Spring 2018
Advancing the Human Experience
The research, scholarship, and creative artistry from the College of Liberal Arts teaches people to deal with complexity, diversity, and change, and ultimately provides a variety of skills for people to explore or solve the world's most pressing human problems.
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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.
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
Anthropology and Geography | Art and Art History | College of Liberal Arts | English | Languages, Literatures and Cultures | Political Science
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
Languages, Literatures and Cultures
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
Journalism and Media Communication
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
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
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
The Gregory Allicar Museum of Art
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
Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts
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.