Campus Directories

Sarah Brokke Erickson, MFA

Sarah Brokke Erickson received her BFA in Pre-Graduate Studio Art with an emphasis in Painting from the University of Minnesota Duluth. During her time there, she studied abroad in Birmingham, England and participated in an Art History Intensive in France. She received her MFA through a joint program between SACI in Florence, Italy and BGSU in Ohio.

Brokke Erickson has taught Studio Art, Art History and Theory, Honors and Dignitas courses at CSS since the fall of 2005, and has been the Art Program Director since 2015. She also directs the Mural Initiative Project, which is in its seventh year. This project has created collaborative community murals with local schools and non-profits, each of which have been supported by Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Grants, and has brought visiting Artists to the college.

She is also a Visual Artist. Thematically, her work explores gender roles and traditions, relationships, and identity. She exhibits her work locally, as well as nationally and internationally. Brokke Erickson is a 2015 and 2018 recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Award, as well as a 2017 Arrowhead Regional Arts Council Fellowship. Her published work Portrait of an Artist received an Honorable Mention by the NEMBA, and a documentary of the same name was produced in 2017 by SHOOK productions. She has most recently illustrated a children's book titled 'A Common Thirst', written by Professor Emeritus Gary Boelhower, and published by Beaver's Pond Press, which has recieved a 'Book Excellence' Award.

Derek Bromme,

Richard Carrick, DMA

Richard Carrick is a conductor, clinician, singer, and educator committed to innovative concert programming and engaging, collaborative rehearsals. Richard is the Director of Choral Activities at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN. Carrick holds a D.M.A. in Choral Conducting from the University of Washington where he studied with Geoffrey Boers and Giselle Wyers. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Music at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. While at Cal Poly, he studied conducting with Tom Davies and voice with Jackie Bauer Kreitzer. Richard continued his education at the University of Oregon where he earned a M.M. in Choral Conducting under the tutelage of Sharon Paul and continued his vocal training with Eric Mentzel.

Following his time in Oregon, Richard worked with the San Francisco Boys Chorus as the Apprentice Choir Director. From 2012 until 2018 Richard lived in the Twin Cities where he taught music at Burroughs Community School in Minneapolis. In addition to his public-school teaching, Richard served as the Artistic Director of the South Metro Chorale and Calliope Women's Chorus. From 2014-2015, Richard was fortunate to serve as the Assistant Conductor of the Oratorio Society of Minnesota (Matthew Mehaffey, conductor). An active church musician, Richard has served various churches around the country, including Music Director at Hamline Church in St. Paul, MN.

Richard has sung professionally with the Minnesota Chorale, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra Chorale, and professional chamber choirs including Solaris Vocal Ensemble, Pacific MusicWorks, Magpies and Ravens, and IMPLS. Richard has participated in the Oregon Bach Festival, both as a singer and student-conductor, where he worked with Helmuth Rilling, Jeffrey Kahane, Matthew Halls, and Kathy Romey.

Nathan Carroll, PhD

Dr. Nathan Carroll

Professor, Film Studies, Dept. of Communication and Media Studies

Dr. Carroll has taught Film Studies in the Dept. of Communication, Theatre and Art since arriving at CSS in 2006. He grew up near Fargo, ND before graduating Gustavus Adolphus College in 1995 with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science. He did graduate coursework in Philosophy and Cultural Analysis at the Univ. of Amsterdam (1996-7) before transferring into an MA program in Aesthetics at the Univ. of York, UK. In 1999, his thesis comparing Postmodern theory to the Kantian sublime received a distinction. Changing disciplinary focus to Film Studies, he graduated from Indiana Univ. in 2006 with a combined Ph.D. in Communication and Culture and American Studies. His dissertation investigated the impact of digital archiving on film history.

Since 2006, Dr. Carroll has designed a diverse Film Studies Concentration curriculum within the Communication Major. He has served as Chair of Faculty Assembly, taught two semesters in Ireland (2011, 2016), created the SAL Colloquium in 2007, supervises CTA internships and has co-organized nine CSS film festivals with Brad Snelling (CSS Library).

Dr. Carroll has published in several academic journals including Velvet Light Trap, The Moving Image, Quarterly Review of Film and Video and Movement (online). He received sabbatical for fall 2018 to edit a peer-reviewed anthology contracted with Intellect Press (UK) titled: The Cinematic Sublime: Negative Pleasures, Structuring Absences, published September, 2020. It features chapter essays by Dr. Carroll and 9 other authors discussing intersections between Aesthetics (Phil.) and Film Studies. He has presented at numerous conferences and was an invited presenter for the UMD Zombie Fest (2013) and the Duluth Art Institute’s ‘Saturday Morning Art Films’ series in 2017. Married in January 2017 on the island of Kauai, he and his partner Laurie are owned by two beautiful Siamese cats.

