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 Faculty Program Director 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.
Christina Nelson
Christina is a fourth generation Fort Collins native. She received an AAS from Front Range Community College and has a passion for public health. Christina joined the department of Communication Studies in 2024. Christina 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
Carol Busch, Sales and Marketing Manager, ExperiencePlus!
Jesus Castro Gonzalez, ISAAC Northern Colorado
Evan Elkins, Professor of Media and Visual Culture, CSU
Kevin Foskin, Director of Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts Major, CSU
Zel Gabriel, Fulbright Fellow, Senegal
Shantel Hansen, Documentary Filmmaker and Training Consultant
Saul Hopper, Clinical Psychologist (Ret.)
Maya Jairam, Northern Colorado Director, Women in Film Media Colorado, artist, and filmmaker
Solei Johnston, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Communication Studies
Sue Ellen Klein, Partners for Peace
J.J. Levy, Community Volunteer
Adriana Avila McClintock, Marketing Communications, CSU
Miranda McCreary, Graduate Student, CSU
Kristen Mullen, CLA Recruitment and Communication Coordinator, 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 of Impact MBA, CSU
Mary Ellen Sanger, Associate Director, Community Literacy Center, Program Coordinator, English, CSU
Shane Omar Slattery-Quintanilla, Professor, Journalism and Media Communication, CSU
Riana Slyter, Graduate Student, CSU
Ty Smith, Director, Native American Cultural Center, CSU
Mary Vogl, Professor, Chief Academic Officer, Semester at Sea