Columbia College Chicago offers a variety of enriching initiatives that enhance the student learning experience beyond required coursework. These opportunities allow students to dig further into primary passions or explore additional interests while collaborating with faculty, staff and each other.
Business and Entrepreneurship students release music, manage talent, and develop social marketing campaigns through Columbia’s unique Arts, Entertainment and Media Management course.
The ground-breaking exhibition Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist created an opportunity for Columbia College Chicago and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to collaborate.
The lecture series brings artists, curators, researchers, and practitioners to Columbia to give students exposure to the rich range of perspectives, practices, and professional pathways possible for the contemporary creative.
The Music Department brings nationally and internationally recognized professional musicians to Columbia for week-long residencies every semester. The artists lead workshops, master classes, and rehearsals with student ensembles in preparation for recording sessions and public performances. This year Columbia's Music department welcomes Russell Gunn and Morris Hayes.
Each semester, a mini-festival celebrates acclaimed guest artists specializing in underground street dance forms such as breaking, popping, and house. With a jam or battle as the focal point, B-Series events become a gathering space for the underground dance community. The events connect the rich culture of hip hop, from dance to MCing, rapping, DJing, and graffiti, to the Columbia community.
Collective Impact will explore community engagement and social justice in art making through a series of visiting artists and performers.
This unique program is led by the experts in comedy at The Second City™, the nation’s center of comedy and satire. You’ll study performance, comedy writing and improvisation full time at the Second City Training Center in Chicago for college credit at Columbia.
Columbia's after-school programs bring teaching artists into Chicago Public Schools.
A one-of-a-kind residency program brings nationally renowned composers at the height of their careers to Columbia for seven-week workshops with Music Composition for the Screen MFA students.
Columbia College Chicago hosts an all-day invitational music festival for high school and community college ensembles to celebrate and cultivate their unique musical talents. Growing out of the Contemporary, Jazz, and Popular Music programs, this festival is designed specifically for ensembles who perform pop, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, rock, gospel, blues, and Latin music.
The Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues creates a space for a socially engaged photographer to produce a compelling and dynamic body of work highlighting human rights and social issues.
The lecture series hosted by the Fashion Studies Department strives to bring local, national and international talent in the areas of design, business and theory to Columbia College Chicago. The lecture series aims to engage students from across the college with makers, practitioners and scholars in the fashion industry.
The Fashion Study Collection at Columbia College Chicago is an exceptional collection of designer garments, fashion history, and ethnic dress. A hands-on, academic, and inspirational resource for students and the public, the collection was founded in 1989 and has grown to house more than 6,000 items.
The Photography Department, in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Photography, invites a series of photographers to campus to share their artistic expertise and professional advice.
Our instructors are at the leading edge of technology-based dance/movement therapy assessment. Forming an international partnership with Making Dance Matter out of Melbourne, Australia, we’ve field tested applications for live assessment with multiple clients. This groundbreaking assessment technique will be presented at the American Dance Therapy Association and National Dance Education Organization conferences by Columbia faculty and students.
Beginning with a collaboration between Columbia College Chicago and leading global anti-poverty organization Heartland Alliance from 2015 to 2020, and now working with other Chicago community organizations, the Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues creates a space for a socially engaged creatives to produce a compelling and dynamic body of work highlighting human rights and social issues.
Columbia faculty represent a diversity of musical styles and experiences. They are mentors, teachers, and bandmates. Private lessons are often required as part of the curriculum. They're an opportunity for students to ask questions, receive one-on-one feedback, and explore new musical directions.
This initiative partners teachers and artists to enhance curriculum with art-making.
Go Hollywood—while earning your Columbia degree. Our one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary program is led by industry insiders and held on a historic studio lot. This immersive experience provides real-world skills and network-building opportunities that can help you rise to the top of an extremely competitive job market.
Students in the directing program partner with actors, designers and stage managers to mount one-act and full-length plays that reflect the breadth of work in theatre today.
A wide variety of unique ensemble courses offer essential curricular opportunities for Music majors to collaborate, hone their talents, and perfect their musical mastery.
At the Dance Center, students have numerous performance opportunities throughout their years of study.
The Department of Creative Arts Therapies presents intensive workshops during the summer season for theatre and dance/movement enthusiasts who want to expand their skill set and methods for creative expression. The 2016 Learn Laban Workshop Series will feature distinguished alumni of the Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis (GL-CMA) as they present innovative applications of Laban Movement Analysis. These workshops are appropriate for dancers, dance educators, dance/movement therapists, movement analysts, prospective students and any individuals interested in Laban.