EMERGE 2026: How U of GH’s Media and Communication Studies capstone project is shaping career-ready creators

From brand analysis and content production to thesis work and client-based digital marketing and communications strategies, final-year Media and Communication Studies (MCS) students at the University of Guelph-Humber (U of GH) spent the year developing capstone projects, culminating with presentations at the 14th annual EMERGE Conference. 

MCS Chair Kathy Ullyott said the EMERGE capstone projects give students the opportunity to apply the skills they’ve developed over four years while pushing them beyond their comfort zones to take on a project unlike any they’ve done before – showing that their “reach can exceed their grasp.” Several participants called the experience rewarding and voiced that this undertaking helped inform their career aspirations.

“Being able to work with a real organization and a client, collaborating and communicating, was a really cool experience,” fourth-year student Kaitlyn Vansickle said, who was part of a digital marketing and communications strategy group for Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue (alongside Adam Morgenstern, Amanda Macdonald, Emily Edwards, and Sara Palkowski). “By the time we got [to presentation day], I felt I had all the knowledge that I needed.”

Brand analysis

Emma Hircak, a fourth-year MCS student, was part of a brand analysis group (with Carolina Firkowski and Charlotte Zytariuk) for The Period Purse, a charity that provides free period products to advance menstrual equity. The group formed a boutique agency, and while they didn’t directly work with the organization, they spent the first semester examining the charity’s online presence and audience to build an alternative campaign to boost awareness, social media engagement, and donations to The Period Purse. They also analyzed similar organizations to better understand what a successful campaign looks like. 

During the second semester, the group applied the findings of their brand analysis to produce a well-informed storytelling campaign called “Not Just a Period.” This included a social media strategy and a short film depicting the realities of period poverty to draw the prospective audience in.

“We [gained] hands-on experience and produced something that's tangible,” Hircak said. 

The experience taught the group that in the industry, media data and analytics are important informants of creative content. It also gave them further practice in production techniques. 

Content production

Multimedia production was the focus of the Sonder⁶ project, which is a three-part docuseries. Comprising Diogo Nobre, Elayna Medeiros, Olivia Amado, and Rivyr Faubert, the group based their unique capstone on the word “sonder,” coined by writer John Koenig in his book, “The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows,” to describe “the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own,” Faubert said. 

She added that the group, who worked under the tutelage of MCS Associate Head Marc Tavares, aimed to capture part of the human experience about finding connection and discovering one’s place in a big city like Toronto. Leveraging their networking skills, the group approached three subjects: a mixed-media artist Beverley Daniels, a band called Redhead, and computer science professor Dr. Faith Ellen who repairs books in her spare time. 

Work included shooting, editing, interviewing, and marketing the series on social media.

“[I enjoyed the experience of] being able to manage ourselves, hold each other accountable, and celebrate our successes,” Faubert said. “It’s such a good portfolio piece and you learn so many things along the way.”

Undergraduate Thesis 

Guelph-Humber also offers an undergraduate thesis option for MCS students. Katherine Vella, supervised by instructor Dr. Greg Kelley, explored how social media, notably TikTok, is helping to preserve the traditional Irish language, Gaeilge. 

Her thesis, the Digital Gaeltacht: Social Media as a Meso-Archive for the Irish Language, was inspired by her love for Ireland, which she discovered during a U of GH study abroad trip in 2022. And ultimately, her research led her to suggest a digital repository for identity and language preservation.

Vella read over 150 studies, reached out to over 45 Gaeilge content creators and interviewed five across varying time zones, and reviewed the Irish government’s document called the 20-Year Strategy for the Irish Language 2010–2030. She also interviewed Páidí ó Lionárd, communications manager of the Office of the Irish Language Commissioner, about GaelTok (the TikTok Irish language community), the government’s perspective on these online initiatives, and issues of preservation in the modern social media landscape for a minority language.

“Don't be afraid to research. It's the best experience I've had. It's probably my favourite class since I've been [at U of GH],” Vella said. 

Digital marketing and communications strategy

Finally, the digital marketing and communications strategy projects allow students to work with an external client, simulating real-world agency experience.  

Vansickle, whose group created a strategy for Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue near Bowmanville, Ont., found it interesting to work with an organization that didn’t have an advertising budget. This meant the group had to get creative with their online storytelling to draw families in to visit the rescue, especially for summer camps.

“I did my internship with the Northumberland County, so I've experienced the opposite side (for-profit) and having a budget with campaigns… and with this, because they're non-profit, our main goal was financial,” she said. “It was really cool to learn about how to properly advertise that campaign without using any money.” 

The group remained in contact with Soper Creek throughout the process, understanding their pain points and identifying their needs and wants, which informed their work. The group created a social media strategy complete with Instagram assets, as well as a video advertising the rescue, shot on location.

A representative from Soper Creek attended the 2026 EMERGE Conference and said the organization will implement some of the students’ campaign and strategy.

Learn more about students’ real experience during the EMERGE Conference here.