Events

Finding ‘Better Days’ through art

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 15:23:47 +0000

Finding ‘Better Days’ through art Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/20/2024 - 09:23

Rachel Sauer

New CU Art Museum exhibit highlights the ways in which art meets challenging times and finds the sometimes-elusive silver lining

It began not with the more known Confederate battle flag—the infamous stars and bars—but with the lesser-known Confederate flag of truce, a white linen towel waved on April 9, 1865, by Confederate troops when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered at Appomattox Court House, ending the U.S. Civil War.

In 2019, textile and social practice artist Sonya Clark made the flag of truce the focal point of her work Monumental Cloth, The Flag We Should Know, recreating the “cloth that brokered peace and represented the promise of reconciliation.” The University of Colorado Art Museum recently acquired Clark’s 2022 print, Confederate, surrender, which reconstructs the historical artifact.

"From Me, All Things Proceed and to Me, They Must Return," by Hollis Sigler (1991) is part of the "Better Days" exhibition now open at the CU Art Museum.

It was this interpretation of a lesser-known symbol that got curators and staff at the museum thinking: “(Clark) is taking this ongoing moment in history and, in many ways, elevating it with an act of repair,” says Hope Saska, acting director, chief curator and director of academic engagement in the museum. “That started us thinking about how do artists take these times that may be challenging and then use art to respond?”

The fruit of those discussions is “Better Days,” an exhibition on view beginning today and open through Oct. 26, highlighting how artists “respond to times of uncertainty” with “work that can help make sense of the world.” In the works in the exhibit, drawn from the museum’s collection, “some [artists] imagine a better world, encouraging viewers to find silver linings, while others reveal hidden aspects of conflict, sparking conversation… Collectively, they offer ways to contend with a complex world, urging viewers to celebrate our shared humanity, witness injustice and work to repair division and inequity.”

These themes are especially timely as the U.S. presidential race speeds toward election day and as events worldwide seem to create tumult and fracture rather than hope and healing, Saska says.

“In some of these artworks (in the exhibit), artists are taking stands about racial injustice and political and social conflict, or they’re making artworks related to the AIDS crisis,” she explains. “For the museum, in the climate we have today, taking on these topics kind of feels risky sometimes. We were thinking about all of these things as we curated the exhibit, so hopefully it is thought-provoking even in its challenging aspects. Our goal is that what people really get out of it is positive and reparative. We want them to come away with hope.”

If you go

What: "Better Days" exhibition

When: Aug. 20-Oct. 26; reopening February 2025. Opening celebration from 4-6 p.m. Sept. 12.

Where: CU Art Museum

More information

Daniella Fairley, a junior who is studying art history and ethnic studies with a minor in creative technology and design, completed an eight-week Art Buffs Collective internship with the CU Art Museum during the summer. As part of the internship, Fairley helped curate and create “Better Days.”

“I felt like this exhibit shows the perseverance of the human spirit and how we cope with tragedy,” Fairley says. “In seeing a lot of these art works and learning how they were made, what they represent, their stories, I feel like it's important to show how humans struggle and how we still live through it. Art connects us more than we think, and I hope that people can feel that connection or thread when looking at this show.”

Lead museum attendant Bella Mahlerbe, a student in the bachelor’s-accelerated master’s in art history, also provided curatorial labor for the exhibit. Malherbe worked with fellow Lead museum attendant Riley Ramsay to create a visitor feedback wall where visitors can share responses to the exhibition.

Top image: "Party Picture," by Laurie Simmons (1985) is part of the "Better Days" exhibition now open at the CU Art Museum.

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New CU Art Museum exhibit highlights the ways in which art meets challenging times and finds the sometimes-elusive silver lining.

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Noted animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to speak at disability symposium

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 21:22:24 +0000

Noted animal behaviorist Temple Grandin to speak at disability symposium Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/19/2024 - 15:22

CSU professor credits her autism for her ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook

Temple Grandin, a groundgreaking professor of animal science at Colorado State University whose work has led to the more humane treatment of livestock around the world, will speak at the �鶹��Ƶ Disability Symposium Oct. 8 and 14-18.

According to David Braz, a faculty affairs coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences, the symposium aims to bring attention to people who have traditionally flown under the radar.

“When we talk about diversity, equity and inclusion in public settings, and highlight a lot of groups that have been historically excluded, a group that does not seem to get as much attention are individuals with disabilities, whether apparent or not apparent,” he says.

One disability, or different ability, that often goes unseen is autism, something with which Grandin herself is intimately familiar.

Grandin has written several books about autism and her experiences living with it, including Thinking in Pictures, The Autistic Brain and Emergence: Labeled Autistic, which Oliver Sacks said was “unprecedented because there had never before been an inside narrative of autism.”

Though Grandin, who didn’t speak until she was three and a half years old, encountered teasing and bullying growing up, she nevertheless credits her autism with giving her the ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook.

