Students
Class of 2012
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Coby Brownell Professionally, Coby has worked for JDK for twelve years, a graphic design firm specializing in Brand Development and Strategy. He has designed for clients including Burton, Nike, Merrell, Timex, New Era, and Xbox 360, and has recently served as a technical training consultant and digital asset analyst for the firm. Along with his enrollment in the MFA Program in Emergent Media, Coby is currently working as an Adjunct at Champlain College, teaching Digital Print production and Design for Objects and Spaces. "An amazing and supportive staff and dedicated and talented students make the experience a pleasure." |
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Tara Gordon
As a resourceful creative, Tara helps others understand and utilize emergent media creatively to find effective and valuable solutions. She believes in positive communication, innovative solutions, sustaining flexibility and integrity. Inspired by creative, clever and unique solutions, she enjoys being continually challenged, and finds motivation in growth. Tara continues to build on over 10 years of experience in the design field by advancing with the emerging media landscape, working collaboratively in diverse team environments and expanding upon a variety of technological tools, platforms, and devices. She hopes to be become a trusted leader and partner in the creative community. With a passion for digital interactive children's books, she considers beneficial ways children can play while they explore both digital and physical spaces. "I hope to become a trusted leader and partner in the creative storytelling community." |
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Hilary Hess Hilary provides a window into her own world of ongoing exploration. Having studied anthropology as an undergrad, her blog postings offer profound thoughts on the power of human survival, and the ways human being not only learn from their mistakes, but also find solace in the spaces in between. Her photography provides beautiful examples of her lifelong curiosity and desire for exploration. "I believe that the combination of understanding our past failures, the true desire to be better and both the humility and courage that comes from accepting the inevitability of failure are necessary for a positive cycle of growth to occur." |
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Steve Keetle Steve began his career as a designer in 1984 after receiving a B.F.A. from Kansas City Art Institute. He started the design group Keetle + Company in Burlington, Vermont in 1992, where he serves as the Creative Director. Formerly a Senior Designer at JDK Design and a Senior Designer at Paul Kaza Associates, his work has been featured in design publications including Communication Arts, Print's Regional Design Annuals, Society of Publication Designer Annuals, and Society of Illustrators Annuals. Steve's work has also been published in several design and advertising books. Prior to moving to Burlington, he was an Art Director at KizerGroup, a Kansas City design firm, and he taught design classes at Kansas City Art Institute and lectured on design at area universities. |
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Shaina Allison Lurie Shaina recently received her B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in Advertising. Her passionate enthusiasm extends into all aspects of emergent media. She seizes opportunities to become involved with community, leadership, innovation, collaborative teams, startups and the ideation process. It is her positive energy and charisma that strengthens relationships and deepens engagement. "I fell in love with the MFA program because of their tenacity to combine technology, art and communications. Their devotion resonates with my personal philosophy to never be afraid to try something new. Just go for it! Dip your toes into as many pools of water as possible. This exploration has only further fueled my curiosity." Twitter: @ShayMFA |
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Kevin Murakami Kevin earned his B.A. in Animal Physiology at the University of California, San Diego, and in 1990 moved to Vermont to get his PhD in Molecular Biology. After deciding the college professor track was a bit crowded, he took at a job at JDK Design in Burlington, Vermont in 1995. He is currently the Multimedia Specialist at JDK, focusing on websites, presentations, video editing, and motion graphics. As someone who has been heavily involved in emergent media from the beginning, Kevin was astounded by just how much he had to learn about context. Understanding how things change over time has helped him develop the capacity to see what each new development means-not just for the past but for the future as well. "I've always been the guy who facilitated the journey from point A to point B. I see this [MFA] program as a way to develop some of the creative skills that define how we get there, and what points A and B look like." |
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Jacob Neville
With a passion for programming, Jacob's thesis examines the relationship between a video game, its controller, and the player. How do they interact? What happens with a unique controller is created for a game? Does it increase immersion in the game? Jacob graduated from Champlain College with dual bachelor degrees in Game Designs as well as Art and Animation.
