Dean Laurence Kaptain | College of Arts & Media
March 15, 2022

Dear Colleagues,

1) Chancellor Michelle Marks’ visit with CAM Faculty & Staff provided valuable insights into CU Denver’s present and future. The Zoom panel of CAM students who are in their first year of working on master’s degrees in Europe and Asia provided all of us with an example of how our students can do graduate work at leading international institutions.

2) CAM, and Inworks faculty and professional staff are traveling to Salzburg in early April to participate in the Cross-Atlantic Creativity Congress in Salzburg. This event will be connecting cutting-edge scientists, innovators, and decision-makers from diverse backgrounds to explore synergies that bridge the worlds of research, culture, business, arts, education, and society. Theo Edmonds is a cocurator of this event. Rebecca Heavner, Sam McGuire, and Roma Sur will be the faculty representing CAM. This is all about research and creative work that aligns with the 5 goals of Strategic Plan 2030.

3) Also, in April, Mark Rabideau will be leading a group of CAM faculty, advisors, and OIA leaders to travel to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to make final arrangements for the ArtsHub Asia Semester Abroad in Singapore (Fall ’22) and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Spring, ’23). The first group of CAM students are identified and signed up for Singapore, and the intake for students to travel to Malaysia is under way at the present time.

4) The first three CU Denver COMEXUS Mexican Studies Chairs have been identified and are in the process of being finalized. They are slated to be joining us in August 2022 through May 2023. The three visiting faculty will teach and conduct research across important areas, such as the depiction of women and violence in film, documentary film making, and cinematography. While their primary appointments are in Film and Television, we will be searching for ways for them to interact across CAM and CU Denver. They have much to offer—and so do we!

5) April 1 is CU Denver’s First Admitted Student Day. At the end of the day admitted students can go to Guitar Night or a Denver Nuggets Game.

6) Dr. Monique Snowden (SVC of Strategic Enrollment & Student Success) has approved an enhancement and rebranding of the CAM student Living, Learning and Creating Community. It will now be known as City Heights Creative Residential Community (CRC) for the 2022-23 academic year. My appreciation goes to Dave Walter and Laura Harvey for managing this important designation, and the first-year faculty partners, Todd Reid and Leslie Soich (MEIS), and Andrew Bateman (FiTV). The CAM cohort in City Heights led the number of returning students from Fall to Winter, at 93% retention.