“The thing about the autistic mind is it attends to details,” Grandin said during a TED Talk in 2010. “The normal brain ignores the details.”

It’s this detail-oriented way of thinking that has enabled Grandin to transform the field of animal agriculture globally. Over the course of her decades-long career, she has written more than 400 articles for scientific journals and livestock periodicals and has designed livestock facilities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand.

Now perhaps one of the most recognizable and beloved scientists in the world, Grandin believes it is important for people to realize that not everyone thinks in the same way, and that’s a good thing. “The world needs all kinds of minds!”

Grandin's presentation will be in-person and on Zoom from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 8. Registration is required.

Grandin's presentation kicks off the weeklong symposium, whose aim is “centering the experiences of persons with disabilities on campus." It will focus on a range of topics, including navigating higher education systems while diagnosed with a disability; how disability and ableism are defined; barriers for disabled veterans in academic settings; medical advocacy; and more.

The symposium has been funded for a second year with support from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The symposium has been made possible through the efforts of the College of Arts and Sciences Office of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, University Libraries, the Be Well program, CU Disability Services, the Office of People, Engagement and Culture and students in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The symposium aims to inform students, staff and faculty but is open to the general public.

Registration is required. Links to register are included with each presentation, and each registration page includes the option to request accommodation if needed for registering.

Please note that some symposium attendees and participants may be immunocompromised. All attendees are encouraged to wear a mask while in attendance.

Each year, CU Boulder strives to create an experience that is accessible and accommodates the needs of those with disabilities. If you identify as having a disability, you will have an opportunity to indicate any accommodation requirements when you register using our online registration system. Please also feel free to e-mail us at asinfo@colorado.edu to let us know how we can better enhance your experience.

CSU professor credits her autism for her ability to think in pictures and thereby notice things that most people overlook.

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Expert to share how to use your voice for more power

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 17:58:29 +0000

Expert to share how to use your voice for more power Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/16/2024 - 11:58

Presentation titled ‘SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators’ is set for April 29

Your voice can be a path to power, a CU Boulder expert argues, and she will explain how in a public presentation this month.

Chelsea Hackett, a university research associate, will give a presentation titled “SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators,” on Monday, April 29, at 3 p.m. via Zoom.

The event is free and open to everyone, but registration is required at this link. The event is sponsored by Be Well, the College of Arts and Sciences' wellness initiative, and is part of its regular Let’s CU Well series of programs.

During the session, Hackett will explore “how to support your voice both within and outside of the classroom. This focuses on three aspects of voice: social/emotional, physical and civic.

“During this interactive hour, you will learn tangible skills to keep your voice healthy, and to practice getting comfortable being uncomfortable so that you can speak about issues that are important to you!”

Hackett is a 2010 CU Boulder theatre performance graduate and PhD graduate of New York University. She is now a research associate at CU Boulder’s Renée Crown Wellness Institute.

She is the co-founder and executive director of SPEAK, a nonprofit that focuses on vocal empowerment for young women and girls. In addition, she is an interdisciplinary artist, researcher and creative consultant.

SPEAK, which Hackett founded with Beth Osnes, a CU Boulder professor of theatre, aims to “support and celebrate the voices of all young women and girls.”

The organization envisions a world in which all young women and girls are “heard, valued, and affirmed, a world that benefits from their unique contributions, one where they are safe to express themselves fully, and are free to co-author an equitable, survivable, and thrive-able future.”

If you go

What: SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators

When: 3 p.m. Monday, April 29

Where: Zoom, free but registration required

The nonprofit says vocal empowerment “is the ability to express yourself the way you want in any context.” The group’s approach to vocal empowerment addresses three aspects of of voice: physical, which draws from theater and voice and speech pathology; social/emotional, which uses meditations, journal activities and games to help young women and girls explore their internal voices, ideas and emotions; and civic, through which women and girls are encouraged to share their thoughts about vital issues with their communities.

“By combining theatre with voice speech pathology, Dr. Beth Osnes and I have worked to charter a new, creative and trans-disciplinary endeavor we call Vocal Empowerment that is designed for use primarily by young women to become agents of change in their communities, their nations and the world," Hackett says. "This work supports youth in speaking about issues that are important to them, such as sexual violence prevention, climate change and racial justice.”

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Presentation titled ‘SPEAK: Vocal Empowerment for Students and Educators’ is set for April 24.

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Lassoing light and capturing the magic between horse and rider

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:22:13 +0000

Lassoing light and capturing the magic between horse and rider Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/19/2024 - 13:22

Doug McPherson

Alumnus and professional photographer Chris Sessions explains how one of his first photo assignments 30 years ago in a CU Boulder class evolved into a cultural art exhibit

It’s fitting that in the mid-1990s one of Chris Sessions’ first photo assignments at the �鶹��Ƶ was covering a dog and pony show.