"I am an artist, a designer, and a coder. I dream, I envision, I create, but I also play. I have a love of video games, and have turned this passion into a study track, and into my future career." |
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Christina Rosalie Sbarro Christina is passionate about participatory media, and sees the opportunity to rapidly prototype a concept and engage her peers and professors in a multimedia dialogue as one of the true highlights of Champlain's MFA program. As a writer and illustrator accustomed to working on her own, she particularly enjoys the unexpected outcomes and innovative possibilities that emerge from working collaboratively with diverse, multitalented teams. "I've always known that the future was a moving target, but now for the first time I feel like I'm moving at the speed of the target. I have acquired the skill and understanding in this program to ask the questions, seek the answers, and artfully adapt to the continually emerging technology landscape." Twitter: @christina_write |
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Jeremy Smith Jeremy is a freelance designer and graduate student in Burlington, Vermont. He suffers from Fastidious Oculus (disease making the eye easily disgusted by things that are not perfectly clean and concerned that even the smallest details should be just right). Although he doesn't limit himself to a style, his work has been described as clean, fresh, and timeless. Having worked mostly in traditional print design, he's expanded his skills through the MFA program, into a more digitally focused niche and brings simplicity, clarity, and aesthetic beauty to new media. |
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Dave Stiller Dave is dedicated to developing organizations through new media concepts and technology. He sees unrealized value in bringing vital components of game design and software development to organizational operations and governance. He believes organizations can evolve by engaging individuals in empowered decision-making, transparent accountability, and conflict resolution processes. "Without creating meaningful work for employees, managerial techniques cannot create engagement." |
Class of 2013
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Susan Alden Susan graduated with a B.S. in Graphic Design and Digital Media from Champlain College in the spring of 2011. Entering the MFA in Emergent Media program was an irresistible opportunity and the next logical step in acquiring proficiency in surfing on the crest of the amazing opportunities available for artists who choose to immerse themselves in using the tools of new media to expand their vision of art. "I am getting the tools I need to fully participate as an artist at the onset of the twenty-first century. Not only am I expanding my skill set, but I am also learning how to place the current explosion of technological advances in new media into a context that makes sense to me as an artist." Twitter: @SusanKAlden |
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Greg Bemis Greg has spent more than thirty years steeped in visual and interactive media. After a ten-year stint in San Francisco producing multiple programs for national cable audiences and managing software projects for the home consumer, he returned to his native Vermont to live, learn, and teach. He is an instructor in the Division of Communications and Creative Media at Champlain College, where he teaches undergraduate courses in Electronic Game Design. "Games, video, Internet, social media...they are all part of some new exploration. We don't know quite what that is yet, but we're going to find out. And it's going to be one hell of a ride." |
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Patrick Collins Patrick graduated from the University of Vermont in 2006 with a BA in Anthropology and a minor in Environmental Studies. Immediately following graduation he started working at the Magic Hat Brewing Company for almost five years in a variety of positions: planning, customer service, logistics, bottling/packaging, etcetera. He left the company after the latest acquisition by North American Breweries to return to Vermont, and Patrick was ecstatic to discover the MFA program in Emergent Media. "Graphic design and digital media have always been more recreational pastimes of mine, and I am extremely excited about formal training and collaborating with the talented individuals of this program." |
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Alexander Daly Alex is an intrepid traveler of digital worlds, exploring time and space one pixel at a time. Alex graduated from UVM in 1999 and spent the subsequent years working in web media and design. The MFA in Emergent Media is the next step on his digital journey, one that will ideally keep him on the cutting edge of new technologies and spaces. The opportunity to work and collaborate in such a forward-thinking program was too great an opportunity to pass up. |
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Ross Gracia Ross Gracia, a first-generation college student, graduated from California Lutheran University in 2008 with a BA in Communication and a concentration in Media Production. He was a two-sport scholarship athlete, playing football and pole vaulting for the Kingsmen. Upon graduation he was offered a part-time production assistant job at a local news station in San Luis Obispo, California. Within eight months he was a full-time videographer. Seeing the advancements in media first-hand caused him to rethink his career path. Ross believes that the MFA in Emergent Media will give him the skills to always "hang ten" on the ever-cresting wave that is technology. "Don't be like the guy that jumped from the twentieth floor window. As he passed each floor he said, 'I'm doin' okay so far.'" -Lou Holtz Twitter: @SirRossington |
