community /asmagazine/ en CU prof fighting to keep Latin classes alive through video storytelling /asmagazine/2025/04/01/cu-prof-fighting-keep-latin-classes-alive-through-video-storytelling <span>CU prof fighting to keep Latin classes alive through video storytelling</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-04-01T09:51:17-06:00" title="Tuesday, April 1, 2025 - 09:51">Tue, 04/01/2025 - 09:51</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-04/Il_Duomo_dedicato_al_patrono_di_Modena.jpg?h=e5b87810&amp;itok=xsNHMXZb" width="1200" height="800" alt="Carved stone statues and Latin inscription on tablet"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/266" hreflang="en">Classics</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1241" hreflang="en">Division of Arts and Humanities</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/686" hreflang="en">Research</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/710" hreflang="en">students</a> </div> <span>Cody DeBos</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span>For Reina Callier, learning Latin ‘is like lifting weights for your brain’</span></em></p><hr><p>When a student in one of Reina Callier’s Latin classes said, “I came for the language, I stayed for the vibes,” she laughed, but the phrase stuck with her.</p><p>It captured something essential about Latin classrooms. Beyond conjugations and declensions, they offer students a haven for community, curiosity and a shared passion for the ancient world.</p><p>In recent years, though, that community has been shrinking.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-04/Reina%20Callier.jpg?itok=yCmEnqXF" width="1500" height="1875" alt="portrait of Reina Callier"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Reina Callier, a 91 teaching assistant professor of classics, notes that <span>“Latin survives because people love it. And as long as we keep sharing that love, it’s not going anywhere.”</span></p> </span> </div></div><p>“Enrollment in Latin classes, especially at the secondary level, has largely been declining,” Callier explains. “During COVID, Latin classes were seen as non-essential, so they lost a lot of students. And they’ve been having a hard time bringing the numbers back up.”</p><p>For Callier, <a href="/classics/reina-callier" rel="nofollow">a teaching assistant professor of classics and the Latin Program Coordinator at the 91</a>, this trend is more than an academic concern.</p><p>She wasn’t alone in her worries. In response to falling enrollment rates, the Colorado Classics Association (CCA) formed a committee dedicated to promoting interest in Latin classes.</p><p>The solution? A project that would convey the benefits of learning Latin to students in their own words.</p><p><strong>A language in decline</strong></p><p>Across the country, Latin programs have struggled to justify their existence in an education system increasingly focused on STEM fields and workforce development. In some districts, administrators have proposed cutting Latin entirely, forcing teachers and students to fight for their programs.</p><p>In collaboration with the CCA and local high school educators, Callier helped spearhead <em>You Belong in Latin</em>, a video project designed to remind high school students why Latin is worth learning.</p><p>“We finally came up with the idea for a video, because it’s something you can share easily. It’s more entertaining than just looking at a brochure that says, ‘Here’s why Latin is a good thing to take,’” Callier says.</p><p>The project quickly took shape as teachers across Colorado filmed interviews with their students, capturing firsthand accounts of what Latin means to them. They also collected footage of classrooms filled with laughter, animated discussions and moments of discovery.</p><p>“One of the things we noticed is that once students get into Latin class, they really love it,” Callier says. “You just have to get them in the door.”</p><p>The team secured a grant to bring the project to life, which allowed them to hire a former 91 student who majored in film—and took several semesters of Latin with Callier—to professionally edit the videos.</p><p>Over the course of a year, the raw footage was transformed into a compelling series of short videos, each emphasizing a unique aspect of the Latin classroom experience.</p><p>Now available on YouTube, the <em>You Belong in Latin</em> videos are a vital resource for teachers, students and parents to share.</p> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/asmagazine/media/oembed?url=https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DbP-jbHYt6w0&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=H7OU9e4k-eWLpFcp_6BpIYOa8QOguiFHGpXbE3fgrLg" width="516" height="290" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="You Belong in Latin"></iframe> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Latin is for everyone</strong></p><p>A central theme of <em>You Belong in Latin</em> is the tight-knit community formed in Latin classrooms. Unlike more popular language programs, Latin classes tend to be small, allowing students to form deeper relationships with their peers and instructors.</p><p>“At 91, if you take Latin, aside from the first semester where there are two sections of Latin I, after that, everybody’s in the same class together,” Callier explains. “You continue to see the same instructors in the department as well. So you get to know them, and you get to know your peers in a way that’s not really very common at the college level.”</p><p>The same holds true in high schools, where Latin students often stay in one cohort across multiple years and gain a sense of unity and belonging.</p><p>The videos also seek to challenge the misconception that Latin is elitist—a subject reserved for Ivy League prep schools and aspiring academics.