Society, Law &amp; Politics /today/ en Musicology doctoral candidate explores new research in Japan thanks to CAAAS fellowship /today/2024/12/13/musicology-doctoral-candidate-explores-new-research-japan-thanks-caaas-fellowship <span>Musicology doctoral candidate explores new research in Japan thanks to CAAAS fellowship</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-13T08:16:22-07:00" title="Friday, December 13, 2024 - 08:16">Fri, 12/13/2024 - 08:16</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/Ubochi%20Igbokwe%20thumbnail.jpg?h=38e2dc43&amp;itok=iKkxG7G4" width="1200" height="800" alt="Ubochi Igbokwe"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Ubochi Igbokwe used funding provided by the new Center for African &amp; African American Studies Graduate Student Fellowship Program to study Igbo African masquerade music and the cultural impacts of the Igbo African émigrés—a previously unresearched area of African cultural expression.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/center/caaas/2024/12/11/musicology-doctoral-candidate-explores-new-research-japan-thanks-caaas-graduate-student`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 13 Dec 2024 15:16:22 +0000 Megan Maneval 53874 at /today CAAAS fellow visits formerly segregated state parks /today/2024/12/12/caaas-fellow-visits-formerly-segregated-state-parks <span>CAAAS fellow visits formerly segregated state parks</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-12T14:55:40-07:00" title="Thursday, December 12, 2024 - 14:55">Thu, 12/12/2024 - 14:55</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/CAAAS%20Fellows%20in%20Mackey%20reg.jpg?h=7105147f&amp;itok=okFNriJg" width="1200" height="800" alt="CAAAS fellows in Macky Auditorium"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Trevor Egerton, a history doctoral candidate studying race and outdoor recreation in the 20th century American South, visited three formerly segregated state parks in Tennessee and South Carolina to interview local residents and workers and explore archival documents.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Trevor Egerton, a history doctoral candidate studying race and outdoor recreation in the 20th century American South, visited three formerly segregated state parks in Tennessee and South Carolina to interview local residents and workers and explore archival documents.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/center/caaas/2024/12/11/caaas-graduate-student-fellow-visits-archives-formerly-segregated-state-parks`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 12 Dec 2024 21:55:40 +0000 Megan Maneval 53870 at /today Notre Dame cathedral rises from the ashes /today/2024/12/04/notre-dame-cathedral-rises-ashes <span>Notre Dame cathedral rises from the ashes</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-04T12:51:43-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 4, 2024 - 12:51">Wed, 12/04/2024 - 12:51</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/thumbnail_Cathe%CC%81drale_Notre-Dame_de_Paris_%28Ank_Kumar%2CInfosys%29_01_0.jpg?h=4a87cdcf&amp;itok=8M6gB9vT" width="1200" height="800" alt="Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <span>Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Five years after a devastating fire at Notre Dame, Professor Kirk Ambrose reflects on the significance of the renowned cathedral’s Dec. 7 reopening.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Five years after a devastating fire at Notre Dame, Professor Kirk Ambrose reflects on the significance of the renowned cathedral’s Dec. 7 reopening.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/asmagazine/2024/12/03/notre-dame-cathedral-rises-ashes`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 04 Dec 2024 19:51:43 +0000 Megan Maneval 53818 at /today The world’s food system is broken—this group wants to help fix it /today/2024/12/04/worlds-food-system-broken-group-wants-help-fix-it <span>The world’s food system is broken—this group wants to help fix it</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-04T12:44:58-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 4, 2024 - 12:44">Wed, 12/04/2024 - 12:44</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/Frontline%20farming.jpg?h=9eaf62cf&amp;itok=CvV3zaJd" width="1200" height="800" alt="Frontline farming at work"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <span>Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>With FrontLine Farming, CU Boulder scholars and community colleagues focus on food security, food justice and food liberation.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>With FrontLine Farming, CU Boulder scholars and community colleagues focus on food security, food justice and food liberation.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/asmagazine/2024/12/04/worlds-food-system-broken-group-wants-help-fix-it`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Wed, 04 Dec 2024 19:44:58 +0000 Megan Maneval 53817 at /today Kinship may not mean what you think it does /today/2024/11/21/kinship-may-not-mean-what-you-think-it-does <span>Kinship may not mean what you think it does</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-21T07:12:35-07:00" title="Thursday, November 21, 2024 - 07:12">Thu, 11/21/2024 - 07:12</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/kathryn_goldfarb.jpg?h=a077a10d&amp;itok=IuLG6GbY" width="1200" height="800" alt="Kathryn Goldfarb"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>CU Boulder anthropologist Kathryn Goldfarb spearheaded a new book that examines the difficult aspects of family connection.