The Denver Asia Center has long served as more than just a physical space on campus at the University of Denver. For many Asian American students, it functions as a cultural anchor, a place of familiarity, and a point of connection to heritage, identity, and community. In moments of uncertainty, it becomes a reminder of belonging within a broader university environment.
Recent discussions surrounding the Asia Center created concern across both campus and the surrounding community. However, the center is no longer at immediate risk, as earlier plans for reconstruction or removal have been withdrawn. Despite this, the long-term future of the space remains uncertain, leaving students and business owners still reflecting on its importance and stability.
This slideshow is about the Hall Council’s annual “Puppy Petting Pen” event hosted on campus, and I wanted to show the actual event itself juxtaposed against the planning of the event talked about over the voiceover. It is almost a narrative arc that pans from the collective atmosphere of the event, showcasing how students engaged with the event in such a positive way, to lots of pictures of the puppies interacting with the people themselves. By adding in an interview with Shelby Crowe, the President of the Hall Council, the story is a lot more holistic and tells the viewer just how much effort and time goes into planning an event, and how much it can mean for the people putting it on. Crowe was very happy to talk about the event via an interview while it was happening.
I chose to photograph the event from a variety of perspectives to provide a total look at the environment (in wider shots that establish the setting and close-ups that show the joy on people’s faces). The slides are ordered roughly to transition from the general scene to the specific; this starting with a wide shot of multiple people to establish the large crowd, then narrowing down through the interactive shots like the puppies play-fighting and the people interacting with the puppies through the pen fence, and ends with settling on the quiet moments like the puppies sitting on people’s shoulders/laps. My chosen pacing allows the viewer to be drawn into the event as a whole, the “big picture,” before finding the individual experiences of students within it. I experimented with video in this audio slideshow as well because I wanted to capture how crazy the experience was within the pen for anyone who did not go. Unfortunately, I was not allowed to bring my tripod into the pen due to safety concerns with the puppies, but I opted to bring just my camera in for a more casual video shot. Regarding audio and text, I integrated Shelby Crowe’s interview to act as the narrative’s backbone and I tried to match the photos to what she was saying when I could. As mentioned, I wanted the audio to feel like a behind-the-scenes look into how the people made the event as special as it was, and to tell students that they too could be involved with curating special college memories like that.
This TikTok shows what the University of Denver campus looks like during June. While the weather is beautiful, flowers are blooming, and the campus is at its greenest, finals week brings a different reality for students. The video highlights the contrast between a thriving campus and stressed students.
I was inspired to create this video because I noticed how beautiful DU’s campus looks during June. The flowers are blooming, the trees are green, and the weather is warm, but at the same time students are dealing with finals week and end-of-quarter stress. I wanted to capture that contrast in a short and relatable way. To create the video, I filmed different areas of campus and edited the clips together using TikTok’s editing tools. My favorite part of the process was finding shots that matched the captions. I enjoyed turning an everyday college experience into something entertaining and creative.
This TikTok video captures a day in my life as a college student, featuring homework, classes, and extracurricular activities. In the TikTok, I chose to incorporate both photo and video clips that I edited through CapCut. I gathered these clips throughout my day on my Iphone.
I was inspired to create a ‘day in my life’ TikTok for this assignment because I see these types of videos on social media regularly. The format is very popular and tends to do very well on TikTok, so I thought I would try and make one. Shooting the content was fairly easy. I chose to film a busy day in my life so I would have a lot of content to capture. When editing the video through CapCut, I uploaded all the clips and adjusted them as necessary. Adding the text was a bit tricky, specifically the timing of the text, and I learned that I definitely prefer editing with premiere on my laptop then I do with CapCut on my phone. Lastly, I uploaded the finished video from CapCut and added a trending TikTok audio that matched the clips well before posting it. I really like how this video feels like a condensed mini-vlog and how it fits TikTok’s algorithm well. Overall I’m proud of how this video came out.
Artificial intelligence has become a common tool for many college students, including those at the University of Denver. As ChatGPT continues to grow in popularity, students are finding different ways to incorporate it into their academic lives. From helping explain class concepts to assisting with research and editing, students have mixed but generally positive views on how AI can be used in higher education.
For this story, several University of Denver students shared their experiences with ChatGPT and discussed the role it plays in their education.
One student, Ally, focused on the environmental impact of artificial intelligence. While she acknowledged that AI can be helpful, she also pointed out that many people do not realize the amount of energy and water required to power AI systems. Her comments highlighted an important concern surrounding the growing use of artificial intelligence and its effects on everyday life.
For college students life often revolves around the same two central places: where they live and where they go to class. But many students also rely on “third spaces,” or places outside of home and school where they can relax, study, socialize and feel connected to others.
Our story talks about how AI is complicating DU undergrads and graduates. A lot of them already have PHD’s and are still taking DU courses to fulfill experience requirements. They’re scared that they will never get a job and it’s a very anxious and competitive time for them because the job market is not only scarce but also very particular anyway, and adding AI to their job makes it nearly impossible. We interviewed four students and asked them questions about how they feel at the current moment and now that AI is taking over how is it impacting them personally. A lot of them feel defeated, angry, and desperate at this time so this connects to life after DU and the consequences of AI and the foreseeable future getting stronger technologically.
We think that this kind of anxiety would be good to report on because it can happen to anyone. This applies to both post grad and Undergraduate students. As you will see in this video both are still unsure about what to do and even going through graduate school is a lot after being through college and it’s proven that even having a PHD is not enough. This also may be a call to action towards job recruitments, not like they will really do anything about it. Seeing people desperate for even an entry level position of being a receptionist or base sale’s person really calls attention to the unfairness and devastation that is the job market.
On a campus with a student population of 12,800, how do DU students find their place in a community? Three students at the University of Denver discuss how they’ve found their own circles in various ways demonstrating how community can truly be found anywhere in any way.
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