42 students selected for new Carson Center cohort

Craig Chandler | University Communication

Students study inside the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts in November 2020. Forty-two students have been selected to join the third and largest Carson Center cohort.

Forty-two students — 26 recent high school graduates and 16 transfer students — have been selected to join the latest cohort of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.

This is the third and largest cohort for the center, which opened in fall 2019.

“We continue to see an increase in the number of very qualified and creative applicants to the Carson Center,” said founding Director Megan Elliott. “I always say that we’re looking for the wizards and the pirates, and I think we have a very thorough and highly competitive application process to find the right students who will thrive in our program and become the next creative technology leaders.”

While 33 of the 42 students hail from Nebraska, this year’s cohort also includes students from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Dakota.

The Carson Center is part of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. A key part of its curriculum is preparing students for hugely disruptive forces in artificial intelligence and data streaming that have changed the face of several industries, including film.

Applications for the fall 2022 cohort will open soon. Details will be posted here.

Following is a list of students selected to the 2021-2022 emerging media arts cohort by hometown, with high school in parentheses.

Nebraska:

Alvo: Henry Ball (Lincoln Christian)
Bellevue: Ciara Stueve (Bellevue East)
Bladen: Anthony Niemeyer (Silver Lake)
Fremont: Jordan Schuetze (Fremont)
Grand Island: Emaline Brockoven (Grand Island)
Lincoln: Kathryn Fiala (Lincoln East); Richard Graham (Lincoln High/Arts and Humanities Focus Program); Kennady Hoyt (Lincoln Southwest/Arts and Humanities Focus Program); Romina Jeizan (Lincoln Northeast); Megan Kolbe (Lincoln East); Nyayaang Luak (Lincoln High); Alexander Malone (Pius X); Mason Morrow (Lincoln High/Arts and Humanities Focus Program); Aiden Ramey (Lincoln East); Hannah Romell (Lincoln Southeast); Michael Ryan (home school); Grace Shepherd (Lincoln High)
Omaha: Nehemiah Barney (Omaha Central); Caden Bye (Millard West); Will Cook (Concordia Lutheran); Isaiah Griffith (Creighton Prep); Diego Paniagua (Omaha Bryan); Michael Pritza (Creighton Prep); Owen Strazdas (Omaha Central)
Papillion: Kylie Muller (Papillion-La Vista South); Xander Muniz (Papillion-La Vista South); Zoey Punteney (Papillion-La Vista); Skyler Sandoz (Papillion-La Vista)
Pleasant Dale: Alayna Piening (Milford); Collin Piening (Milford)
Scottsbluff: Eric Wilson (Mitchell)
Seward: Andrew Alley (Seward)
South Sioux City: Angelia Sur (South Sioux City)