Winter 2017
Meaningful Work, Meaningful Life
What defines success? What makes a meaningful life?
These essential questions follow all of us. And for the alumni, students, and faculty in the College of Liberal Arts, answers to these questions come in the form of making a difference - small or large - in their local communities, at the national level, and across the world.
Scroll down to see this issue's featured stories
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
Art and Art History | The Gregory Allicar Museum of Art
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
Art and Art History | Languages, Literatures and Cultures
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
Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts
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
Journalism and Media Communication
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
Ethnic Studies | Women's Studies
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
Languages, Literatures and Cultures
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
School of Music, Theatre, and Dance
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