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CU Boulder student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 18:22:13 +0000

CU Boulder student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 09/23/2025 - 12:22

Elle Moscinski

Every year, an undergraduate student who demonstrates exemplary leadership is nominated for Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellowship, which supports student leaders who show great potential for tackling human rights and social justice issues. This year, ��’s own Anastasia Gallegos-Roque is one of the recipients. She is studying sociology and ethnic studies on a pre-law track with a minor in journalism and multicultural leadership. Gallegos-Roque was nominated by the Center for Leadership and Chancellor Schwartz.

The fellowship is a year-long program that creates a network of student leaders ready to solve societal issues. Only one representative is chosen from each university. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to represent CU Boulder,” said Gallegos-Roque. During her fellowship, she will participate in workshops about networking, seeking grant funds and how to prepare research proposals. Gallegos-Roque will have the opportunity to ground herself in her leadership skills, soak in expertise and experience, and become a better leader.

Gallegos-Roque has experienced personal challenges during her own journey—such as coming from a single-parent, Hispanic household. “Being a woman in today’s age is very hard,” she shared. “It comes with a whole different set of barriers.” As someone who, at an early age, experienced a lot of unfairness in the world, Gallegos-Roque developed a passion for social justice and standing up for what’s right. The fellowship recognizes Gallegos-Roque’s dedication to social change and promoting multiculturalism and inclusivity. “I think, being a first-gen student and, coming from a very diverse multicultural background, my community doesn’t really have opportunities to go to college or even finish high school. Making my family proud and making myself proud is an honor and a privilege,” she said.

When reflecting on why civic work was important to her, Gallegos-Roque shared that it is teamwork and collaboration that are the most significant. Firstly, she emphasized that experiencing others’ perspectives is crucial for growing as a person. From experiencing a march in Chicago to traveling abroad to India, interacting with communities other than her own gave Gallegos-Roque a sense of her power and her privilege. She noted that one of the most significant parts of her experience in India was seeing little girls whom she worked with smile. They mentioned how their dream was to go to America, and it struck her that their dreams were so different from her own. She realized how privileged she was to grow up in America when other little girls dreamt of growing up and moving there. Experiencing other cultures and livelihoods invokes a certain discomfort, but Gallegos-Roque says that is when you learn the most. It allows you to step outside your world for a moment and grow as a person; to see things in ways that you never would have before.

Secondly, teamwork is critical to social justice issues because you simply cannot do it alone. “It takes a pack, it takes more than one to firmly get an agenda across,” Gallegos-Roque said. She highlighted that she would not have even considered going to India without the support of her friends, who encouraged her to apply to scholarships she did not imagine herself ever getting. The Civic Newman Fellowship itself is founded on the importance of collaboration. Each recognized student from a university can use their voice, but the fellowship brings them together to amplify each other’s voices. Gallegos-Roque will be a part of a network of students who can all support each other to create change.

Gallegos-Roque plans to use the resources and network of support provided by the program to advance change for immigration, housing security, food insecurity and child advocacy. She will participate in a retreat for fellows in the fall and then attend monthly online meetings while being supported by a mentor. Gallegos-Roque will work with Growing Up Boulder; a nonprofit whose mission is to help young people use their voices to advance progress for equitable and sustainable communities. She will also continue to be a mentor in first-generation and multicultural communities. For prospective students who want to start civic work, she advises to just do it. “There’s no perfect time, so don’t wait for the perfect time. Don’t wait for a comfortable time,” she said. Gallegos-Roque also advises others to recognize the power their own voice can have. “Your voice can be extremely impactful in a community that doesn’t have the option to use their voice or doesn’t feel comfortable using their voice,” she commented.

It is this unwavering fearlessness to speak up--even in moments of great discomfort—and use her voice on behalf of others that earned Gallegos-Roque the nomination.

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PACES to relocate to Outreach and Community Engagement—a new unit within the Office of the Chancellor

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 17:59:34 +0000

PACES to relocate to Outreach and Community Engagement—a new unit within the Office of the Chancellor Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 09/23/2025 - 11:59

Gretchen Minekime

Earlier this month, Chancellor Schwartz accepted the recommendations of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Outreach to create a “hub and spoke” model of coordinated outreach and community engagement to better support the campus’s vast outreach efforts and maximize engagement and partnerships with communities across the state and region.

One of the accepted recommendations calls for the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) to move from the Division of Continuing Education (CE), where the office has been located since its founding, into the newly formed Outreach and Community Engagement unit within the Chancellor’s office. PACES will retain its name and internal structure, and the recommendation specifies there will be no cuts to staff or budget, including to PACES’ grant-making programs. Staff currently housed in the Office of Government and Community Engagement (OGCE) will also join the new unit.

“This move elevates public and community-engaged research, teaching and creative work as true campus-level priorities. It will afford greater coordination between PACES and other units across campus and the CU system—enabling us to better serve our faculty, staff and students doing this important work,” said David Meens, Executive Director of PACES. “On behalf of the PACES team, I want to express our gratitude to the leadership and staff of CE whose partnership and support have been essential to PACES’s success. The division’s dedication to the university's mission, and culture of creativity, warmth and good humor, have made it an outstanding home. We look forward to new opportunities to collaborate, as CE continues to serve the campus in so many critical ways.”

Please watch the PACES newsletter and website for emerging updates and do not hesitate to contact us with questions.

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Benjamin Teitelbaum is New Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 22:28:04 +0000

Benjamin Teitelbaum is New Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 09/17/2025 - 16:28

Gretchen Minekime

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Benjamin Teitelbaum will serve as the new faculty director for strategic events and public discourse.