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>CU Boulder anthropologist Kathryn Goldfarb spearheaded a new book that examines the difficult aspects of family connection.</div> <script> window.location.href = `/asmagazine/2024/11/18/kinship-may-not-mean-what-you-think-it-does`; </script> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 21 Nov 2024 14:12:35 +0000 Megan Maneval 53762 at /today Gen Z takes the red pill /today/2024/11/19/gen-z-takes-red-pill <span>Gen Z takes the red pill</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-19T12:42:16-07:00" title="Tuesday, November 19, 2024 - 12:42">Tue, 11/19/2024 - 12:42</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/ashcraft-genz_lede.jpg?h=b9ef5453&amp;itok=Hc3zmYD1" width="1200" height="800" alt="young man with fist raised"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <span>Joe Arney</span> <span>,&nbsp;</span> <span>College of Media, Communication and Information</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p><em>Editor’s note: This article contains explicit language.</em></p><p>Election Day has always contained its share of surprises, but one that floored most pundits as the polls closed was just how strongly Gen Z—especially the men of that generation—went from blue bastion to red redoubt.</p><p>But for <a href="/cmci/people/communication/karen-ashcraft" rel="nofollow">Karen Ashcraft</a>, the writing was on the wall. In fact, the writing was from <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/wronged-and-dangerous" rel="nofollow">a book she published two years ago</a>, which warned that “viral masculinity” was a growing threat to young men and boys not just in the United States but worldwide.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-original_image_size"> <div class="imageMediaStyle original_image_size"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/original_image_size/public/2024-11/ashcraft-mug.jpg?itok=M3FmV7CZ" width="225" height="225" alt="Karen Ashcraft "> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p>Karen Ashcraft</p> </span> </div> <p>“I think a lot of people picture the manosphere as individual content creators, or trolls and shitposters and such, but actually, it’s a movement—a form of digital organizing that has absolutely mushroomed over the last 20 years,” said Ashcraft, a CU Boulder alumna and&nbsp;professor of <a href="/cmci/academics/communication" rel="nofollow">communication</a>&nbsp;at the College of Media, Communication and Information at CU Boulder. “It’s a viral stew of aggrieved manhood—the seething sense that real manhood is under attack and must fight back. This feeling now saturates the environment to an extent that men and boys cannot escape repetitive contact with it.”</p><p>Ashcraft is not a new voice on this topic. As she was earning her doctoral degree from CU Boulder, Hollywood was premiering “Fight Club” and “The Matrix,” which set the stage for key tenets of the manosphere. But even before then, Ashcraft brought a perspective to the discipline that other scholars have not.</p><p>“I was born and raised a right-wing populist,” she said. “Well before Trump, my family was part of the religious right, we were preppers—all of it. So, I come at this from a place that is not anti-populism, but pro-men and boys. We need to address the challenges they face, and we can do that in a pro-feminist way.”</p><p>The challenge is how successfully right-wing populist movements have changed their approach to suit the digital age—it’s no longer just Rush Limbaugh preaching to a comparatively narrow audience on talk radio. But, Ashcraft said, this is not a case of “the internet did it,” nor is it just about the gravitas of personalities like Andrew Tate or Lex Fridman.</p><p>Instead, “The sentiment of aggrieved manhood got rebranded,” she said. “It went from bitter old guys in their basements, plotting militia activity, to becoming this sort of punk, anarchist, edgy thing. It’s a new counterculture that happened through this explosion of online activity.”</p><p>And while there are different flavors to that extremism—from the United States&nbsp;to Russia&nbsp;to Iran—they all start with the same ingredient—a light touch of misogyny and aggrieved manhood. It is, Ashcraft said, “a gateway drug to the far right.”</p><p>“The feeling that manly rights have been wronged—men versus women—travels the world very easily, because it’s a simple binary,” she said. “People all over the world—men, but let’s not kid ourselves, women, too—can get infected with this feeling that men have lost out to women. And because it’s everywhere, boys get enticed by this idea, and then it opens up into this larger far-right world.”</p><h2>Family ties</h2><p>If you’re dreading the conversation at the kids’ table this Thanksgiving, Ashcraft said&nbsp;you shouldn’t. As someone who’s watched these attitudes become more common in her classroom, and as someone who works hard to maintain strong family ties with people who don’t share her worldview, she said the first—and hardest—thing to do is to stop trying to persuade people.</p><p>Not only does that not work, typically causing people to retrench deeper into their beliefs, her research has found that arguing the facts and trying to fight disinformation is a source of oxygen to this particular fire. So, too, is the empathetic response of trying to understand the legitimacy of the anger and aggrieved feelings spewed by the manosphere.