Critical Media Practices

‘Little community,’ big class: Meet CMDI’s groundbreaking Class of 2029

Joe Arney — Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:17:48 +0000

‘Little community,’ big class: Meet CMDI’s groundbreaking Class of 2029 Joe Arney Mon, 10/13/2025 - 10:17

Iris Serrano

Chip the Buffalo leads CMDI's newest class of students in doing the wave during the college's orientation activities. The college's Class of 2029 is 25% larger than last year's, which was at the time the largest ever. Photo by Hannah Howell.

When Kellen McFarland made the short drive from Thornton to Boulder, he immediately fell in love.

Not just with the university, or its dramatic views of the Flatirons, but with the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information

“I remember thinking it was not only pretty out here, and close to home but all the classes I took were really fun,” said McFarland, who attended Connections, a summer academy for high school students that helped him experience life on campus. “After the program, Boulder felt like the best fit for me, and I considered it as one of my top options.”

In enrolling at CMDI, McFarland joined a monumental class of new first-year students. With 548 new first-year students, this new cohort is by far the largest in the college’s history, reflecting a 25% increase from the previous year.

Some other highlights from the Class of 2029:

The college also added 73 transfer students, bringing the total count of new undergraduate students to 621.
The strategic communication major had the highest number of admits by department, with 155. Information science saw the largest increase in enrollments, jumping by 16 over last year.
Despite the vastly increased size of the class, average high school GPA (3.76) and standardized test scores are slightly up, or on par with, last year.
CMDI also added 38 master’s students and 23 doctoral students for the fall.

Photo by Jack Moody

Notably, the incoming class is the first to be admitted to the renamed college, reflecting the integration of the environmental design department into CMDI.

“It’s so exciting, in our 10th year as a college, to have such a large and dynamic class of students joining us,” said Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMDI. “I’m especially thrilled to welcome our environmental design students, and am excited to see how their energy and enthusiasm continues to positively shape the direction of our community.”

‘Trying to be ambitious’

McFarland also participated in Pathways, another summer program designed to help students acclimate to college life and build community. It was there that the aspiring sports journalist also had the opportunity to learn more about the clubs and student organizations that would help him build a network and develop experience outside of the classroom.

“I learned about the opportunities that Sko Buffs Sports offers. Members have gone to Big 12 media days, and they get to interview athletes and get flown out to games,” McFarland said. “I’m trying to be ambitious. I know I won’t get there on day one, but I want to experience what it’s like on the field.”

Media production major Eloisa Samper participated in Pathways with McFarland, crediting the experience with preparing her for college life.

“We got really close in our group. We all have different majors, but when we see each other, we stick together,” Samper said. “It was comforting to know I had this little community on my first day.”

She’s no stranger to working in the creative field. Samper has practiced photography for years, and over the summer, she explored videography and content creation to support the global seminar in Medellin, Colombia, run by environmental design each year.

“After that, I started getting invested in my education and trying to figure out how I could do the kind of art that I am passionate about. That’s how I decided to study media production,” said Samper, who hopes her education prepares her to become a cinematographer on feature films or even work as a war correspondent.

Interests in sports, sustainability

Kennah White also came into college knowing what she wanted to do. The first-year student moved from Colorado Springs to study environmental design after taking an introductory class in high school.

Christopher Bell (PhDMediaSt'09) presents to students at orientation. Photo by Jack Moody.

“We still have a lot of problems with sustainability,” White said. “I want to help solve those problems and teach people how to help and utilize the environment.”

Her passion for advocacy started in high school, where she was part of an organization that raised awareness and funds to support women’s and children’s rights around the world. She hopes to continue that work in college.

CMDI is also welcoming plenty of students who have found their home away from home. Jhordynn Garcia, a media studies major, came to Boulder from San Antonio in hopes of breaking into the sports media industry.

Garcia is eager to learn foundational skills in her classes and hopes to better understand audiences and what drives engagement, so she can do multimedia marketing for professional sports teams.

“I’m curious about how to make people feel excited, how to connect with an audience and bring people together through social media,” she said.

With the semester already underway, students said they’re already making the most of the opportunities available to them in and out of class. Sam King, a strategic communication major from Minnesota, hopes to start his own business one day. To that end, he’s started to build his skill set by joining the CU Boulder chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America.

“We’ve had LinkedIn workshops and learned how other students got their internships. These are things that will help me pursue my goal, even if I’m still figuring out exactly what that is,” King said. “If you can communicate well and express yourself, that helps you get along with people and lead them.”

