Hixson-Lied College to launch Global Arts Academy

calendar icon21 Nov 2023    

Lincoln, Neb.--The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts is preparing to launch a Global Arts Academy and plans to recruit its first cohort from India and Nepal for Fall 2024.

“We want to recruit world-class students through a curated four-year program that will immerse a cohort of international and domestic students in transformative academic and co-curricular experiences,” Belser said. “The cohort will connect with students already at UNL in a live-study environment that will allow them to travel together, learn from each other both academically and culturally, and influence each other. We have a responsibility to develop our students into global citizens who can productively engage in the world.”

Belser said the Global Arts Academy will significantly change the make-up of the college and expand the global perspective for everyone in the college, including students, faculty and staff. In the fall of 2022, the college had 17 international students at the undergraduate level out of 801 total students. An initial cohort of just 20 students would double the global reach of the college.

The focus for the initial cohort will be Emerging Media Arts and Theatre (Acting), but prospective students will be able to select any major in the college. There are plans to expand to Vietnam (Music) and South American (Visual Art) as early as Fall 2025.

Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Dean Andy Belser will lead a delegation of college administrators and staff to begin recruiting in India and Nepal in January.

“In our globally connected world, the arts have a unique role in bringing people together, allowing people to see both our differences and our shared humanity, improving the human condition, and building community,” Belser said. “This initiative will give international students the opportunity to live and study in the United States, and U.S. students will have the opportunity to learn from the international students and expand their perspectives and cultural knowledge. This will give students an expanded global perspective and a broader resume that will be in high demand in whatever careers they pursue. This initiative will be life-changing.”

In addition to recruiting students, the connections made will provide other opportunities as well.

“This has great potential for faculty exchanges, joint research projects, connections to cultural companies worldwide, and sister-city relationships,” Belser said. “We are very excited about the potential impact of our Global Arts Academy.”

The college is seeking benefactors to support the initiative and provide student scholarships.