</p><p>Instead, Ashcraft’s research proposes the notion of lateral empathy, in which we put greater care on how people become “infected” by the viral feeling of manly grievance&nbsp;and less care on the content of what people say.</p><p>“When I see this in class, or when I talk to young people, I address it at the level of feeling,” she said. “‘You seem agitated. Tell me about that—what does that feel like? What really riles you up?’</p><p>“For the sake of smart and new and adaptive interventions, we need to grasp that in today’s communication environment, feeling is in the driver’s seat. Content has become the secondary thing that gives feeling an outlet.”</p><p>And teaching younger generations will require a shift, as well.</p><h2>‘A very big shift’</h2><p>“We teach people all about how to sift through good ideas but nothing about how to understand the circuits of their bodies that receive emotion,” she said. At CMCI alone, she said, researchers in <a href="/cmci/infoscience" rel="nofollow">information science</a>, <a href="/cmci/academics/journalism" rel="nofollow">journalism</a>, <a href="/cmci/academics/media-studies" rel="nofollow">media studies</a>&nbsp;and elsewhere know how feeling works when it engages with algorithms, news, movies and beyond.</p><p>“It’s a very big shift, and not an intuitive one, but we need to cultivate lateral empathy in many different arenas, and education could play a big role in that,” she said.</p><p>It already plays a role in her own life. While Ashcraft doesn’t subscribe to the populism of her family, she works very hard to keep her familial ties strong.</p><p>“When you’re talking about family, love is on the line,” she said. “At the Thanksgiving table, stop the content, surrender that desire to argue head-to-head, and settle into that deeper level of feeling.</p><p>“I had a recent conversation with a relative, where I said, ‘I know we’re trying to avoid these topics—but they keep coming up, my heart rate is increasing, I’m scared. I love you, and I hear your agitation. What is the agitation? Can you tell me how you’re hurt by my concern for women’s reproductive rights?’ So it’s at the level of the feeling that is relevant to preserving the relationship.”</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p><em>CU Boulder Today regularly publishes Q&amp;As with our faculty members weighing in on news topics through the lens of their scholarly expertise and research/creative work. The responses here reflect the knowledge and interpretations of the expert and should not be considered the university position on the issue. All publication content is subject to edits for clarity, brevity and university style guidelines.</em></p></div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>The College of Media, Communication and Information’s Karen Ashcroft explains why young men’s politics are moving right.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-11/ashcraft-genz_lede.jpg?itok=7OcWQSo_" width="1500" height="844" alt="young man with fist raised"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 19 Nov 2024 19:42:16 +0000 Megan Maneval 53747 at /today Are your digital affairs in order? A new pro-bono clinic can help /today/2024/11/15/are-your-digital-affairs-order-new-pro-bono-clinic-can-help <span>Are your digital affairs in order? A new pro-bono clinic can help</span> <span><span>Yvaine Ye</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-15T11:12:48-07:00" title="Friday, November 15, 2024 - 11:12">Fri, 11/15/2024 - 11:12</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/mobile-1087845_1920.jpg?h=13374b10&amp;itok=SBwN7vkr" width="1200" height="800" alt="Social media icons"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <a href="/today/lisa-marshall">Lisa Marshall</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>From family photos stored on the cloud to social media posts cataloging life’s pivotal moments, to music, art and stories we create and share online, the digital world is infused with representations of who we are.</p><p>What happens to that digital legacy after we die, and how do we manage the virtual heirlooms our loved ones leave behind?</p> <div class="align-right image_style-medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/2024-11/Digital_Legacy_Clinic_PC_0293.jpg?itok=ycB_KiY9" width="750" height="500" alt="A picture of Digital Legacy Clinic members"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p><span>Digital Legacy Clinic Founder Jed Brubaker (second to the right) talks with students (left to right) Daniel Sullivan,&nbsp; Rory O’Flynn, Dylan Thomas Doyle&nbsp;and Jack Manning. (Credit: Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)</span></p> </span> </div> <p><a href="/center/digital-legacy/" rel="nofollow">CU Boulder’s new Digital Legacy Clinic</a> has answers.</p><p>“Whether you are making plans for your own passing or maybe you have lost a loved one and are dealing with their digital affairs, it can be an overwhelming process at a time of life that is already really hard,” said clinic founder Jed Brubaker, an associate professor of Information Science. “What you are supposed to do and how to do it is not always clear and, unfortunately, most tech platforms don’t have systems in place to help. That’s where we step in.”</p><p>Launched this month, the first-of-its-kind clinic operates similarly to a pro-bono law clinic, with specially trained Information Science students providing free advice and troubleshooting for the public.