Archives: Articles
Not Your Everyday Priest, Not Your Everyday Gift
Fr. Don Willette is not your everyday Catholic priest. So, appropriately, his gift to create an endowed faculty position at Colorado State University is anything but every day. The Father Don Willette Professorship for Theological Studies will encourage students, faculty, and staff at CSU to engage in academic pursuits and open conversations about the history and theological traditions of Christianity.
Spring 2019
The intersection of art and technology
At the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, art and technology continually intersect. The spring 2019 exhibition, Off Kilter, On Point: Art of the 1960s from the Permanent Collection, encapsulated ways in which technology and art are interrelated by featuring a decade where that idea came into focus.
Winter 2019/Spring 2020
A History of Selfies: Year Two of Social Justice Thru the Arts
Colorado high school students have a creative way to explore social justice and life at CSU through the Social Justice Thru the Arts institute. The students explored the theme of “self and community” through a variety of interdisciplinary activities, including poetry, theater of the oppressed, dance, music, creative writing, journaling, talking circles, and mindfulness.
Winter 2020
College of Liberal Arts Winter 2020/Spring 2021 News
New programs, alumni spotlights, retirements, and other recent news from the College of Liberal Arts.
Winter 2021
An International Perspective: Faculty Donors Support Students Becoming Global Citizens
Emeriti faculty Jim Boyd and Sue Ellen Markey embody the term “global citizen.” Having lived, worked, and studied in countries around the world, these two embrace and advocate for students to enter another worldview through the establishment of a new scholarship.
Winter 2022
Building Bridges to Better Communities
Ph.D. students Emilia Ravetta and Milagro Núñez-Solis connected food pantries with gardeners and youth with opportunities to strengthen their local communities in their CSU Extension summer internships with Grow and Give and the Family Leadership Training Institute.
Spring 2023
The Mistakes We Make and the Errors that Make Us: Perception and Imagination in the Liberal Arts
Perception, and the cultural and sociopolitical influences on it, is what allows us to define a problem or determine right and wrong. In the art world, what constitutes art is regularly a matter of perception.
Winter 2018
Alumni Impact – Winter 2018
From fighting crime on the streets of Houston to telling refugee stories in Iraq, these Liberal Arts alumni used their degrees to make a real impact on the lives of people around the world and on the lives of CSU students. Read more about what a degree in the liberal arts and a passion for service can really do.
Spring 2019
The Stories Behind the Seats
The Name A Seat campaign at the University Center for the Arts raises scholarship funding for Music, Theatre, and Dance students. Meet some of the alumni and friends who have named a seat in honor of their educational experience, their loved ones, and as a tribute to faculty.
Winter 2019/Spring 2020
From Nomad’s Land to No Man’s Land: The Historic Transformation of Mediterranean Space and Place
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Mediterranean world was a haven for nomads. They lived side-by-side with farmers and played a prominent role in regional agro-pastoral economies. But mobile pastoralism gradually faded from the Mediterranean landscape of Provence, French colonial Algeria, and Ottoman Anatolia. This new book shows the unlikely role of French scientific foresters, whose efforts at conservation had mixed results for Mediterranean forests and spelled ruin for Mediterranean nomads.
Winter 2020
Guest Column: Reaction to the Assault on the U.S. Capitol
CSU Professor Greg Dickinson reflects on the attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, identifying how the attack was on democracy itself. It is the impact and power of higher education that can help us to think about and to teach ways to keep our democracy intact.
Winter 2021
College of Liberal Arts 2021 News
From our faculty securing prestigious grants to our alumni making a significant impact on local communities, the College of Liberal Arts has great news to share.
Winter 2025/Spring 2026
Helping Rural and Tribal Communities Thrive
Through initiatives like the Mountains and Plains Thriving Communities Collaborative, the Center for Environmental Justice has supported more than 200 rural and tribal communities by connecting them with resources, expertise, and funding opportunities to help their projects thrive.
Winter 2018
College of Liberal Arts Winter 2018 News
Recently published books from faculty, new interdisciplinary approaches to learning and teaching, and awards, events, and other goings-on at the College of Liberal Arts.
