As a recently transplanted Coloradan, I have learned that the state’s history can be written in terms of the competition for, control over, and conservation of water, particularly the legal right to divert and use it as a resource. Water has played a key role in the history of Colorado State University, too. As the state’s land-grant university, CSU has taken a leading role in developing practical applications of its research in engineering, economics, and agriculture. Because of that, CSU has emerged on both the national and the international stage as a leader in formulating sustainable solutions to this critical resource.

The necessity of water, combined with the complexity of the legal, economic, and cultural issues connected to it, demands an equally complex and interdisciplinary array of approaches to address these concerns and find solutions. What follows in this edition of the CLA Magazine demonstrates what happens when we apply skills and tools derived from the humanities, social sciences, and performing arts to critical conversations about water. Seeing the world in a different light, through what we call the lenses of the liberal arts, will refocus, magnify, and place in context issues like water, providing perspectives on new opportunities and solutions.

I think you will be surprised and impressed with what you learn about water and the innovative, creative, and impactful ways we see the world through the liberal arts.

Sincerely,

Benjamin C. Withers, Dean
Professor of Art History
College of Liberal Arts