From the Dean | College of Arts and Media | SIU

Dear CAM alumni and friends:

Greetings from the College of Arts and Media, a newly organized college at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. I am very happy and proud to tell you that our college has launched CAMtastic! This semiannual electronic newsletter for our alumni and friends is to help keep you informed of important happenings and major achievements in CAM.

CAM, as we fondly call it, is the creative hub on campus and in the region. Home for its six marvelous schools in Architecture, Art and Design, Journalism and Advertising, Media Arts, Music, and Theater and Dance, CAM boasts a variety of academic programs, from undergraduate to master’s, M.F.A. and Ph.D. All these schools and programs have one thing in common — creativity.

With nationally and internationally renowned faculty, brilliant and dedicated staff, talented and diligent students and loyal and supportive alumni and friends, CAM aspires to become a more mission-driven, more distinctive and more recognized national and international hub in arts and media education, research and creative activity. The college aims at fostering technically proficient, culturally competent and socially responsible arts and media professionals, scholars and leaders, who will thrive in the 21st-century global market and in the age of artificial intelligence.

In this inaugural issue of CAMtastic, you will get a brief glimpse of numerous amazing things happening in our CAM family. You are cordially invited to submit newsworthy items about you and other CAM alumni and friends to Mark Stoffel, CAM Communication Committee chair, via his email address at mstoffel@siu.edu.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to Mark and the members of the CAM Communication Committee (Brenna Gallagher, Annie Hammock and Kevin Penrod) for making this publication possible.

Gifts from our alumni and friends help us provide the top-rate education our students need and deserve. Any amount makes a difference and is welcome. To learn more about giving, contact Lisa Knight, CAM director of development, at lisak@foundation.siu.edu.

Thank you for reading CAMtastic and for supporting our remarkable college and this much-needed CAM e-publication. Please take care, stay healthy and keep in touch. I wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy and splendid new year ahead.

Go Dawgs and CAM!

Hong Cheng, Ph.D.
Dean and Professor
College of Arts and Media
Southern Illinois University Carbondale