Teitelbaum’s role will first focus primarily on planning the Conference on World Affairs (CWA) alongside members of Strategic Relations and Communications (SRC) and committees of volunteers responsible for developing the conference’s programs.

Read on to learn more about Teitelbaum, what we can expect from CWA 2026 and how you can be involved.

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What are the responsibilities of the Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse?

My job is to provide a voice for faculty and to contribute to the intellectual profile of a series of public-facing events on campus, first and foremost the (CWA).

How is this role an extension of your scholarship?

I am an ethnographer of culture and politics, which is to say that I study political ideas and expressions through face-to-face observations and conversations. During my career this brought me into contact both with a range of politicians and strategists, as well as writers, artists, and musicians who play (I came to think) a much larger role in shaping our political life than they are often given credit for.

Because the work I do ended up not fitting neatly into any academic discipline, and because much of it commented on current events, a lot of my writing appears in public rather than academic forums. CWA embodies much about the way I’ve gone about my work, in other words: it seeks to understand our world by bringing a diverse range of voices into dialogue with each other and the public.

What can our campus community look forward to for CWA 2026?

Though our planning is still in progress, I think you should expect two broad changes: the first is that I want the conference to be built to a greater extent by input from CU Boulder faculty. We have an exceptional concentration of expertise and insight in our midst, and I think we can do a better job of mobilizing it for the conference. That’s my priority.

Second, I want us to increase the diversity of our speakers. And I mean “diversity” in all ways: politically, socially, disciplinarily, etc. Part of the story of politics and culture during the past 10 years or so has been the exploding or transformation of establishments. To me, this means that any effort to understand how we got here, and where we might be going, needs to pay more attention to voices at the margins—people who we might have dismissed as irrelevant yesterday, but who could find themselves in positions of exceptional power or insight today.

How can faculty members, staff members and students be involved in CWA?

The best way to get involved is to join one of our six programming subcommittees (Arts, Business, Politics and Media, International Affairs, Human Condition, and Science and Technology). Joining will give you a direct role with identifying topics and speakers to feature at the conference.

Students can also volunteer during the conference itself, such as by being an on-campus guide for visitors.

But I especially want to add that even faculty who can’t volunteer can still submit recommendations for guest speakers.

Volunteer at CWA | Nominate a speaker for CWA

Why is it important for our campus community members to participate in public and community-engaged scholarship?

Part of the motivation could be purely selfish—you will learn more about the things you are studying and care about if you open yourself up to the ideas, experiences and wisdom of more people. Some scholars or professionals are used to doing that within their professional networks, but there is more to be gained by expanding. Another motivation comes from responsibility: the public, in various ways, supports our work and research, and one hopes that our aspirations in some way align with those of our wider community. For that reason, I think we ought to consider enhanced communication, and even collaboration and coordination, with the public impacted by our work.

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Consider getting involved with CWA in the planning stages or during conference week. You can submit ideas for topics and speakers, request a classroom visit, volunteer on a program committee and more.

Learn more about the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship and how it supports the work of CU Boulder faculty, staff and students.

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SCENIC Expands Rural Impact at Trinidad Water Festival

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 13:00:00 +0000

SCENIC Expands Rural Impact at Trinidad Water Festival Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 08/28/2025 - 07:00

Arielle Wiedenbeck

Last May, CU Boulder’s Science‑Engineering Inquiry Collaborative in Rural Colorado (SCENIC) program brought its hands‑on, inquiry‑based science programming to the Trinidad Water Festival. Led by Associate Research Professor Daniel Knight, CU Boulder students created an erosion‑focused activity that allowed K‑12 participants to learn about flooding.

The SCENIC program connects CU Boulder faculty members and students with rural high schools across Colorado to develop locally relevant science projects. This year’s participation in the water festival was made possible through Knight’s involvement in the PACES 2024 Community Perspectives Tour, where he connected with Linda Perry, a festival organizer.

The Trinidad Water Festival, hosted annually by Trinidad State College, drew more than 1,300 students and teacher attendees this year, with most from schools in Las Animas County and nearby communities in Colorado and New Mexico. Organized with the help of a handful of event leads and about 15 volunteers, the festival included activities from a diverse range of participants including the US Forest Service, a local fly tier and even a Teddy Roosevelt impersonator.

An example of a miniature homestead built by an elementary school participant.

To align with the festival’s focus on water, the SCENIC team adapted an existing module from their Soil Quality Inquiry programming into an “erosion challenge.” Using soil, rocks and legos, K-12 participants designed miniature homesteads and tested how they held up under simulated flood conditions. The activity encouraged students to think critically about how environmental engineering plays a role in protecting communities — especially Trinidad, which is prone to flash flooding due to its location along the Purgatory River.

Percy Smith, a PhD candidate specializing in engineering ethics education, led the activity alongside two other students from the Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Lab, Gabriela Cortes and Julia Harper.

“I hadn’t worked with elementary school kids in a science context before,” Smith said. “They had these really cool projects, and they were all very excited. A couple of them said it was their favorite [activity].”

Reflecting on the experience, Smith emphasized the importance of transferring knowledge beyond the university. “To be able to take [CU Boulder] students into communities and say, ‘OK, now you have to explain this concept not just to me, but also to the students who don’t have any background,’ it makes your understanding stronger and builds awareness of the work you’re doing.”

