Global Arts Academy recruiting returns to India, Nepal

calendar icon22 Oct 2024    

Lincoln, Neb.--

Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Dean Andy Belser led a delegation of faculty and staff to India and Nepal in September to continue building connections and recruiting for the new Global Arts Academy.

“We continue to be impressed by the caliber of students that we are meeting and appreciate the opportunity to continue building connections with schools, faculty and counselors,” Belser said. “It was very rewarding to see our faculty interacting with students at their workshops and other events. There was strong interest in the Global Arts Academy.”

Belser was joined by Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film Hank Stratton, Assistant Professor of Practice in Graphic Design Jen Landis, Assistant Professor of Practice in Theatre Ann Marie Pollard, Associate Professor of Composition, Emerging Media Arts and Digital Arts Tom Larson, and staff member Katia Duszenko, who leads the college’s international student recruitment.

Belser and Stratton visited Kathmandu in Nepal and held a workshop at Nisarga Batjka. Then Landis, Pollard and Larson joined them in India, where the faculty led workshops in Gurgaon, New Delhi, Noida and Mumbai. Belser also visited Kolkatta, Hyderabad and Pune to meet with counselors and conduct workshops.

“I was so honored to represent the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts in schools in and around New Delhi and Mumbai in September,” Pollard said. “India is a vibrant, culturally rich, fast-paced place. I’ve always wanted to visit and am so grateful to have been afforded the opportunity not just to visit, but to make important connections and have meaningful interactions as an ambassador for the Global Arts Academy.”

Pollard taught five workshops on a range of topics.

“The content of each workshop depended on the conversations we had with the instructors at each school and the students in the room. It was such a benefit to have a discussion with instructors ahead of time, and I certainly hope to have avenues to continue the conversation now that these initial workshops have taken place,” she said. “I’m hopeful that students were excited and inspired by what Tom, Jen, Hank and I were offering, not only in terms of content, but also passion and energy for artistic disciplines.”

Pollard sees great potential for the Global Arts Academy.

“I truly think the Global Arts Academy is an inspired vision for how interdisciplinarity in the arts could meet a truly international experience,” she said. “It’s a benefit to all student cohorts to be interacting regularly with people with different life experiences, different backgrounds, different perspectives, and different ideas of art and art history. For someone who grew up watching Bollywood films to train next to someone who grew up watching Hollywood films helps us to interrogate what an actor needs in their toolbox and why. As a voice, speech and dialects coach, the more speech sounds and languages in the room, the more understanding of human language we gain, the more metaphorical ‘sharing of each individual voice’ we can nourish, and the more cultural responsivity we can bring to the work of bringing a writer's words to life.”

Pollard said Nebraska is the perfect location for the Global Arts Academy.

“What better way to deepen and enrich each and every interaction than to meet at this center-point of many nations—Lincoln, Nebraska,” she said. “We are a home for international populations, a retreat from the coasts, and a nimble community of artists.”

She hopes to see many of the students she met in India next fall in Lincoln.

“I can’t wait to meet the next year’s Global Arts Academy cohort, and I certainly hope some of the students we met on our trip to India will be among them,” Pollard said.

Landis led graphic design workshops, where students created zines that combined hand-drawn elements with typography.

“They rotated around the room, having their portraits sketched through blind-contour drawing by their peers,” she said. “Afterward, each student designed the cover of their zine, incorporating different type styles and collage techniques.”

This was Landis’ first time visiting India.

“It was a blend of so many different experiences—the chaotic traffic, the warmth of the people, the stark poverty, and the rich traditions and cultures left a lasting impression on me,” she said. “However, once I was in the classroom, the students were just like those in high schools back in the States. They were eager to learn, loved chatting with their friends, and had an incredible amount of artistic talent.”

Landis said both students and teachers were eager to learn more about the Global Arts Academy.

“They realized it offers a valuable opportunity to they were previously unaware of for their students,” she said. “They were also excited to learn more about the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts so they can better advise students interested in pursuing the arts at an American university.”

Landis said the experience gave her a deeper understanding of the importance of cross-cultural exchange in education.

“Seeing how students in another country approach learning and creativity reminded me of the value of diverse perspectives,” she said. “I will carry this experience into my teaching by fostering a more inclusive and globally minded classroom, encouraging my students to embrace different viewpoints and approaches to problem-solving. It also reinforced the importance of adaptability and open-mindedness, qualities I aim to instill in my students for their own growth.”

Landis said students from different cultures who come together to live and learn alongside each other in the Global Arts Academy experience college in a whole new way.

“They are exposed to a wider range of perspectives and have the opportunity to form lifelong connections with people they might never have met outside the Global Arts Academy,” she said. “Lincoln, Nebraska, offers more than than just a classic college experience, too. The university is located in a vibrant downtown area with the State Capitol, a growing tech industry, restaurants, coffee shops and bike trails and has a low cost of living and a high quality of life. It’s a welcoming, creative community that values the arts.”

A global experience is important for students.

“It broadens their perspectives and helps them appreciate different cultures and ways of thinking,” Landis said. “It teaches adaptability, empathy and cross-cultural communication—skills that are key in today’s interconnected world. By stepping outside of their comfort zones, students grow personally and professionally, gaining fresh insights and learning to solve problems in creative and diverse ways.”

A delegation from the Glenn Korff School of Music is visiting Vietnam in October to conduct masterclasses and give presentations at some of the leading music conservatories and selected high schools, as well as to perform a series of concerts. Watch for more information on their trip when they return.

The Global Arts Academy aims to recruit world-class students through a curated four-year program that immerses a cohort of both international and domestic students in a transformative academic and co-curricular experience.

This fall the Hixson-Lied College welcomed its first cohort for the Global Arts Academy, which included three international students from India, Nepal and Vietnam and four domestic students from Colorado, Nevada and Nebraska.

For more information on the Global Arts Academy, visit https://arts.unl.edu/global-arts-academy.