“The assignment was my first experience being close to horses and gave me a good understanding of their sensitivity and the care needed while interacting with them,” says Sessions (BA ’97), a professional photographer and videographer based in Boulder.

And now, 30 years later, Sessions’ photography related to horses is back at CU Boulder. His exhibit, “Charrería: Exploring the Human-Horse Connection in Mexican Rodeo,” is on display at the Center of the American West at CU Boulder through Oct. 17.

Chris Sessions (center) is a CU Boulder alumnus who has phtographed Mexican rodeo athletes for more than 10 years. (Photo: Chris Sessions via Instagram)

The show, already winning praise, is the culmination of 12 years of documentary work and features black-and-white and color photographs of charrería, the national sport of Mexico also known as Mexican rodeo, that dates back to the 16th century.

It turns out those ponies left an indelible impression on Sessions. As the years went by, he says, he’d often find himself pulling over to photograph horses on farms along Boulder’s eastern edge.

Then, one day in 2012, Sessions saw a notice for a Mexican rodeo at the Adams County Fair.

“I went and I was captivated,” he says. “Beyond the colorful culture and horsemanship, it was mostly the way the people carried themselves—conveying a deep sense of pride and elegance in their Mexican heritage and for the tradition that they’ve passed down the generations for hundreds of years.”

A dance between horse and rider

Sessions soon met the Torres family, who have nationally ranked men’s and women’s charrería teams that regularly perform at the Colorado State Fair, the National Western Stock Show and in competitions around Colorado, the United States and Mexico.

After sharing his work with the Torres family, they welcomed him to film and photograph the events and learn more about the sport. “This access provided ample opportunities for creativity and a deeper understanding into the cultural tradition, taking the documentary to a whole new level,” Sessions explains.

Sessions adds that his understanding of the human-horse connection comes from observing the charrería community.

“The nonverbal communication required between a well-trained horse and rider is a larger-than-life inspiration to experience and can only be described with subtlety and nuance, with words like extraordinary. It’s like a dance that brings the two beings together, moving in union, guided by an underlying magical force, and it’s this energetic intuition that I utilize while photographing the events.”

A participant in charrería, the national sport of Mexico also known as Mexican rodeo. (Photo: Chris Sessions)

Sessions also returned to CU Boulder this semester to visit students studying the American West and to talk about his work and his exhibit in Tamar McKee’s class. McKee is the manager of programs and operations at the Center of the American West, which brought the exhibit to life. Sessions, who spoke alongside Carolina Herrera, the escaramuza queen (similar to a rodeo queen), says speaking to the students felt like a full-circle moment.

“It was exciting to share the work with the students and to see their interest in learning more about the tradition.”

McKee says her students wrote initial impressions of the exhibit before Sessions’ and Herrera’s visit and then read and watched more resources to further understand not just the sport, but how it exists in Mexican-American culture given how a large swath of the western United States was carved out of Mexico.

“The end goal is to use the information Chris and Carolina shared, alongside the research and impressions of the students, to co-create an interpretive guide to the exhibit,” McKee says. “This is an example of how the Center of the American West seeks multiple perspectives and knowledge bases to provide deeper and more inclusive insight into the complexity of the region.”

Sessions says the work in the charrería exhibit is part of a larger project called Charros De Colorado, an ongoing exploration into the sport of charrería with multiple elements, including the short film “La Familia Charra,” which was included in a Denver-based film festival. The film was projected onto the History Colorado building and on a turn-of-the-century grain elevator in Denver’s River North neighborhood.

Sessions says he expects the images and footage will end up in a Charros De Colorado book project and feature film in the next two years.

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Alumnus and professional photographer Chris Sessions explains how one of his first photo assignments 30 years ago in a CU Boulder class evolved into a cultural art exhibit.

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Nobel Prize winner Andrea Ghez to give 53rd Gamow lecture

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Feb 2024 17:10:38 +0000

Nobel Prize winner Andrea Ghez to give 53rd Gamow lecture Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 02/21/2024 - 10:10

Astrophysicist who confirmed black hole at galaxy’s center to speak March 5 at CU Boulder

Andrea Ghez, recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in physics, will give the 53rd George Gamow Memorial Lecture March 5 at the �鶹��Ƶ.

Ghez, Lauren B. Leichtman and Arthur E. Levine Professor of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA, shared half of the prize with Reinhard Genzel of the University of California, Berkeley.

Andrea Ghez, 2020 Nobel Prize winner in physics, will give the 53rd George Gamow Memorial Lecture March 5 at the �鶹��Ƶ. (Photo: The Nobel Foundation)

The pair were recognized by the Nobel committee for their discovery of a “supermassive” black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Ghez, head of UCLA’s Galactic Center Group, solved the question, what exactly is “Sagittarius A*,” which was first detected as a mysterious radio signal in 1933.

“I see being a scientist as really fundamentally being a puzzle-solver,” Ghez said in 2021. “Putting together the pieces, trying to find the evidence, trying to see the bigger picture.”

