The course will be offered next fall, most likely as a one-time course. Many of his students want to enroll, but the course will be limited to 22 students. The offering had to meet the approval of the mass communications department, the faculty senate and the provost’s office. To his knowledge, nobody wrinkled their nose at it.
“It gives students a taste of something fun while also learning how to be a better reporter,” he said, adding that they’ll approach the topics seriously.
The class comes complete with a field trip to a supposed haunted house in Valisca, Iowa, where an entire family was wiped out by an ax murderer in 1912.
Mr. Offutt, who published “Haunted Missouri” two years ago, is working on another ghost book but with a focus on hauntings within 100 miles of Maryville. His blog, “From the Shadows,” which “explores the world of the paranormal,” gets an average of 5,000 hits a month. It can be found at from-the-shadows.blogspot.com.
http://www.stjoenews.net/news/2008/nov/ ... ngs/?local
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