Thirty-six students — 26 high school students and 10 transfer students — have been selected to join the latest cohort of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.
This is the second cohort for the center, which opened last fall.
“We continue to see an increase in the number of very qualified and wildly creative applicants to the Carson Center,” said founding Director Megan Elliott. “We have a very thorough and highly competitive application process to find the right students who will thrive in our rigorous academic program and become the next creative technology leaders.”
While 29 of the 36 students hail from Nebraska, this year’s cohort also includes students from Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The Carson Center is part of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. A key part of its curriculum is preparing students for hugely disruptive forces in artificial intelligence and data streaming that have changed the face of several industries, including film.
Even before its official opening last fall, the center earned a Hewlett Packard/Educause Campus of the Future designation, the first program in the Big Ten to do so. The partnership with a Fortune 100, global corporation gives Nebraska access to the latest high-tech equipment — and puts Nebraska in the company of MIT, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, Yale University and Dartmouth College in investigating ways augmented reality, virtual reality and 3D scanning and printing technologies can benefit teaching, learning and research.
The deadline for applications for the fall 2021 cohort is Jan. 15. Details will be posted soon.
Following is a list of students selected to the 2020-21 emerging media arts cohort by hometown, with high school in parentheses.
Nebraska:
- Ansley: Reid Brockmeier (Ansley)
- Bennington: Kathryn Christensen (Duchesne Academy), Brady Cundall (Millard North)
- Blair: Samuel Lawton (Blair)
- Cozad: Kaden Garcia (Cozad)
- Crete: Ebben Blake (Crete)
- Elkhorn: Elaina Franzen (Elkhorn)
- Gretna: Cameron Cerny (Gretna), Trystan Nord (Gretna)
- Kearney: Wyatt Debban (Kearney), Harrison Strong (Kearney)
- Lincoln: Sam Auch Moedy (Lincoln East), Syann Engelhard (Lincoln Southeast), Phillip Evans (Lincoln Southwest), Jaevyn Hoyt (Lincoln High and Lincoln Arts and Humanities), Olivia Jenkins (Lincoln High and Lincoln Arts and Humanities), Izdihar (Vian) Sheikh (Shingal High School, Iraq), Iris Starlin-Hintz (Lincoln High and Lincoln Arts and Humanities), Talley Wills (Lincoln Southeast)
- Omaha: Brett Ferris (Millard West), Caleb Kirilov (Westside), Noah Monzu (Creighton Prep), Anjah Vladimir (Millard South), Say Wah (Omaha North High Magnet)
- O’Neill: Vera Butterfield (O’Neill St. Mary’s)
- Phillips: Hannah Pedersen (Aurora)
- Valentine: Dillion Muirhead (Valentine)
- Valparaiso: Alijah Mallula (Malcolm)
- Wausa: Jailynn Story (Wausa)
Elsewhere:
- Douglasville, Alabama: AmunRa Jordan (Georgia Cyber Academy)
- Des Moines, Iowa: Abraham Schaecher (Roosevelt)
- Moville, Iowa: Derek Hytrek (Woodbury Central)
- Kansas City, Missouri: Grant Stoner (Seton Home Study School and Northland Center of Advanced Professional Studies)
- Webster Groves, Missouri: Benjamin Marshall (Chaminade College Preparatory School)
- Dakota Dunes, South Dakota: Melanie Schutte (Dakota Valley)
- Hudson, Wisconsin: Ella Stein (Hudson)