</p><p>“Latin actually isn’t elitist. Everybody’s starting from the same level when they walk into Latin class. There’s no barrier, and everybody can benefit from it in various ways,” Callier says.</p><p>And while Latin’s reputation as a “dead language” often turns students away, Callier argues that its benefits are very much alive. Latin gives students a foundation for English vocabulary, enhances their analytical skills and prepares them for careers in law, medicine and the sciences, she says, adding that it also provides direct access to Latin texts, “which is immensely beneficial to anyone who is enthusiastic about Roman literature or history.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><blockquote><p class="lead">“Latin actually isn’t elitist. Everybody’s starting from the same level when they walk into Latin class. There’s no barrier, and everybody can benefit from it in various ways.”&nbsp;</p></blockquote></div></div><p>“Learning Latin is like weightlifting for your brain,” she says with a smile.</p><p><strong>Keeping the momentum going</strong></p><p>Now that the <em>You Belong in Latin</em> videos have been published, Callier is working to spread the word.</p><p>“We have been sharing our Colorado Classics Association YouTube channel with educators from around the country who are looking for different ways to promote Latin,” she says.</p><p>Feedback on the project has been encouraging for Latin educators who rarely receive recognition for their efforts.</p><p>“What we are doing as Latin educators is something that is really having an impact,” Callier says. “Students are getting a lot out of Latin in various ways, and they’re really appreciating what we bring to the table.”</p><p>At its heart, this project isn’t just about keeping Latin alive but also celebrating what makes it special. As Callier and her colleagues know, the language is only the beginning. The real magic comes from the people who learn and teach it.</p><p>Callier says, “Latin survives because people love it. And as long as we keep sharing that love, it’s not going anywhere.”</p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about classics?&nbsp;</em><a href="/classics/giving" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>For Reina Callier, learning Latin ‘is like lifting weights for your brain.'</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-04/Latin%20inscription%20cropped.jpg?itok=fVthdiOU" width="1500" height="546" alt="Carved stone statues and Latin inscription"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 01 Apr 2025 15:51:17 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6092 at /asmagazine Patty Limerick and George Orwell merge to celebrate anniversaries /asmagazine/2025/03/18/patty-limerick-and-george-orwell-merge-celebrate-anniversaries <span>Patty Limerick and George Orwell merge to celebrate anniversaries</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-03-18T09:17:07-06:00" title="Tuesday, March 18, 2025 - 09:17">Tue, 03/18/2025 - 09:17</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-03/Orwell%20screen%20grab.jpg?h=bdf1e627&amp;itok=-EkO8j2J" width="1200" height="800" alt="Patty Limerick as George Orwell and Aaron Harber onstage"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1241" hreflang="en">Division of Arts and Humanities</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/857" hreflang="en">Faculty</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/178" hreflang="en">History</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <span>Daniel Long</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span>The historian loaned her voice to the author in the summer of 2024 to commemorate her 40th year in 91 and the 75th anniversary of&nbsp;</span></em><span>1984</span></p><hr><p><span>It was a hot summer evening in June of 2024, in a barn on the east side of 91, Colorado. On a low stage blanketed with a small, thin rug, two empty chairs sat facing each other, and between them, tall and menacing against the black backdrop, stood a red banner with “1984” written on it.</span></p><p><span>A large gray eye gazed out upon the audience from the center of that banner, lidless and all-seeing, an icon of surveillance.</span></p><p><span>Big Brother, it seemed, was watching, and he likely disapproved of what he saw.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/Patty%20Limerick.jpg?itok=iiaUsoho" width="1500" height="2266" alt="Portrait of Patty Limerick"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">91 Professor Patty Limerick embodied <em>1984</em> author George Orwell in several public conversation, guided by the belief that <span>“historians are people who try to reactivate the voices of the departed.”&nbsp;</span></p> </span> </div></div><p><span>His creator and harshest critic, George Orwell (born Eric Arthur Blair), had returned from the dead to discuss his life and work nearly 75 years after succumbing to tuberculosis at the age of 46 on Jan. 21, 1950, seven months following the publication of his most famous novel, </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>, the nightmare-vision that gave the world Room 101, memory holes, Newspeak and doublethink.</span></p><p><span>It would be the first of two public conversations he’d have over the summer, this one with TV show host&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.pbs.org/video/patty-limerick-qij22y/" rel="nofollow"><span>Aaron Harber</span></a><span> and the second with scholar, author and educator&nbsp;</span><a href="https://ltamerica.org/about-clay-jenkinson/" rel="nofollow"><span>Clay Jenkinson</span></a><span>.</span></p><p><span>Harber took the stage and faced the humble gathering of spectators. “I would like to introduce to you<strong>&nbsp;</strong>George Orwell,” he said.