Champlain Graduates First Class of Masters of Science in Emergent Media Students From Shanghai

BURLINGTON, VT (07/10/2014)(readMedia)-- Champlain College President Donald J. Laackman conferred four Masters of Science in Emergent Media degrees to graduate students from Shanghai, China, today at the Roger H. Perry Welcome and Admissions Center. Roughly 50 people attended the intimate ceremony, including friends and family members from Shanghai.

The College's first summer commencement ceremony for the Shanghai Masters of Science in Emergent Media program featured an address to the graduates by Frank Liu. Liu currently serves as the Chairman of Jiuyou Fund, Deputy to the National People's Congress, Executive Committee Member of Shanghai Commission of Science and Technology, and Vice President of Shanghai Modern Service Industry Association. He is one of the best-known and accomplished leaders and practitioners to aggressively develop Chinese modern high-tech industries and help international companies achieve success in the Chinese market.

Liu spoke of the new partnership between Champlain College, North American High-Tech Center (NAHTC), and Jiuyou Fund. Liu visited Vermont for the ceremony and to sign an agreement with his long time business partner Yong Zhang, Chairman of NAHTC and Champlain College. Headquartered in Massachusetts, NAHTC is a platform for regional exchange and cooperation between US and China in areas of incubation, investment, and education.

MS in Emergent Media graduates Ming Hu, Jing Kang (Kiki), Zichen Liu (Jin), and Lufei Sun (Vera) each completed a professional certificate in Foundations of Emergent Media Practice and a professional certificate in Emergent Media Systems & Implementation. Vera Sun will go on to earn additional credits at the Burlington, Vt. campus to complete her masters in fine art degree.

"Our students are learning how to create ideas, incorporate technology into art, interface design with all types of media. They are learning how to bridge art and science," said President Laackman. "Beyond this, our students, and honestly we, the staff and faculty, are learning how education is different in different cultures, how values affect learning and working, and how to work together as we broaden our perspectives to create an educational experience beyond our imaginations."

Hilary Hess G'12, graduate of the inaugural class of Masters of Fine Art in Emergent Media, offered the alumni welcome. "What you have learned in this program should help you feel comfortable in a position where there is not a path laid out before you, where what you are doing is constantly iterating along with everything else," Hess offered the students. "You need to understand that ultimately, you are the one who will design your path. That is the key to the emergent landscape. We emerge with it."

Hess currently is the digital media director for Vermont PBS and producer of "Makin' Friends with Ryan Miller," an online short program about the lead singer of the band Guster meeting people in Vermont.

The Shanghai MS in Emergent Media program at Champlain, which began in 2013, provides a personal and rigorous experience for creative thinkers looking to build and refine careers around media, technology and design. Initiated last fall, the program attracts students and young professionals from different backgrounds looking to gain knowledge to apply to their individual interests. The hands-on 30-credit program integrates digital learning, which incorporates web-based tools to communicate with MFA students in Burlington, as well as brings students from Shanghai to Champlain's Burlington campus for a summer residency and Commencement Ceremony.

Learn about the program here via Champlain College News.

See more photos of the Commencement Ceremony and reception athttps://www.flickr.com/photos/champlaincollege/sets/72157645185613747/

Learn more about the Shanghai partnership and other international education opportunities at www.champlain.edu

Since 1878, Champlain College has provided career-focused education to students from its hilltop campus in Burlington, Vt. Champlain's distinctive educational approach embodies the notion that true learning only occurs when information and experience come together to create knowledge. Champlain offers traditional undergraduate and online undergraduate courses, along with online certificate and degree programs and 11 master's degree programs. Champlain offers study abroad programs at its campuses in Montreal, Quebec and Dublin, Ireland. Champlain College is included in the Princeton Review's The Best 378 Colleges: 2014 Edition. Champlain was named a "Top-Up-and-Coming School" by U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges and is ranked in the top tier of 2014 Regional Colleges in the North. For more information, visit www.champlain.edu

Posted Thursday July 10, 2014 at 12:37 pm by Champlain College
Last Updated Friday July 11, 2014 at 10:03 am