Spring 2019
Changing Lives Through Law
Political Science alumnus, Bill Leone (’78), came to CSU for the debate program and has built a career in law, including civil trial attorney, federal prosecutor, and United States Attorney for the District of Colorado. He received the Career Distinction in Law Award from his peers in Feb. 2019.
Winter 2019/Spring 2020
College of Liberal Arts Winter 2019/Spring 2020 News
Updates, retirements, alumni spotlights, and award winners from the College of Liberal Arts.
Winter 2021
Art museums make connections across borders
By prompting dialogue about what museums do, who they are for, and how they teach us, the Gregory Allicar’s exhibitions and programming illustrate how borders are never as clearly defined as they might seem. Art museums bridge divides – catalyzing visual literacy by sparking conversation between differing ideas.
Spring 2018
Listening to the Past and Looking to the Future: the value of the liberal arts
“The liberal arts aren’t just a field of study. They are a living thing, a thread that connects us all.” And it is through our learning, scholarship, and engagement that we advance the human experience.
Spring 2019
College of Liberal Arts Spring 2019 News
Updates, retirements, alumni career data, and award winners from the College of Liberal Arts.
Spring 2018
Outside the ivory tower: Engaging with the community through engaged scholarship
Engaged scholarship is one way that faculty and students in the College of Liberal Arts are collaborating with communities to co-create knowledge and to have significant impact. We believe that our disciplines will be key in addressing crucial issues and enhancing the quality of life of the diverse people of Colorado, the nation, and the world.
Curiosity, Generosity, and New Knowledge
From electronic art to silver mining in Bolivia, the German Enlightenment to Congressional productivity, our faculty are able to extend their research based on donor support from Great Conversations.
Speak. Disrupt. Empower.
Political science professor Courtenay Daum researches how the right to free speech enables the modern protest movements of marginalized groups.
Lost in translation: CSU launches certificate in Spanish for animal health and care
Sometimes a Spanish speaker who knows a little bit of English — or an English speaker who knows some Spanish — will get designated as a farm’s translator, but if they’re not fluent in both languages, misunderstandings can happen.
Scavenging for clues of our past
For the past 10 years, assistant professor of anthropology Michael Pante has collaborated with other scientists, students, and the local Maasai population to study early human eating behavior (1.7M years ago) in Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania as part of the Olduvai Geochronology and Archaeology Project.
Family, Culture, and French Immersion in Cajun Country
A new documentary film, Theo’s Choice/Le Choix de Theo, by assistant professor Thomas Cauvin takes viewers into French immersion classrooms of southwest Louisiana and explores the complex history of French in the Cajun culture.
The Dynamics of Development: How School Attendance Differs by Gender
A thoughtfully asked question from an Economics 101 student, – “How can we fix global poverty” – set Niroj Bhattarai on a journey that would be surprising and illuminating about what affects school attendance, while also serving as the dissertation research for his Ph.D.
Discussing Diversity over Dinner: How Food Systems and Communities Interact
Diversity of food is about more than how many different vegetables and fruits you can fit on your plate. In an interdisciplinary collaboration, CSU faculty are researching the linkage between rural and urban communities and how those diverse worlds impact the food on your dinner table.
Why We Need Ethnic Studies (Now More than Ever)
Ethnic studies is the history of us: of how we have become this great nation (with warts and all), of the obstacles we have overcome to get to this point, and of the challenges that we still face as a nation.
Three Approaches to Work and Meaning
Communication scholars research TV in the workplace, women entrepreneurs, and high reliability organizations, showing that the intersection of work and communication is vital to our success.
The Case for Limits: One Professor’s Take on the Immigration Debate
Philosophy Professor Phil Cafaro makes an economic and environmental argument for reducing immigration in his recently published book.
Imagining the Possible: the power of public rhetoric to inspire social change
For assistant professor of English Doug Cloud, rhetoric can be used for social justice. “It goes beyond describing reality as it is and articulates new and sometimes radical visions of how things could be.”
Pulitzer-winning alumnus at New York Times got his start at the Collegian
From the arts and entertainment desk at The Rocky Mountain Collegian to the highrise of the New York Times, Gabriel Dance credits his time at CSU to equipping him with the multimedia skills that launched his career.