Bob Philibin, a longtime recruiter for the festival, said involving college students enriches the experience for everyone involved. “I hung out with them for one of their sessions, and the [CU Boulder students] were totally engaged,” he said. “They looked like they were having a really good time…that’s what we want.”

For SCENIC, the water festival helped deepen community ties. Knight said the team was able to establish a new relationship with a teacher in Yuma and is continuing to explore expansion into additional rural regions, such as Gunnison. He also hopes to return to the Water Festival next year.

For Smith, these experiences serve as an important reminder that “these are the people that are impacted by the work we’re doing.”

The SCENIC program is funded in part by the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship. Learn more about the Community Perspectives program.

Engineering students with the Science Engineering Inquiry Collaborative in Rural Colorado (SCENIC) program developed a hands-on “erosion challenge” for K-12 students to learn about the effects of flash flooding on infrastructure.

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Julia Harper sets up SCENIC's "erosion challenge" at the 2025 Trinidad Water Festival in Trinidad, CO.

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CU Boulder undergraduate Julia Harper sets up SCENIC's "erosion challenge" at the 2025 Water Festival in Trinidad, CO

Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Amanda Giguere

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:03:54 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Amanda Giguere Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 07/17/2025 - 13:03

Gretchen Minekime

“This is not the time for siloed knowledge, and experts agree that violence is a complicated issue that will require innovative and collaborative solutions. How can violence-prevention researchers harness knowledge from other disciplines to translate research into practice, and how can we bridge the gap between research and the daily lives of real people? Enter Shakespeare.” ~Amanda Giguere, Shakespeare & Violence Prevention: A Practical Handbook for Educators

Amanda Giguere is a pioneer or, at least, the leader of a team of pioneers. Giguere is the director of outreach for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) and the founder of the Shakespeare and Violence Prevention Program. Since 2011, she and her colleagues at CSF, CU Boulder’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), and other community partners in the violence prevention field have adapted and staged Shakespeare’s plays to see how the content and approaches can reinforce violence-prevention skills in K-12 students. To date, the program has reached nearly 140,000 students in 30 counties and more than 300 schools across Colorado, garnering national attention.

Giguere just published Shakespeare & Violence Prevention: A Practical Handbook for Educators to help educators everywhere apply the lessons of the world’s most famous bard.

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The first play CSF adapted for this violence prevention program was Twelfth Night. What sparked your initial idea to incorporate an anti-bullying message into the play?

As someone who works with Shakespeare, I am always thinking about how the plays resonate with the present moment. Tim Orr, CSF’s current producing artistic director, and I wanted to produce Twelfth Night in K-12 schools because that title was slated to appear in CSF’s upcoming mainstage season. This was 2011, and we were hearing a lot in the news about bullying. It was becoming a prevalent issue. There was even a new term coined for suicide deaths caused by bullying: “bullycide.”

In the play, the character Malvolio spoke to the present moment [2011]. This character is the target of a prank that escalates over the course of the play. His last line of the play is “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you.” The play’s scenario reminded us of present-day issues with cyberbullying. Malvolio’s story unlocked a connection to the present.

While we started this as an anti-bullying project, we’ve learned that Shakespeare’s plays invite engaging conversations about violence overall.

What research and evidence did you incorporate in Twelfth Night? What led to adapting more plays?

Research about the power and effectiveness of upstander behavior to address harm gave us an entry point to the plays. Shakespeare’s plays would be very different if the characters operated in a culture where upstander behavior was normalized and respected.

A 2001 study found that 57% of the time, bullying stops in 10 seconds or less if someone acts as an upstander (someone who takes action to protect others). There’s no one way to be an upstander, but if witnesses choose to take action, it’s often really effective. When bullying occurs, young people are usually more aware of it than adults are. Students can practice their own upstander strategies before they need to use them in real life.

When we first staged Much Ado �� Nothing in 2014, our CSPV colleagues were concerned about the plotline of spreading a rumor that someone had died. We didn’t know how depicting a rumor of someone dying would impact young audiences. Would there be any chance that depicting the behavior could encourage the idea? So, we changed the play to “Hero has fled” rather than “Hero is dead.” That was 2014. In 2019, when staging Romeo and Juliet, we worked with the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention and learned that the research had shifted. We know now that talking about suicide, for example, does not plant the idea in someone’s brain. The latest recommendation is that it’s important to ask someone directly if they are having thoughts of suicide. That’s an example of research evolving and, therefore, our approach.

Every time we produce a play we start from scratch, look at what has shifted in the world, and what has shifted in the research. The second time we adapted Julius Caesar was right after the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. So, a play about a planned attack at the capitol resonated differently.

In response to data that show youth are struggling with mental health needs, we’re currently adapting Hamlet and analyzing the mental health themes in the play. The 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado survey revealed that 28% of youth reported poor mental health most of the time or all of the time during the past month.

It’s neat to see how these plays written more than 400 years ago can bring the latest research to life.

How many students has Shakespeare & Violence Prevention reached, in how many schools, and in what areas of Colorado?

Since 2011, the program has worked with schools in 30 of Colorado’s 64 counties and reached 139,919 students from 315 schools. I should shout out to my colleague at CSF, Dr. Heidi Schmidt, for developing the processes we use to keep track of these statistics!

How do you know this program is making a difference?

With our very first Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship grant in 2011, we set up four or five weeks of touring, and it booked up quickly, which suggests there was demand for this kind of arts programming that addressed schools’ needs. After that initial 2011 tour, we repeated the tour due to continuing demand. Then, at the 2012 annual conference of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, we gave a presentation about our anti-bullying approach to Twelfth Night. Colleagues were intrigued about the connection between Shakespeare and violence.

