Events
Join us as we hear from renowned lecturers and guest speakers, view creative works by filmmakers, and celebrate leaders in the fields of media, film and journalism. Our recurring events include the Estlow Center's Anvil of Freedom Lecture, the Margolin Distinguished Lecture, the Marsico Visiting Scholars series, the InShort Film Showcase, and the Wolzien Visiting Professor Lecture.
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Estlow Center Anvil of Freedom Lecturer
Outstanding Contributions to Journalism and Democracy
Established in 1993, our Estlow Center brings in an annual lecturer and recipient of the Anvil for Freedom Award who serves as a keynote speaker at a University-wide event and talks with students to deepen their exploration of journalism and democratic freedom.
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Morton L. Margolin Distinguished Lecture
This annual series is provided in honor of renowned Colorado business journalist Morton Margolin. During his distinguished 35-year career with the Rocky Mountain News and the Colorado Business Magazine, Margolin received many awards, including a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize.
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InShort DU Film and Video Showcase
Each spring, students in our narrative or documentary film sequences showcase their final projects. These screenings are free and open to the public and are a great chance to see the creative work of our film studies and production students.
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Marsico Visiting Scholars Program
Faculty coordinate special lectures and workshops in cooperation with the University's Marsico Visiting Scholars Program, which brings guests with backgrounds in topics of interest to our students.
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Wolzien Visiting Professor Lecture
The Wolzien Visiting Professor of the Practice and corresponding annual lecture was funded by a generous $500,000 gift from DU Alumni Tom and Valerie Wolzien. The gift will also allow the department to bring on a different visiting professor each year for the next four years to speak to students on relevant topics in the fields of media, film and journalism.
Annual Wolzien Lecture: Thursday, February 13, 2025
"Local Journalism, Higher Education, and the Future of Democracy"
The 2025 Wolzien Lecture, endowed by DU graduates Tom and Valerie Wolzien, occurred on Thursday, February 13. This year's lecture was delivered by Laura Frank, Visiting Professor in the Practice at the Department of Media, Film and Journalism Studies (MFJS) at the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS). She is a Denver native, veteran journalist and Executive Director of the Colorado News Collaborative (COlab) This year’s lecture, "Local Journalism, Higher Education & the Future of Democracy," explored how colleges and their students can play a key role in addressing the challenges that are overwhelming local newsrooms and threatening democracy.
Morton L. Margolin Distinguished Lecture
Beginning in 2015, the Morton L. Margolin Distinguished Lecture has been given each year in honor of renowned Colorado business journalist Morton Margolin. During his distinguished 35-year career as a journalist with the Rocky Mountain News and the Colorado Business Magazine that he co-founded, Margolin received many awards, including a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. His series of news stories exposing controversial U.S. reclamation projects in the Riverton, Wyo., area in 1952 won him that nomination.
Prior to the Morton L. Margolin Distinguished Lecture Series, the University of Denver School of Communication and the Denver College of Business presented the prestigious Morton Margolin Prize recognizing Distinguished Business Reporting in Colorado from 1980 until 2008. A group of Margolin's friends established the award following his death in 1978 to recognize his career as a business journalist for local publications, including the Rocky Mountain News and Colorado Business Magazine.
