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We are constantly hearing of the ways in which new technologies are denigrating our lives. So it was with joy that I read the following story. Most colleges require students to put away their cellphones during class. However, for one class at The Catholic University of America, not bringing a cellphone to class can result in loss of points from their participation grade. Cellphone photography is a new class at Catholic University in Washington that allows students to see photography in a fresh way and explore a device they carry with them every day in a different way. Students are told to turn their everyday lives into a book of photographs. For example, one assignment was to take photos on their phone at their Thanksgiving dinner celebration with their families. Only a handful of other universities offer a class like the one taught at Catholic University. The class encourages students to post the photos taken in class on their social media sites and is taught by professional photographer Matthew Barrick. "The goal of this class is to show the true creative art of photography using a cellphone. You have your camera with you 24 hours a day," Barrick said. The class assignments consist of weekly blog entries that must include pictures students took that week on their phones, as well as ongoing work on their final project. The class's final project is called "100 photographs in 100 days," and the students can take pictures of anything they want with their phones over the course of the semester. Then, they pick the best photos and put them into an online photo book for the professor to review and grade. Barrick emphasizes that it does not matter what type of phone students use, as long as it has a camera. He thinks the most important part is that students use their eyes and imagination to take the best photos possible. I encourage you to do the same thing. Use your phone to capture the good int eh world. Put the things that you find that remind us that God is at work in a picture and then post that picture online. It just might reveal the face of God to someone who really needs to begin a relationship with our Holy Father.

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