</p><p>As Brubaker points out, the average internet user has as many as <a href="https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/lastpass-reveals-8-truths-about-passwords-in-the-new-password-expose" rel="nofollow">191 accounts</a>, from Google drives loaded with cherished snapshots to Pinterest accounts containing favorite recipes and Ancestry.com accounts tracing family trees back for generations. Yet, according to one forthcoming paper from his lab, only 13% of platforms have features expressly designed to address the end-of-life needs of their users.</p><p>“Companies think about designing for all kinds of different aspects of our lives, from birthdays to wedding anniversaries,” he said. “But they have overlooked perhaps the most profound one of all, which is when those lives come to an end.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-left ucb-box-alignment-right ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">7 ways to preserve your digital legacy</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><ul><li><strong>Have a plan&nbsp;</strong>in place before you die. Even a simple plan is better than none.</li><li><strong>Use built-in features</strong>&nbsp;like Facebook’s Legacy Contact (which Brubaker’s research inspired), to designate a postmortem steward who can memorialize and manage your social accounts. Apple also has a Legacy Contact feature and Google provides support through its Inactive Account Manager feature.</li><li><strong>Start small.&nbsp;</strong>Rather than crafting a comprehensive inventory of all accounts, start with one or two that mean the most to you.</li><li><strong>Focus on the content.&nbsp;</strong>If you’re feeling overwhelmed, focus on the most important data first. Many people start with digital photos or social media and then expand outwards from there.</li><li><strong>Identify someone you trust</strong>&nbsp;to put in charge and tell them why it is important that you want those accounts preserved.</li><li><strong>Share your passwords with that person.&nbsp;</strong>This can help, but with the advent of biometric authentication (through fingerprints or facial recognition) and two-factor authentication (which sends a text to users before letting them into their account) this can get complicated when the user has died.</li><li><p><strong>Tell your family what you want:</strong>&nbsp;Family and friends want to respect your wishes and not knowing what you want can be stressful.</p><p><em>Source: </em><a href="/center/digital-legacy/" rel="nofollow"><em>The Digital Legacy Clinic at CU Boulder</em></a></p></li></ul></div></div></div><h2>Why you need a plan</h2><p>In 15 years of studying what he calls ‘the digital afterlife,’ Brubaker has uncovered a host of heartbreaking reasons it’s worth making an end-of-life plan for our data. Facebook pages – left inaccessible to anyone but their creator – can linger long after that person has died, leaving algorithms to send eerie birthday notifications or ‘memories’ to grieving loved ones.</p><p>Family members without passwords frequently hit roadblocks when trying to access photos or videos from the deceased’s Google or iCloud storage accounts.</p><p>Original art, music, stories or professional work shared via digital platforms or personal websites can be deleted and lost forever if unaccounted for.</p><p>And the sheer volume of data can be daunting for the those tasked with sorting through it after someone dies.</p><p>“If grandma dies and you have to sort through her attic, at least you know where the attic is, you know where the key is and you know where the attic ends,” said Brubaker. “When it comes to our digital spaces, they are almost infinite. We keep putting more and more stuff in there and while some of it matters, some of it doesn’t.”</p><p>Because tech companies, by nature, tend to have minimalist customer service departments, surviving family members often face endless hold times and unanswered messages, exacerbating their grief.</p><p>“Our analysis revealed that most platforms offer minimal functional support and that many end-of-life needs are impossible to meet or rely on unsanctioned workarounds,” said Dylan Thomas Doyle, a former hospital chaplain-turned PhD candidate and clinic service provider.</p><h2>&nbsp;</h2></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2>Working the workarounds</h2><p>After years of studying such problems, Brubaker turned to a colleague a few years ago to wonder aloud if there was an organization that helped people through this process.</p><p>“As I was saying it, I realized it: ‘Oh. We are that group. We need to create this.’”</p><p>With a $550,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Grant, he got to work, developing a new class that information science students (a blend of technology and behavioral science) helped build the clinic from the ground up.</p><p>To prep for the launch, they have taken sensitivity training, consulted with lawyers and dug into the technical intricacies of dozens of platforms. They’ve also handled a few dozen cases already.</p><p>In one, they helped a grieving widow preserve her late husband’s blog about his long battle with cancer. In another, they helped a mother who had lost her daughter to suicide stay connected to her memorialized Facebook account after a technical glitch kicked her off.