We kept exploring more titles and realized Shakespeare’s plays have so many overlaps with the violence-prevention field. Since that initial production, we have adapted nine Shakespeare plays for the violence prevention program. The upcoming Hamlet will be our 10th.

When our actors visit schools, audiences are surprised by how fun and accessible Shakespeare can be. Teachers tell us that students who are not very engaged otherwise are surprisingly so during our visits. This program is also the first time many students see a play. Teachers and administrators frequently express appreciation for how our work aligns with and reinforces the school’s existing work. My favorite anecdotes are from teachers who report hearing the characters and the stories sneaking into students’ everyday language with one another. An elementary school teacher recently reported overhearing a student on the playground say: “Hey, remember Malvolio.”

The arts offer a powerful kind of learning. I think the idea of taking a play and seasoned professional actors and letting kids watch them work, in and of itself, is highly engaging. I believe any exposure to live theatre is violence prevention because you’re practicing empathy, thinking about the world from other perspectives, and you’re physically around other people.

The most important question we ask after workshops is whether students are likely to act as an upstander the next time they witness mistreatment, and historically, between 85-90% of students say yes.

My hope for this project is that we’ll be able to eventually stop doing it because we have a world of upstanders, and it will no longer be necessary.

Why your book and why now?

The program had been running for about seven years, and we were all excited by how effective the work is. I knew we were onto something here in Colorado—reaching 6,000-10,000 students per year with our in-person performances and workshops. But I wondered how we could reach beyond where our little van could travel. How else could we empower more people to integrate violence prevention into a theatre or language arts curriculum?

CSF, as part of CU Boulder, has an amazing connection to world-class research. Not every theatre company has a violence prevention research center right next door! Plus, it’s CSPV’s goal to get the research into as many hands as possible. So, I started writing the book in 2018, with a goal of sharing this work more widely and getting this kind of applied Shakespeare into classrooms everywhere.

Although it is written for educators, the content is approachable for a wide readership, regardless of whether you’re a classroom teacher or someone with an interest in Shakespeare.

Really, the book offers a model for how we can consume a lot of different art forms through a violence prevention lens.

How has working in partnership with communities influenced your work?

Over the years, we’ve learned to leave more room for participants’ voices and solutions during workshops in K-12 classrooms. Our actors are trained to facilitate activities, rather than teach any predetermined outcomes. Their job is to get curious about the existing wisdom in each classroom they visit. They ask questions and use students’ ideas to reframe scenarios from the plays, inviting students to step in with their own strategies as upstanders.

Dr. Beverly Kingston, director of CSPV, says that we have a lot of scientific information about violence and preventing violence, but that information alone will not get us there. We need human connection and human stories. The actors who work on this project show up in schools, perform plays that depict a wide range of emotions and experiences, and then they work directly with students to talk about what they saw in the play. When people can authentically connect with others, slow down, and have a discussion about violence in our world, this builds really healthy connections and promotes social and emotional skills. Working with Shakespeare’s plays reminds us about what it means to be human—and this kind of community engagement helps us recognize our shared humanity.

Why do you think community-engaged scholarship is important for this campus?

From my perspective in the theatre world, it’s an important way to expose young people to the arts. The arts are the balm to the soul. Our actors performed in a rural community this past spring, and many of the kids had never seen a play. Afterwards, a student who had not been participating much in the post-show activities approached an actor and said: “That was the best day of my life.”

We truly never know what's going to stick with a kid. It's easy to forget we’re in this bubble on campus where, of course, we value learning and research and the arts and the sciences and the humanities. But, that’s not a given everywhere.

I see this type of work as a pipeline and a way of building excitement about higher education and meaningful work. It’s exposure to CU Boulder for many young people and an important reminder for our staff, students, and faculty that we are not alone in our research and creative work. Through community engagement, we are building the next generation of scholars, artists, teachers, and citizens.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be speaking about and signing the book at Boulder Bookstore on July 29. And in the fall, I’ll teach an online course for CU’s Applied Shakespeare program (Teaching Shakespeare), oversee the school touring productions of Hamlet and The Tempest, and I’ll visit Australia to speak about the Shakespeare & Violence Prevention Program at the University of Melbourne. But in the meantime, we are in the midst of the CSF summer season (two beautiful productions of The Tempest and Richard II now open—everyone on campus should see them!)

Amanda Giguere is the director of outreach for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) and the founder of the Shakespeare and Violence Prevention Program. Since 2011, she and her colleagues and other community partners in the violence prevention field have adapted and staged Shakespeare’s plays to see how the content and approaches can reinforce violence-prevention skills in K-12 students.

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How a High-Altitude Observatory Shaped Colorado’s Story

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 18:45:47 +0000

How a High-Altitude Observatory Shaped Colorado’s Story Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 06/05/2025 - 12:45

Elaina Caywood

“A place can be understood as an earthly reality defined by longitude and latitude, with physical features to be detailed by geologists, geographers, and documentary photographers. At the same time, place is affective, defined by a series of experiences in time and their impact on those who linger.” – Hanna Rose Shell, Artist’s Statement

The �� strives for innovation, continually looking towards the future. But envisioning the future requires remembering the past. Colorado is home to numerous sites dedicated to scientific advancement—but what were the origins of these places, and what can they teach us about our path forward?

