Disney "Dream" Course at WIU

MACOMB, IL -- In 2006, Communication Instructor David Zanolla was taking a backstage tour at Walt Disney World in Orlando (FL) when he started to realize that many of the concepts he taught in his classes came to life in the theme parks. Upon returning home, he began to design a supplemental unit for his Communication 130 ("Introduction to Human Communication") classes to share what he had learned.

Fast forward to three years later when the Western Illinois University Centennial Honors College asked faculty for proposals of new classes. Zanolla saw this request as the opportunity to propose his "dream course." This course, called "Disney World Communication Culture," will be offered for the third time in Spring 2012 as COMM 379.

In May 2011, Zanolla was invited to talk about the experiences of the first two years of the course on the web-based "The Season Pass Podcast" (http://seasonpasspodcast.com ... You can listen to the entire podcast at http://hw.libsyn.com/p/f/f/0/ff0631805334d248/The_Season_Pass_165.mp3 .)

"Co-host Brent Young owns a theme park attraction design business, so he knows what he is talking about. This enabled us to have a great conversation about what I was doing in my course," Zanolla said.

More at http://www.wiu.edu/news/newsrelease.php?release_id=9063

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