</span></p><p><span>Applause mounted in the sweltering barn as the author of </span><em><span>Animal Farm</span></em><span>, </span><em><span>Road to Wigan Pier&nbsp;</span></em><span>and numerous essays ambled down the aisle dividing the crowd and stepped up to meet Harber, dressed sharply but unseasonably in a jacket, trousers, tie and hat . . .</span></p><p><span>. . . and bearing a remarkable resemblance to 91 history professor&nbsp;</span><a href="/history/patricia-limerick" rel="nofollow"><span>Patty Limerick</span></a><span>.</span>&nbsp;</p><p><span><strong>Why channel Orwell?</strong></span></p><blockquote><p><span>“Tragedy . . . belonged to the ancient time, to a time when there was still privacy, love, and friendship, and when the members of a family stood by one another without needing to know the reason.”</span></p><p><span>—George Orwell, </span><em><span>1984</span></em></p></blockquote><p><span>The year 2024 marked Limerick’s 40th in 91, which is another way of saying she moved there in 1984. She wanted to celebrate, but how?</span></p><p><span>“Then I thought, ‘Yes, </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>—when was that published?’ I thought I knew, but I didn't. And when I checked, it was the 75th anniversary.”</span></p><p><span>This convergence of round numbers gave Limerick an idea: Maybe she could observe both anniversaries together, with the same event, as only a historian would.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Her initial thought was to ask her friend<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Jenkinson to don Orwell’s persona while she interviewed him. Having impersonated many historical figures—Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and J. Robert Oppenheimer, among others—for a variety of audiences, including Supreme Court justices and U.S. Congress, he seemed the natural choice.</span></p><p><span>But Jenkinson didn’t have sufficient time to prepare for the role, which left Limerick wondering: Could she do the impersonation herself?</span></p><p><span>She’d impersonated President Richard Nixon in her American History survey course several years prior, thinking this would prove more engaging than her usual lecture on the man. “The lecture on Richard Nixon was so useless because I, as a person of my age group, have a lot of feelings about Nixon,” Limerick says. “The lecture would be quite interesting if you were curious about my feelings about Nixon, but if you thought you might want to learn about Richard Nixon, you came to the wrong place.”</span></p><p><span>Even without the standard accoutrements—makeup, clothing, five o’clock shadow—Limerick’s impersonation of the 37th president did the trick, she says. Her students asked thoughtful questions, and she got the chance to put some flesh and sinew on the bones of her Nixonian knowledge.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>“I certainly conveyed some moments in which Nixon was insufferably full of questionable convictions, but I also . . . conveyed his accomplishments,” such as “the lessening of tensions with China and the signing of crucial environmental laws,” she recalls. “I feel I got it right.”</span></p><p><span>So, why not impersonate Orwell? Why not lend him her voice as she had Nixon?</span></p><p><span>Why not indeed. After all, Limerick says, “historians are people who try to reactivate the voices of the departed.”</span></p><p><span><strong>Guaranteed tyranny</strong></span></p><blockquote><p><span>“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>—George Orwell, </span><em><span>1984</span></em></p></blockquote><p><span>One of </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>’s most famous innovations is Newspeak, a language Orwell constructed to represent the nation-state of Oceania’s drive to control not just its citizens’ behavior but also what went on in their heads.&nbsp;</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/Orwell%20screen%20grab.jpg?itok=Tbphj6k2" width="1500" height="1067" alt="Patty Limerick as George Orwell and Aaron Harber onstage"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Patty Limerick (left), a 91 historian, embodied George Orwell during a televised conversation with Aaron Harber. (Screen grab: PBS)</p> </span> </div></div><p><span>“The purpose of Newspeak was not only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc (English socialism), but to make all other modes of thought impossible,” Orwell says in his appendix to </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>,&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.orwell.ru/library/novels/1984/english/en_app" rel="nofollow"><span>“The Principles of Newspeak.”</span></a></p><p><span>“It was intended that when Newspeak had been adopted once and for all and Oldspeak forgotten, a heretical thought—that is, a thought diverging from the principles of Ingsoc—should be literally unthinkable, at least so far as thought is dependent on words.”</span></p><p><span>“Newspeak,” says Limerick, “is the foundation of guaranteed tyranny. You don’t let people have the words that they need. What became of justice? What became of freedom? What became of honor? They can’t ask those questions if they don’t have those words. People can’t resist if they don’t have the word ‘resist.’”</span></p><p><span>Orwell held strong views about the relationship between word and thought. He famously criticized nebulous prose in his essay&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/politics-and-the-english-language/" rel="nofollow"><span>“Politics and the English Language”</span></a><span> by arguing that fuzzy writing both emerges from and leads to fuzzy thinking.