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-default"> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/today/media/oembed?url=https%3A//youtu.be/7N1oK700riM&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=C4y5DQ0mhcAfAZaNn9NfwFmkNqqhHkh56JBjH5YRTOc" frameborder="0" allowtransparency width="516" height="350" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Does your Facebook page outlive you? CU clinic helps people get digital affairs in order"></iframe> </div> </div> <p>“It’s been a really powerful experience to hear their stories and be able to help them,” said graduate student Daniel Sullivan.</p><p>Classmate Rory O’Flynn, an artist, said that being part of the clinic has prompted her to reflect on how she would want her own legacy preserved.</p><p>Would she want to have her Instagram profile memorialized so her friends could visit it? Who in her family would get the password to access her sketches?</p><p>“The younger generation, especially, has this perception of the internet as kind of the whole world. We leave all these digital footprints out there, but the average citizen isn’t thinking about this at all.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><h2>Love letters</h2><p>Brubaker stressed that the clinic does not provide advice on financial matters – like how to access bank accounts or retirement funds. Fortunately, the designers of those systems have thought through what happens after someone dies, and there are policies and laws in place to help ensure their end-of -life needs are met, he said.</p><p>In a sense, the personal stories, family histories and cultural heritage embedded in our virtual heirlooms are even more valuable than material objects, he said.</p><p>He said he hopes his research and the new clinic will inspire tech companies to do more to preserve these digital treasures.</p><p>“One hundred years from now I hope no one cares what my bank account number was. But those text message threads - like modern-day love letters - or Instagram posts congratulating you on your wedding. Those matter. It would be a tragedy if all that is lost. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”</p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-hidden ucb-box-alignment-none ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-darkgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title">&nbsp;</div><div class="ucb-box-content"><h2><a href="/center/digital-legacy/support" rel="nofollow"><i class="fa-solid fa-link">&nbsp;</i>Get digital legacy support</a></h2></div></div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>CU’s Digital Legacy Clinic helps people take steps to preserve their own legacy or manage the virtual heirlooms of loved ones who have died. </div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-11/mobile-1087845_1920.jpg?itok=9VH676q2" width="1500" height="1060" alt="Social media icons"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 15 Nov 2024 18:12:48 +0000 Yvaine Ye 53758 at /today Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee /today/2024/11/15/floating-butterfly-stinging-bee <span>Floating like a butterfly, stinging like a bee</span> <span><span>Megan Maneval</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-15T08:57:39-07:00" title="Friday, November 15, 2024 - 08:57">Fri, 11/15/2024 - 08:57</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/rumble_in_the_jungle.jpg?h=ceb295cb&amp;itok=vVNMEmq3" width="1200" height="800" alt="Muhammad Ali and George Foreman fight on Oct. 30, 1974"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <span>Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Fifty years after the famed “Rumble in the Jungle,” Muhammad Ali is remembered not only as the heavyweight champ but as a champion of civil rights.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Fifty years after the famed “Rumble in the Jungle,” Muhammad Ali is remembered not only as the heavyweight champ but as a champion of civil rights.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Fri, 15 Nov 2024 15:57:39 +0000 Megan Maneval 53712 at /today How did Trump do it? Political scientist weighs in /today/2024/11/12/how-did-trump-do-it-political-scientist-weighs <span>How did Trump do it? Political scientist weighs in</span> <span><span>Daniel William…</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-12T11:19:11-07:00" title="Tuesday, November 12, 2024 - 11:19">Tue, 11/12/2024 - 11:19</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/Trump_WH.png?h=b8128522&amp;itok=kbzDcoks" width="1200" height="800" alt="Donald Trump standing at a podium in front of a crowd of people in a hallway"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <a href="/today/daniel-strain">Daniel Strain</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>On Tuesday, Republican Donald Trump out-performed polls (again) to win election for a second, non-consecutive term as President of the United States. His party had a good night overall and retook control of the Senate, while the House of Representatives still hangs in the balance.</p><p>Janet Donavan, teaching professor in the <a href="www.colorado.edu/polisci" rel="nofollow">Department of Political Science</a> at CU Boulder, has been following the results and exit polls from those races closely. She gives her take on how Trump pulled off such a convincing victory, what’s next for the Democrats, and how people can manage their election-related anxiety.</p><h2>How did Trump do it?