Internationalization
in Higher Education
As an educator, Roma Sur is a strong proponent of internationalization. In her pedagogy, she is a strong proponent of bringing other cultural perspectives into the classroom, because she truly believes that it creates citizens with broader global perspectives. Sur has designed and led four international collaborative film projects with students from both cultures. Two of them were credited courses. Currently, at DU, she is designing MFJS’s first COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) with Whistling Woods International, Mumbai.
This venture led to the signing of a five-year partnership with Whistling Woods International; and University of Denver to facilitate further collaborative opportunities.
Sur is currently engaged in a summer 2026 inter-term to Costa Rica for Environmental Filmmaking.
New Delhi, India — 2011
Undergraduate Research and Opportunity Project, University of Colorado-Denver
In June of 2011, Sur led her first international trip to New Delhi.
She wanted to begin her filmmaking journey by taking up a social cause in India, where she comes from. India, at the time, was number one on the global map for fatalities due to roadside accidents. Sur had read the story of Piyush Tewari. In May of 2011, she picked up the phone and asked him if she could make a film on his journey. After waiting for two minutes, he said, yes. In June of 2011, along with her producing partner, Jessica McGaugh, and a student from CU Denver, Sur flew to New Delhi. They mentored the student to receive the UROP grant to fund their trip and shot for three weeks in 90 plus degrees in Delhi, along with students and interns from New Delhi. That was the birth of the documentary The Golden Hour.
The film has been screened at many global festivals. It is still streaming on NDTV, a broadcast channel in India. But most importantly, it has been a part of the mission to initiate India’s Good Samaritan Law. Sur and her team feel blessed to be able to tell the story of Piyush Tewari, India’s prominent social entrepreneur.
Kolkata, Graduates of Satyajit Ray Institute — 2019
Undergraduate Research and Opportunity Project, University of Colorado-Denver
MAA is a personal and human angle documentary shot over a two-year period in Kolkata, Canada and Denver. It is a cross-cultural collaboration between two crews from two different parts of the world.
https://symposium.foragerone.com/2021-racas/presentations/27245
MAA is a love letter from a daughter to her eighty-year-old mother, whose dream to see the Niagara falls, pivoted due to COVID19. The film explores what Niagara signifies in her mother’s life. Central to the story, is the pandemic which completely alters the trajectory of the film. The film is a testimony to Maa’s strength of mind and to the year 2020, that tested human spirit, in so many ways all over the globe.
Lives changed. Lives were lost. Destinies changed. MAA witnessed all of that, via Sur’s mother's journey. The film hopes to capture it for posterity.
Mumbai — 2019
Bollywood Connections: CU Denver & Whistling Woods International
In the summer of 2019, Sur designed Film and Television department’s first credited study abroad class in Mumbai, titled Bollywood Connections. Sur designed the course curriculum, recruited students, conducted visa and vaccine clinics, and collaborated with CU Denver’s Global Office to design a 4000 level course.
Ten Film & Television (FITV) majors and one Music & Entertainment Studies (MEIS) major, from CU Denver’s College of Arts & Media (CAM), traveled with Sur to Mumbai, India. During a two-week period, they collaborated with India’s top film school, Whistling Woods International (WWI), to produce a fifteen minute film. The film titled, “Not Pictured” can be viewed here. It went to multiple festivals, and won India’s prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award.
Mumbai — 2023
Hashtag Bollywood: University of Denver & Whistling Woods International
In November 2023, Sur designed the Media Film and Journalism department’s first interterm to Bollywood. She combined her passion for filmmaking with the popularity of the Social Media class at DU. After doing some research, Sur found that the class needed to be made accessible for all majors, both Grads and Undergrads. She designed a syllabus that would allow students with different levels of filmmaking skills to thrive. Sur was approached by Professor Erika Trigosso, who came on board as a co-faculty lead.
Six short cross-cultural social media films were made, and one mini-documentary. Three of these were screened at the CDBF, where students got to attend a live talkback.
Success Stories: two of the short films (one from MFJS and one from Korbel Grad Program) were official selects at the 2024 Dragon Boat Asian American Film Festival
SUSTAINABLE BOLLYWOOD, an inter-term film shot in Mumbai, by Lilith Dirringer, International Student, Korbel School of Global and Public Affairs.
INTZ. PARTNER WEEK PRESENTATION
April 2024, University of Denver
Topic: (Re)connecting in a Dis/connected World
In Sur’s fifty-minute panel presentation, she highlighted the conceptualization, execution and learning outcomes of an interdisciplinary course across the globe.
Sur’s co-presenter was Grad student, Lilith Dirringer, who traveled with her to Whistling Woods, Mumbai for Hashtag Bollywood.
