CAHSS Student Support

Spanish students at DU, both advanced and beginner, typically have few opportunities outside the DU classroom and/or their homes to use and grow their Spanish as a way to further their academic and professional trajectories. This campaign aims to enable DU to provide students paid internships and immersive language experience with non-profits around Denver so that students can develop their Spanish language in a professional setting and serve the Colorado community, which otherwise would be difficult to pursue.  

Impact of dollars raised: Each year a cohort of 15 students receives funding to pursue a Spanish speaking paid internship in a Denver based organization. These paid internships allow students to improve their academic and professional language skills, fill a community need and identify ways to leverage their language skills in a future career. Students receive training prior to their internship experience and the internship experience includes an oral history project giving voice to the unheard in our communities. In 2021, the project received a grant to support the initiative. The project has been well received by community organizations who seek skilled Spanish speaking professionals in a variety of industry areas. In order to make this project sustainable, we need additional support from community members and alumni to make these internship opportunities possible for DU students.

The Ann Levy student Innovation Fund is intended to support innovative projects by students in the Lamont School of Music.

Established in 2021 with a gift from the estate of Ann C Levy, the purpose of the fund is to provide grants to students in the Lamont School of Music who wish to pursue a project or activity that moves beyond the scope of coursework of applied study.

Impact of dollars raised: Student scholars propose some type of creative, artistic, or scholarly project that results in a distinctly innovative addition to the world of music. Some examples of projects that meet this criterion are: commission and performance arrangement of new work; undertake a multidisciplinary project that incorporates cutting-edge technology or reimagines existing works of art in a new context; design and produce a collaborative, interdisciplinary, technology-driven, or entrepreneurial community outreach project that addresses the modern trends in concert marketing, promotion and/or design; produce a professional-quality concert off campus that addresses modern trends in concert formats; produce and market a professional-quality recording that is a distinctive contribution to today’s music environment; or undertake a scholarly project that addresses or advocates for innovative trends in music and society.

These funds will enable our students to fully experience DU’s 4D initiative, which seeks to expand students’ Intellectual Growth, Well-being, Character, and start them on a path to pursuing Purposeful Lives and Careers.

For so many of our students, primary experience of the artworks they study is on a flat screen, looking at scanned imitations of the real piece with no way to immerse themselves in the rich dimensionality of such works. By seeing an object in person, or getting to its country of origin, they can more fully appreciate its context and culture, something that is irreproducible in a classroom. Our studio students also benefit greatly from travel funds to meet and learn from well-known artists and produce work in a totally new environment, elevating their craft and infusing their creativity with fresh ideas.

These experiences not only stimulate intellectual growth, but directly impact students’ future careers. Whether networking with mentors in the field, collaborating with peers on an exhibition, diving into complicated research for a conference presentation, or simply traveling outside of their own country for the first time, resources for supplies and travel ensure that our students have a solid foundation and real-world experience to build successful careers upon in art-making, museology, or teaching, to name a few possibilities.

Such experiences not only help shape academic and industry careers but enrich our students’ well-being and provide them with accomplishments and the confidence they need to go out into the world as emerging professionals. Art-making, solo travel, and simply trying something new all require a degree of vulnerability, self-expression, and a willingness to embrace new ways of thinking. Our students ultimately come back from these experiences with deeper understandings of other cultures, of other ideas, and ultimately of themselves.

 Impact of dollars raised: By removing the financial barriers of costly research trips, art-making supplies, or museum-quality curatorial materials, students do not have to worry about their ability to afford such enriching experiences. Instead, they can focus their energy where it needs to shine: in their own artworks and research proposals that will shape the future of the field.