By BRIGID PARKER
On Friday, November 8, Shawn Gillen, English professor and director of Beloit’s new School of Media & Arts (SoMA), welcomed students to the Powerhouse’s Riverside Lounge for a combined pizza lunch and information session about the school and all that it aims to achieve.
SoMA combines majors in creative writing, media studies, studio art, and performing and applied arts (PART), as well as minors journalism, studio art and visual studies into a multidisciplinary curriculum to provide students with real world experience and prepare them for work within creative fields. The school includes two main incentives for students: a wide range of certificates to embellish students’ resumes, and the SoMA Fellowship Program.
SoMA includes a long list of certificates now available to students, and Gillen plans to add more as the school picks up momentum. Current certificates cover numerous disciplines within media and arts, such as News Editing, Songwriting, Digital Storytelling and more. Each certificate requires students to take 5-6 classes, similar to a minor. However, they are set apart by the fact that many certificates combine different disciplines and academic programs, such as Music Writing, which includes elements of both journalism and music theory. Additionally, students are required to complete some kind of practical experience, such as an internship in one’s chosen field, performance of a composition by the student, or the publication of an article, essay or creative piece (Round Table counts as a publication, guys).
The SoMA Fellowship Program aims to be a way for students within the school to earn prestige, encouraging them to go above and beyond what is required of their major. This opportunity is available to anyone with a declared major within SoMA and will allow participating students to attend exclusive, school-sponsored events, as well as receive special recognition at graduation, not to mention something really cool to add to their resumes. Beyond the completion of a chosen arts/media major, the fellowship also calls for students to participate in a collaborative, media-based project, complete humanities-based courses offered outside of their major, take part in a pre-professional experience pertaining to their area of interest (Round Table counts for this one too, guys) and more.
Director of CELEB, Brian Morello, also attended the information session to share his vision for the new school. Because CELEB houses many opportunities for students looking to pursue creative outlets, such as the television studio, art gallery, and Makerlab, he hopes that the new school will be closely engaged with CELEB, helping media-interested students find a space to gain practical experience.
Though SoMA is relatively new to the college, having just come about this past Spring semester, it shows promise for the institution as a whole. Seeing how Beloit’s art programs have taken quite the beating within the last few years, with the Neese being forced to close and various arts majors being eliminated and instead combined into one (PART), the many opportunities offered by SoMA provide some hope for the future of the arts at Beloit.
Featured Image: Cam Meyers’23 as Sherlock Holmes In Beloit College’s production of Holmes & Watson, via Beloit College
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