Hanna Rose Shell explores this question through the remarkable story of Walter Orr Roberts, drawing on her background in both historical scholarship with mixed-media artmaking. Shell is a professor in the College of Arts & Sciences, jointly appointed in the Department of Cinema Studies & Moving Image Arts and the Department of Art & Art History, and recent faculty director of the Stan Brakhage Center for Media Arts.

In 2017, Shell moved to Colorado to teach at CU Boulder, where she was able to transition from a Social Sciences-oriented department at MIT, called Science, Technology and Society, to a new academic home more explicitly in line with her artistic and creative scholarly inclinations. Shell’s transition from Massachusetts to Colorado echoed that of the young astrophysicist who Shell has since made the center of her community-engaged and scholarly projects: Walter Orr Roberts.

Roberts, a graduate student, and his wife, Janet Smock, moved to Climax, Colorado in 1940 to establish North America’s first coronagraph—a specialized telescope used to study the sun’s gaseous halo. Built atop a vast molybdenite mine on the Continental Divide, the small observatory served as a hazardous but groundbreaking scientific base for seven years. During that time, Roberts not only conducted pioneering research on the solar corona but also contributed significantly to the World War II effort. His ionospheric observations enabled him to forecast solar disruptions days in advance, which proved crucial for maintaining radio communications. This achievement, alongside the mine’s role in weapon production with molybdenite, created an unlikely but powerful alliance: the miners of Climax and a Harvard scientist working together to support the Allied Powers. During his time in Climax, Roberts formed strong relationships with the miners, bridging the academic and industrial worlds.

“The kind of project that occurred at Climax in those years brought together so many different kinds of backgrounds, types of expertise and political leanings. It is an inspiring model for how we can find ways to engage with people from a wide range of stakeholders, with distinctive political ideologies,” said Shell.

Through extensive archival research in Colorado and Massachusetts, Shell became captivated by Roberts’ story. With support from the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) and the Research and Innovation Office, she created a multimedia project that explores Roberts’ legacy while prompting reflection about themes such as nature and technology, innovation and destruction, communication and connection.

Shell’s PACES-supported work debuted in April 2025 during Boulder Art Week at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Mesa Laboratory’s Art-Science Gallery. Set against the stunning backdrop of the Flatirons, the exhibit featured photographs of the Climax observatory and mine alongside Shell’s contemplative reflections on Roberts’ achievements and the broader history of scientific exploration. The photos range from personal snapshots by Roberts or Smock, to photos of the observatory, to the actual photos Roberts took of the corona.

Across these materials, the story of the Climax Observatory shines through in all its glory. In the exhibition, beside an archival photograph from the inside of the old Climax observatory, was a pensive statement from Shell: “For me, both the historical legacy and present-day reality of the former site of the Climax Observatory exemplifies a kind of liminality: between darkness and light; between the reaches of the heavens and the depths of the earth; between the vital energies that prompt scientific discovery, and the potential hazards that accompany the human drive for material extraction.”

Hanna Rose Shell presents her work at NCAR Mesa Lab, April 25, 2025.

On April 25, Shell presented her work at the Solar Nexus event, also held at NCAR’s Mesa Lab. Supported by her PACES grant, the event—livestreamed for broader access—brought together researchers from diverse fields of solar science.

Shell discussed Roberts’ life and work, describing the challenges and triumphs he and Smock experienced. The talk featured photos, letters, and archival materials illustrating Roberts’ work and experiences. In a segment titled “Conversations of the Plurality of Worlds,” an actress read Smock’s letters aloud, offering insights into the observatory and the mine and their influence on the surrounding environment. Shell concluded her presentation with a clip from a documentary filmed by Roberts, sharing his solar observations and reflections. The clip was composed of time-lapsed photographs of the corona halo stitched together to showcase the changes Roberts was tracking. Reflections about the future of solar research and nuclear power accompanied the corona visuals.

The presentation was followed by Sarah Gibson, who presented current initiatives at the High-Altitude Observatory (HAO), and Alexandra Lockhart, a dancer who fuses heliophysics with performance art.

Shell’s interdisciplinary exploration of Roberts’ story integrates photography, film, music and letters to illuminate a compelling narrative. “One of my goals for the project is to bring this history to Boulder and to the world of atmospheric and environmental science,” she said. “It's so interesting that the seed of NCAR originated from this great collaboration between the biggest mine in the country, at the time, and a Harvard researcher.”

A central theme in Shell’s work is the idea of generative collaboration—between disciplines, communities and even ideologies—and how it shapes Colorado’s identity. Although the state has diversified beyond its mining roots, many towns still carry that legacy. For Shell, this community-engaged project offered an opportunity to “engage and learn about the history, geography and communities of Colorado,” while connecting people across divides through a shared scientific heritage.

“CU Boulder is located in one part of Colorado, so it’s very important to find ways to bring in the local community, and also people from other parts of the state,” she said. “Roberts’ work inspires us to work together on a single interest, despite our differences.”

Shell hopes to bring her exhibit to other Colorado communities, such as Leadville. With its mining history and proximity to the Climax site, Leadville offers a perspective “from the mining extraction side,” reconnecting Roberts’ work with the mining community and extending it beyond the academic community of Boulder.

“This can achieve a number of important things,” Shell explained. “One is to spread the story. Two is to get people thinking about how their perspectives and histories are more connected to those of others—people who may have different jobs, upbringings or political opinions. I really want this work to bridge the state, so to speak. I think that’s an exciting opportunity.”