The Class of 2029, with Chip, in the CU Events Center during orientation activities. Including transfer students, the incoming class is made up of 621 new undergraduates. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

CMDI’s first cohort since integrating with environmental design is made up of even more ambitious and creative students.

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In its milestone year, CMDI welcomes more than a dozen new faculty

Joe Arney — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:40:01 +0000

In its milestone year, CMDI welcomes more than a dozen new faculty Joe Arney Fri, 08/15/2025 - 14:40

Joe Arney

Kevin Hoth is among the new faculty at CMDI this fall, though he's been lecturing at the university since 2011. ‘It feels like a perfect home for me; I’m very grateful to be with such a forward-thinking department,’ he says. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Kevin Hoth probably knows what it’s like for a longtime AAA pitcher to at last get the call to join the big leagues.

Hoth has been teaching at CU Boulder since 2011—originally as part of the ATLAS Institute—but this fall, he joins the critical media practices department at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information as an assistant teaching professor.

“I’m so excited to have this department as my home on a more permanent basis,” said Hoth, previously a lecturer in critical media practices. “It feels like a perfect home for me; I’m very grateful to be with such a forward-thinking department.”

Hoth is one of 14 new professors to join CMDI this fall, bringing experience in artificial intelligence, surveillance studies, technology, journalism and more to the college. Coincidentally, the college is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding this year.

Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMDI, said while the quantity of new faculty is impressive, it’s the quality that helps this group stand out.

“I am so impressed with the credentials our new faculty are bringing to the college,” Bergen said. “Whether it’s their published work, varied research interests or boundless enthusiasm for teaching young people and preparing them for professional and person success after college, I know we have an impressive group that will create a lasting impact on the college and university.”

The full lineup of new faculty:

Ian J. Alexander, assistant professor, media studies. He researches the implementation and effects of media technologies in U.S. prisons.
Ashley Carter, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Carter earned her PhD in journalism from the college in the spring. As a a student, she took first place in a best paper competition at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She has written for The Denver Post, 303 Magazine and elsewhere.
Yiran Duan, teaching professor, information science. Duan studies how different types of users shape the flow of information using machine learning models, inferential statistics and data visualizations.
Cheri Felix, assistant teaching professor, advertising, public relations and design. Felix has been a lecturer at the college since 2022. She brings varied experiences to CMDI, including work as a writer, founder and program manager.
Kevin Hoth, assistant teaching professor, critical media practices. Hoth is a fine art photographer who has won multiple grants for his work.
Erica Hunzinger, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Hunzinger has been a lecturer at the college since 2022. Her journalism experience includes work for The Associated Press, The Denver Post and elsewhere.
Seonah Kim, assistant teaching professor, media studies. She studies global discourses around racial and gender identity in media that are shaped by structural inequality.
Julia Proft, teaching professor, information science. Proft brings experience in software engineering in educational technology to the college.
Mehak Sawhney, assistant professor, media studies. Her research interests include sound and media studies, surveillance studies, and environmental humanities.
Victoria Pihl Sørensen, assistant teaching professor, media studies. Sørensen conducts research at the intersection of media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and the history and philosophy of science and technology.
Ilana Trumble, teaching professor, information science. Trumble also is returning to Boulder, having earned her bachelor’s degree here in 2014. She is an expert in statistics and data science.
Hong Tien Vu, associate professor, journalism. Vu brings a decade of experience in journalism from living in Vietnam, including a stint with The Associated Press, to the classroom. He also is director of the college’s Center for Environmental Journalism.
Cody Walizer, assistant teaching professor, communication. Walizer has been teaching game studies, sports communication and related topics at CMDI since 2022. He specializes in debate and game studies.
Jonathan Zong, assistant professor, information science. Zong joins CMDI from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. He also studied at Princeton University and was a visiting student at the University of Oxford.

Alexander said he’s excited to join the college as part of such a large group of newcomers.

“It almost feels like a cohort, which is really exciting,” he said. “And at the same time, there are folks in the media studies department who have been around awhile, so it feels like I get to join a new group, and also a good, established one.”

Alexander brings particularly interesting research to CMDI. His work studies the introduction of media technologies—radio, telephone, tablets—into the U.S. carceral system. Through his research, he’s interviewed incarcerated people over phone and video call to better understand how technology advances have been used to isolate politically active people trying to create community within—or among—prisons, or to broadcast to communities in the event of an escape.