Collaboration, Contemporary Discourse, and A Golf Course
Art galleries are not usually the place people go to play mini-golf. That is, unless the gallery in question is the Hatton Gallery in the Visual Arts building. The interactive show, called “Mulligan,” was put together by CSU art department students and the experimental design studio Zero-Craft Corp.
Attention Was Paid: Retiring CSU theatre professor receives the Kennedy Center Gold Medallion
Laura Jones’ four decades of work in theatre in higher education didn’t go unnoticed, earning her one of the most prestigious honors in theatre education.
Syria’s forgotten pluralism and why it matters today
Since fighting first erupted in Syria in March 2011, many have discussed the role of the Arab Spring, the attendant Arab Winter, Syria’s government, sectarianism and the rise of the Islamic State to explain it. These factors, while important, ignore a key part of the story – Syria’s past.
LEAP explores free speech and cultural values
For Elham Musa, the Master’s of Arts Leadership and Cultural Management program is pushing her to challenge societal norms, especially when typical Western values conflict with her worldviews as a Muslim and immigrant.
1st MIX: The responsibility of dialogue
This spring, the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art presented the first event of its kind at CSU – MIX: Multicultural, Intersectional, Inclusivity, Exchange – a look at representation, accessibility, and power as demonstrated by the museum’s art collections.
Reverence In the Face of Complexity
Interdisciplinarity, an old approach with a recent resurgence of interest, is a research process that integrates insights from two or more disciplines to address a complex problem so as to come to a broader understanding. This complexity encourages a sense of reverence.
College of Liberal Arts Spring 2018 News
Award winners, retirements, moves, and more in the College of Liberal Arts.
Winter 2017
Winter 2017: Dean’s Message
The liberal arts not only enables, but empowers, students and alumni to pursue meaningful work and a meaningful life.
One Crayon at a Time: Making a difference for refugee children
After seeing waste at a Chili’s restaurant, environmentalist Chelsea Champ Lopez found a new use for the used crayons: helping refugee children in Jordan.
Long-time politician breaks gender and race boundaries to reach many “firsts”
After growing up in a mixed-race neighborhood in Greeley and facing discrimination and prejudice as a Latina woman, Polly Baca worked to break gender and race boundaries, becoming many “firsts” in Colorado’s legislature.
Mindful engagement inspires environmental art exhibition
An environmental art exhibit at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art provide Art students Kyle Singer and Emily Sullivan the opportunity to combine classroom learning with a chance to help New York-based artist David Brooks.
Telling her story: women and girls’ empowerment around the world
Inspired by her grandmother’s assistance to those suffering the repercussions of civil unrest in Colombia, Juliana Vélez now fights for women’s rights around the world through an organization called HerStory.
From Trash Animals to Sacred Cows: exploring human-animal relationships across the globe
Inspired to understand animals on their own terms, Kelsi Nagy pursued a master’s degree focused on animal ethics and environmental policy. She has edited a book about our relationship with “trash” animals and continues to study complex animal-human relationships.
Many Roads: A study of traditional art by a non-traditional student
Annie Seipel is a non-traditional student in almost every sense of the word. At age 45 Seipel is on the brink of finishing her bachelor’s degree combining her interests of Arabic and metal-working.
Uncharted waters and an unexpected calling
Paul DeMaret wrote a mini-book about sharks in the fifth grade. Instead of foretelling a future as a marine biologist, the book foreshadowed DeMaret’s future as an English major and distinguished teacher.
Bringing communities together through memories, stories, and the National Park Service
From Japanese American confinement camps to National Heritage Areas, Alex Hernandez brings communities together for historic preservation projects as an assistant program manager and historian for the National Park Service.
Who I Am: A story of discovery and impact
Multiple CSU alumni work together to share the story of the Near Peer Program: an effort that connects CSU Key students with newly arrived high-school students in Fort Morgan
CSU alumnus’ sculpture chosen for U.S. embassy in Netherlands
The colorful new 30-foot-high sculpture emerging from a water feature at the new U.S. Embassy building in The Hague was created by alumnus Pard Morrison.
Using journalism and policy skills to advocate for health workers worldwide
As director of Frontline Health Workers Coalition and advocacy advisor at IntraHealth International, Vince Blaser advocates for improved access to health workers for millions of people in countries like India, Senegal, Guatemala, and Mali.