If you go

What: 53rd George Gamow Memorial Lecture

Who: Andrea Ghez, recipient of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics

When: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 5

Where: Macky Auditorium, �鶹��Ƶ campus

Tickets: Free and open to the public

Learn more

She helped develop a new technology to correct the distorting effects of Earth’s atmosphere. Gathering data from the world’s largest telescope system, the W. M. Keck Observatory in Hawaii, she and her team continue to plumb the depths of the galactic center 26,000 light years distant.

While Albert Einstein’s epochal work on relativity remains the best description of how gravity works, Ghez says it can’t account for gravity inside a black hole. Through what she calls “extreme astrophysics,” she seeks to go where the pioneering astrophysicist could not.

“Einstein’s right for now,” she said. “However, his theory is showing vulnerability. … At some point we will need to move … to a more comprehensive theory of gravity.”

A member of the National Academy of Sciences and author of a 2006 children’s book, “You Can Be a Woman Astronomer,” Ghez is widely recognized as a role model for young women.

“Seeing people who look like you, or are different from you, succeeding shows you that there’s an opportunity,” she said.

Top image: An artist's concept illustrating a supermassive black hole with millions to billions times the mass of fthe Sun. (Illustration: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

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Astrophysicist who confirmed black hole at galaxy’s center to speak March 5 at CU Boulder.

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Research colloquium addresses ongoing crisis of liberal democracy

Anonymous — Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:04:30 +0000

Research colloquium addresses ongoing crisis of liberal democracy Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/12/2024 - 13:04

Eminent German historian Paul Nolte will discuss whether the golden age of democracy is over or whether it can escape collapse and recover

One of Germany’s leading contemporary historians will present a research colloquium addressing the stage of crisis that liberal democracy has entered in the early 21st century—asking whether the golden age of democracy over and is on course for eventual collapse, or whether it can recover.

Historian Paul Nolte will present the colloquium, titled “Crisis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020,” which is jointly organized by the �鶹��Ƶ Program in Jewish Studies, the Louis P. Singer Endowed Chair in Jewish History and the Pacific Office of the German Historical Institute Washington in cooperation with the Gerda Henkel Foundation.

Historian Paul Nolte will discuss the crisis in liberal democracy at a research colloquium Tuesday.

It will be from 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) E422. To receive the pre-circulated text on which the discussions will be based, please RSVP by email to cujewishstudies@colorado.edu.

At CU Boulder, the visit is co-sponsored by the Center for Humanities and the Arts; the International Affairs Program; and the Departments of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, History and Sociology.

As one of Germany’s leading contemporary historians, Nolte holds a chair in modern history with a special emphasis on contemporary history and international relations at the Friedrich Meinecke Institute of the Freie Universität Berlin. His research areas include social, intellectual and political history of the 18th to 20th centuries, especially post-1945 Germany and the United States; transatlantic history of democracy; public intellectuals and social, economic and political concepts and mentalities; urban history and metropolitan cultures; religion and civil society in Western societies; and public history and cultures of memory.

Research colloquium

What: Crisis or Transformation? From Good-old Democracy to Rough Democracy, ca. 1970-2020

When: 2-3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 13

Where: CASE E422

More information

Nolte has written more than a dozen books and has served as a fellow or guest professor at Oxford University, Harvard University and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Among his many transatlantic undertakings is chairing the academic advisory committee of the Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, which brings American PhD candidates to Germany.

His colloquium will focus on the current state of crisis in which liberal democracy exists, when they are under attack from neo-authoritarian ideas, movements and regimes, externally as well as from within. He will address what a potential recovery could look like, asking, “What if we were not witnesses to a crisis of democracy, but rather to its transformation, with the current predicaments being the new normal?”

Nolte will discuss how, from a historical point of view, “pre-crisis” democracy corresponded to social structures, cultural milieus and technological environments that will never return. Further, this longing often projects a relatively short period in the trajectory of democracy, participation and liberal society as an ideal state, while it was in itself full of shortcomings, rigid structures and privileges for the few.

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Eminent German historian Paul Nolte will discuss whether the golden age of democracy is over or whether it can escape collapse and recover.

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Barn swallows and humans reflect challenges of coexistence in a changing world

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 20:22:40 +0000

Barn swallows and humans reflect challenges of coexistence in a changing world Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 01/24/2024 - 13:22

Blake Puscher

In her Distinguished Research Lecture March 12, CU Boulder Professor Rebecca Safran will explore the recent and precipitous decrease in the population of barn swallows

Some 10,000 years ago, the construction of the first permanent human settlements created ecological opportunities for certain plants and animals, tying their expansion to ours.

One example is the barn swallow, a species known to build its nests nearly exclusively on human structures. Yet the long history of barn swallows’ living with humans is changing; throughout much of their habitat, the birds’ population is declining.

