By Jessica Romer

In a student council meeting, the group conceived a zine, or amateur magazine, that brings together work that SCA students created outside the classroom. After months of planning, constructing, and organizing, Rosalen and his fellow council members created Showcase; combining an array of work. As Rosalen explained,“Showcase is an interdisciplinary, online, interactive magazine to showcase exceptional work that SCA students have been doing outside of school.”

Keeping in mind the habits and taste of the undergrad student body, the council decided to make Showcase an online digital platform; an interactive magazine in a space that felt natural for them and their peers. Rosalen says that not only is it eco-friendly, but it is also easily accessible for all students, aligning with their mission of creating a forward-thinking platform for the undergrad audience.

This inaugural edition of Showcase highlights works from the Fall 2017 semester, and is now available online. The council intends to publish a new edition at the end of each semester, featuring the creative and scholarly works of students from the commencing term. Each edition will focus on a theme, the first being “connectivity of technology.” In creating the edition they thought about what all the SCA divisions have in common and realized that technology is impacting all media creators. “Technology is altering media, yet technology is also the way in which we connect to each other,” says Rosalen. “We wanted technology to be a way to tie in everything.”

Showcase aims to celebrate student work with fluidity and openness, rather than strict restrictions. Its online format makes this goal possible by being able to highlight videos, games, interactive media, and much more. Rosalen says he and his fellow council members were pleasantly surprised by the number of students who turned out for the magazine’s launch party in December. The event featured student work including installations, videos, and other exhibits. Students mingled and networked with each other, underlining the intention of the magazine to connect students through their works.

For the zine, Showcase sought out work they thought was exceptional and unique. Rosalen says that initially the hurdle of finding work that students created in their spare time seemed daunting.  “It was hard to find student work because every undergrad is so busy with classes, but what we found was really great,” he added. They found success by “reaching out to people who reached out to other people,” and eventually garnered a diverse and fascinating array of projects to curate.

The digital magazine is divided into sections including Student Spotlight, Fun Things Here, Video Portfolio, and Interview Spotlight. Student Spotlight features media, such as interviews, films, web series, and games, from students in each different SCA divisions. Fun Things has an exclusive Showcase show, The Vern & Kadija Show: Fall 2017 Movie News, in which two SCA undergraduate students, Vern and Kadija, chat about all things cinema. This section also features quizzes, trivia, and articles such as Which SCA space are you? and Guess the movie represented by emojis!. Video Portfolio highlights music videos, narrative shorts, and experimental films created by SCA undergrads outside of school. The Internship Spotlights features stories about internships held by SCA student in the Fall 2017 semester, in which students recount their experiences with anecdotes, advice, and pictures.

In Showcases’ letter from the editor, Rosalen says, “We were eager to create a platform for students to share the works they created during the semester with their peers in all divisions of SCA.” Showcase has accomplished that goal and with the success of its first edition Showcase is looking towards to the future, searching for new original student works to feature. They are eagerly seeking admissions so if check out the magazine and contact them if your work meets their criteria and you think it deserves a showcase.

 

Link to Showcase magazine here: https://showcasemagazine.tumblr.com