The newest tool he’s interested in are tablets, PDFs and video visit systems, which are starting to replace letters from home and legal communications.

“I look at these technologies as tools of struggle, oppression, isolation and manipulation—but also as tools of connection,” he said. “So, for instance, the way people inside are using them to make radio shows or podcasts, produce literature, or build solidarity and community and raise political consciousness.”

It’s work that is historical in its approach, but is worth studying in the current moment—both as the nation dramatically increases investment in policing and incarceration, and with generative artificial intelligence strongly reshaping how we communicate.

“It feels like I get to join a new group, and also a good, established one.”

Ian J. Alexander, assistant professor, media studies

“Like many people who study systems of structural oppression, I wish it were less relevant,” Alexander said. “But beyond just the massive expansion of ICE, and the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, there’s a larger question around what social and political function prisons serve—and what the state is saying about itself through its carceral system.”

Proft, who was a lecturer in the information science department in the spring, said she’s excited to bring her industry experience to the classroom, especially since she worked in educational technology.

“I enjoyed that work, but the impact I was able to have was pretty far removed from the actual students,” she said. “I really value having that smaller, but closer, connection to the students.”

Information science, she said, is a comfortable fit for its attention to creating human impact. That’s something she felt she missed while studying computer science.

“I think information science is one of those things where you ask people what it is, and you get tons of different answers,” she said. “But I think having that diversity—whether it’s technical, or business, or design applications—is really important, because that brings back the more human aspects of technology. So we get away from talking about computing as a topic divorced from anything else in the world.”

She said A.I. and large language models are a topic she’s excited to explore with her students, some of whom consider the advent of LLMs as an invitation to not have to learn to code anymore. Crucially, students must learn to use these tools—but they must be taught that they are tools, not shortcuts.

“When you learn to code, you’re developing a problem-oriented mindset, and learning how to approach and solve those problems,” Proft said. “If they’re leaning on LLMs to generate code, they don’t think about what the code is actually doing, which means when something goes wrong, they can’t address it.”

Hoth, as a fine art photographer, has given plenty of consideration to A.I.’s disruptive impact on the creation of images.

“Especially in media production, A.I. is a huge concern,” he said. “But I don’t put my head in the sand and say, ‘You can’t use any of this, we’re not going to talk about it.’ We have to talk about it. We have to integrate it into our teaching and our practices. But I have to show them where the line is.”

Hoth mentioned a conversation with a past student, who used A.I. to touch up nighttime photos in a project he did that took him around the state.

“I liked that he wasn’t afraid to share that with me,” Hoth said. “In this case, these were meant to be creative pictures—he’s not a documentary photographer—and so we discussed, you couldn’t put this in the Denver Post or New York Times, but with limited usage on a creative project, this kind of tool is OK.”

A major lesson in his classes, outside of technology, is that the right kind of failure is required for growth. He often shares failures from his own career to show how getting things wrong can be helpful.

“The learning environment should be a place of safety, in terms of play and also of learning how to fail well,” he said. “If you put forth your best effort, you’re trying something new and you fail, that’s commendable. That’s how you get to great things.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

The college is welcoming experts in artificial intelligence, surveillance studies, technology, journalism and more this fall.

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Underground, but not overlooked: Mimesis is back in town

Hannah Stewart — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:54:16 +0000

Underground, but not overlooked: Mimesis is back in town Hannah Stewart Thu, 07/24/2025 - 12:54

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)

Boulder. Ouray. Telluride. Colorado is home to numerous film festivals—and one that’s had everyone talking as of late is, of course, Sundance. The Mimesis Documentary Festival, about to celebrate its sixth year, may not have that same cachet, but it’s leaning into its strength as a niche community.

“We’ve never tried to go mainstream,” said Eric Coombs Esmail, director of the Center for Documentary and Media. “It’s kind of a club, in a sense that it’s a community of people who want to share work with each other, rather than a distribution platform for films.”

This year’s theme is “worlds among worlds,” which draws upon the idea that life and art—in this case, documentary—influece each other cyclically, thus becoming a microcosm within the world we live in.

If you go

What: Mimesis Documentary Festival

When: Aug. 5-10

Where: Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., and virtual screenings.

Who: Festival passes ($80) and virtual passes ($30) are available to the public. CU Boulder community members are eligible for a 50% discount, and free tickets are available to CU Boulder students.