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Rachel Hooper A designer and a graduate student in Champlain College's Emergent Media Program, Rachel lives in Burlington, Vermont with her young son. Rachel enjoys meshing together her love of fiber arts and mathematics with emergent media and community building. "The luxury of the future is that all the basic building blocks are already in place. We've already built the technological infrastructure that makes new and interesting ways of designing interface possible." http://emergentprojects.wordpress.com/ |
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Zachary Jewell Zack graduated in 2010 with degrees in Digital Media and Graphic Design. During his undergrad years he was drawn towards new and emerging technologies in media types. He has a strong sense of creativity, a great sense of humor, and he works hard. As a designer, Zack labors to stay current and create new and interesting ways for people to interact. |
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Cora Lozinschi Cora is an artist, designer, writer and maker of many things. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2009 with a BA in French, Biology, and Studio Art. During her time at Champlain College as an MFA student in the Emergent Media program, Cora plans to take on a little bit of everything. She loves to ask questions, explore ideas, and create solutions. In her lack of free time, she likes to go hiking with her fuzzy dog, do some crowd sourcing (analogue-style), and have awkward conversations with strangers. "I think this is a special program. I want to take in as much as I can while I'm here, and explore art, relationships, communication, and language from the digital perspective." |
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Jessica Lynch Jess Lynch is an ever-growing combination of relentless determination and charming creativity. She received her Bachelor's in Business from Champlain College in 2007, with concentrations in Marketing and Communication. Jess has worked in a variety of marketing capacities including a Boston based e-commerce company and Vermont hospital. She is an entrepreneur, yogi, designer, photographer and writer, and would describe herself as a free-thinker and tinkerer, a believer and a maker, a mover and a shaker. Jess is an enthusiastic participant in the MFA program because she believes that successful marketing means being at the forefront of change. "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." -William Ernest Henley Twitter: @Caw752 |
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Andrea Olson A big dog lover and self-proclaimed Apple nerd, Andrea loves social media and was looking for a graduate program in design that had opportunities for people with non-artistic backgrounds. She wanted to add more to her education and felt like the MFA in Emergent Media at Champlain College was a great fit. Andrea is looking forward to her time at Champlain, and hopes to grow, learn, and collaborate while exploring Burlington and Vermont. Andrea was the Laptop Services Coordinator for Saint Agnes Academy-Saint Dominic School in Memphis, TN before moving to Burlington. She holds a BA in French from the University of Memphis and an MA in Educational Media/New Media and Global Education from Appalachian State University's online graduate program. "My path so far hasn't been the usual and I think that brings a lot to this program and hopefully a future career. Robert Frost said, 'My aim in life has always been to hold my won with whatever's going on. Not against, with,' and I feel that I am holding my own with emerging technologies." Twitter: @OlsonAH82 |
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Robin Perlah Robin Perlah graduated from the Professional Photography program at the New England School of Photography, and has a BS in Art Education from the University of Vermont. She is an artist, photographer, and teacher. She is interested in blowing up everything she thinks that she knows about the intersection between art, technology and education in order to find ways to connect people with each other and their own creativity. Twitter: @robin.perlah |
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Josh Siegartel As a former graphic design student of Champlain College, Josh is familiar with various design programs including Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, PowerPoint, Final Cut Pro, and Flexisign Pro. He is heavily invested in RPGs both on and offline and is dedicated to finding a way to blend the two. Josh also has interest in working with 3D programs such as Zbrush and Maya. "My mission in life is to make everything more fun by replacing the mundane with mystery, the boring with fantasy, and the conventional with ridiculous. To that end I want to design games and experiences that can be practiced in the real world but that make you look at life differently."
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Danielle Elizabeth Vogl Danielle is brimming with creativity and passion for the arts and music. She graduated from the University of Vermont in 2011 with a double degree: a BA in Studio art and a BS in Public Communication. While attending UVM she found herself strongly drawn towards the digital arts. She is a communicator, an artist, a creator, an illustrator and a designer, a dependable person with a strong work ethic and a good sense of humor. She is earning her MFA in Emergent Media in order to broaden her skill base and prepare her for the future of the creative industry. She believes in the importance of doing what you love and doing it well. In her eyes, when combining the power of creativity and the new digital forms of communication, it becomes possible to solve just about anything. "Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric." -Bertrand Russel http://disruptivesorcerer.tumblr.com/ E-mail: devogl@gmail.com |
Game art by student Sarah Feeman