Rebecca Safran, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the �鶹��Ƶ, has studied barn swallows and what their decline means for the relationship that humans have formed with the birds.

CU Boulder Professor Rebecca Safran will discuss barn swallow and human coexistence in her Distinguished Research Lecture March 12.

She will discuss this topic in a Distinguished Research Lecture at 4 p.m., March 12, with a question-and-answer session and reception to follow, in the Chancellor’s Hall and Auditorium, CASE building, fourth floor.

�鶹��Ƶ Rebecca Safran

Safran earned her doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University after receiving her master’s in wildlife ecology from Humboldt State University and her bachelor’s in ecology from the University of Michigan. She was a postdoctoral fellow of the Council on Science and Technology at Princeton University before coming to CU Boulder in 2008.

Safran and her team study the evolution of new species, focusing on the causes and consequences of individual variation across different spatial and temporal scales. Her team’s research on the subject has appeared in more than 100 peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature, and Current Biology.

Studying the formation of new species is difficult because most species are millions of years old, and what caused them to diverge from their ancestors can no longer be determined. To get around this, Safran and her team study a very closely related group of populations of migratory birds that are now diverging, thus enabling direct studies of the process of speciation.

Barn swallows provide a particular opportunity because their six subspecies evolved more recently and encounter each other naturally. This means that scientists can directly observe the factors that prevent different subspecies from reproducing together.

Safran won a National Science Foundation Early Career Development award to study speciation through barn swallows. In addition to providing federal funding, the award is prestigious, having been granted to Nobel Prize winners such as Carolyn Bertozzi.

If you go

What: 123rd Distinguished Research Lecture: Barn Swallows and Humans: The Rise and Fall of Coexistence in a Changing World

Who: Professor Rebecca Safran of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

When: 4-5 p.m. Tuesday, March 12

Where: Chancellor’s Hall and Auditorium, CASE

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Safran’s lab was unable to conduct work in other countries, so she and her team switched their focus to the rapid decline in the population of barn swallows and its implications.

When asked in 2012 about her proudest achievements, Safran told Cynthia Pasquale of CU Connections that, while honored to have won the CAREER award, “I am extremely proud of my graduate students.

“As a research mentor, my No. 1 goal is to inspire students to be curious and to ask good questions. This can only be accomplished by having a deep knowledge of what has been done, so I encourage them to understand the backgrounds of their various fields of interest inside and out.”

During her talk, Safran will focus on the collaborative work conducted with many students from her lab group.

�鶹��Ƶ the Distinguished Research Lectureship

The Distinguished Research Lectureship is among the highest honors given by the faculty to one or more of their colleagues at CU Boulder. Every year, the Research and Innovation Office invites nominations from faculty members for this award, and a review panel recommends recipients.

The lectureship honors tenured faculty members, associate and full research professors, or adjoint professors who have been with CU for at least five years and who are widely recognized for a distinguished body of academic or creative achievement and prominence, as well as contributions to the educational and service missions of CU Boulder. Each recipient typically lectures in the fall or spring after selection and receives a $2,000 honorarium.

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In her Distinguished Research Lecture March 12, CU Boulder Professor Rebecca Safran will explore the recent and precipitous decrease in the population of barn swallows.

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Making it so

Anonymous — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 22:03:23 +0000

Making it so Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 10/09/2023 - 16:03

Bradley Worrell

Patrick Stewart of Star Trek (and Shakespeare) fame shared his wit and wisdom Saturday with attendees at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the CU Boulder campus as part of national book tour

Whether you knew it or not, Saturday was a special day in Colorado. That’s because Colorado Gov. Jared Polis issued an official proclamation naming Oct. 7 as “Patrick Stewart Day.”

The governor presented the citation to the actor of stage and screen fame on Saturday before a capacity crowd at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the �鶹��Ƶ campus, where Stewart was appearing as part of a national book tour to promote his new memoir, Making It So.

Polis told the audience he issued the proclamation because of Stewart’s accomplishments as an actor and philanthropist, as well as an advocate against domestic violence and for women’s rights and the LGBT community.

“When it comes to declaring a day in honor of a true icon and hero to many, we must ‘Make It So,’” declared the governor, who is widely known for his love of science fiction and fantasy books and movies. His proclamation drew cheers from the capacity audience.

At the conclusion of Patrick Stewart’s talk at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on Saturday, fans of Stewart’s posed for a picture in front of the stage holding free copies of his memoir provided by the Boulder Book Store.

Tim Orr, producing artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, led Stewart through a 45-plus-minute conversation touching on his upbringing in rural Yorkshire, England; how he got started in regional theater and his time performing as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company; his success in TV and films; and his decision to write a memoir.

“I read your book and I loved it,” Orr said, then asked Stewart, 83, why he wrote it.

“COVID,” the actor deadpanned, to laughter from the audience. He explained that he had previously been asked to write his memoir but had always begged off, saying he was too busy with work.