Walk better in the world
For Namuyaba Temanju, helping others runs in the family. Her mother, a nurse, helped Somali refugees in Kenya and in Somalia, and Temanju has taken that desire to help immigrants and refugees as a community organizer in Fort Morgan, Colo.
An anthropological search for belonging and identity
Susan Harness described her childhood as being caught between two worlds – white and American Indian – and estranged from both. Using her education in anthropology, Harness searched for a sense of belonging and acceptance as a transracial adoptee.
Spreading hope at CSU through the Esperanza Scholarship
Madeleine Sheahan didn’t know it was unusual for a current student to establish a scholarship. Now an alumni, Sheahan continues to make a difference for students with the Esperanza Scholarship.
Resource economist reflects on international career
David Fischer, the first person to receive a Ph.D. in economics from CSU, taught natural resource economics around the world. Among other accomplishments, he developed a framework for studying large-scale environmental accidents.
Education Has An Impact
International studies alumna Josephine Bush sees education as the number one way to lift people out of poverty. She is working as a teacher in the Bronx and aspires to change educational policy.
Advocate for the arts
Jennifer Zidon is living proof of the proverb ‘when one door closes, another one opens.’ With a poetry degree and, soon, a master’s degree in arts leadership, Zidon is using her professional experience in community relations to advocate for artists and the planet.
Joint Stock: Exploring the human experience with the Freshman Theatre Project
Professor Walt Jones challenges his freshmen students to bring the human experience to life on stage in a unique way: through a production of interview theatre.
Celebrating Three Distinguished Alumni
The College of Liberal Arts congratulates Polly Baca, Ann Gill, and Jim Vidakovich for receiving Distinguished Alumni Awards from the CSU Alumni Association on Oct. 12, 2017
Spring 2017
New Initiatives and Accolades for the College of Liberal Arts
The College of Liberal Arts launches new initiatives REDI and Digital Liberal Arts Hub, and congratulates faculty and staff award winners.
Advising leads the way in student success
Professional advisors have been an important part of the Student Success Initiatives launched in 2007. The College of Liberal Arts has 16 advisors to help nearly 4,000 students navigate their academic experience.
Sociology, Perspective-Taking, and Law Enforcement
For Assistant Chief Kevin Cronin, sociology changed his worldview and helped him consider a variety of perspectives that he uses in his work as a police officer.
Cultural Awareness through Coffee and Conversation
The International Studies Club, GAIA (Global Awareness and International Affairs), brings cultural awareness to CSU by welcoming and engaging with the international community on campus and in Fort Collins.
Lights, Camera, Action: Students get real-world video experience
Students in Ram Productions, part of the music, stage and sports production minor, get hands-on experience with the skills and equipment they’ll use in the world of professional video production and broadcasting.
Retirements
Congratulations – and thank you – to the faculty and staff retiring from the College of Liberal Arts.
Outstanding Graduates of 2017
Read about the 2017 Outstanding Graduates from the College of Liberal Arts
Message from the Dean
The College of Liberal Arts is the heart of the University, pioneering new ways of learning and new approaches to issues and challenges that Colorado and our nation face.
Conversation key to film festival’s power
The ACT Human Rights Film Festival curates the best of the most recently made human rights cinema not available in wide release, while honoring the most relevant and compelling stories from around the world.
Ethnographic research in virtual worlds
For CSU’s Ethnographic Research and Teaching Laboratory (ERTL), online gaming has become a new field in which to conduct anthropological fieldwork by using an Internet-based reality.
Ethnic Studies expands its impact across campus
The Department of Ethnic Studies is continuing is collaborative legacy by launching a host of new initiatives to further emphasize diversity, multiculturalism, and women’s studies across the university.
The Straayer Center for Public Service Leadership
Whether in the classrooms of the political science department or the halls of the State Capitol, Dr. John Straayer’s passion for public service and shared governance has shaped multiple-generations of civic leaders.
Passages
In 2016-17, we said goodbye to several faculty and staff. Liang-Shing “LS” Fan Elissa Joyce […]
Spring 2017
The Scott Artist Series at CSU
Shaesby (’97) and Catherine (’98) Scott make a lasting impact with a scholarship endowment and the Scott Artist Series through the Department of Art and Art History.