</h2><p>The evidence points to the fact that people were thinking about the economy and immigration. It was always going to be a tough road for Democrats because President Biden, who's the incumbent, had a low approval rating. People also feel that the economy is not doing well.</p><p>It turns out that the public was looking at those issues more than the issues Democrats really wanted them to look at. Democrats wanted to highlight democracy and some of the more extremist rhetoric that had come from the Trump campaign.</p> <div class="align-right image_style-small_500px_25_display_size_"> <div class="imageMediaStyle small_500px_25_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/small_500px_25_display_size_/public/2024-11/Donavan.png?itok=yirkVS13" width="375" height="525" alt="Janet Donavan headshot"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p>Janet Donavan</p> </span> </div> <h2>Were there any demographic differences from 2020 that surprised you?</h2><p>One of the things that really doesn't surprise me, but that we should pay a lot of attention to, is the increasing divide in the United States between college educated Americans and Americans who don't have a college degree. People who have not obtained a college degree are much more likely to vote Republican, and people with a college degree are much more likely to vote Democratic.</p><p>In many ways, that is not a good thing for the country. It indicates that maybe people with college degrees are really out of touch with the experiences of the majority of Americans because most people don't have a college degree.</p><h2>What stood out to you in races for the House and Senate?</h2><p>The moderates in the Senate are largely gone, and they're being replaced by more polarized figures. Senator Manchin of West Virginia, for example, retired and was replaced by a conservative Republican. Senator Sinema of Arizona also retired, and the race to replace her is still too close to call. Whether it's going to be a very conservative Republican in Kari Lake or a fairly liberal Democrat in Ruben Gallego is not clear. But it’s not going to be the moderate Sinema.</p><h2>A lot of commentators have pointed to what they’re calling a right-ward shift in politics around the country. How did that play out around Colorado?</h2><p>It looks like the right-ward shift in politics is more pronounced in the eastern United States and particularly in the Midwest, but it doesn't seem as pronounced in the western United States.</p><p>The data are very preliminary, but my hunch is that the economy is better in the western United States than it is in the eastern United States. Another hunch is that immigration is seen more positively in the western United States than it is in the eastern United States.</p><h2>Where are those hunches coming from?</h2><p>The <a href="/today/2024/11/04/election-eve-new-survey-gauges-where-colorado-voters-stand" rel="nofollow">Colorado Political Climate Survey</a> from the American Politics Research Lab just came out on Nov. 4. According to that, 50% of Coloradans agree those who migrate to the U.S. from other countries have a positive impact on the economy. We had a labor shortage right after COVID, and it was almost a relief to get people to come in and take jobs in Colorado. I'm not sure that was the case in other states.</p><h2>If you were the head of the Democratic National Convention, what would you do to try to recoup from this shellacking?</h2><p>Democrats need to look pretty hard at public opinion on some of the issues that they campaigned on. In particular, Democrats were hurt by not taking seriously people's concerns about inflation.</p><p>A lot of the economic indicators have been pretty good since the beginning of 2024 and even going back into 2023, but it hasn't hit people yet. When inflation goes up, prices tend to stay high. Wages are also sticky, which means that they don't go up as fast as prices. So even if the economy is in a recovering state, households themselves haven't recovered.</p><p>I think that Democrats need to listen and be more empathetic with the position that many Americans find themselves in of trying to pay the rent, pay the credit card bills, pay the grocery bills.</p><h2>This election was stressful. How can people take care of their mental health?</h2><p>I would say that we should all lay off the politics a little bit. That might sound a little funny coming from political science professor, but we don't need to spend 24 hours a day paying attention to news. Twenty minutes a day is probably enough to keep informed. After that, politics is a hobby, and if the hobby doesn't feel good, then you should probably stop.</p><h2>How do you think we move forward from this election as a country?</h2><p>I really think that it's important that we look at the lack of trust that we are seeing among the American people, and figure out ways to build hope, friendship and trust. We’ll see if that happens in the presidential administration. If it doesn't happen in the presidential administration, it's something that we can all work on in our communities.</p><p>Yesterday, I was sending pictures of my dog playing in the snow to people who voted differently than I did. We need to reconnect on things that aren't politics and rest because the next election is two years away.</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Following Donald Trump’s victory this week, CU Boulder’s Janet Donavan breaks down how the president-elect beat the polls yet again—and how the nation can move forward after an especially divisive election.