Mar 28, 2024  
2016-2017 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2016-2017 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

College of Arts & Media (CAM)


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Dean: Laurence D. Kaptain, DMA and FRSA
Associate Dean, Academic and Student Affairs: Joann Brennan, MFA
Assistant Dean, Finance and Administration: Erin Hutchinson, MPA
Assistant Dean, Outreach and Engagement: Tanida Ruampant, MS

Contact

Dean’s Office / Advising and Student Services
Arts Building, Suite 177
1150 10th Street
303.556.2279 (option 1)
Fax: 303.556.2335
CAM@ucdenver.edu

Mailing Address:
College of Arts & Media
Campus Box 162
P.O. Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364

About the College of Arts & Media (CAM)

Mission 

Our mission is to effect change by preparing students to successfully pursue their passions.

Our students acquire the skills they need to excel in an academically rigorous, experiential learning environment energized by creative exchange, real-world experience and diversity of voice.

Core Values

Creative Excellence - Academic and artistic rigor, creativity and innovation are bedrock principles of the CAM community and the cornerstone of how we define excellence. As champions of creative excellence in art making and artistic expression we support risk-taking, intellectual freedom and social responsibility.

Discovery - We believe in a culture of shared discovery. Our students learn by doing, and as emerging peers, are important contributors to the knowledge exchange. We value rigorous investigation, critical thinking, diversity, collaboration and invention.

Denver - We are committed to learning both inside and outside the classroom. The accessibility, diversity and cultural energy of Denver make CAM a better place to teach, work and learn. We strive to offer reciprocal experiences to the citizens of this great city and pay it forward by extending our reach and impact in the global community.

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Undergraduate Application Deadlines

In addition to the departmental application deadlines listed below, all students must meet CU Denver Office of Admissions application deadlines, noted on their website. As noted below, Music & Entertainment Industry Studies requires that the university application be submitted by a specific early deadline.

Music & Entertainment Industry Studies

Fall admittance only:
 
October 1, 2015 - April 8, 2016 - Application review

  March 25, 2016 - Pre-screening audition deadline (audition track applicants only)

  March 25, 2016 - CU Denver application deadline (early deadline for music applicants)

  April 8, 2016 - Departmental application deadline

  April 15-30, 2016 - Application review and notification of admission status

Students are encouraged to apply early for review prior to April. See the Music & Entertainment Industry Studies Admissions website for additional information about the above undergraduate application deadlines and for information about the Late Application Window (open only on a space available basis). See the Graduate Catalog for information about music graduate degree application deadlines and guidelines.

Theatre, Film & Video Production

Theatre, Film & Video Production offers a cohort-based BFA program and strongly encourages fall admission. The department is currently working to develop a departmental application; please contact CAM@ucdenver.edu for more information.

Visual Arts

Emphases and minors that require portfolio review:

Digital Design Emphasis and Digital Design Minor only –

Spring admittance only: December 1

Illustration Emphasis, Painting/Drawing Emphasis, Photography Emphasis and Photography Minor only –

          Spring admittance only: November 1

3D Graphics and Animation Emphasis only –

Fall admittance only:  Portfolio review application deadline to be announced in the preceding spring

Students generally apply to the above visual arts emphases and minors after gaining admission to CU Denver and completing initial course work at the university. Link to these emphases and minor pages from the Programs  page in this catalog for more details.

Other visual arts emphases, minors and certificate program do not require a departmental application or portfolio review.

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Programs of Study

Music & Entertainment Industry Studies  

Theatre, Film & Video Production  

Visual Arts  

Graduate Programs

  • Master of Science in Recording Arts
  • Master of Science in Recording Arts with Emphasis in Media Forensics

Please see the Graduate Catalog or contact CAM@ucdenver.edu for information about CAM graduate programs in recording arts and media forensics.

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Facilities

CAM is committed to both traditional and new technologies and celebrates the dynamic synergy between the two. CAM students can take advantage of superb studios, laboratories, editing facilities, equipment, screening rooms, galleries and performance spaces on campus. Students across all three CAM departments create work in computer labs where equipment and software are upgraded regularly. Most CAM studios are open for use by enrolled CAM major, minor and certificate students when classes are not scheduled.

Music Facilities

  • Five recording studios
    • Three studios include Surround Sound capabilities
    • All studios are ProTools HD equipped
  • Large inventory of microphones and outboard equipment available
  • Vintage keys collection, including DX-7, ARP Odyssey, ARP 2600, MiniMoog, PolyMoog, D-10, YC-30, B3 and Rhodes
  • MIDI lab featuring ProTools, Logic and Ableton; supplemental access to three College of Arts & Media computer labs
  • Consoles, including SSL AWS 924, Yamaha DM2000, AVID S6 and Mackie 32x8 Bus, as well as an Avid Artist Control Surface
  • Workstations, including ProTools, LogicPro and others for mastering, sequencing and synthesis applications
  • 16-station piano lab featuring Apple Macintosh iMac computers with a wide selection of musical and songwriting/composition software applications
  • Eight performance teaching studios
  • 12 practice suites
  • Private teaching studios for voice, piano, guitar, bass, drum kit and percussion
  • Audio/video forensics labs at the National Center for Media Forensics
    • Computer lab featuring multimedia analysis and processing software such as Cognitech, Ocean Systems, DAC, Agnitio, iZotope Rx Advanced, Adobe Creative Cloud and MATLAB
    • Security DVR and Camera Lab
    • Digital Evidence Lab featuring EnCase, Cellebrite and CEDAR Cambridge hardware/software systems
    • Graduate student workstations accessible from anywhere in the world via Remote Desktop Connection
    • Network of ENF (Electric Network Frequency) databases around the US

