Initiatives - Academics - Columbia College Chicago

Initiatives - Academics - Columbia College Chicago
Academics
Initiatives
Initiatives
Semester in LA
A Multidisciplinary Program
Go Hollywood—while earning your Columbia degree. Our one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary program is led by industry insiders and held on a historic studio lot. This immersive experience provides real-world skills and network-building opportunities that can help you rise to the top of an extremely competitive job market.
Comedy Studies
A Semester at The Second City™
This unique program is led by the experts in comedy at The Second City™, the nation’s center of comedy and satire. You’ll study performance, comedy writing and improvisation full time at the Second City Training Center in Chicago for college credit at Columbia.
AEMMP Record Label
AEMMP Records is Columbia’s student-managed, not-for-profit record label. AEMMP provides real-life, hands-on experience in the professional operation of a recording company that signs and promotes multiple artists each year. You’ll learn all facets of the business: talent scouting, manufacturing, distribution, promotion and marketing.
Columbia Chronicle
Published since 1973, The Columbia Chronicle is considered the highest-rated student-run collegiate newspaper of its kind. The Chronicle employs students from a variety of majors and is a fully operational entrepreneurial entity, managing advertisements, sponsorships, social media, and more.
WCRX 88.1 FM/wcrxfm.com
WCRX is Columbia's student-run radio station serving the college campus and surrounding communities. WCRX has won numerous awards and has been ranked among the country’s top college radio stations by the Huffington Post and the Washington Post. While working at the station, you’ll get hands-on training both on and off the air.
Deep Dish Music Festival
Music
The Deep Dish Music Festival is a daylong invitational event that brings together high school and community college ensembles to celebrate and nurture their unique musical talents. Columbia’s 9th annual festival will take place on March 13, 2026, and will feature acclaimed trumpet virtuoso, vocalist, pianist and composer Philip Lassiter as the guest artist.
Wabash Arts Corridor
The Columbia College Chicago Wabash Arts Corridor is Chicago’s living urban canvas in the heart of the South Loop neighborhood. Founded by Columbia College Chicago in 2013, WAC has grown to be one of the most expansive, diverse and accessible public art programs in the country.
Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues
The Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues creates a
space for a socially engaged photographer to produce a compelling and dynamic body
of work highlighting human rights and social issues.
Fashion Study Collection
The Fashion Study Collection at Columbia College Chicago is an exceptional collection of designer garments, fashion history, and ethnic dress. A hands-on, academic, and inspirational resource for students and the public, the collection was founded in 1989 and has grown to house more than 6,000 items.
Artists-in-Residence
The School of Audio and Music brings nationally and internationally recognized professional musicians to Columbia for week-long residencies. The artists lead workshops, master classes, and rehearsals with student ensembles in preparation for recording sessions and public performances. In 2025-26 school year, Columbia welcomes Philip Lassiter.
Echo Magazine
Echo is an award-winning print magazine created by a team of Journalism, Graphic Design and Photography students every spring semester in the College Magazine Workshop, a capstone class.
English as an Additional Language
International Student Support
The English as an Additional Language Program offers curricular and extra-curricular support to Columbia students whose core literacy instruction occurred in languages other than English through specialized course offerings and individual tutoring.
Semester in LA: Entertainment Marketing
The Business & Entrepreneurship Department offers three courses in Los Angeles: Survey Entertainment Business, Entertainment Marketing Communications and Entertainment Marketing Communication Workshop. Our one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary program is led by industry insiders and held on a historic studio lot.
Award Winning Work to Build Portfolios
Become one of the many award-winning Communication Department students who work with talented Columbia students from other departments. Build your portfolio and network to win highly respected, industry-known awards. Recent student award wins include the American Advertising Federation, the National Retail Federation, the Young Globals, the Collegiate Effies, the Scholastic Press Awards, and more.
Foreign Languages
The Humanities, History and Social Sciences Department offers a number of foreign language classes that support the LAS Core Curriculum. You can study Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. A placement test is not required.
