CSU-Pueblo Film Education Project

We hope you will support an interdisciplinary experiential education project at Colorado State University-Pueblo.

The CSU-Pueblo departments of Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Art, and Mass Communications all will incorporate the project into their courses.  Students across the campus will be engaged in the project.  The final presentation of the semester will be open to everyone in Colorado and made available worldwide on the Internet. 

We will invite filmmaker Joshua Munson to CSU-Pueblo from March 3-17, 2017.  During that time, he will direct a narrative film, working with students from CSU-Pueblo.  Most of the film will be shot on campus.  Students will be involved with technical work (lighting, sound, etc.), composing the film’s score, and acting in the film.  Prior to Munson’s arrival, students will be involved in developing a screenplay.  After Munson departs on the 17th, he will remain in touch with students, who will be involved with the film-editing process, developing a website to make the film available to the public, and marketing the film.  At the end of the semester, students will give a presentation, open to the general public living in southern Colorado, during which the film will be premiered.  The film also will be made available to the public on a website we will develop. 

Music --- Professor David Volk will organize graded studies for Music students, during which they will compose, perform, and record a score for the film. 

Philosophy --- Professor Andrew J. Corsa will teach a course on the Philosophy of Film, during which his students will participate in technical work, acting, web-design, and marketing.  They will also write about the project in course papers.  They will complete graded Experiential Education journaling assignments, in which they discuss arguments from the class in relation to their experiences working on the film.

Psychology --- Professor Richard Walker will teach a course on Cognitive Psychology, in which his students will write about the project in relation to course discussions. 

Art --- Professor Caroline Peters will teach a course on Contemporary Art, in which her students will participate in the project directly and write papers discussing it.

Mass Communications ---- Professor Jiaxi Shen will organize independent studies for Mass Communications students to engage in technical work and postproduction (editing, coloring, etc.).

The film will be directed by Joshua Munson with the help of Professor Jiaxi Shen of Mass Communications, and both will be involved with cinematography.  Joshua Munson, who has directed, shot, and edited short films, documentaries, and music videos, co-developed the central idea for this film-project with philosophy professor Andrew J. Corsa.   Much of Munson’s work can be found on his Vimeo page, here .  A film project Munson previously completed working with Dr. Corsa, related to academic work from numerous departments, can be found here .  Professor Jiaxi Shen, who teaches in the Mass Communications’ electronic media emphasis, has produced news and TV shows broadcast on China Central Television and Phoenix Television, and her recent film “Home Video” was screened at the St. Louis International Film Festival.  Much of her work can be found on her Vimeo page, here .  You can see a screen capture from her Demo Reel at the bottom of this page.

We would be thrilled to offer this unique opportunity to our students and to the community of Southern Colorado!

The project will deepen students’ understanding of content in numerous academic disciplines.  It also will develop their ability to work together – with students and professionals who have diverse skills and backgrounds – towards a common goal.  Additionally, it will increase students’ abilities to apply their disciplinary knowledge to real world projects, preparing them to apply what they have learned in college in future careers.  The presentation at the end of the semester and the website we develop also will introduce the project to the Southern Colorado community, more broadly.  The presentation and website will provide educational information about media and film and how they relate to discussions in numerous academic disciplines. 

We hope you will support our project!  This project is being organized through the Colorado State University-Pueblo Foundation, which is a registered 501c(3) nonprofit organization.  Any contribution counts as a charitable donation, and those who contribute should receive tax-deductible receipts from GoFundMe’s charity partner, FirstGiving.

To fund this project, we will need to purchase a plane ticket for Joshua Munson, provide a stipend, and arrange for room, board, and a rental car for two weeks.  We also will need to rent substantial film equipment, which alone will cost around $3,500.  Finally, we will need to provide a stipend for a lead actor, who will need to work 80 hours over the two weeks.  We have already received $800 from several academic departments and campus organizations, and we are applying for several grants.  If we receive grant money (we’re crossing our fingers!), it would go to cover our most basic expenses, and money raised through GoFundMe would go toward making a better website, acquiring better film equipment, and hiring a professional actor. 

Thank you so much for your consideration, and we hope you’ll give us your support!  



If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Professor Andrew J. Corsa at AndrewCorsa at gmail dot com.