President's Welcome

Dear Supporter of the Arts,

I hope you will join us for Columbia College Chicago's 2009-10 season of Conversations in the Arts, a program series that offers in-depth dialogue with some of the world's most notable cultural figures in a select and intimate setting.

For each of the next three years, Conversations in the Arts will be focused serially on subjects related to the college's three schools:  The School of Media Arts, The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the School of Fine and Performing Arts.

Opening the three-year cycle, the 2009-10 season is entitled "Media Arts in the 21st Century." This season's speakers are addressing major trends and issues in the world of media, including social media, print and broadcast journalism, and the moving image.

We are very pleased to have a rich and varied line-up of distinguished guests for our "Media Arts" series. On Tuesday, October 6, we were joined by Biz Stone, co-founder of the social network Twitter, which is changing the way people communicate around the world. Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post news website, comes to our campus on Wednesday, January 27, 2010.  And Mira Nair -- director of Salaam Bombay!, The Namesake, Mississippi Masala, Monsoon Wedding, and Amelia -- completes our Media Arts series on Wednesday, April 28.

The individuals who join us for Conversations in the Arts exemplify the humanistic qualities and values we bring to education at Columbia College Chicago. The past five seasons have brought many legendary cultural figures: Lauren Bacall, Ben Vereen, Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andrews, James Earl Jones, Debbie Reynolds, Joan Lunden, Richard Roundtree, Salman Rushdie, Jane Alexander, Edward James Olmos, Diahann Carroll, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Jonathan Kozol, Sir Ken Robinson, Anna Deavere Smith, and Richard Florida offered a depth of perspective and personal recollection that created truly memorable experiences.

As a leading innovator in arts, media, and communications education and practice -- and a major player in Chicago's vibrant cultural scene -- Columbia College Chicago is the ideal presenter for this kind of encounter. We enrich lives by providing excellence and opportunity in higher education, training a highly diverse student body to author the culture of their times. These graduates in turn enhance the vitality of American life, bringing a multiplicity of voices and visions to their films, dance works, paintings, writings -- all their creative endeavors.

Columbia College Chicago welcomes you to visit with some of the most influential cultural figures of our time. I hope to see you at the next conversation!

Warrick L. Carter, Ph.D.
President, Columbia College Chicago