</span></p><p><span>Decades later, not fully realizing her indebtedness to Orwell,<strong>&nbsp;</strong>Limerick made a similar case in her essay&nbsp;</span><a href="http://users.soc.umn.edu/~samaha/cases/limerick_dancing_with_professors.html" rel="nofollow"><span>“Dancing with Professors,”</span></a><span> though she approached the issue from an educational rather than a political angle. Yet both agreed that the stakes of clarity are high: freedom of thought for Orwell, the legitimacy and survival of academia for Limerick.</span></p><p><span>But what about some of the words that appear in the media these days—words like “mistruths” in place of “lies”? Would Orwell consider these examples of Newspeak?</span></p><p><span>Not necessarily, Limerick argues. For one thing, these words, wooly as they may be, add to the English language, creating new shades of meaning, while Newspeak feeds on subtraction.</span></p><p><span>“Do you know that Newspeak is the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year?” the Newspeak enthusiast Syme asks of </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>’s protagonist, Winston Smith. “Every year fewer and fewer words, and the range of consciousness always a little smaller.”</span></p><p><span>For another thing, a word like “mistruth,” says Limerick, is often used not by the powerful<strong>&nbsp;</strong>to maintain their power but by media outlets that are trying to report on falsehoods without using incendiary words like “lie” or “liar.”</span></p><p><span>“If you're going to call the leader of the United States a liar repeatedly, and his supporters are not gentle and forgiving people, you’re going to spend much of your conscious life wondering how you’re going to cope with the consequences of your having said he’s lying.”</span></p><p><span>Newspeak does not deal in such subtleties, Limerick believes. Newspeak is where subtlety goes to die.</span></p> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/asmagazine/media/oembed?url=https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEnHwPlYuahk&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=FDBoNFysBKZ2N-2wB593pNQOZosZ4soollFeJZMGvnc" width="516" height="290" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="George Orwell Speaks: A Conversation with the Author of 1984"></iframe> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p><p><span><strong>Two plus two equals five</strong></span></p><blockquote><p><span>“You are a slow learner, Winston,” said O’Brien gently.</span></p><p><span>“How can I help it?” (Winston) blubbered. “How can I help seeing what is in front of my eyes? Two and two are four.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>“Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.”</span></p><p><span>—George Orwell, </span><em><span>1984</span></em></p></blockquote><p><span>Another of Orwell’s stickier inventions in </span><em><span>1984&nbsp;</span></em><span>is doublethink, or the capacity to believe two logically opposed things at once—things like war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength.</span></p><p><span>“Doublethink is the power of tyrants to say contradictory things and not be held responsible for the disparities,” Limerick explains. “It is really bad, and really dangerous, and really perilous.”</span></p><p><span>Winston discovers how perilous when he’s interrogated by O’Brien, a character he assumes is a friend but who turns out to be a member of the Thought Police tasked with rooting out thought-criminals. After learning of Winston’s secret opposition to Ingsoc, O’Brien tortures him relentlessly to convert him back into doublethink, arguing that it “is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party.”</span></p><p><span>Yet Limerick points out that it is important not to mistake the direct contradictions of doublethink in </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span> with the paradoxes of real life.</span></p><p><span>Take historical figures, for example. The more one learns about them, says Limerick, the more complex they become, to the point that they may force students of history to hold seemingly contradictory thoughts when appraising them.</span></p><p><span>This happened to Limerick herself with William Stewart, senator of Nevada from 1865-75.</span></p><p><span>“Environmental activists and historians hold Stewart in contempt because he was the guy who wrote the 1872 mining law, which enshrines the notion that individuals can just go out and make mining claims and owe nothing in the way of revenue to the government,” she says.</span></p><p><span>Yet Stewart also proved crucial to getting the Fifteenth Amendment passed in 1870, which granted African American men the right to vote—an accomplishment Limerick urges everyone to admire.</span></p><p><span>Evidence sometimes demands conflicting feelings, Limerick says. Villains can do heroic things, and heroes can do villainous things, including Orwell. The great champion of free thought also expressed<strong>&nbsp;</strong>complicated, often inconsistent views about women, Jews and Catholicism. He wasn’t perfect, and any estimation that claimed he was would be flat. Posterity can both praise and blame him simultaneously—paradoxical, but true.</span></p><p><span>But that doesn’t mean two plus two will ever equal five.</span></p><p><span><strong>Orwell’s lingering relevance</strong></span></p><blockquote><p><span>“We are the dead. Our only true life is in the future. We shall take part in it as handfuls of dust and splinters of bone. But how far away that future may be, there is no knowing.”</span></p><p><span>—George Orwell, </span><em><span>1984</span></em></p></blockquote><p><span>The conversation between&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnHwPlYuahk" rel="nofollow"><span>Jenkinson and Limerick’s Orwell</span></a><span>, organized by the Vail Symposium, took place on Aug. 21, 2024, at the Donovan Pavilion in Vail. That night, the two engaged in an often funny and frequently tetchy back-and-forth about Orwell’s childhood, his views on socialism and his enduring legacy.