Seated on a cushioned chair onstage with Orr, Stewart said his prior excuses about being too busy to write a memoir were only partially accurate. In truth, he left school at age 15 to become a full-time actor and said he wasn’t sure he was up to the challenge of writing a book.

Still, he said he always loved reading, and he dedicated his book to the memory of Ruth Wynn Owen and Cecil Dormand, whom he credited as being two inspirational teachers of English and of theater who helped start him on his professional journey.

Stewart’s role in regional theater paved the way for him to join the Royal Theater Company, where he studied and performed with such veterans of the stage as Judi Dench, Ben Kingsley and Ian McKellen.

Orr asked what it was like being a star in the company of such famed thespians, to which Stewart responded, “We didn’t see ourselves that way.”

In retrospect, being timid at that time is one of his deep regrets, Stewart said. If he could today give advice to his 40-year-old self, it would be to “be braver.” That’s also the advice he said he gives today to younger actors, telling them to “be fearless.”

Because of his timidness, Stewart said he didn’t get to know McKellen until much later, when they were in the first X-Men film together. On the studio set, they had adjacent trailers, and went on to become great friends. Stewart added that he considers his performances with McKellen in the plays No Man’s Land and Waiting for Godot personal highlights of his career.

Orr peppered Stewart with questions about Star Trek, including his first thoughts about the TV project (Stewart said he initially believed the show might end after just six months), about Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s thoughts on casting him in the role as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Roddenberry was not a fan, initially, Stewart later learned), regarding famous admirers of the show (which included Frank Sinatra and a former U.S. joint chiefs of staff who asked for permission to sit in the captain’s chair on set), his interactions with his co-stars; and why, after seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four movies, he was coaxed back into the captain’s chair in 2020 for the Picard TV series (because he came to believe there was still room to tell new stories about the famous starship captain).

As for his future, Stewart said he is still open to taking on roles, including in Shakespearean theater. That prompted Orr to say that he knew of a Shakespearian theater in Colorado.

“Do you have a small theater?” Stewart asked.

“Four hundred seats,” Orr replied.

“Egggggh,” Stewart responded, to laughter. He said that these days he is primarily interested in performing in small, intimate venues.

Stewart’s visit to Boulder was part of a seven-city, cross-country book tour, with most stops in bigger cities, including New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

So, why Boulder?

Stewart told the crowd that the decision was deliberate, because his wife, singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell, attended the University of Colorado and had previously performed in the Glenn Miller Ballroom. She sang in various bands while in college.

“She was educated here in Boulder. And that is one of the reasons that we are here, because I know what a great impact it had upon her life and how much she loved this place, and the lasting relationships that it created,” he said.

Saturday’s event was sponsored by the Boulder Book Store and the Center of Student Involvement, part of CU student government. Students had the opportunity earlier in the week to sign up for free tickets.

While there were college-age men and women wearing CU attire in attendance, the biggest fans seated in the front rows tended to skew a bit older.

Kristol Cummings and her husband, Craig, drove six hours from Nebraska to attend the event, even though they didn’t have tickets. They said they felt extremely lucky to score additional tickets from people they met by chance in line.

Self-described Trekkies Liz Star, Alice Slaikeu and Stephanie Peterson came from even farther afield, flying from their hometown of Minneapolis to Denver on Thursday. On Friday, they each got matching Star Trek insignia arm tattoos, and on Saturday they arrived at the Glenn Miller Ballroom at 1:30 p.m. for the 6:30 p.m. event to be some of the first people in line for the general-seating event.

The only person to arrive earlier was Dan Valentine of Greeley, who showed up at 8:30 a.m. Valentine said it was an evening he will not soon forget after Stewart personally answered the question he submitted in writing in advance about what advice Stewart would give his younger self, while Valentine was sitting in the front row and was acknowledged by Stewart. Still, did he really need to arrive so early Saturday morning?

Said Valentine, “It was totally, totally worth it.”

Top image: Sarah Coulter/Paramount+

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Patrick Stewart of Star Trek (and Shakespeare) fame shared his wit and wisdom Saturday with attendees at the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the CU Boulder campus as part of national book tour.

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The ‘arts and humanities give meaning to our lives’

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 17:46:28 +0000

The ‘arts and humanities give meaning to our lives’ Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 02/07/2023 - 10:46

Bradley Worrell

Jennifer Ho, director of CU Boulder’s Center for Humanities & the Arts, discusses the state of arts and humanities in higher education as the center prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, and she champions the inherent value of the arts and humanities

The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) at the �鶹��Ƶ turns 25 this year.

To commemorate the quarter-century milestone, CHA is hosting a celebration from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 15, at the Center for Academic Success and Engagement (CASE) building’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), CASE E390. Registration for the event is recommended and can be completed at this link. For more information on the event, visit the CHA website’s 25-year anniversary webpage.

