At Southern Illinois University Carbondale, a professor in Cinema and Photography, Dan Overturf, teaches a biennial “Small Town Documentary” course. The semester of Fall 2020 marks the 12th time that this course has been offered to students of multiple disciplinary backgrounds. It has been a pivotal course for photography students for almost 25 years. It serves to teach aspiring photographers the value of storytelling skills through their artwork and allows students to immerse themselves in the culture of southern Illinois. Over the course of the semester, students spend four months visiting their given towns each week. The photos created over this time period tell stories of their towns through their final portfolios.