Learn more and purchase tickets

Over the course of six days—Aug. 5 through 10—festival goers can see films selected from a pool of more than 300 submissions from 59 countries. All films will be shown at the Dairy Arts Center; virtual screenings also will be held. Coombs Esmail said the high caliber of submissions made for an exciting challenge for the programming team.

“It was so strong,” he said. “It was extremely difficult to get representation on a regional and community basis. It’s a really difficult balance to strike, but the team was faithful to the idea of selecting the best program possible.”

Opening night will feature Russian cinematographer Masha Chernaya’s award-winning film The Shards, which received recognition from the Doclisboa International Film Festival, in Portugal, and Doc Alliance. It explores the local Russian underground scene, which Chernaya turned to after experiencing multiple personal losses in the spring of 2022. She will take part in a post-screening conversation.

The 2025 featured artist will also participate in a conversation/workshop about experimental filmmaking. Melissa Langer is a professional cinematographer whose credits include the 2020 TV series Cheer, the 2022 miniseries The Principles of Pleasure and an episode of 2024’s Photographer.

Attendees will get the first look at her debut feature film, In Excess, which combines contemporary filmmaking and previously unseen archival footage to examine the interplay of local and global politics.

“I’m excited for that one because we have a piece that’s very beautiful, but that also has a unique feature in that she is the first person to digitize a lot of these analog video tapes,” Coombs Esmail said.

Other films to keep an eye on are Symphonies of Sound by Ray Leonovich (CritMedia’25) and closing night’s Making Utopia by Mitra Kaboli, which is a hiking and listening experience that ends at the Halfway House, up Boulder’s Flagstaff Mountain.

“The more of a popular destination that Colorado becomes, the harder it’s going to be for us locals to keep our projects going and that competition gets steep,” Coombs Esmail said. “It’s super important that people show up for locally made events. Your presence is the most powerful thing you can provide.”

Melissa Langer's debut film In Excess combines contemporary and historic film footage exploring how local elections can be important in terms of global politics. Langer is this year's featured artist.

CMDI’s Mimesis Film Festival returns to Boulder for its sixth year.

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Research awards highlight CMDI’s focus on how art, humanities can empower progress

Joe Arney — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:40:00 +0000

Research awards highlight CMDI’s focus on how art, humanities can empower progress Joe Arney Fri, 07/18/2025 - 09:40

Joe Arney

Can art bridge the increasingly precarious divide between Americans?

If so, Teri Rueb said, it’s not likely to be something you see in a gallery or a museum. It’s one reason her canvas is typically a landscape that invites people using a particular space to slow down and be moved by the sound she introduces into particular places.

“When we talk about other people from other parts of the country, it seems we don’t even start from a place of basic humility—like respect for how you live, or what your culture is, or the history of where you live,” said Rueb, a professor of critical media practices at CU Boulder’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

Rueb is one of six CMDI professors to win Arts and Humanities grants through the university’s Research and Innovation Office. It’s an impressive feat, with CMDI faculty claiming one-quarter of the 20 grants awarded this year; four of the college’s seven academic departments were recognized with funding.

The CMDI faculty recognized with grants are:

Steven Frost, assistant professor, media studies. Threads of Resistance: Sampling Labor Histories Through the Lowell Mill Textile Archives.
Zannah Matson, assistant professor, environmental design. Mine-o-Polis: A Board Game ��Ƶ18 Mining and Extractive Capital.
Hillary Rosner, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Studies in Nature: Lichen.
Shawhin Roudbari, associate professor; Sophie Weston Chien, chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow, environmental design. Dark Papers: Advancing Forms of Design Justice Discourse.
Rueb, professor of critical media practices. Confluences: Mobile App-Based Site-Specific Soundwalk and Website Archive.

“We’re not trying to replace the peer-reviewed journal. Instead, we’re asking, what are the conversations you need for a journal article?”

Sophie Weston Chien, chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow, environmental design

The Dark Papers project is an initiative of Dark Matter U, a collective of educators, researchers and thinkers that’s critically re-examining design education and practice to be more inclusive.

“Dark papers are really just short, quick, urgent conversations—almost research seedlings,” Chien said. “It is both a record in time and a way to connect and expand dialogues that are happening.”

There is a strong activist strain to this work, which is designed to bring an antiracist perspective to problems in design and architecture. It aims to do so by bringing more voices to the table, including some who have been excluded or underrepresented in academia.

