Diversity & Inclusion in Park

DAP meets a few times each semester but more importantly is an action-oriented group that

• identifies and captures best practices in teaching and in leading inclusive teams;
• seeks out and promotes resources like grants and scholarships for students from traditionally under-represented groups;
• suggests and hosts speakers, community building, and learning events; and 
• serves as a team of supportive listeners for anyone who wants to talk.  

DAP members must agree to participate in some basic training so that they know how to effectively and legally be advocates for individuals who may approach them with issues or needs. 

Park brings in several emerging scholars and artists from diverse backgrounds who are embarking on careers in communications education. They spend a week during which they give guest lectures, sit in on classes, meet faculty across campus, and give a public presentation on their work. 

Independent filmmaker, director, producer, teacher, and advocate, Mason Richards was one of our Diversity Emerging Artists.  Mason has worked as a Broadcast Associate at CBS News in NYC, and in International Sales & Marketing at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles before deciding to pursue his masters in Filmmaking as a way to tell stories in Hollywood that often get overlooked. Mason has an M.F.A. in Film Directing from California Institute of the Arts (CAL ARTS), where his award-winning thesis short film The Seawall shot entirely on location in Guyana, South America, was an official selection for the Cannes Film Festival (2011) and the Havana International Film Festival in Cuba (2014), and it has screened at festivals, museums, and universities in the UK, Toronto, and throughout the Caribbean, including the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (2014).