Beyond its academic and public significance, the project resonates deeply with Shell on a personal level. Like Roberts, she left Massachusetts to pursue an academic career in Colorado. “I felt a lot of connection to this young astronomer and his wife,” she reflected. “Roberts came to Colorado from Massachusetts to build this observatory. He stayed here his whole life and became incredibly impactful to the state. He found direction, meaning and inspiration in a new place. That is what drew me—and continues to keep me—with this story. This project has become a wonderful way for me to connect with Colorado, as Roberts did.”

Looking ahead, Shell hopes her work will inspire Coloradans to transcend cultural and class boundaries in the name of collaboration and progress. Through visual storytelling, she encourages us to reflect on the “historical legacies” and “present-day realities” of the places we inhabit. Her work challenges us to consider not only how scientific progress is achieved—but by whom, and for what purpose.

To learn more about Shell’s project, read her NCAR Mesa Lab Flyer or explore her film project through her article, “Conversations of the Plurality of Worlds."

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Opening Conversations: Empowering Youth with Complex Communication Needs

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Mon, 19 May 2025 16:05:54 +0000

Opening Conversations: Empowering Youth with Complex Communication Needs Arielle Wiedenbeck Mon, 05/19/2025 - 10:05

Elaina Caywood

Communication is one of the most important aspects of life, yet many of us take it for granted. Those with complex communication needs (CCN) secondary to different neurological conditions and/or medical diagnoses, such as cerebral palsy, Angelman syndrome and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), typically have co-occurring conditions such as hearing and vision impairments. They face numerous challenges that prevent them from accessing the help they need to communicate effectively with the world. Compounded with economic disadvantages, these difficulties can feel insurmountable, as assistive technology can be expensive.

For the past six years, Sherri Tennant, assistant clinical professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) at CU Boulder, and her team have worked in Denver with CCN students who experience economic disadvantages and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems. AAC systems are various low and high-tech methods for communication that can help those who are unable to speak verbally, such as picture-based communication books, iPad apps and speech generating devices (SGDs). These systems are customized to meet individual communication needs.

In 2019, Tennant began consulting in Denver Public Schools, visiting classrooms and guiding staff who worked with students unable to verbalize through natural speech or reliably use touch screens. Without AAC systems or trained professionals with the knowledge to use them, many students lacked a consistent way to communicate.

Seeing that the growing need was more than one consultant could handle, Tennant and her colleague, Associate Professor Christine Brennan, decided to apply for a grant from the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship.

“We had a couple of goals in mind with different emphasis,” said Tennant. “One was to train our graduate students in the speech-language pathology program in AAC assessments and intervention, as there is a great need in our field, public schools and healthcare settings.”

During the last six years, Tennant and her team have trained more than 38 graduate students and 30 general education peers in AAC systems, many of whom have gone on to work in public schools.

“Second goal, of course, was to meet the needs of the Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST), helping those students and empowering them by giving them access to AAC systems through Medicaid,” continued Tennant. “As of now, we have assessed and procured AAC systems for 12 students total.”

“Our third goal then was to do professional development for all the educators, paraeducators and speech language pathologists that work in the school district. And then, finally train the family members to use these systems at home with the AAC users, the adolescents,” explained Tennant.

The project has now involved two high schools and one middle school within the DSST school network. The DSST team of educators has continued to support the project, writing letters of support that demonstrate the need for this kind of work and help in the grant reapplication process.

While some paraprofessionals and teachers initially felt apprehensive about using AAC systems due to their cost and complexity, many have now fully embraced them, actively participating in Tennant’s training and advocating for AAC systems in their schools.

“Seeing the change in attitude and progress [from educators] through consistent teaching, patience and modeling has been one of the biggest rewards,” reflected Tennant.

The team is working to organize and lead a larger workshop in summer 2026 to introduce critical AAC information and provide advanced training to professionals who are new to AAC as well as give more information to families who may be struggling with adopting the AAC systems. This will continue to increase the number of people who will benefit from this grant project.

Alongside professional training for paraeducators and teachers, the team created multimedia training modules to assist with AAC system use, and they plan to expand this online resource into Spanish. Marcella Manzur, a Spanish-speaking collaborator in Mexico City, has frequently assisted the team by interpreting and translating content for family support and training groups. She is also working with her team in Mexico to translate the multimedia training modules into Spanish. Due to the linguistic importance of this work, Tennant ensures that the team remains sensitive to cultural and linguistic identities when interacting with students and their families. Manzur supports this goal by acting as a translator during therapy sessions, helping students and their families feel as comfortable as possible while learning about how to use an AAC system.

Despite the wide scope of their goals, Tennant and her team have achieved great success, giving a voice to economically disadvantaged adolescents with complex communication needs in the community while helping educators and CU Boulder students gain critical hands-on experience with AAC systems. In February of 2023, Tennant, Brennan and five graduate students presented the outcomes of this work at the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA) national conference in Orlando. The team plans to present their findings again at ATIA in 2026. Graduate students working on this project not only get the chance to present their work at important conferences in the field but also gain extremely valuable experience in a relatively niche area, leading to great opportunities.

“I’ve received emails from [past students] saying it’s because of this grant project that they were able to get their position or that they felt so comfortable and confident working with the school team. That has been really rewarding,” remarked Tennant.

The collaboration between many different professionals across the SLHS and education spheres provides a uniquely impactful experience for the program’s youth participants. This work is inherently community engaged, heavily depending upon consulting and interacting with the community; Tennant stressed the importance of “family-centered treatment as much as possible.”