The bright future of radio
The radio is alive and well, with the very active student-run radio station of KCSU.
A boy king returns to the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art
In 2016 the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art took possession of the Pourbous painting of French King Louis XIII as a young boy. The 17th century portrait was removed, conserved, and returned to the gallery where it is now on display.
Middle School Outreach Ensemble inspires the next generation
The Middle School Outreach Ensembles (MSOE) program is an internationally recognized, community-based music outreach program sponsored by CSU that provides music instruction to local middle school students.
CSU student fulfills longtime dream of studying abroad
A foreign language matches any major. Junior Raeann Magill, soil and crop sciences major with a minor in Spanish, traveled to Uruguay for study abroad.
Poppie Gullett Explores Public History in Antarctica
Poppie Gullet, master’s student in the public history program, writes about her experience doing field work in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica.
Applying Ethics: How Philosophy Brings Clarity to Emerging Challenges
In applied ethics we teach our students how to think creatively and rigorously about our world—how it is, how it might be, and how it ought to be. Because the absence of clear, careful thinking so often leads to confusion, error, and calamity.
Teaching in Vietnam: Lesson on the markets of Hanoi
Dr. Alexandra Bernasek traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam in November of 2016 to teach Econ 202 at Foreign Trade University.
Preparing Students for Life Using Soft Skills
Soft Skills for Professionals provided students practice in soft skills such as critical observation, problem solving, adaptability, and tolerance to diversity through exercises designed to challenge students’ abilities.
English Majors Don’t Wait Until They Graduate
English majors are a diverse group doing interesting work in the world, but they don’t wait until they graduate to start being amazing.
Winter 2016
A Great Museum for a Great University
Great universities have great art museums, and Colorado State is no exception.
Then I found Colorado State University
Economics major Lauren Bouman shares how she is living her passion and thanks College of Liberal Arts donors for their support.
What it Means to be Human
“When we talk about science and the way it is related to politics, we are looking at the way in which human activities are interdependent with the wider world.”
The ‘welcoming back of a nation’
Jason LaBelle’s research highlights the rich history of indigenous peoples and bison in northern Colorado.
A Lasting Legacy
Irene Vernon’s record of service to underrepresented groups has made an enduring mark on campus.
Global Treks and Triple Majors
In her third year of college, Jo Buckley juggles the collective titles of world traveler, community leader and triple major.
Awakening the mind with music
A CSU program shows that attending the symphony reverses cognitive decline in people with dementia.
Czech Abroad: On the Building and Breaking Down of Walls
Like many American school children, I had heard many stories. Also like many American school children, I had never seen the wall.
Student receives archaeological training in Belize
Anthropology senior Jesse Bain had the opportunity to participate in the Rio Bravo Archaeological Survey in Belize.
The CSU Marching Band: longest-standing Ram tradition
Formed in 1901, CSU’s marching band is the longest-standing tradition, and has maintained it’s mission to represent the University, support our athletic teams, and entertain fans.
Center Celebrates Decade of Student-Cultivated Public Dialogue
A program that gives CSU students real-world experience facilitating discussions on difficult issues recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Overcoming Divisiveness
“I love to bring people into the room who think they are so different from each other. Those are the starting points to work from to make the world a better place.”
CSU center partners with National Park Service to provide historical scholarship
CSU’s Public Lands History Center has received new support that will allow it to partner with the National Park Service on an expanded number of large, complex research projects.
Art students transfer tradition to South African mural on campus
CSU art students created a South Sotho mural out of soil, manure and tempera paint.
Alumni acquire coffee shop, plan to hire people with disabilities
Fresh-brewed coffee and helping adults with disabilities is not what Chelsi and Justin Wells thought they would be doing after graduation.
Honoring a Teacher and a Dancer
Cythnia Mousel’s scholarship not only honors her teacher, Mrs. Fagan, but also honors the students who pursue a dance major.
When is it ethical to euthanize your pet?
Dr. Bernard Rollin examines the ethics of euthanizing pets.
Writers Bring their Work to Life
In 2016, CSU has hosted two Pulitzer Prize-winning poets, one national award winner for nonfiction, and an award winning English department alumnus.