“Dark papers fit in a larger ecosystem of the college, where we have faculty and students doing interesting work in things like extraction, or disability justice,” Roudbari said. “And a bunch of them also do creative dissemination models to raise awareness of these issues.”

The grant will help Dark Matter U complete some badly needed blocking and tackling, like making its website accessible and paying for transcription services. But the project is already getting attention in the professional world, including a takeover of Architect Magazine that examined topics like design justice and how to transform professional practice.

“We’re not trying to replace the peer-reviewed journal,” Chien said. “Instead, we’re asking, what are the conversations you need for a journal article? And how can those conversations be their own kind of instigator to move these ideas forward?”

Rueb’s project, Confluences, is a site-specific sound experience already installed at Ucross, which hosts artists in residency at its Wyoming location, situated amid working ranches. The region is unique—it’s been shaped by agriculture and resource extraction, but is close to arts communities and, of course, Ucross itself. Visitors to the campus who download a free mobile app can hear voices from the community—local ranchers, past artists and field recordings—as they wander the landscape.

The sense of connection in Confluences isn’t just about the land visitors can see, but its original inhabitants. During the course of the project, she worked with Native historians, ethnobotanists and astronomers to better incorporate the narratives of Indigenous people in her art.

Confluences, which Rueb created alongside interdisciplinary artist Laurids Sonne, soft launched earlier this year, and is scheduled to formally debut in August.

“The project has this opportunity to bring people from very different walks of life together, and maybe make the rural-urban dichotomy become more porous,” Rueb said. “There’s simply not enough unscripted, unaffiliated, nonpartisan public space for debate and dialogue at this moment. If we can change that in the tiniest measure, giving amplification to the diversity of walks of life that make up our country, maybe that would help mend some old wounds, and find new ground for conversations.”

Of the 20 projects to earn RIO grants, five are led by faculty from the college.

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A visitor to Ucross uses a smartphone to experience Confluences, a site-specific sound experience in Wyoming. Photo courtesy Ucross Foundation.

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A visitor to Ucross uses a smartphone to experience Confluences, a site-specific sound experience in Wyoming. Photo courtesy Ucross Foundation.

Congratulations, Class of 2025!

Amanda J. McManus — Wed, 28 May 2025 19:44:19 +0000

Congratulations, Class of 2025! Amanda J. McManus Wed, 05/28/2025 - 13:44

More than 900 graduates were celebrated at CMCI’s annual recognition ceremony this past May. Our newest class of Forever Buffs arrived amid pandemic and leave as outstanding scholars and accomplished leaders.

View the 2025 Graduation Celebration

William W. White honorees
Meet the most outstanding students from each CMCI major, as chosen by our faculty.

‘A rock star who is going places’
The top student in her class, Sarah Carleo, discovered her passion for public relations as a student. She’s now off to Next PR, where she previously was a standout summer intern.

Getting the message
Andrew Johnson made the most of a New York City internship with BBH USA. The top strategic communication major is thrilled to return in an account management role as he gets another bite at the Big Apple.

Bylines are fine, but…
Most college students would be thrilled at getting an Associated Press byline. So is Celia Frazier, but she measures her work in impact, not clips. She graduated as CMCI’s top journalism major.

Meet the environmental design Class of 2025
Get to know some oustanding seniors and watch the recognition ceremony.

Celebrating ENVD

Connections through design
For Serena Langdon-Dimidjian, a graduate with a dual degree in architecture and ethnic studies, design is about building community, asking deeper questions and making space for connection.

"Everything you’ve done up to this moment has prepared you to succeed in a world where you can feel the ground moving under your feet.

Lori Bergen, PhD
Founding Dean
CMCI

Our newest class of Forever Buffs arrived amid pandemic and leave as outstanding scholars and accomplished leaders.

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Student Work Gallery: Summer 2024

Anonymous — Thu, 23 May 2024 20:23:59 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Summer 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/23/2024 - 14:23

Lauren Arabia

Lauren Arabia (StratComm’24) created a social justice poster for her Visual Design class with Diane Elliston, a teaching assistant professor. Focusing on the fair trade movement within the cocoa industry, she chose to highlight the issue of child labor—an estimated 1.56 million children work in cocoa farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which collectively accounts for nearly 60% of global production. Arabia will continue her education at the Art Center, in Pasadena, California.

Zion Atwater

Zion Atwater (CritMedia’24) recruited two other students to participate in her documentary exploring the creative process. All three student creatives balanced work and social lives while navigating their academic journeys toward.

