Jillann Hertel

Creative Director, CoLab Director & Arts Faculty

Member Of:
  • School of Literature, Media, and Communication
Office Phone: 404-894-2730
Office Location: Skiles 337
Office Hours: T,W,R email for appointment
Related Links:

Overview

Pronunciation of Name:
Jill Ann Her-tell

Jillann Hertel Deltejo joined the School of Literature, Media, and Communication (LMC) at Georgia Tech after 15+ years in arts, production, programming, and program development. Hertel served as curator and Director of Programming for a three-floor arts center in Brooklyn which housed: music, film, performance, and fine arts, as well as other unique happenings. Her studio experience primarily includes: photography, music, and video production. As both industry professional and academic, she teaches Senior Portfolio to graduating seniors as well as Media Portfolio for graduate students. As LMC's Creative Director, Hertel directs LMC's Creative Career Origination Lab (CoLab) where students in Literature, Media, and Communication and Computational Media have the opportunity to design materials and original content (written, web-based, and print).  CoLab challenges, professionalizes, and engages students in production and problem-solving by creating real-world products while enhancing and elevating their portfolios. Hertel is also a co-director of the Interdisciplinary Media Arts Center (IMA) as well as an advocate for expansion of the Arts at Georgia Tech at the School, College, and Institute levels.

Hertel founded The School of Literature, Media, and Communication's CoLab and is co-founder of the Interdisciplinary Media Arts Center.

 

Education:
  • MFA, School of Visual Arts, Manhattan, NY
  • BA, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Awards and
Distinctions:
  • Community Impact Award, Ivan Allen College, Georgia Tech, 2023
  • Leading Women @ Tech, 2022-23, Georgia Tech
  • Innovation in Co-curricular Innovation, Institute Award, CETL, Georgia Tech
  • Art Director Fellowship/Keynote Speaker, University System of Georgia
  • Woman of Distinction Award, Women's Leadership Conference, Georgia Tech
  • Creating the Next: Technological Humanist (Institute Profile), Georgia Tech Communications
  • Student Service Award, Ivan Allen College, Georgia Tech
Areas of
Expertise:
  • Art
  • Creativity
  • Culture
  • Film
  • Media
  • Media Arts
  • Photography
  • Portfolio
  • Writing

Interests

Teaching Interests:
Jillann Hertel's teaching is rooted in the belief that the classroom should function as a working studio, where students learn by producing real deliverables for real audiences. In courses such as Senior Portfolio and Media Portfolio, she guides undergraduate and graduate students through the process of curating, refining, and presenting their creative work to prospective employers and collaborators — treating portfolio development not as a final exercise but as an ongoing practice of self-reflection and professional identity formation. Hertel emphasizes mentorship, building authentic networks, and the development of creative confidence, equipping students not only with technical and communicative abilities but with the professional resilience and adaptability needed to thrive in evolving creative industries.
Research Interests:
Hertel's research and creative practice explore the relationship between artistic production, media-making, and professional development in higher education. Drawing on decades of experience in arts curation, programming, and multimedia production — spanning photography, music, film, and performance — she investigates how experiential, production-oriented learning environments prepare students to become skilled, critically engaged creative professionals. Through founding and directing the Creative Career Origination Lab (CoLab) at Georgia Tech, she has developed a practice-based approach that merges industry expertise with academic inquiry, examining how real-world creative projects — including written, web-based, and print content — cultivate students' artistic voices while building the professional portfolios and problem-solving capacities they need to launch careers. Her work is driven by an interest in how the arts and creative practice can be more fully integrated into research university settings, and how bridging the gap between studio craft and career readiness empowers the next generation of media makers and communicators.
Research Fields:
  • Communication
  • Media Studies
Issues:
  • Aesthetics
  • Aesthetics and Technology
  • Communication
  • Creativity in Context
  • Digital and Mixed Media
  • Documentary
  • Innovation
  • Media
  • Media Production
  • Television Studies

Courses

  • GMC-6003: Prof Portfolio Media
  • LMC-2000: Intro-Lit, Media, & Comm
  • LMC-3813: Camera Arts: Camera Arts
  • LMC-3823: Special Topics Lit/Cult
  • LMC-3843: Spec Topic-Communication
  • LMC-4811: Special Topics
  • LMC-4813: Creative Mgmt and Comm: Creative Mgmt and Comm
  • LMC-4813: Creative Portfolio: Creative Portfolio Capstone
  • LMC-8803: Special Topics
  • SPAN-6251: Hispanic Community Internship
  • SPAN-6695: Spanish Internship Abroad

Publications

Recent Publications

Books

Creative Artifacts

All Publications

Books

Creative Artifacts

Updated:  Feb 14th, 2026 at 4:45 PM