On Tuesday, Oct. 25, the communications studies department (CST) gathered in Murphy Library for the grand opening of the Communication and Media Lab (CaML). The new space offers eight rooms with a variety of functions, ranging from audio recording and editing to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies.
Dr. Linda Dickmeyer, chair of the CST department, began the grand opening with a history of how the CaML came to be. Dr. Dickmeyer explained how the CST department used to provide students the opportunity to pursue a broadcasting emphasis with their communication major in 2000. However, the classes associated with this emphasis were based out of the Wing Technology Center due to it providing a television studio as well as a broadcasting booth for students to utilize.
Dr. Dickmeyer explained that as time passed and media became more and more digital, there were fewer incentives to maintain the broadcasting emphasis, saying that “it was an expensive and cumbersome emphasis area to maintain.”
There were plans in 2019 to renovate the space that held the broadcasting booth and the television studio into a new computer lab, however, those plans were dashed as the university decided to use the space for something else. Following that, the CST department was able to develop the plans to create the CaML in Murphy Library.
The Dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities (CASSH), Karl Kunkel, also attended the grand opening and said that the CaML is, “A multi-room facility that will benefit students for many years to come.”
He continued, “We live in a digital world, and digital media production is a part of the things that all agencies, all companies, the whole world is going to be doing in the future, and our students will have the opportunity to receive cutting edge training.”
Dean Kunkel next introduced the CaML Director, Dr. Taylor Cole Miller, an assistant professor here at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse who teaches CST 338: Media and Sexuality as well as CST 377: Digital Media Production for the CST department.
Dr. Miller said, “[I am] extraordinarily proud of UWL for investing in its students and the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, for investing in and utilizing this space.” He continued, “I’m really excited to see all of the different ways the world will change and how our students will have new and professional training in order to be competitive out there.”
The CaML hosted its first classes this semester:
- CST 377: Digital Media Production
- CST 379: Interactive and Experiential Media
- CST 489: Documentary Production
The eight rooms in the CaML consist of two bays for recording and editing, a research and conference room, an observation and podcasting room, a media production classroom complete with 30 monitors, each equipped with the full suite of Adobe products, a media studio that houses the VR and AR technologies and a storyboarding space.
The CaML is available to students who are either currently enrolled in a class in which their professor has requested access to the CaML or to students who are in CASSH and make a reservation to use the facilities.
The link to make a reservation to use the CaML can be found here alongside more information about specific equipment that is housed in the CaML.