Ruby Begay

Singer-songwriter Ruby Begay (CritMedia’24) recorded an EP, Bones of Being, which was featured in the spring showcase for the Department of Critical Media Practices. This album was largely inspired by forest ecosystems and her love of wandering through the woods. There are three distinct songs, but much like the wilderness, they are a part of a bigger whole, leading listeners deeper into the sonic terrains of Begay’s compositional explorations.

Listen to Bones of Being

Lauryn Iverson

Inspired by her involvement with CU’s Sandbox Series, Lauryn Iverson (CritMedia’24) created an installation of three adapted Shakespeare scenes from The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. Each scene features an iconic ingénue, and the colors and flowers in the installation reflect the characters’ personalities.

Kristine Petilo

Kristine Petilo, a media production major, made an animated short as a tribute to her Filipino childhood, and dedicated the capstone project to all her Filipino viewers.

Artwork by Noah Molinaro, @gojigochi on Instagram

Lore Whittemore

For her thesis project, Lore Whittemore (MPE’24) centered her research on “spidersonas,” a type of fan art where the artist envisions some aspect of themselves or personal interest as a spider-person. This research draws upon interviews with spidersona artists, as well as an interview with a former Marvel Comics associate editor, to explore how spidersonas can advocate for social change through furthering diversified representation and providing a meaningful form of self-exploration through art.

There were two primary components produced by Whittemore for this “Expanding the Spider-Verse” project—a 55-minute documentary and a written chapter contribution for the upcoming Entering the Multiverse collection, edited by Dr. Paul Booth. The full documentary, biographies for all featured artists and updates about the release of Entering the Multiverse can be found online.

Sharing student perspectives

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have regularly showcased this diverse collection of student work.

See more student projects or submit your work for gallery consideration →

Jill Vallance (Jour'24)

Alyssa Hill (MJour'24)

Jill Vallance (Jour'24)

Alexis Block, Master of Arts in Strategic Communication Design

Jack Enright, Owen Passmore, Jack Evans, Logan Paddock, Kristen Young (StratComm'24)

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have showcased this diverse collection of student work.

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Class of 2024: William W. White Honorees

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2024 23:17:34 +0000

Class of 2024: William W. White Honorees Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/01/2024 - 17:17

William W. White Outstanding Seniors are chosen by department faculty to recognize academic merit, professional achievement and service to the college. The Outstanding Graduate award honors the CMCI student with the highest overall GPA in his or her graduating class.

White, a Boulder native, graduated from CU’s School of Journalism in 1933. He was a reporter in Boulder, Denver and New York before becoming the foreign editor of Time from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s, based in London, Brazil and Montreal. At the advice of his friend Edward R. Murrow, who told him “it doesn’t matter what you do, what matters is that you do it where you want to live,” White returned to Boulder, where he started the White and White public relations firm. White and his wife, Connie, established this endowment in 1998.

Meet our graduates and read their stories.

Andrew Schwartz: College of Media, Communication and Information

Andrew's advice to students is to try everything and talk to as many people as you can—especially outside your major. That way, you'll broaden your perspective.

When it comes to impact and being able to make something I’m proud of, a big part of that is being able to make technology for the people to use it, and make things that people enjoy using and improve their lives. Info places a big emphasis on that."

Lisa An: Department of Critical Media Practice

Lisa started her CU career as a computer science major before switching to media production. She said this was one of the best decisions she ever made because through the program, she discovered a passion for photography.

"I learned that keeping your work to yourself because of the fear of not being good enough does no good. If you share your work and receive feedback, you are able to improve your craft and obtain opportunities you otherwise never would have been able to.

Elijah Boykoff: Department of Information Science

Going into college, Elijah's goals for himself were to learn as much as he could and make it to the finish line. He says he's made good on those goals, and this award is an exciting bonus.

Your professors are people just like you. Get to know them—if you are able to resonate with your professors on a deeper level, you will be much more enriched by the knowledge they have to share."

Bianca Perez: Departments of Communication, Media Studies

Bianca is the first CMCI graduate to win outstanding student honors from two different majors. She's now off to a prestigious Ph.D. program.

"What I have is like a wish coming true. You can work very hard and that can still not be enough, and I’ve seen that happen to people around me my whole life.

Sujei Perla Martinez: Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Media Design

For Sujei, a first-generation college student, graduating means she's carving a new path for her family.