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-11/Trump_WH.png?itok=Pk0eN3eM" width="1500" height="563" alt="Donald Trump standing at a podium in front of a crowd of people in a hallway"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Then President Donald Trump at the White House in 2018. (Credit: White House)</p> </span> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Then President Donald Trump at the White House in 2018. (Credit: White House)</div> Tue, 12 Nov 2024 18:19:11 +0000 Daniel William Strain 53680 at /today How prisons fall short in protecting the incarcerated from climate disasters /today/2024/11/07/how-prisons-fall-short-protecting-incarcerated-climate-disasters <span>How prisons fall short in protecting the incarcerated from climate disasters</span> <span><span>Yvaine Ye</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-07T14:18:09-07:00" title="Thursday, November 7, 2024 - 14:18">Thu, 11/07/2024 - 14:18</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/AdobeStock_233651206_0.jpeg?h=26b5948e&amp;itok=Iw55x1XO" width="1200" height="800" alt="A prison corridor "> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/16"> Climate &amp; Environment </a> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/2"> News Headlines </a> <a href="/today/taxonomy/term/12"> Society, Law &amp; Politics </a> </div> <a href="/today/yvaine-ye">Yvaine Ye</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p>Blistering heat, freezing cold, and overflowing sewage water: These were the living conditions that formerly incarcerated people in Colorado said they suffered inside the state’s prisons and jails.</p><p>In a new paper, drawing on accounts from nearly three dozen previously incarcerated people, CU Boulder researchers reveal a disturbing story of how prisons and jails in Colorado have failed to provide humane protections from growing environmental hazards brought on by climate change. In many cases, the authors report, inadequate policies and dated infrastructure leave incarcerated people uniquely vulnerable to these harms, such as extreme heat and wildfire smoke.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/eprint/BPICIDFYBWSGWICJK87N/full" rel="nofollow">The study</a>&nbsp;was published Oct 13 in the journal Environmental and Planning E: Nature and Space.</p><p>“There are so many harrowing accounts of how this system is built to operate in one way and is not good at changing or responding dynamically,” said the paper's first author,&nbsp;<a href="/geography/ben-barron-0" rel="nofollow">Ben Barron</a>, who did the research as a doctoral student in the Department of Geography. “As climate hazards become more frequent and intense, dynamic responses are the only thing that's going to protect these people when their agency is severely limited.”</p> <div class="align-right image_style-small_square_image_style"> <div class="imageMediaStyle small_square_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/small_square_image_style/public/2024-11/IMG_4902.jpeg?h=d5d56e5f&amp;itok=80q1DjTO" width="375" height="375" alt="Ben Barron"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p>Ben Barron</p> </span> </div> <p>The study comes on the heels of multiple reports of Florida and North Carolina prisons failing to evacuate incarcerated people when two deadly hurricanes, Helene and Milton, struck the East Coast. People in those facilities reportedly had no power or running water for days, with sewage overflowing into their cells.</p><h2>Increasing climate risks</h2><p>Studies have shown that climate change is likely to increase the intensity and frequency of extreme climate events. In Colorado, that means people are more likely to experience strong heat waves, winter storms, flooding and poor air quality from wildfires.</p><p><a href="/irt/rise/" rel="nofollow">Barron and a team of experts</a>&nbsp;in engineering, environmental design, and environmental justice set out to study how incarceration facilities cope with increasing climate hazards, an understudied topic in academia.</p><p>“As an engineer, it's shocking to me how little is included in our education and training about these social injustices and our role in amplifying them,” said co-author&nbsp;<a href="/ceae/shideh-dashti" rel="nofollow">Shideh Dashti</a>, associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. “There is a lot of focus on the strength and stability of these facilities and little to no attention to the wellbeing and safety of incarcerated people.”</p><p>In their&nbsp;<a href="/today/2023/10/24/colorado-prisons-vulnerable-natural-disasters-may-be-ill-prepared" rel="nofollow">previous research</a>, the team uncovered that at least three-quarters of Colorado’s jails and prisons—housing over 80% of the state’s incarcerated population—are susceptible to at least one natural disaster in the coming year. 鶹Ƶ half of the facilities are at risk of extreme heat.</p><p>To better understand how disaster planning works inside prisons and jails, the team first reached out to carceral facilities. But the authors said none of the facilities responded to the team’s interview request. So they decided to speak directly with those who have lived through climate hazards there.</p><p>Barron interviewed 35 formerly incarcerated individuals from 23 prisons and 15 jails in Colorado. The team found that over 60% of the interviewees said they had direct experience with at least one of the four main climate hazards in Colorado: extreme heat, extreme cold, wildfires and floods. All participants said they had experienced uncomfortable temperatures, poor air quality, or water issues, such as burst pipes and sewage backups.