Hello! My name is Nick Salvato and I am a professor and the chair of the Department of Performing and Media Arts here at Cornell University. It's my pleasure and privilege to welcome you to our virtual open house. I dearly wish that we could be convening this open house in real-time and space and that I could learn your name and shake your hand. I look forward to an opportunity to do just that sometime in the near future. In the meantime, I hope this set of brief videos will provide you with a helpful orientation toward who we are and what we do as a group of faculty, students, and staff here in PMA.
Whether in a more typical semester or in an unusual one, like the one that's about to commence, the core of our work remains the same, and it involves a synthesis of creativity and critical thought. We combine the making of work in media and of work in embodied live performance, with the study of dance, theatre, film, television, digital media, and related forms. Typically, the lion's share of that activity happens in the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, and this brief introduction of mine will be followed by a virtual tour of the spaces and resources in the Schwartz Center. What will follow is a set of remarks from my colleagues, and I hope that they will be informative to you. Please feel free to reach out to any and all of us with any questions you may have about the work that we do in PMA, and we look forward to getting to know you. Take care, and have a great day.