My community helped foster a place for self-discovery and encouraged me to be unapologetically myself while helping me grow within my values and beliefs."

Nic Tamayo: Department of Journalism

Nic's CMCI experience in three words: fulfilling, inspired, treasured.

"I will take with me the connections I’ve been able to make with people from so many corners of life. They’ve taught me lessons that I may never have learned without their friendship and mentorship.

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Outstanding senior: Lisa An

Anonymous — Wed, 01 May 2024 22:39:07 +0000

Outstanding senior: Lisa An Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/01/2024 - 16:39

By Iris Serrano
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm’18)

“Unpredictable” is how Lisa An describes her college experience.

“I learned that keeping your work to yourself because of the fear of not being good enough does no good. If you share your work and receive feedback, you are able to improve your craft and obtain opportunities you otherwise never would have been able to.”
Lisa An

She felt pressured to pursue a computer science major, in preparation for a technical career path, but realized it wasn’t her calling. Eventually, she came across media production and enjoyed the creative freedom that came with it.

“It ended up being one of the best decisions I made,” An said. “I often struggle to find the right words to describe what I'm feeling. With photography, I’m able to create something where the emotion I pour into the piece can speak for itself.”

She carried her curiosity and love for creativity and completed a second major in Art Practices with minors in Art History and Sociology. Now she’s graduating as the William W. White Outstanding Senior for the Department of Critical Media Practices. The White awards are chosen by CMCI faculty and honor students for their academic accomplishments, professional achievements and service to the college.

The award didn’t come without hard work and effort. An has completed countless projects for her media production classes, but the one that stood out most was a book she made compiling her photography and design work. It was, she said, “rewarding to see my creation come to life physically, as well as being a part of the entire process of creating something.”

She has also completed an internship at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, which she said gave her a clearer picture of what to expect in the field after graduation.

Her path may not have been linear, but she said that journey helped her surround herself with friends who guided her on the way.
“One thing I’ll miss is the sense of community and support I received from my professors and peers. I could feel that they all genuinely cared for my success and pushed me to produce work that I could be proud of,” An said.

The outstanding senior in the Department of Critical Media Practices, Lisa said her winding path helped her meet mentors and friends that set her up to succeed.

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Student Work Gallery: Spring 2024

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Feb 2024 21:26:40 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Spring 2024 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/27/2024 - 14:26

CMCI students from all departments develop their portfolios through classes, competitions, internships and more.

Here we have collected a variety of student work that highlights their personal and professional passions explored during their academic careers at CU Boulder.

View the work

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have showcased this diverse collection of student work.

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Student Work Gallery: Fall 2023

Anonymous — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 20:22:36 +0000

Student Work Gallery: Fall 2023 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 11/01/2023 - 14:22

What's the catch?

There’s no getting back the one that got away, but a prototype app designed by a group of recent graduates could help anglers identify the fish they do catch.

COAI (for Colorado A.I.; pronounced “koi”) Fish, designed by Kendall Fronabarger, Ken Vue and Emerson Swan (all InfoSci’23), is especially aimed at those new to the sport who are curious about the fish they’re catching in Colorado’s waters. The app uses a modified machine learning tool that matches photos uploaded by users to a registry of Colorado species built by the students.

Art as activism

CMCI students are encouraged to use their creativity in building projects that allow them to interpret or reflect upon the challenges facing society. Mixed-media work in the last year has focused on topics such as the climate crisis, the plight of refugees and the struggle for gender equality.

Jamie Chihuan (StratComm’23),
“Soon we will all have nowhere to go”

Citlally Ruedas, strategic communication,
“Homero Gomez”

Isabella Pao, strategic communication,
“I am a woman, I exist”

Pablo Aziz, critical media practices,
“Women demand peace and justice”

Sharing student perspectives

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have regularly showcased this diverse collection of student work.

See more student projects or submit your work for gallery consideration →

McKenzie Jenkins (StratComm’22), Josh Harman (StratComm’23)

Katya Bollong (StratComm’23)

Hailey Schalk, communication

Olivia Lieberman (CritMedia’23)

Sophie Gould, TEDxCU executive board (Comm’23)

Noya Kinsland, critical media practices

Kelsie Kerr (MediaSt, Film’23)

Kara Wagenknecht (Jour’23)

Students across CMCI find ways to bring together their personal interests and academic pursuits. Since the college’s founding, we have showcased this diverse collection of student work.

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