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/1984%20cover.jpg?itok=HxdBVq1L" width="1500" height="2252" alt="book cover of 1984 by George Orwell"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text"><span>“Doublethink is the power of tyrants to say contradictory things and not be held responsible for the disparities. It is really bad, and really dangerous, and really perilous,” argues historian Patty Limerick.&nbsp;</span></p> </span> </div></div><p><span>When, about three-quarters of the way through the discussion, Jenkinson revealed he was wearing a </span><em><span>1984&nbsp;</span></em><span>T-shirt, Orwell stared at it, nonplussed, and asked, “My understanding from that shirt is that my name and that book are still recognizable?”</span></p><p><span>“Universally!” Jenkinson proclaimed. “One of the most recognizable books written in English and certainly one of the most recognizable books of the 20th century. And it has become extremely important again in the last dozen years or so because the world is having a strange flirtation with authoritarianism, and one of the ways that people have coped with this abroad and at home . . . is to go back to your book. And they find solace in it, they find warning in it, they find hope in it, and they find discouragement in it, but it is a key text as people try to sort our way through this extraordinarily difficult time in modern history.”</span></p><p><span>A long silence followed while Orwell gathered his thoughts.</span></p><p><span>“I’m having such mixed feelings,” he admitted to Jenkinson. “I hoped that what I wrote about (in </span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>) would become mocked, humorous. ‘He thought these terrible things were going to happen<strong>.&nbsp;</strong>Nothing like that happened! Boy, did he get that wrong!’</span></p><p><span>“As an author, I am gratified knowing that (</span><em><span>1984</span></em><span>) went on and on,” he added. “(But) as a human being who welcomed&nbsp;a child (his adopted son&nbsp;</span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Blair_(patron)" rel="nofollow"><span>Richard Blair</span></a><span>) into the world, I’m not anything but shaken to believe that this book is still so relevant.”</span></p><p><span>Yet Orwell’s distress turned to horror when Jenkinson delivered the worst news of the night: the definition of the word “Orwellian.”</span></p><p><span>“When we say ‘Orwellian,’” Jenkinson said, “we mean surveillance, torture, discrimination, disappearances, propaganda, lies, permanent war, keeping the class system, keeping down the poor … ‘Orwellian’ is a dystopian word for us meaning a nightmare world.”</span></p><p><span>Orwell winced at this revelation. “The things I tried to prevent, the things I tried to warn people about, they associate with me?” he railed. “Change that word!”</span></p><p><span>Jenkinson held out his hands, welcoming Orwell’s ideas. “What would you prefer?”</span></p><p><span>Orwell offered two alternative definitions: one about intellectual openness and diversity, the other about the necessity of<strong>&nbsp;</strong>precise language.</span></p><p><span>But a third definition, one governed not by foreboding or criticism but by a zeal for life and all it contained, can be culled from the beginning of Orwell and Jenkinson’s talk.</span></p><p><span>“If you think . . . that I wrote </span><em><span>1984&nbsp;</span></em><span>when I knew I was dying, and knew that this would be my last book, and that the grimness of this book comes from the melancholy and despair of a dying man, you have that wrong,” Orwell said. “I lived with a commitment to being alive that never, never faltered.”&nbsp;</span></p><p><span>Perhaps the only thing comparable to Orwell’s commitment to </span><em><span>being</span></em><span> alive is Limerick’s commitment to </span><em><span>keeping</span></em><span> him alive—or, if not him, at least his memory. He won’t be memory-holed on her watch.</span></p><p><span>“I hate it so much that he died when he did, just a few months after </span><em><span>1984&nbsp;</span></em><span>came out, and that he was so sick and so frail while he was writing it,” she says. “I wanted to do anything I could to provide people today with an interlude where he was speaking.”</span></p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about history?&nbsp;</em><a href="/history/giving" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>The historian loaned her voice to the author in the summer of 2024 to commemorate her 40th year in 91 and the 75th anniversary of '1984.'</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/Big%20Brother%20graphic.jpg?itok=FFJODiNl" width="1500" height="791" alt="illustration of street scene from George Orwell's 1984"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Top illustration: Márton Kapoli</div> Tue, 18 Mar 2025 15:17:07 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6087 at /asmagazine ‘My role is to remind you that we are all humans’ /asmagazine/2025/03/11/my-role-remind-you-we-are-all-humans <span>‘My role is to remind you that we are all humans’</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-03-11T08:37:12-06:00" title="Tuesday, March 11, 2025 - 08:37">Tue, 03/11/2025 - 08:37</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-03/Zamora%20thumbnail.jpg?h=669ad1bb&amp;itok=_fo5VYSC" width="1200" height="800" alt="headshot of Javier Zamora and book cover of Solito"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1241" hreflang="en">Division of Arts and Humanities</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/504" hreflang="en">Libraries</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/510" hreflang="en">Literature</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <span>Collette Mace</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span lang="EN">In a community discussion March 4, Buffs One Read author Javier Zamora shared his immigration story, emphasizing the importance of representation</span></em></p><hr><p><span lang="EN">El Cadejo is a spirit figure in Central American folklore that takes the shape of a dog and can either help or harm travelers depending on whether their Cadejo is good or bad.