Tennant shared an example of a teenager whose progress depended on being consulted within her natural setting outside of highly structured therapeutic activities with a community- and family-centered approach. While being assessed in a local hospital to demonstrate how she could benefit from an AAC system, the teen exhibited noticeably aggressive behavior. However, at school, the teen had successfully communicated and responded with the trial AAC systems. The teacher, with whom the student had built trust, asked to be included in the hospital assessment but was denied due to post-COVID policies. The hospital’s assessment incorrectly concluded that she would not benefit from an AAC system due to her behavior, which was a result of the teen’s trusted companion, her teacher, being unable to assist. Tennant’s team was then able to assist in completing the AAC assessment at school where the student was comfortable and included her mother as well. The student was very cooperative, using the AAC system effectively with a smile.

“Sometimes these policies in outside organizations can be obstacles to what’s beneficial for a client or a patient. The beauty of our grant project is it allows us to go into their [the patient's] most comfortable setting. If that’s home, if that’s school, we can do that. When we do that, we get a clear picture of their potential,” explained Tennant. “ We were able to procure a system for her [the teen] through Medicaid, and she was using it really effectively. She ended up graduating and moved on and out of the school. That conveys one very powerful benefit of this grant project.”

Students who may have been resigned to silence in their classrooms can now communicate and even make jokes in class, happily surprising the educators who have watched them grow and progress.

The work of Tennant and the rest of the team has provided hope to these teens and opened doors for them to participate and interact with the world around them. In a world so consumed with communication, everyone deserves access to the human flow of connected ideas—thanks to this grant project, those with complex communication needs can overcome economic barriers to join in on the conversation, too.

This crucial work continues on. For more information about the multimedia modules, SLHS pathology trainings for graduate students, family-centered trainings at DSST or information on future conference presentations, visit: Empowering Economically Disadvantaged Adolescents with Complex Communication Needs.

For the past six years, Sherri Tennant, Assistant Clinical Professor of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) at CU Boulder, and her team have worked in Denver with CCN students who experience economic disadvantages and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) systems.

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An apple a day? It’s the Boulder way

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 08 May 2025 16:49:36 +0000

An apple a day? It’s the Boulder way Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 05/08/2025 - 10:49

Newly planted apple orchard on CU Boulder campus is a nexus of university and community partnerships and will be a living classroom for students and educators

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Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 30 Apr 2025 17:14:16 +0000

Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 04/30/2025 - 11:14

Elaina Caywood

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU Boulder researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

A study by David Rozado and Eric Kaufmann shows that U.S. news outlets increasingly use terms that denote far-right and far-left extremists, regardless of their political leanings. News outlets have increasingly used extremist terms and language since 2015, with a rapid increase since 2019. The study demonstrates a strong polarizing dynamic regarding how news outlets discuss political extremism. Polarization can result in a communicative standstill.

How can people discuss politics without falling into extremist language? And how can news outlets and public forums maintain their neutrality when referencing instances of political extremism? These are tough questions, but we can look to the work of Leah Sprain and her team, who conduct community-engaged research surrounding the language of political extremism on Colorado’s Western Slope.

The work originated during Sprain’s fellowship with the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship’s Higher Education and Democracy Initiative (HEDI) and community partners on the Western Slope. One group that particularly interested Sprain and her team was Restore the Balance.

Restore the Balance is a group with members from across the political spectrum. According to its website, the group works together for the purpose of “building an alternative to political extremism” through their political candidate rankings, petitions and letters to the editor, which can be found on their website.

Leah Sprain speaks to former congressional candidate Adam Frisch and PACES executive director David Meens at the Upper Colorado River Basin Water Forum at Colorado Mesa University, Oct. 30-31, 2023.

“They [Restore the Balance] try to bring together a group of people to think differently about how they engage in politics,” explained Sprain. “That effort really sparked this research project—thinking about how to make sense of when community groups try to call out things in their community.”

Calling out extremism within the Western Slope resonated with the community, drawing people to Restore the Balance meetings and encouraging responses to their petitions. Since its inception in 2022, Restore the Balance has gained 2,974 signatures for their pledge to address political extremism. However, the universal approach of Restore the Balance didn’t so easily “jibe with local politics.” The more the group tried to call out extremism, the more critics called them extremists.

Sprain’s research provokes questions surrounding the trade-offs of calling out extremism. While the effort deeply connects with many people, it also faces certain types of politicization, which could dampen the message. Should people accept this, or are there ways to work against these phenomena without using the language of extremism?

By analyzing Restore the Balance and Letters to the Editor in Grand Junction’s The Daily Sentinel, Sprain expands her view into the community’s conversation. These differing media outlets help frame research questions about what political extremism means to people on the Western Slope, what it means to address it, and more broadly, “how people think about democracy in times of crises.”

Given the nature of political communication, the research team takes an interdisciplinary approach. Professor of Journalism Mike McDevitt focuses on media aspects of communication, Associate Chair of Political Science Janet Donavan examines the political aspects, and Associate Professor of Communication Leah Sprain leads the team. The team also studies political theory approaches and measures laid out by Rod Hartin his book Civic Hope to compare Hart’s observations with their own observations made on the Western Slope.

“We look at the language of extremism and the dynamics within Restore the Balance and the Letters to the Editor,” said Sprain. “We can trace how people discussed political extremism before and after the creation of Restore the Balance and how the community reacted. From those reactions, we explore who gets called an extremist, the discursive practices around it, and what it means to think of political extremists as a category.”