Publications

The Cinematic Sublime: Negative Pleasures, Structuring Absences (Anthology from Intellect Press (UK), 2020) (Editor and Contributor)

Oscar predictions featured in Duluth News Tribune article by Christa Lawler, Feb. 26, 2016 http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/lifestyle/3956250-locals-share-their-oscar-predictions

“Chimes at Midnight.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 29.5

“Double Exposure: Framing the Athletes of Marx & Coca-Cola at the Beijing Opening Ceremony.” Movement 1.1 – http://movementjournal.com

“Mitchell and Kenyon, Archival Contingency, and the Cultural Production of Historical License.” The Moving Image 6.2 (Fall 2006)

“Unwrapping Archives: DVD Restoration Demonstrations and the Marketing of Authenticity.” Velvet Light Trap 56 (Fall 2005)

Conference Presentations and Guest Lectures

"Street Hassles: Revolution and Authorship in Street Scenes 1970" (‘Wounded Galaxies 1968’ conference at Indiana University, Feb 2018.)

“Introduction to American Cinema” Russian-American Language Camp, College of St. Scholastica, Duluth, MN, July 2017.

“One Shot in Real Time: Digitally Staging Sublime Cinema” (Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2017.)

“Abstracting Pollock” (‘Saturday Morning Art Films’, Duluth, MN sponsored by the Duluth Art Institute and Zeitgeist, March 4, 2017.

“Chimes at Midnight” Intro. for ‘Shakespeare on Film: Great Adaptations’ Film Fest, CSS, Duluth, MN, Dec 2, 2016.

“A Short History of the Long Take: Digital Cinema & the Infinite Cut” (School of Arts & Letters Colloquium, Sept 18, 2015)

“Clint Eastwood, Toxic Masculinity & American Sniper” (following campus-wide screening, April 2015.

"Conspicuous Consumption: Zombies, Labor Exploitation & the Return of the Repressed" (‘UMD Zombie Fest’ Oct 18, 2013, Duluth, MN.)

“Relocating Metropolis” (Intro. for ‘Lost Shadows: Silent German Expressionist Cinema’ Film Fest, CSS, Duluth, MN, April, 2012)

“Alien Body Panic: On the Identity Politics of Body-Switch Movies” (Society for Cinema and Media Studies, L.A., CA, March 2010.)

“Daddy Longlegs: The Long Way Home” (Sound Unseen Film Festival, Zinema 2, Duluth, MN, June 2010)

“Obsessing About Cinema” (Video interview and introduction for Obsessed Cinema Film Festival, CSS, Duluth, MN, Feb 2010.)

“Introduction to American Cinema: The Studio System and Censorship; American Film Genres; Outside Hollywood/Independent Film” (Three-part lecture series for Russian-American Language Camp, CSS, Duluth, MN, July 2009.)

“Sublime Frames: The Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremony Redefines the Cinematic” (Invited lecture for “Media, Sport, & Culture,” CSS, Duluth, MN, April 2009.)

“Kant and Sublime Enlightenment” (Invited lectures for “Composition,” CSS, Duluth, MN, Nov 2008 & April 2009.)

“Recycling De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves: 60th Anniversary” (Intro. for Italian Film Festival, CSS, Duluth, MN, Oct 2008.)

“The Auteur & the Opera: Herzog, Nietzsche, and the Wagnerian Sublime” (Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Philadelphia, PA, March 2008.)

“Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue Series” (Intro. for The Decalogue Film Festival, CSS, Duluth, MN, Feb 2008.))

“Autumn Sonata as Chamber Drama” (Intro. for Ingmar Bergman Film Festival, CSS, Duluth, MN, Dec 2007.)

“Wild Strawberries as a Road Trip Movie” (Intro. for Ingmar Bergman Film Festival, CSS, Duluth, MN, Dec 2007.)

“The French New Wave” (Invited lecture: “French Culture Through Film,” CSS, Duluth, MN, March 2007.)

“Digital Disruptions: DVD and Cultural Archives” (Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Vancouver, Canada, March 2006.)

“Lost: Digital Contingency and the Archival Production of Cultural Context” (Archival Bodies Conference (Milwaukee Interdisciplinary Graduate Conference), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI, Feb 2006.)