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Salvadoran author and poet </span><a href="https://www.javierzamora.net/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Javier Zamora</span></a><span lang="EN"> sees his Cadejo as an embodiment of his ancestors, protecting and sheltering him through his arduous childhood immigration journey. He credits those who came before him with his survival against the odds.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Zamora shared this and other perspectives March 4 during the CU </span><a href="https://colorado.edu/today/share-your-story" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Buffs One Read</span></a><span lang="EN"> author discussion. This academic year, the program chose Zamora’s memoir, </span><em><span lang="EN">Solito,</span></em><span lang="EN"> as its Common Read selection.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/Zamora%20presentation%202.jpg?itok=6tNECoCb" width="1500" height="1125" alt="Javier Zamora holding microphone with two women on a stage"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Javier Zamora (left, with microphone) discussed his memoir, <em>Solito</em>, during a community event March 4 for the Buffs One Read program. (Photo: Collette Mace)</p> </span> </div></div><p><em><span lang="EN">Solito</span></em><span lang="EN"> details Zamora’s experience as a child immigrating from El Salvador to the United States, a journey that took him over land and sea, through dense urban settings and desolate deserts. In the memoir, he tells the story of his journey through his 9-year-old self’s eyes—a story that encapsulates the themes of courage that the Buffs One Read program aimed to highlight.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Zamora began the program by answering a few questions about his first book of poems, </span><em><span lang="EN">Unaccompanied,&nbsp;</span></em><span lang="EN">published in 2017. Addressing the book’s tone of urgency, Zamora noted that the purpose of this book was mainly to answer the question, “Why am I here?” Written right before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, he said he knew immigration was heavy on the minds of the nation, and he felt it was urgent to tell his story about migration, as well as his parents’ stories.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">His family, part of the 2% of Salvadoran immigrants granted refugee status by the U.S. government, didn’t discuss with Zamora why they left El Salvador until he was much older. He recalled learning about his country through the ominous, ever-present headlines about the violence and cartel wars raging there.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">The images of Salvadoran migrants were mostly “unaccompanied minors,” something Zamora both identified with and rebelled against, knowing that there was more to the migrants’ stories than what was being shown on the news.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">This was partially why </span><em><span lang="EN">Solito</span></em><span lang="EN"> had such a heavy change in tone, he said. He wanted to show the journey the way he experienced it as a boy—exploring the confusion, half-truths and even pockets of joy that he experienced on the journey. This was something that he only felt capable of doing after he had been employed at Harvard as a fellow, he said.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“Time is a privilege,” he said, adding that he recognized that the benefits his higher education, and thus employment, gave him the ability to process his childhood trauma enough to write his memoir well and authentically.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">He credits therapy with his success in this and remarked that therapy is a lifelong journey from which everyone could benefit. Through his therapy, Zamora said he was able to explore his feelings about the “unaccompanied minor” stereotype associated with Salvadoran migration—</span><span>imagery that was widely circulated around the United States in the early 2000s of El Salvadoran parents sending their children across the border unaccompanied, which furthered racism and anti-immigration rhetoric by painting Salvadoran parents as irresponsible. He questioned&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN">where he fit into that narrative and how to reckon with the overwhelming sense of survivor’s guilt that he still feels to this day.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">His way of coping with the questions “Why me? Why did I survive when so many did not?” is through traditional Salvadoran folklore, which he mentions frequently in the memoir in the form of the spirit El Cadejo.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Feeling safe</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">Zamora also discussed his experience after migrating to the United States, specifically in schools. He said that he experienced bullying even in his predominantly immigrant community and oftentimes used “assimilation as a coping mechanism.” He tried to turn himself into an “American-born Salvadoran” to fit in, he said, by doing things like&nbsp;</span><span>only speaking English and not having a strong attachment to El Salvador,&nbsp;</span><span lang="EN">and didn’t fully embrace his identity as an immigrant until much later in life, after years of therapy.