</p><p>“It's so important to have this opportunity to amplify the voices and experiences of these people, especially in a context where the system is actively trying to keep those stories from being heard,” Barron said. The researchers said there have been&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/sep/3/some-arizona-prison-logs-show-temperatures-119-degrees-others-falsified/" rel="nofollow">incidents</a>&nbsp;in which incarceration facilities attempted to cover up conditions by falsifying data, such as indoor temperatures.</p><h2>Failing infrastructure</h2><p>Summer 2024 was the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/earth-had-its-hottest-august-in-175-year-record#:~:text=June%E2%80%93August%202024%20was%20the,a%20degree%20C)%20above%20average." rel="nofollow">hottest on record in the Northern Hemisphere</a>&nbsp;and the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/colorado/news/summer-2024-second-hottest-summer-denver/" rel="nofollow">second hottest in Denver</a>. But many prisons and jails lack air conditioning or don’t use it properly, the team found.</p><p>Interviewees mentioned that some facilities only turn on the air conditioning on an arbitrary date that does not correlate with the actual outside temperature. As a result, residents can be stuck in an extremely hot or cold cell for weeks.</p><p>“That kind of discomfort, over long periods of time, I suppose is a very small form of torture,” one interviewee, who spent 34 years incarcerated, told Barron.</p><p>More than one-third of interviewees experienced at least one wildfire while incarcerated. They described how smoke entered from cracked windows and ineffective ventilation systems and burnt their noses and eyes. People said they were left to breathe soot and ash for days.</p><p>To date, Colorado has only evacuated one prison due to wildfires. In 2013, the Royal Gorge fire forced a facility in southern Colorado to evacuate 900 incarcerated people to an empty facility. The process was poorly organized and inefficient, according to one interviewee who was evacuated.</p><p>“These buildings are designed to keep people in, not effectively get them out,” said Barron, adding that they were unable to confirm whether the facilities have set evacuation plans.</p><p>The researchers say their findings reflect a national pattern.</p><p>In North Carolina, where torrential rain from Hurricane Helene inundated the western part of the state, individuals held in several incarceration facilities&nbsp;<a href="https://theintercept.com/2024/10/04/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-mountain-view-prison/" rel="nofollow">reported</a>&nbsp;living without light or running water for days, with some forced to sleep in rooms where toilets overflowed with feces. Similarly, several jails and prisons in Florida&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/climate/377272/hurricane-milton-florida-jails-prisons-manatee-pinellas-lee" rel="nofollow">refused to evacuate</a>&nbsp;their residents ahead of Hurricane Milton, despite mandatory evacuation orders issued for the areas.</p><p>“The fact that in the U.S. someone could be arrested for abandoning a dog in a flood, but nobody's being held accountable when human beings are left in jail cells when water rises, is a huge contradiction in our system,” said co-author&nbsp;<a href="/cmci/people/communication/phaedra-c-pezzullo" rel="nofollow">Phaedra Pezzullo</a>, professor in the Department of Communication.</p><h2>A difficult battle</h2><p>Some study participants said that they could be punished for filing complaints about their living conditions.</p><p>Many of them came up with their own solutions. For example, some intentionally flooded their cells to cool down in the water. Others used cardboard and plastic to block cracks in the windows and keep wildfire smoke out.</p><p>The team hopes the study will inspire more research around climate change adaptation, mitigation and prevention while considering these underheard voices.</p><p>The researchers note that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/02/27/colorado-prison-phone-calls-bill/" rel="nofollow">some state legislators</a>&nbsp;are already working to improve conditions inside incarceration facilities, but progress often hits roadblocks, partly due to differing opinions on what punishment should look like.</p><p>“Even if we fully agree that the response to a crime is that you should be locked in a cell for a certain amount of time, nowhere in the law does it say you should be exposed to poor air quality, extreme temperatures, or the risk of living in sewage water for a week,” Barron said. “These vastly exceed unreasonable, disproportional punishment.”</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>A new CU Boulder study paints a grim picture of how blistering heat, wildfire smoke and other extreme weather events impact Colorado’s jail and prison population. </div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Off</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/today/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-11/AdobeStock_233651206.jpeg?itok=v8iIUtwN" width="1500" height="1000" alt="Interior of prison corridor"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 07 Nov 2024 21:18:09 +0000 Yvaine Ye 53689 at /today