Congratulations to Ryan Kroening for winning the 2008 President's Student Leadership and Service Award!  Ryan will receive the award from President Bruininks himself at a banquet on May 5th.  Ryan is a BIS student with concentrations in Cultural Anthropology, Design Studies, and Family Social Science.

Congratulations to the following IDP filmmaking students and alumni who were selected to participate in the No Mittens Film Festival at the Rosalux Gallery in Minneapolis.  The festival was juried by Diane Mullin, Associate Curator at the Weisman Art Museum.

Deborah Moe (IDIM: Visual Story and Video Production)

Chad McNutt (BIS: Media Production, Studies in Cinema and Media Culture; Art)

Adam Ginsberg (IDIM: Japanese and American Perspectives on Film Studies and Production)

Caitlin Cook-Isaacson (IDIM:  Personal Narratives in Public History) has been awarded the Selmer Birkelo Scholarship! The Birkelo scholarship is awarded on the basis of depth and breadth of study in the major, breadth of coursework, and clarity of academic purpose. 

2005 IDIM alumnus Melissa Toft (IDIM:  Social Justice: The Theory and Practice of Global Citizenship) was recently featured in the MN Daily for her work with the local nonprofit OverExposure.  She was selected to photograph the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood for a three-year community art project called “What’s New?” which supports artists who focus on social issues.

Tiffany Enriquez, a 2003 IDIM alumnus (Art and Social Change: Agency and Community) is working as a teaching assistantship position for the Metro Urban Studies Team, part of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA).  Tiffany has also taught art and coordinated community-based arts education at a public Title 1 elementary school in Phoenix, AZ.

Kyja Kristjana Krisjansson-Nelson, a 2002 BIS alumnus with concentrations in Icelandic Language and Culture, Film Studies, and Film Production has been awarded a prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship to produce an experimental documentary in Northeastern North Dakota.  She was won several awards including a Fulbright and an ISEP award to support her creative work in Iceland.  She is currently an assistant professor in the film studies department at Minnesota State University Moorhead. 

Joanna Nelson, a 2003 BIS alumnus with concentrations in Child Psychology, Women’s History, and Cultural Diversity in the U.S. recently completed an international education program called WorldSmart through Up with People.  The organization seeks to foster global peace through intercultural engagement.