“Waiting for Godard: Archiving H/histories du Histoire(s) du Cinema” (‘Back to Zero: Jean-Luc Godard Film Festival and Symposium, IN Univ, Bloomington, Dec 2005.)

“Unwrapping Archives: DVD Restoration Demonstrations and the Marketing of Authenticity” (Society for Cinema and Media Studies Annual Conference, University of London, UK, April 2005.)

“There’s No Place Like Home: The American Gothic Prairie and Contemporary Film” (Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association National Conference, New Orleans, LA, April 2003.)

“Analyzing a Scene and Writing about Film” (Invited lecture for “Homeland and Emigration in the Sagas of Icelanders,” University of California, Berkeley, CA, Oct 2002.)

“Pop Will Eat Itself: Self-Cannibalism and the Politics of Absence in Todd Haynes’ Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” (Outside(r) Hollywood Conference, Dept. of Comparative Literature Cinema Studies Colloquium, University of WA, Seattle, May 2000.

Honors and Awards

Sabbatical awarded for fall 2018 to edit forthcoming reader: Negative Pleasures: The Cinematic Sublime.

Small Grant Award from College of St. Scholastica to attend Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, IL, 2017.

Equal Access Award, College of St. Scholastica. Per description, “This award recognizes faculty who exhibit exemplary effort to engage students with disabilities in academic and interpersonal growth and development.” 2015.

Film Concentration in the Department of Communication, Theatre, and Art approved fall 2011

Promoted to Associate Professor Fall 2011

Received tenure beginning fall 2012

Small Grant Award from College of St. Scholastica to attend the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, L.A., CA, 2010.

Small Grant Award from College of St. Scholastica to attend Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Philadelphia, PA, 2008.

Faculty Development Research Grant from College of St. Scholastica for developing the research project “The Auteur & the Opera: Cinema’s Pet Project,” 2007.

Small Grant Award from College of St. Scholastica to attend the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, IL, 2007.

Communication and Culture Pedagogy Certificate at Indiana University, 2006.

Department of Communication and Culture Travel Grant from Indiana University for attendance at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, London, UK, 2005.

Distinction on M.A. Thesis at the University of York, UK, 1999.

Jeremy Craycraft, DMA

Dr. Jeremy Craycraft, Associate Professor of Music, is currently serving as Chair of the Fine Arts Department. He teaches in the College's Dignitas program, music theory courses, and guides the College's percussion program.

Dr. Craycraft performs regularly with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, and in various regional ensembles such as the Northern Lights Music Festival, and the Lyric Opera of the North.

In the community, he continues to be a frequent visitor to local/regional schools, serving as clinician and providing outreach opportunities for CSS students. He is the percussion director for the Duluth Superior Symphony Youth Orchestra/Percussion Ensemble, and he received grants from the Beim Foundation and Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation to provided musical education to k-12 youth in the Duluth community.

His compositions are published by Bachovich Publications, and his scholarship has been presented by the Percussive Arts Society in their research arena. Dr. Craycraft has performed at several PASIC events, most recently the 2018 Focus Day percussion ensemble performance with CSS students, and the 2017 PASIC All-Star Steel Band Repertoire Showcase.

Dr. Craycraft studied with and performed alongside members of the internationally acclaimed percussion trio Percussion Group Cincinnati at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati where he received his Master’s and Doctoral degrees. He received his Bachelor’s degree from the Baldwin-Wallace University and Conservatory.

Sasha Howell, MEd

Sasha is a Costume Designer with the CTA Department and CSS’s Theatre program. She is also an instructor with the Dignitas program. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Theatre (Costume Design emphasis) with a Minor in Studio Art. She also holds a Master’s in Education.

Jessica Schroeder, DMA

Dr. Jessica Schroeder is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Arts and Letters at The College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, MN where she teaches piano lessons, class piano, music theory, and leads the college's string orchestra. In addition to her work at CSS, Jessica is the organist and pianist at Pilgrim Congregational Church, and the pianist for the choirs at Lake Superior College. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree in Piano Performance from Western Washington University, a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance and Pedagogy from Northern Illinois University, a Master of Music Degree in Collaborative Piano from the University of Oregon, and a Doctorate of Musical Arts Degree in Collaborative Piano and Coaching from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Before joining the faculty at CSS, Jessica taught at Denfeld High School in Duluth, MN and at MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, MN.

An active performer, she has worked with various local ensembles, including the CSS Band and String Orchestra, UMD Theatre Department, and the Lyric Opera of the North.

Jessica is a member of the Music Teachers National Association, and the Arrowhead Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.

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