At the top of the page: A scene from the Colorado Shakespeare Festival's 2019 production of Twelfth Night. Above: Jennifer Ho, CHA director and ethnic studies professor, teaches courses on Asian American culture and Critical Race Theory at CU Boulder.

Jennifer Ho, CHA director and ethnic studies professor, said the celebration will offer an opportunity to look back on CHA’s successes and to discuss and plan how to promote, support and celebrate the arts and humanities.

Ho recently participated in a five-question interview about the current state of arts and humanities in higher education, looming challenges for arts and humanities scholarship, strategies CHA employs as it strives to be an effective advocate for the arts and humanities, and more. Her responses follow below.

Question: How has the situation for the arts and humanities in higher education changed over the last quarter century?

Ho: I think there’s a tendency to lament the decline of arts and humanities, especially humanities, in higher education, because we see a declining number of arts and humanities majors and decreased funding. And that’s definitely a part of the narrative at CU Boulder and nationwide.

However, there have also been more humanities and arts centers that have opened nationwide in the last 25 years—one at Brandeis just started up a year ago—and the scholarship and artistic productions by faculty, students, and staff have continued to flourish, on and off campus.

One positive change that I’ve noticed is an opening up of what we consider to be valuable works of arts and humanities—showcasing both the artistry and scholarship of faculty of color on subjects that 25 years ago we wouldn’t have been seeing depicted in art and music or validated through scholarship such as transgender issues, addressing Islamophobia, centering Black joy, and using an equity, inclusivity and justice lens within arts and humanities—that’s definitely a positive change I’ve seen in the last 25 years.

Question: What do you see as the immediate and looming challenge to arts and humanities scholarship generally and also at CU Boulder?

Ho: Politics and money. These are the two most pressing challenges to arts and humanities nationally and perhaps at CU Boulder. Financially the CHA is fine, for now, though we rely on the generosity of the university for our budget—and if that changed, we wouldn’t be able to offer the grants, fellowships, awards and programs that make the CHA a vital hub on campus for arts and humanities.

I’d love to be able to endow some of our programs; for example, to raise a million dollars so that we’ll always be able to fund graduate students with dissertation fellowships, summer awards and material grants for student artists.

Politically, I believe things are fine for now at CU Boulder, but like most people I’m keeping my eye on what is happening in Florida. The book bans, the bills preventing people from teaching certain subjects, what’s happening at the New College of Florida—all of this is very concerning about the political climate in education that impacts those of us working in arts and humanities.

In fact, next year at the CHA, we are hoping to take this up as a theme: Liberty, Freedom, Democracy and the Fight for Ideas. We often see words like “liberty,” “freedom,” “democracy” invoked by people who tend to be on the more conservative side of the spectrum, and I’d like to delve into what we mean when we use these terms and what freedom of thought and expression actually looks like relative to the work we do at the CHA in supporting arts and humanities.

We don’t just need science; we need critical thinking skills of interpretation to think about these as human issues."

Question: If a student or parent asked you to explain the “value” of the arts and humanities, how might you respond?

Ho: I love getting this question because it allows me to show my passion for arts and humanities, because the first thing I’d say is that arts and humanities give meaning to our lives. And then I’d say that they teach us how to think critically about our world. Art is literally and figuratively the color, sound, movement and texture of our world.

When the pandemic had us sheltering at home, we turned to stories and art and music to alleviate our anxiety and provide solace in our uncertainty. And humanities courses don’t just teach us how to write better (which is what many people will say is the value of humanities)—humanities courses and books help us think better—they push us to critically examine the world and ask not just “what” is happening but “why” and “how.”

If we didn’t have humanities scholarship, we wouldn’t be able to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems—because we don’t just need science; we need critical thinking skills of interpretation to think about these as human issues.

Question: What strategies does the CHA employ as it strives to be the most effective advocate for the arts and humanities?

Ho: I think and talk in terms of stories—and the stories that the CHA has to share about why arts and humanities are vital is the most effective way I know for us to advocate for arts and humanities.

An audience gathered at a CHA event titled “Difficult Dialogues: Being Black in Boulder” in the Fall of 2022. The event included a film screening and then a panel discussion that featured Jennifer Ho as one of the panelists.

A story I tell about bridging the CHA to the greater Boulder County community involves a competition we held for CU Boulder staff, students and faculty to produce works of arts and humanities that engaged the theme of “resilience” in light of the Boulder King Soopers mass shooting.

The entries we received were powerful and poignant—and the winning submission was by a CU Boulder undergraduate student who was a survivor and witness to that tragic day—who wrote a series of letters to March 22 (the day of the shooting). You can find them and the other winning entries on our website.

We then had a community event at Chautauqua where the awardees spoke about their works. It was a powerful event—and a reminder that arts and humanities have the ability to do so much: to heal, to communicate, to inspire and to witness.

The student who wrote her letters to March 22 did so because of our competition and it became part of her healing from this horrific event. This is one story among many about why arts and humanities are so crucial to our lives.

