Dr. Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager
Associate Professor of Communication, Director of Education Abroad Program, and a Global Scholar for the Institute of Shipboard Education/Semester at Sea. Julia joined the ACT team in 2016 as a program advisor and assumed the role of Lead Programmer in Fall 2023. An award-winning, multicultural, and multilingual scholar, Julia specializes in intercultural and international communication, European studies, conflict, cultural memory, international cinematography, and critical media studies. Feminist perspectives on communication and business leadership with a global mindset are further areas of her scholarly focus. Julia previously worked as a journalist, a Peace Corps coordinator, and a liaison for a Refugee/Migration center.
Beth Seymour
Beth Seymour (she/her) joined ACT Human Rights Film Festival as Managing Director in 2018. She earned a B.A. in Spanish from Whitman College, and an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Tulane University. Beth brings extensive experience in nonprofit fundraising and event management. Beth formerly sat on the board of directors of the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film and chaired the board of Imagination Celebration, both located in Colorado Springs. Since 2020 she has served as a board member of the Human Rights Film Network, based in Amsterdam. Beth received the Administrative Professional Award from the College of Liberal Arts in 2020.
Dr. Elizabeth Williams
Elizabeth A. Williams is chair of the Department of Communication Studies, Professor of Organizational and Health Communication, and is an affiliate faculty member in the Colorado School of Public Health. She joined ACT as Producer in Summer 2024. Dr. Williams co-edited Organizations, Communication, and Health (winner of the 2017 NCA Organizational Communication Division Edited Book Award) and has published numerous articles and book chapters. She has also served as an advisory board member for ResponderStrong, an organization committed to the mental health of first responders. Dr. Williams has been recognized for Excellence in Teaching and Outstanding Service by the College of Liberal Arts.
Azumi Solbrig
Originally from Tokyo, Japan, Azumi Solbrig holds a B.S. in Economics from Komazawa University. With more than ten years experience in sales and accounting in Tokyo, Azumi moved to Fort Collins in 2017 and took the opportunity to expand her knowledge by studying Accounting. In 2020, Azumi joined Communication Studies as an Accounting Technician. Azumi oversees budgeting and financial reporting for ACT Human Rights Film Festival and supports festival contracting and operations.
Zel Gabriel
Zel Gabriel (she/they) began working for the Department of Communication Studies in Spring 2023. After graduating from The University of Akron in Ohio, she worked for the Teaching Assistant Program in France as an English classroom assistant at two middle schools in Alençon, France. She moved to Fort Collins in 2019 to pursue a dual Master’s degree in French Language, Literature, and Culture and Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language at Colorado State University and graduated in May 2023. Zel assists ACT with filmmaker travel and other festival support.
Dr. Scott Diffrient
Professor of Film and Media Studies in the Department of Communication Studies, Scott Diffrient began planning the ACT Human Rights Film Festival after receiving the 2014-2016 William E. Morgan Endowed Chair of Liberal Arts. He has attended human rights film festivals around the world with the intention to write scholarly texts on human rights cinema as well as to establish Fort Collins and Colorado State University as a locus and leader in humanitarian outreach and scholarship. Dr. Diffrient is currently ACT’s Emeritus Director of Programming following a successful tenure in this role from 2016-2023.
Nathalie Martinez
Nathalie Martinez (she/her) joined the Department of Communication Studies as the communications coordinator in December 2023. She earned a B.A. in Journalism and Media Communications from Colorado State University and a Master of Nonprofit Management from Regis University. Nathalie is an experienced communication professional who has experience developing strategic marketing campaigns and crafting compelling stories. In her free time, she volunteers as an ESL mentor for Poudre River Public Libraries, takes dance classes, and enjoys reading.
Dr. Greg Dickinson
ACT’s Founding Producer, Professor Greg Dickinson continues to serve on the Advisory Committee. He has received the College of Liberal Arts Excellence in Teaching Award and the CSU Alumni Best Teacher Award. He has also received the National Communication Association’s Gerald R. Miller Dissertation Award and (with his co-authors Brian L. Ott and Eric Aoki) the NCA Golden Anniversary Monograph Award. He writes about ways the buildings and human landscapes engage viewers and users on questions values, beliefs, and action. His work advances critical and theoretical understanding of memory, place, materiality, and everyday life. He has published in numerous journals on coffee shops, shopping malls, museums, and gentrified urban spaces. His book Suburban Dreams: Building and Imagining the Good Life was published by the University of Alabama Press in 2015, and he is completing a co-authored book on the Buffalo Bill Center of the West.
Program Advisory Committee
Usama Alshaibi, Teaching Associate Professor of Film, CSU and CU Boulder
Karrin Vasby Anderson, Professor, Communication CSU
Aaunterria Bollinger-Deters, Instructor, CSU
Rita Brown, Community Volunteer
Carl R. Burgchardt, Professor, Communication, CSU
Carol Busch, Sales and Marketing Manager, ExperiencePlus!
Evan Elkins, Assistant Professor of Media and Visual Culture, CSU
Kevin Foskin, Director of Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Major, CSU
Shantel Hansen, Documentary Filmmaker and Training Consultant
Saul Hopper, Clinical Psychologist (Ret.)
Sue Ellen Klein, Partners for Peace
J.J. Levy, Community Volunteer
Emma Lynn, Graduate Student, CSU
Nick Marx, Associate Professor of Film and Media, CSU
Adriana Avila McClintock, Marketing Communications, CSU
Miranda McCreary, Graduate Student, CSU
Devin Odell, Eighth Judicial District Judge (Ret.)
Kate Roth Knull, Documentary Filmmaker and Former Network News Journalist
Antonio Pedrós-Gascón, Associate Professor of Contemporary Spanish Literature and Culture, CSU
Shelby Sack, Director Impact MBA, CSU
Mary Ellen Sanger, Associate Director, Community Literacy Center, Program Coordinator, English, CSU
Riana Slyter, Graduate Student, CSU
Ty Smith, Director, Native American Cultural Center, CSU
Mary Vogl, Professor, Chief Academic Officer, Semester at Sea