Dr. Norman Mintle, dean of the Liberty University School of Communication
With a new dean, Dr. Norman Mintle, at its helm, the School of Communication has been revamped for a rapid launch to another dimension of academic excellence.
“We are creating something very unique — and it is going to build on the good work accomplished here in the past with greater excellence because we will have far greater opportunities,” Mintle said.
The school has recently been restructured, allowing for better synergy among communication-based departments. The School of Communication is now comprised of the Department of Theatre Arts; Department of Studio and Digital Arts; the Zaki Gordon Cinematic Arts Center, under the direction of Stephan Schultze, a Hollywood veteran with an expansive résumé; and the Department of Communication Studies — which encompasses journalism, speech communication, digital media (formerly broadcasting), and advertising and public relations.
In addition, Liberty’s media productions team has been merged into the school. This latest move allows for the integration of students into real-world professional media venues.
Mintle and the department heads have begun to augment their curriculum with a greater and more diverse array of real-world opportunities, better equipping students to enter their careers as experienced professionals. As students of these departments explore these opportunities, they are able and encouraged to integrate, working together just as they would in a professional setting.
“I am convinced the way the real world works is through collaboration,” Mintle said. “Anytime we can bring together a real-life simulation on an educational level we benefit the student, better preparing them to go out to wherever they aspire to — Hollywood, New York, TV networks or stations, Broadway, drama troupes, missions and church work involving media and drama.”
The possibilities for integration are endless: broadcasting students create programs that require advertising and public relations students to brand and market the product. Actors from the theater department are readily available to provide talent for cinema or broadcasting projects. Digital artists can create posters and logos for films and programs.
Communication Studies – Expanding the Liberty network
SADA – Cultivating and empowering artists
The Department of Studio and Digital Arts gives students with an artistic flair opportunity to hone and showcase their gifts in a variety of ways.
At Liberty, students are invited to participate in a number of art shows, galleries, and competitions. Utilizing the Liberty University Art Gallery and various computer labs, these projects enliven the facilities and give students a taste of life as an artist.
For the exceptionally motivated art student, Liberty encourages them to submit work in a number of local and national art competitions. Every year Liberty students come away with prestigious awards, ranking them in league with (and even above) artists from the most recognized institutions in the country.
In its new location on the fourth floor of Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center the program provides gorgeous classroom settings for its students — state-of-the-art computer labs with the latest software for digital artists and stunning art studios that feature natural light, high ceilings, and loft storage for studio artists interested in painting, pottery, ceramics, and more.
Theatre – Staging opportunities
Mintle recognizes the value of good actors and their role in strengthening the quality of other programs, such as cinema and broadcasting. In its new home under the School of Communication, the Department of Theatre Arts is in a stronger position to offer increased opportunities for production and acting students to work in film, television, and radio.
The recently launched in-house Alluvion Stage Company presents opportunity for students to notch a professional credit on their résumé.
Voice acting is a growing market and students may gain experience through Playhouse of the Airwaves, a newly formed radio drama series produced at Liberty.
As the program continues to expand, Mintle hopes to build a black-box theater (a simple, performance theater that is easily re-arranged to accommodate various settings for different types of performances) so that greater learning experiences are achieved with expanded opportunities for serious and important theater literature.
Cinematic Arts – From the audience to the set, it’s time to change chairs
The school’s newest program has just taken students “all in” with the first semester of the cinematic arts’ immersion program under way.
This rigorous two-year journey focuses solely on filmmaking — the innovative program requires students to have completed all of their required general education courses and the three core cinema classes, and then apply for acceptance into the program.
Under Stephan Schultze, who has worked in every aspect of the industry (major motion pictures, television, music videos, commercials, industrial videos, etc.), and his faculty of experienced professionals, students will explore many key disciplines of filmmaking and learn to succeed in the cinema industry. Through workshops and guest speakers, students will hear from some of the biggest names in the industry, including Randall Wallace (writer, “Braveheart”).
Students work hands-on with top-of-the-line industry standard equipment, including RED camera packages, Avid edit bays, ProTools, and THX certified sound mixing equipment. All students who graduate from the program will have written and directed their own short film; compiled a professional reel of their work; written, polished, and formed a business plan for their own screenplay; and will have a credit on a long format film.
“I am excited about the School of Communication rising to a new level of educational quality under the leadership of Dr. Mintle,” Godwin said. “It is the adding of a far greater degree of experiential learning and training to our communication majors that excites me the most at the provost level. I am a great believer in students putting their talents and passions into action outside of the classroom.”
Mintle said what Liberty is going to be able to offer in the next one to two years will exceed what students could experience elsewhere.
“I’m not aware of any other university or college in which a full professional production group has been integrated into the academic setting. Here we are able to provide our students with opportunities not available elsewhere,” he said.
“When any high school student in America says, ‘Where do you go to get the best experience with broadcasting, or filmmaking, or theater?,’ they are going to say, ‘Liberty.’ It is going to be the first thing on the top of their minds. Because this is a place where artists are nurtured to develop their craft, whatever the discipline, in a God-honoring environment where excellence is our bottom line.”