Question: You hold three degrees in English. What drew you to this discipline, and how does your experience dovetail with the mission of CHA?

Ho: Stories. Stories. Stories. That’s why all my degrees are in English. I taught myself to read when I was 5, because I didn’t want to rely on my parents reading to me—it’s among my first memories: being on my sofa and sounding out words and figuring out the stories in my picture book.

Fiction is my first true love because it allowed me to travel to multiple worlds in different bodies—and it still does. Who tells stories to whom and for what purpose—this is a powerful tool to have.

When I started college, I realized it wasn’t just the pleasure of reading novels that I wanted to explore, but the power of representation. The first time I read a book written by a Chinese-American author about Chinese-American experiences was when I was a first year student at UC Santa Barbara.

That moment changed my life—because up until then, I didn’t think Chinese or Asian American people wrote books—because I had never been assigned a book by an Asian American person and never had a librarian direct me to any Asian American books, fiction or non-fiction. Seeing yourself reflected in stories is a powerful thing—and not seeing that is also powerful, because it means you don’t have a model of what you can be if you can’t see yourself reflected in narrative.

At the CHA, we want everyone to be able to tell their own story—whether that’s in the form of scholarship, music, media, visual art, dance, drama, or so many of the other disciplines that inform humanities and arts. So, I think my love of stories and my desire to have people tell their stories and be inspired by the stories of others works well at the CHA.

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Event aims to help ‘unstick’ climate conversation

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 22:38:53 +0000

Event aims to help ‘unstick’ climate conversation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/30/2020 - 15:38

Cay Leytham-Powell

An upcoming CU Boulder event brings speakers from diverse backgrounds in the hopes of discussing the most polarizing issue of our time.

Climate change is a politically decisive issue that divides the public—but it wasn’t always that way. And an event at the �鶹��Ƶ hopes to provide some semblance of relief.

The event, a panel discussion titled “Why are we stuck on dealing with climate change and how do we get ‘unstuck,’” features speakers from various backgrounds and across the political aisle in the hopes of offering insight into why the United States is so gridlocked and what steps might be taken to get past those barriers.

The discussion is hosted by the Center of the American West and will be held Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the CASE Auditorium on campus.

“In a time of polarization and division on innumerable issues, our nation's inability to convene productive conversations on climate change can seem to be locked in place. But for more a quarter century, the Center of the American West has refused a sense of defeat and inevitability,” said Patty Limerick, the center’s faculty director and a professor of history.

“The timing seems right for us to host an evening with a group of speakers characterized by their good will and civic engagement.”

Since 2000, concern over climate change has become more polarized, with Democrats increasingly worrying “a great deal” while Republicans are worrying less and less, according to a 2017 Gallup Poll. And that divide has only grown, according to a recent Yale University study, which found that the issue is now even more polarizing than abortion or gun rights.

This political polarization has made discussion almost impossible between the two parties. But, by bringing speakers together from across the aisle with a diversity of experiences, the Center of the American West hopes this event can unstick the dialogue, even if just a little.

Event Details

Date: Feb. 6, 2020
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: CASE Auditorium, CU Boulder

Reserve your ticket

“I am certain that we are assembling the right cast of characters to make real progress,” said Limerick.

The cast includes:

Tisha Schuller, the principal of Adamantine Energy and the former head of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
Claudine Schneider, the former Republican congresswomen who wrote the Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989.
Leaf Van Boven, a CU Boulder psychology and neuroscience professor.
Dan Palken, a conservative fellow from Citizens’ Climate Lobby and a physics graduate student at CU Boulder.

For each speaker, the event represents something a little different, but they all agree: This is an issue we need to solve.

For some of the speakers, it involves figuring out how we got here.

“America faces a great challenge in climate change, and we will not be able to confront it adequately if we do not recall our shared sense of purpose as Americans,” said Palken.

“Rather than letting the conversation around climate and energy fall prey to the polarization that paralyzes so much in our country, it is important that Republicans and Democrats alike make a conscious effort to extend real dialogue across political lines.”

Van Boven agrees: “The event will provide a forum to understand why we are polarized over climate policy—and how we can overcome that polarization. The panel is an important opportunity for liberals and conservatives to discuss policy solutions to climate change, to identify areas of common ground, and to respectfully acknowledge areas of disagreement.”

For others, this event represents a look to the future.

"It is my intention that this event inform, inspire and mobilize those in attendance to be part of the solution, as opposed to concerned observers,” said Schneider.

Either way, the speakers are thankful for the Center of the American West for hosting the event and bringing them together.

“Getting unstuck on climate progress requires new approaches and novel participants—solutions we haven’t imagined yet,” said Schuller. “I love how the center creates the opportunity for that magic to happen, and I expect it will.”

The event is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required and are available on Eventbrite.

An upcoming CU Boulder event brings speakers from diverse backgrounds in the hopes of discussing the most polarizing issue of our time.

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