-= NMSU PANORAMA - Summer 2006 =- Creative Media Institute Emerging at NMSU

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Creative Media Institute Emerging at NMSU

By Bob Nosbisch '86 '93

A cross-disciplinary program at New Mexico State University will prepare aspiring writers, cinematographers, animators, directors and video gamers for careers in intelligence, government, medicine and other fields.

“Literacy for the 21st century is really media literacy,” says James Hindman, executive director of the Creative Media Institute for Film and Digital Arts at NMSU. “Our basic premise is to teach students the skills they need to work with screens, text, image and sound in creating communications and reading presentations in virtually any arena.”

Acclaimed playwright, director, actor and instructor Mark Medoff, who serves as the artistic director of CMI, says, “All students will be taught that a narrative of some sort drives everything we teach.”

CMI offered its first classes this spring and more are planned for the fall after space in Milton Hall has been renovated and equipment is in place to house the institute.

“It can’t help but grow and spread, because as a media program, it’s a technology-heavy and facilities-heavy undertaking,” says Hindman.

Room 171 in Milton Hall, a room traditionally used for social sciences and humanities classes, will become a screening and mixing room for new video productions. Modified stadium seating for 115 people will be installed and a box office, lobby and offices will be added.

Also, a $1.5 million federal award will allow collaboration by CMI, AST Corp. (a defense contractor at White Sands Missile Range and elsewhere) and the University of Southern California’s Institute of Creative Technologies. Software that has been developed for teaching leadership and decision-making in military combat situations will be revamped for first responders and emergency workers. CMI will shoot and produce video to repurpose the software so it’s applicable to a wider audience. This is the first grant in a recurring cycle of grants that should add up to $25 million during the next five years.

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