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><blockquote><p class="lead"><span>"Everyone should be allowed to exist as humans. Not just the children and not just the ‘good students,’ but everyone. My role is to remind you that we are all humans."</span></p></blockquote></div></div><p><span lang="EN">It wasn’t until late high school that he even considered writing poetry, he said. He recalled how looking up “Salvadoran poets” and seeing that representation was the catalyst for his interest in writing: “All of the sudden,” he said, “writing was something I </span><em><span lang="EN">could</span></em><span lang="EN"> do, if I wanted to.”</span></p><p><span lang="EN">He said that one of the most important discoveries he made within Salvadoran poetry was the coexistence of Spanish and English on the page, a reflection of how his parents and grandparents spoke, as well as English and academic language. “Representation fuscking matters,” he said.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">One theme that Zamora strongly emphasized was the importance of teachers in the American school system, who make young immigrants feel a little bit safer. He mentioned how important it is for teachers to signal to students that they are safe. Even something as simple as speaking to him in Spanish was enough to signal to a young Zamora that his teachers were trustworthy; even if he chose not to talk with them about his trauma and experiences, he knew that he </span><em><span lang="EN">could</span></em><span lang="EN">, and that was what was important, he said.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Especially in a time where immigrants and children of immigrants may feel unsafe in school settings, he added, signaling to students that their teachers are there for them and that they are all on the same team is critical in making sure that children feel supported in the education system.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Explaining what he wanted people to take away from the Buffs One Read discussion, and from </span><em><span lang="EN">Solito</span></em><span lang="EN"> as a whole, Zamora said, “Everyone should be allowed to exist as humans. Not just the children and not just the ‘good students,’ but everyone. My role is to remind you that we are all humans.”</span></p><p><span lang="EN">He said he wanted the audience Tuesday to leave the conversation with the knowledge that borders and citizenship are new concepts and that being human is what binds us together: “We need to remember the past as actively as we are trying to erase it.”</span></p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about arts and sciences?&nbsp;</em><a href="/artsandsciences/giving" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>In a community discussion March 4, Buffs One Read author Javier Zamora shared his immigration story, emphasizing the importance of representation.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-03/Zamora%20header.jpg?itok=-sCd6rvo" width="1500" height="585" alt="headshot of Javier Zamora and Solito book cover"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 11 Mar 2025 14:37:12 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6083 at /asmagazine Creating an inclusive and future-focused Hellems /asmagazine/2025/02/04/creating-inclusive-and-future-focused-hellems <span>Creating an inclusive and future-focused Hellems</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-02-04T13:44:49-07:00" title="Tuesday, February 4, 2025 - 13:44">Tue, 02/04/2025 - 13:44</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-02/Hellems%20building.jpg?h=91cc0505&amp;itok=p0AfEau2" width="1200" height="800" alt="Hellems Arts and Sciences building"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1246" hreflang="en">College of Arts and Sciences</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/64" hreflang="en">Donors</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1275" hreflang="en">Hellems</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span>Supporters revivify not just the building but also what it fosters and represents</span></em></p><hr><p>John and Karen McLaren didn’t meet in Hellems—they met in a women’s studies class held in Ketchum—but their son William met his fiancée there.</p><p>So, as a family they well understand that a university education extends far beyond successive semesters of classes. It’s also a collection of experiences—bright beads on a string that grow, one after another, into something complete and beautiful.</p><p><em>Where</em> those experiences happen is an important part of them, both in the moment and recalled in memory years later. For the 85% of 91 undergraduate students who will have taken a class in <a href="/artsandsciences/discover/buildings-and-space/hellems-renovation" rel="nofollow">Hellems Arts and Sciences Building</a> by the time they graduate, the place is a part of the story.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Daryl%20Maeda%20and%20Michael%20Klump.jpg?itok=zhMhgnfe" width="1500" height="1001" alt="Daryl Maeda and Michael Klump"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">91 alumnus Michael Klump (right), with College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Daryl Maeda, <span>gave $2 million to the Hellems Fund for Collective Belonging and the Hellems Fund for Fostering Success. “I owe a lot of my success to attending the University of Colorado, where I had the privilege of meeting inspiring individuals and forming lifelong connections across the country,” says Klump. “These experiences have deeply motivated me to give back and set an example.”