Message from the Dean

The College of Fine Arts and Communications (COFAC), kicked off the fall with a fresh start and a new college theme: Drones & Droids.  COFAC is spending the year discussing the impact that technology has had on our lives and how it continues to shape our modern world. We began this semester with the 2018 EMF Fall Film Series, Drones & Droids: Cyborg Sex, led by Kalima Young, lecturer in the department of Electronic Media and Film.  Spanning several genres, Drones and Droids: Cyborg Sex explored the role of science and technology in creating and shaping power across race, gender, sex, and sexuality.  If you missed the screenings, you can still take part by listening to Young’s podcasts which reflect the major themes oft each film.

The podcast series continues with interviews from our own faculty and students, who discuss the impact of technology on academia and how it affects their creative process.  This work would not be  possible without insight from our 2018-19 theme scholar, Dr. Terry Ewell, from the department of Music. He has been instrumental in bringing this theme to life through in-depth essays, podcasts, and student work.  (To learn more about the College theme, read Dr. Ewell’s essay Machine’s that Fake it and listen to our podcasts visit: Drones & Droids.)

Technological advances are changing not only how we communicate, but how we build interpersonal relationships.  As the University’s relationship with the Baltimore community continues to increase momentum, COFAC students and alumni are finding more opportunities to make headlines close to home.  Alumni from the Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education, are busy creating 3D scans for Marvel Universe films right here in Baltimore!  Electronic Media and Film alumni are bringing their behind the scenes talent to New York City. Successful photographer, Charlie Anderson, VP of DreamWorks Physical Production Department, Shelly Strong, and Wade Tyree, whose credits include House of Cards and VEEP, are showing our students what opportunity really looks like.

While our alumni are paving the way in their fields, COFAC faculty and students are working together to create space for peer mentoring and learning across barriers.  The newly formed Department of Communication Studies recently opened the Public Communication Center, dedicated to student-centered learning; empowering students to find and use their voices, both inside and outside of the classroom.  Graduate students from the Master’s in Interdisciplinary Arts Infusion program worked with high schools students from the Refugee Youth Project, using art as a tool to bridge language and cultural barriers.  Students from a local elementary school found personal expression through their very own superhero puppets with the help of COFAC students.

While several of our success stories happen outside of COFAC, we treasure the students whose stories of tragedy and triumph are happening right here on our campus.  Adjetey Klufio, a student from the Department of Dance, tells his story of survival through movement, while Molly Cohen, from the Department of Theatre Arts, tells the stories  of women who have been assaulted, through a clothing exhibition titled, “What Were You Wearing?,” opening spring 2019.

To read more about our students and the   projects and events happening in our college, please visit the COFAC website.  You will also find listings for countless dance, music, and theatre performances, art exhibitions, film screenings, and community programs in the Arts & Culture Calendar.

Susan E. Picinich, Dean

College of Fine Arts and Communication