Semester in LA: Styling and Costuming
This intensive five-week, 12-credit-hour curriculum is designed for students who wish to pursue a career as a costume designer and/or costume supervisor in the TV, film/video or entertainment industry. Our one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary program is led by industry insiders and held on a historic studio lot.
Student Performance Opportunities
Dance Center
At the Dance Center, students have numerous performance opportunities throughout their years of study.
Music Industry Immersion
This intensive, weeklong J-Term course offers singers, songwriters, rappers, producers and instrumentalists the opportunity to earn academic credit while working in close collaboration with music business and sound engineering faculty and guest artists/producers. You’ll form a band or performance project, create, record and produce your music in a studio setting, and perform your work on stage.
Interdisciplinary Real-World Experiences
Collaborate with upper level students from other majors to create cross-platform campaigns for
real clients, produce multi-media documentaries, investigate the civic landscape in the third
largest media market, and connect with industry professionals for experiential learning opportunities
at City Hall, leading ad agencies, top PR firms, nationally recognized media outlets, and
the city’s leading startup business incubator, all while still in school.
Semester in LA: Film Scoring
As a student in this 12-credit, five-week intensive course, you’ll study the art of scoring, producing, recording and mixing music for films. You’ll also visit film studios, work on a sound stage and have the opportunity to learn about film scoring firsthand from industry professionals.
ChicagoTalks
Hundreds of Journalism students have been published on ChicagoTalks since the citywide hyper-local news site launched in spring 2007. Stories produced by ChicagoTalks have won local, regional, and national awards from the country's leading journalism groups.
New Media Conference
The annual New Media Conference is a day of learning and networking that features a keynote speaker, panels, and workshops focused on careers skills and career tips in the field of media and communications. The event is free for high school students as well as Columbia students and alumni.
FrameWork Interviews
FrameWork is an opportunity for students graduating from the School of Film and Television to collaborate on a personal video statement sharing their thoughts about their creative process through examples of the work they have done while attending Columbia College Chicago.
Semester in LA: Acting
This hands-on experience for Theatre students pursuing careers as film or television actors includes lectures, demonstrations, field trips and performances as well as meetings with agents, managers and casting directors. Our one-of-a-kind multidisciplinary program is led by industry insiders and held on a historic studio lot.
Written Image
Written image is a screenwriting prize awarded to Cinema and Television Arts students and recent alumni.
B-Series
Each semester, a mini-festival celebrates acclaimed guest artists specializing in underground street dance forms such as breaking, popping, and house. With a jam or battle as the focal point, B-Series events become a gathering space for the underground dance community. The events connect the rich culture of hip hop, from dance to MCing, rapping, DJing, and graffiti, to the Columbia community.
The Paula Pfeffer and Cheryl Johnson-Odim Political Cartoon Contest
The Paula Pfeffer and Cheryl Johnson-Odim Political Cartoon Contest provides Columbia College Chicago students with an opportunity to become political and social commentators, demonstrate their artistic skills and showcase their analytical abilities. The annual contest winners receive a certificate and a monetary prize.
CTVA Speaker Series
Each year the Cinema and Television Arts Department hosts Columbia alumni who deliver lectures and host workshops for student filmmakers.
New York City Agency Tours
Each January, our faculty leads a tour of advertising agencies in New York City, the world capital for the field. You’ll attend presentations, speak with professionals and alumni, and explore brand management research, account planning, media planning, media activation, interactive strategies, copywriting, art direction, print-based production, digital production and project management.
The Media Hub
The Media Hub is a partnership designed to showcase the many student-produced news, entertainment, and multimedia productions at Columbia College Chicago.
Fashion Studies Lecture Series
The lecture series hosted by the Fashion Studies Department strives to bring local, national and international talent in the areas of design, business and theory to Columbia College Chicago. The lecture series aims to engage students from across the college with makers, practitioners and scholars in the fashion industry.
The Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture
The Research Group in Mind, Science and Culture takes a holistic approach to the study of the human mind, with a goal of creating bridges connecting affective neuroscience, evolution, and philosophy of mind.
Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series
The Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series invites distinguished speakers from related disciplines to present current, exciting scientific research to Columbia College Chicago's faculty, staff and students, as well as to Chicago's broader community. Talks are intended to introduce a general audience to a wide variety of important advances in science and mathematics, their potential applications and their implications for public policy. Reflecting Columbia's emphasis on the arts, select talks examine the intersections among science, mathematics, arts and the media.
Lectures in Photography
The Photography Department, in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Photography, invites a series of photographers to campus to share their artistic expertise and professional advice.
Undergraduate Research Mentorship Initiative
The Undergraduate Research Mentorship Initiative (URMI) connects talented undergraduate students at Columbia College Chicago who are interested in conducting academic research with faculty mentors involved in scholarly and research projects.
Student-Directed Productions
Students in the directing program partner with actors, designers and stage managers to mount one-act and full-length plays that reflect the breadth of work in theatre today.
Shannon Hardy Making Connections Suicide Prevention Program
This program is a unique approach to suicide prevention because body signals are added to best practice: Participants learn suicide facts and myths, warning signs, risk factors and protective factors. Life-skills training through experiential learning is a key component. This program began in 2002 on Columbia’s campus and has since gained national and international recognition.
AEMMP Practicum
Business and Entrepreneurship students release music, manage talent, and develop social marketing campaigns through Columbia’s unique Arts, Entertainment and Media Management course.
Student Ensembles
A wide variety of unique ensemble courses offer essential curricular opportunities for Music majors to collaborate, hone their talents, and perfect their musical mastery.
Private Lessons
Music
Columbia faculty represent a diversity of musical styles and experiences. They are mentors, teachers, and bandmates. Private lessons are often required as part of the curriculum. They're an opportunity for students to ask questions, receive one-on-one feedback, and explore new musical directions.
ASL Institute & Summer Share-Shop Series
This three-day professional skill-building workshop series for our community and educational interpreters will jumpstart your interpreting/ASL skills for the upcoming year. Learn from a fabulous lineup of presenters, including Peter Cook, Angela Malcomson, Christopher Rawlings, Wink Smith and Peter Wujcik. Runs Aug. 13-15, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at Columbia College Chicago.
The Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series
The Efroymson Creative Writing Reading Series at Columbia College Chicago is one of the most dynamic, aesthetically diverse events of its kind in the city. Hosted by the School of Communication, Culture, and Society, the series attracts prestigious, award-winning fiction writers, poets, and nonfiction writers who perform, engage, and educate on a myriad of topics and traditions.
ASL Institute
Join Columbia College Chicago's American Sign Language Department for ASL Institute, a series of American Sign Language workshops to increase your skills and conversational fluency. These workshops are open to anyone interested in learning American Sign Language. Join us for the summer 2025 ASL workshop, two sessions are available!
ASL Silent Retreat
American Sign Language Silent Retreat
Columbia’s American Sign Language Department’s annual “Beyond the Books” Silent Retreat is designed to immerse you in Deaf culture, providing an opportunity for you to to enhance your ASL skills, and enjoy a fun learning environment away from the classroom.
Composers-in-Residence
Music
A one-of-a-kind residency program brings nationally renowned composers at the height of their careers to Columbia for seven-week workshops with Music Composition for the Screen MFA students.
Live Body Fashion
A multi-workshop symposium on innovation through inclusivity. Hosted by Columbia College Chicago's Department of Fashion Studies.
Allium
Allium, A Journal of Poetry & Prose is a multi-genre print and online journal published by Columbia College Chicago’s School of Communication and Culture. Allium publishes three issues each year: two online issues (Fall and Summer) and one print issue (Spring).
Reinvention High School Fashion Challenge
Take something forgotten or ordinary and turn it into something new and extraordinary.
Summer Classes