AJ
Ashley Jones
  • Mission Viejo, CA

Biola Student Ashley Jones Publishes a Book on the Dominican Republic

2011 Dec 8

The Journalism and Integrated Media department at Biola gives students opportunities to experience their area of study cross culturally.

At the end of April, Ashley Jones from Mission Viejo, accompanied by twelve other journalism students, travelled to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic in order to uncover the people's stories and write a book about the Dominican lifestyle. The trip took place over spring break, where months of research happened within a week of actual fieldwork to find the untold stories of the Dominican people.

"One of the things I wanted the students to learn was to see a culture beyond stereotypes and cliches because that not only makes for better writing and photography, but it's also how God sees people," said Biola professor Sharon Fain.

The book, entitled The Dominican Dream: A Passion for Baseball, A Love for Family, and a Hope for the Future, was released November 10, 2011. The book emphasizes the culture of the Dominican people, observing their passion for baseball, the impact of poverty and unemployment, and highlights the people's hope.

The students that embarked on this endeavor were transformed by their experiences, as was noted by Tamara Welter, one of the professors that led the team of students.

"It was the late evening discussions about faith and humanity, the unbridled laughter and dancing in the rain, the close-contact conversations in the sardine-mobile, that were used by God to bring depth to the experiences for all of us on the trip," Welter said. "Those are the things that won't necessarily show up in the pages of the book, but they'll have a longer shelf life, for sure."

The hard work was honored at a book release ceremony. The book will be released for purchase on Amazon within the near future. Pre-ordered copies of the book can be purchased by emailing Lily Park, Journalism Department Secretary at lily.park@biola.edu.

Biola University, an "Up and Coming" university according to U.S. News & Word Report, is a private Christian university located in Southern California on the border of Los Angeles and Orange counties in the city of La Mirada. For more than 100 years, Biola has remained committed to its biblical foundation, integrating biblical principles with every academic program. U.S. News recognizes Biola as a "National University," which is considered the "major leagues" of higher education. In addition to its focus on intentional spiritual development and career preparation, Biola offers a unique academic environment where all faculty, staff and students are professing Christians. With the highest enrollment in Biola's history of 6,250 students, the school offers 145 academic programs in six schools and degrees ranging from B.A. to Ph.D. For more information, visit www.biola.edu or call (562) 777–4061.