A Welcome Message from Laila Maher
Dean of Student and Alumni Affairs
Now more than ever it is crucial for artists to be supported as they pursue their craft. The life of an artist as well as that of a student involves much more than the classroom and the work itself, and this is where the Office of Student Affairs comes in. In addition to guiding new students through the process of transitioning to the School of the Arts, we plan the School-wide orientation, School of the Arts Convocation, and support student groups, events, and activities.
We also play a critical role in connecting School of the Arts students to the larger university and necessary services, and help students navigate many of the central offices including Health Services (which houses the Office of Disability Services, Insurance, Immunization, and Counseling and Psychological Services), Columbia Residential, Public Safety, University Life, the International Students and Scholars Office, and the Registrar's Office. Our office also helps to uphold many of the School and University-wide policies and we manage the School’s disciplinary procedures.
The Artists’ Resource Center, also part of our Office, maintains information on funding opportunities and career resources for students and alumni at the Columbia University School of the Arts, and provides consultations to students and alumni to help them look for professional development opportunities and more.
After graduation, the Office of Alumni Affairs provides more than 7000 alumni artists, creators, and leaders with opportunities to stay connected with the School of the Arts, the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA), and one another through alumni programming, benefits, a monthly newsletter, and collaborations with CAA Arts Access.
Our ultimate goal is to support our students and alums while they pursue their education as valued members of our dynamic community and as they navigate their time after graduation.
Student & Alumni News
Playwriting alumnus Harrison David Rivers ’09, alongside Ethan Pakchar and Douglas Lyons, workshopped the new musical, Five Points, at Discovering Broadway Inc.’s fifth Writer’s Retreat in Indiana.
Joseph Liatela ’22 presents Nothing Under Heaven at The Montclair State University Galleries this fall, marking his first solo museum show.
The Confessions of Matthew Strong, a work of historical fiction by alumnus Ousmane K. Power-Greene ’21, is out next week from Other Press.
Your Own Personal Exegesis, a new play by Playwriting alumna Julia May Jonas ’12, will have its world premiere at Lincoln Center’s Claire Tow Theater. Performances for the production’s limited run begin November 19, 2022; the show officially opens December 5 and closes December 31.
Playwriting alumnus Sam Grabiner ’21 is the recipient of the Verity Bargate Award for 2022. Grabiner’s play, Boys on the Verge of Tears, was selected after an extensive consideration process that included nearly 1,500 submissions which were condensed into a longlist of 17 plays, followed by a shortlist of six.
Sprinting Through No Man’s Land, the debut work from narrative nonfiction alumnus Adin Dobkin ’20, has been named among the six “coups de cœur” in the run-up to the announcement of the 2022 American Library in Paris Book Award winner.
Professor Lien-Hang Nyugen ensures the accuracy of The Greatest Beer Run Ever, directed by School of the Arts alumnus Peter Farrelly ‘86.
Six Film alumnae and their feature length narrative projects have been chosen to participate in Cine Qua Non’s Script Revision and Storylines Labs. They are: Missy Hernandez ‘17, Agnes Karlsson ‘22, Moara Passoni ‘21, and Madi Stine ‘22 for the Script Revision Lab and Charlotte Glynn ‘13 and Katya Skakun ‘20 for the Storyline Lab.
An electric fragility surrounds Dark Dreams, a solo show by Yuri Yuan ’21, at Alexander Berggruen gallery on the Upper East Side.
From September 30 to November 27, 2022, fifty-one days in all, the Okayama Art Summit will ask the public to wonder: do we dream under the same sky.
Alumni Daphne Palasi Andreades ’19 and Jessamine Chan ’12 are both recognized on the shortlist for the 2022 First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction.
For the first of two thesis productions featuring Columbia MFA actors presented at Lenfest this fall, the company of Orlando takes the audience on a transcendent journey through movement. We sat down with cast member and Acting student Hannah Shealy to discuss her acting process and the upcoming production of Orlando.