Clark taking a small picture.

The Small Picture

For the series “Microscopy,” Instructor Pat Clark photographed media such as ink, clay, cotton, flower petals and melting ice through a microscope to create technicolor, abstract works of art.

Lori

Field(s) of Vision

You may notice—as we did while this issue was taking shape—how many of the stories center on images and representations. As you enjoy this copy of CMCI Now, I wonder if these stories might change your image of us.

Piano keys

Dimensions of Data

To information science doctoral student Jordan Wirfs-Brock (MJour’10), data points on a graph and cascading notes on a piano can tell similar stories.

Sandra at work

Video Revolution

With smartphones and social media fueling a new era of video activism, Assistant Professor Sandra Ristovska says it’s time we give images their due respect.

School of fish

Diving for Inspiration

"Design and advertising students fundamentally understand that creative outlets are important. But beyond doodling, beyond posting phone pics to Instagram, beyond occasionally journaling—a wholehearted investment in one’s own creativity will make a career of difference," writes Visiting Professor Jeff Curry.

Then & Now

Ralphie collage

Then & Now: Spring 2019

CU’s official mascot debuted in 1966, when a group of students ran Ralphie I, who was donated by one of the students' fathers, across Folsom Field. Now there are 15 handlers —including advertising student Hunter Rief—who care for Ralphie V and run with her at home football games.

Hunter with Ralphie

Running with Ralphie

The same qualities that draw student Hunter Rief to advertising—an ability to embrace spontaneity and delve into the unknown—are at the heart of his main extracurricular activity: bolting across Folsom field with one of America’s most famous buffaloes, CU Boulder’s Ralphie.

Trending

High heel on soccer ball

Trending: Current Issue

Senior Instructor Jamie Skerski discusses the legacy of #TomboyCulture, Department of Media Studies PhD student Art Bamford shares tips on raising #TechieToddlers, and Scholar-in-Residence Jorge Perez-Gallego helps kids in their quest to go #MiningForKnowledge.

Mental Health sketch

Jailed Without Justice

The 2018 Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting went to The Virginian-Pilot reporter Gary Harki, whose series "Jailed in Crisis" tracked deaths of people with mental illness in jails across the country. Harki and reporter Rebecca Carballo––who helped him with the project as a student at Marquette University––spoke with CU News Corps Director Chuck Plunkett about their work for the series, and the need to track such instances more thoroughly.

Beyond the Classroom

NOAA

New Spin on Narrative Arc

“There’s something special about moving around a 3-D space, or seeing it move around you, that makes it seem more real,” says Will Brewer, a critical media practices student whose classwork was displayed on a room-sized global display system through NOAA's Science on a Sphere program.

Ashley Hopko and Tessa Diestel

Hate in America

As students in the Carnegie-Knight News21 fellowship program, Tessa Diestel (Jour'18) and Ashley Hopko (Jour'19) traveled the country investigating intolerance, racism and hate crimes. Their project, Hate in America, won the 2018 Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Digital Reporting.

Serene speaks at CU Boulder NEXT in Denver.

Supreme Dreams

This year, Serene Singh became the first woman in university history and the first CU Boulder student in 25 years to earn a Rhodes Scholarship. In the fall, she'll head to Oxford University in England as part of a path she hopes could one day lead to a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pat Finn teaches

"Yes, and..."

In Improv for Strategic Communication, taught by actor and improv aficionado Pat Finn, students learn the same games that he and other comedians—including Saturday Night Live alumni going back decades—play to prepare for the stage.