To better understand some of these issues, the team engaged the CU Boulder community. By directly involving students, they gained valuable insight into the opinions of a younger generation of politically-engaged people. During Donovan’s fall 2024 class focused on civic engagement, political science students reacted to some concepts of civic hope and political extremism, analyzed Letters to the Editor and even wrote their own letters. By comparing the ideas generated by CU Boulder students with those in the Letters to the Editor—written primarily by older, white men—the team observed different perspectives about civic engagement. From this, new questions arose, such as: What makes a good community member or political conversation? Are these ideas tied to generational aspects? Connecting this back to the political situation in Grand Junction, these insights sparked discussions about which political theories are most relevant and useful when tackling political extremism today.

“We’re trying to take the research through all the ways in which students can help us think about these concepts and how we can generate pedagogical insights from that engagement,” explained Sprain.

CU Boulder students both challenged and affirmed the concept of civic hope, which contributed to their development of the concept. In turn, they learned about the relationship between internal efficacy — the extent to which people think they can make a difference in politics — to the broader notion of civic hope. These pedagogical and political insights from the students will be presented by Donovan at a regional political science conference this April.

Sprain’s previous work with Restore the Balance, during her HEDI Fellowship, examined what organization members were trying to accomplish, how they had responded to political events in their community and how best to communicate their responses. The team’s current research seeks to further understand the organization’s goals and develop approaches to addressing political extremism.

“Restore the Balance is deciding what kind of organization they want to be. So, thinking about this research might help them figure out their own issues. We’re asking questions they might not immediately consider,” said Sprain.

Through this model of community engagement, Sprain’s team collaborates with other groups on the Western Slope, such as the League of Women Voters. “Community-engaged research keeps us from being narrowly focused and allows us to think about how this research might address broader questions surrounding strategies for organizing and conducting civic work,” Sprain reflected.

Another aspect of this project involves writing workshops with people at Restore the Balance. In April, the team shared initial findings with the Restore the Balance board to observe their reactions, creating a reciprocal exchange in which the researchers learned more about community perspectives while those at Restore the Balance enjoyed a conversation that helped inform their ongoing civic work.

Following the success of their April workshop, the team will continue to plan more workshops for the fall. Their goal is to share their empirical research while involving the community, gauging reactions, and generating a productive conversation about the language of political extremism.

These conversations will help situate political dynamics within the community context so that academic insights don’t stand alone but become part of the communal conversation, all while maintaining an open, bipartisan attitude.

“The workshops will bring people together and allow them to talk across different perspectives,” Sprain described. “As researchers, we sincerely hold space for a broader range of reactions, as our research can benefit from these different perspectives, much like how democracy can benefit from multiple perspectives.”

This work raises big, important questions. While the research remains in the question-asking phase, the most important part is asking these questions and learning how to best engage communities in political conversations.

“So many parts of civic life and community democracy feel difficult and fraught. Because of what’s happening on the national level, many people are turning locally,” reflected Sprain. “I hope this effort provides research that helps people think about which types of civic action respond most effectively to what’s happening in their communities.”

As Sprain and her team continue researching political extremism on the Western Slope, we can all meditate on how best to participate in civic action without resorting to political extremist language. This engaged research is ongoing but will hopefully result in valuable insights that can help us navigate daily, changing political interactions.

To stay informed about Sprain’s work on political extremism on the Western Slope, visit the project website, Overcoming Extremism: Visibility and Voice on the Western Slope.

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU Boulder researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

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Members of the Restore the Balance board. Photo Credit: Restore the Balance

Apply for the Experiential Learning Design Accelerator

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 22 Apr 2025 19:20:27 +0000

Apply for the Experiential Learning Design Accelerator Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 04/22/2025 - 13:20

The application deadline has now passed.

Have you been thinking about designing or redesigning an undergraduate course to integrate a community-based,
experiential learning component? Do you have a relationship with a community group or organization that wants to partner with you on the course? If so, this opportunity is for you!

In August 2025, a small cohort of CU Boulder faculty members will have the opportunity to join a University of Arizona program to support the design of undergraduate courses that integrate community-engaged, experiential learning opportunities.

Starts with a five-day, virtual, intensive workshop and offers the opportunity to participate in a year-long community of learning.
Introduces faculty members to a human-centered design approach for integrating external stakeholders and real projects in undergraduate courses.
Students work alongside their peers and community partners to develop desirable, feasible, and viable solutions to challenges informed by partners’ needs.

The Experiential Learning Design Accelerator is offered by the University of Arizona, in partnership with CU Boulder's Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) and the Center for Teaching and Learning. In its successful pilot year, the program was managed by CU Engage.

University of Arizona will provide mentorship and a community of practice among faculty who have successfully developed scholarship, including grant proposals, papers, and presentations based on engaged learning pedagogy.
PACES will support the CU Boulder cohort with connecting to a CU Boulder community of scholars interested in community-engaged scholarship and with developing a way to share their learning with the broader community.
The five-day, online, summer intensive will take place from Aug.11-18,10 a.m.- 4 p.m., Mon.- Fri. with Wed. as individual work time.
Faculty participants and their community partners (1 partner per faculty member) will receive stipends to support their participation: faculty participants ($2000) and community partners ($1000).

Please contact Lisa Schwartz with questions about the program, eligibility, or the application.

Apply for the Experiential Learning Design Accelerator here.

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Maintaining the Balance: Investigating the Language of Political Extremism on the Western Slope

Amid rising political polarization, a team of CU Boulder researchers partner with community organizations on Colorado’s Western Slope to examine how language, activism and civic engagement intersect in the fight against political extremism.

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Apply for the Experiential Learning Design Accelerator

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