Visual Arts Facilities

  • Photography labs with black-and-white, non-silver, digital imaging and color capabilities, and large-format digital, color, and black and white printing
  • Transmedia sculpture lab with wood shop, metal shops and a foundry, as well as digital facilities
  • Drawing and painting studios with natural light
  • Digital design labs, sound booths, editing suites, and video and digital cameras for student use
  • Digital Animation Center computer labs and motion capture studio
  • Serigraphy, visual arts foundations and illustration studios
  • Auraria Visual Resources Center digital collection of contemporary and historical images, music and video
  • Emmanuel Gallery, a tri-institutional arts space for student and faculty exhibitions and special exhibition events
  • Partnership Gallery in the Downtown Denver Courtyard by Marriott for rotating exhibitions of faculty and student work

Film and Theatre Facilities

  • Two Apple computer labs equipped with a full suite of digital editing software
  • Equipment cage stocked with state-of-the-art tools for video production, including 4K cameras, lighting, sound and grip equipment
  • Design computer lab and drafting studio
  • Three “black box” production studios
  • Scenic shops: wood, metal and paint
  • Costume shop
  • Three full-size green screens 
  • Auraria Media Center, with two 3-camera TV studios with full control rooms, isolation booth and lighting control

Kenneth King Academic and Performing Arts Center

  • 520-seat Concert Hall
  • 350-seat Eugenia Rawls Courtyard Theatre - proscenium theater with optional thrust stage
  • 200-seat Recital Hall
  • Fully wheelchair accessible production facilities, including catwalks
  • Assisted Listening System available in all venues
  • Wireless access

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Undergraduate Admission Requirements

A student wishing to pursue a degree in the College of Arts & Media must be admitted at two levels: (1) as a student of CU Denver and (2) as a student in a CAM major, degree and emphasis. University entrance requirements are outlined in the Admissions Information  page of this catalog. CAM artistic reviews/assessments are described in the program  pages of this catalog.

Acceptance to majors, degrees and emphases in CAM may be selective based on a variety of factors, which may include:

  • Careful evaluation of secondary school records, along with recommendations from guidance counselors, advisors, teachers and professionals
  • Scores on standardized tests
  • Creative review in the form of an audition, portfolio review or other evaluation

Formal acceptance into specific degree programs or emphases may also be contingent upon successful academic and creative college work, assessed following completion of initial courses in the major.

Artistic/creative reviews are conducted by the appropriate department or area (see specific emphases for details). Both academic and artistic/creative materials are evaluated as a whole to determine admission and must be submitted by the student before an admission decision can be made. Creative materials should be submitted directly to the specific department or area.

A few CAM emphases do not identify a review process; any student who has been admitted to CU Denver and is in good academic standing may declare these. CAM recommends that interested students declare these areas of study quickly since program emphases are designed sequentially, and many courses are offered in the fall or spring only. CAM further encourages students to begin their major sequence of courses in the fall, as many spring-only courses require fall courses as prerequisites.

Admission into Music & Entertainment Industry Studies

Acceptance into the Department of Music & Entertainment Industry Studies is determined on a competitive basis with specific entrance evaluation requirements for both first-year and transfer students.  All applicants will be placed in a pool, and admission decisions will be based on several factors, including an indexed composite score of cumulative high school and/or college GPA, music theory and ear training assessment exam scores, and an audition (if applicable). Application materials must be received by the published deadlines. No admission decision will be made for the program until the candidate’s file is complete. 

  • Students usually apply to Music & Entertainment Industry Studies at the same time that they apply to CU Denver.
  • Courses reach maximum enrollment quickly; students are encouraged to apply early.
  • Candidates are admitted for fall semester only. Students cannot defer their admission to a later academic semester or year under any circumstances. Students who wish to begin in a later fall semester must reapply for admission.
  • The music degree’s emphasis in recording arts permits provisional program acceptance only, pending successful completion of a sophomore-level review of initial course grades, an entrance examination and a formal application.  Students will not be allowed to take upper-division recording arts courses until they have been formally accepted into the emphasis.
  • Students who are admitted to pursue the BS in Music with an emphasis in performance or singer/songwriter must eventually pass a sophomore proficiency recital on their primary instrument(s), prior to continuing the program and taking advanced level music courses.

Go to the Music & Entertainment Industry Studies website for more information and updates about the departmental and recording arts application processes.

Admission into Theatre, Film & Video Production

The Department of Theatre, Film & Video Production offers a cohort-based BFA program and strongly encourages fall admission. The department is currently working to develop a departmental application; please contact CAM@ucdenver.edu for more information.

Admission into Visual Arts Emphases and Minors

Admission into the BFA digital design emphasis or minor, illustration emphasis, painting/drawing emphasis, photography emphasis or minor, and 3D graphics and animation emphasis is competitive with specific portfolio evaluation requirements. Students usually apply after first gaining admission to CU Denver and completing initial course work at the university. Please link to these emphases and minor pages from the Programs  page in this catalog for more details.

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