Delaware Arif: Turning Journalists Into Storytellers

By: Andrew Nowel, Sports Layout Editor

As summer cools off and fall leaves begin to arrive, Canisius University welcomes a new professor to the Journalism Department. Dr. Delaware Arif, coming to Canisius with years of international experience in journalism, brings a unique perspective that the campus community is excited to embrace. 

Arif’s writing career began at Notre Dame College in Bangladesh. His start was simple – his first piece being titled A Piece of Paper – but it led to the love of writing Arif has today. “When I write, it’s like I’m expressing myself,” said Arif. Notre Dame also gave him a Catholic background, and when Arif accepted the job at Canisius, he was excited to embrace the community of faith here. “It’s a way of giving back to the community,” said Arif. “What you see today is because of my Catholic education, so I’m so grateful for the opportunity at Canisius.”

As Arif began working for news organizations such as Reuters, he realized that he had a passion not only for journalism, but for teaching as well, and began as a lecturer at the University of Chittagong in Bangladesh in 2002. Six years later, Arif came to the United States and completed his masters in media theory and research at Southern Illinois University in 2010. He also completed a PhD in mass communication and media arts in 2014 before going back to lecturing at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Before coming to Canisius, Arif taught for ten years in Alabama at both the University of South Alabama and the University of North Alabama. 

Buffalo has a very diverse community and Arif has found that there is a community of people from Bangladesh that he would like to connect with during his time at Canisius. This is just one of the many goals Arif has at Canisius, which relate not only to journalism, but life in general. With these goals, he is striving to bring out the creative personalities Canisius students have to help them tell stories. “We are preparing storytellers instead of just journalists,” Arif said. When asked about the new age of social media, Arif talked about the multitude of tools that students now have available to them. “This is a good opportunity for journalism students to be creative with the new media that they have available,” said Arif.

Arif is excited to work with The Griffin as he takes on the role of co-advising for the newspaper alongside Dr. Maura Snyder, assistant professor of communications at Canisius.

“I’m really excited about working with the students,” said Arif. “They are really motivated and engaged. The Griffin is a wonderful platform for students as a real-life experience.” With the guidance of Arif, Snyder and the entire communications department, Canisius is truly a place where leaders are made.