</span></p> </span> </div></div><p>“It’s the center of campus,” says Karen McLaren, explaining what inspired her and John, in part, to donate to the ongoing Hellems renovation. While their names will be on a plaque at the entrance of a conference room in honor of their donation, they see it as not only supporting the physical place—the walls and tables and teaching technology—but the broader idea of experience.</p><p>Hellems, then, is more than a building; it is also a symbol, one that heralds the liberal arts, signifies a common student experience and fosters student success. In that vein, supporters like the McLarens buttress two funds that advance these ends: the Hellems Fund for Collective Belonging and the Hellems Fund for Fostering Success.</p><p>These funds have garnered support. For instance, in addition to his $13 million donation to fund the Michael A. Klump Center for Real Estate, Klump gave $2 million to the Hellems Fund for Collective Belonging and the Hellems Fund for Fostering Success.</p><p>The Hellems Fund for Collective Belonging will provide resources for student mental health and well-being, which inspired Klump to include Hellems as part of his recent $15 million gift to 91. His gift of $2 million to name the Hellems south courtyard will help students find support groups through the Hellems Fund for Collective Belonging. “I owe a lot of my success to attending the University of Colorado, where I had the privilege of meeting inspiring individuals and forming lifelong connections across the country,” says Klump. “These experiences have deeply motivated me to give back and set an example.”</p><p>Hellems is “one of the most significant contributors to the student experience at 91,” notes designer David Keltner of Hacker Architects, which is working with 91 to reimagine Hellems for today and tomorrow. “As such, it is not only one of the most commonly held experiences of the university; it also plays a role in creating those critical first impressions of collegiate life for incoming freshmen.”</p><p>Hellems also is the heart of the College of Arts and Sciences and home not only of the beloved Mary Rippon Theatre, but the Colorado Shakespeare Festival—a renowned nexus between the university and the community beyond its borders.</p><p>Construction on the 95,000-square-foot building is expected to be complete in 2025. The process of re-envisioning Hellems has been guided not only by administrative, faculty and staff input, but by guidance from students. They suggested not only practical improvements to accessibility, study spaces, classrooms and lighting, but creating spaces of gathering and belonging.</p><p>Reimagining Hellems has been a process of not only honoring its more than 100-year history and preserving the integrity of the building but also recreating it as a 21st-century space.</p><p>The redesign seeks LEED for New Construction Version 4 Gold Certification as well as reduced energy consumption, aligning with campuswide sustainability goals and aligning with college priorities</p><p><span>A reimagined Hellems will create opportunities for students to gather, linger, connect and succeed in their arts and sciences home on campus. It will be a place for everyone—accessible and inviting, a key part of the college experience.</span></p> <div class="field_media_oembed_video"><iframe src="/asmagazine/media/oembed?url=https%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DNawii_6joLY&amp;max_width=516&amp;max_height=350&amp;hash=xk1ISSws3o3t9tdZN3wuFWUPqDD_sQqILCg1xATjznc" width="516" height="290" class="media-oembed-content" loading="eager" title="Reimagine Hellems Arts and Sciences"></iframe> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about Hellems Reimagined?&nbsp;</em><a href="/artsandsciences/discover/buildings-and-space/hellems-renovation/donate-hellems-reimagined" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Supporters revivify not just the building but also what it fosters and represents.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Hellems%20building.jpg?itok=sT7pA_hk" width="1500" height="1096" alt="Hellems Arts and Sciences building"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Tue, 04 Feb 2025 20:44:49 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6065 at /asmagazine Black History Month celebration emphasizes building the ‘beloved community’ /asmagazine/2025/02/03/black-history-month-celebration-emphasizes-building-beloved-community <span>Black History Month celebration emphasizes building the ‘beloved community’</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2025-02-03T15:07:13-07:00" title="Monday, February 3, 2025 - 15:07">Mon, 02/03/2025 - 15:07</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2025-02/dancers%204.jpg?h=1ec17ab7&amp;itok=crWzA8L1" width="1200" height="800" alt="three dancers onstage with trumpet player"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1097" hreflang="en">Black History</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1065" hreflang="en">Center for African &amp; African American Studies</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1240" hreflang="en">Division of Social Sciences</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/484" hreflang="en">Ethnic Studies</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/rachel-sauer">Rachel Sauer</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em>While speakers acknowledged the change and uncertainty of the moment, they encouraged hope and the importance of continuing to work toward justice</em></p><hr><p>The afternoon began with a <em>karibu</em>, the Swahili word for “welcome”—not just to the Glenn Miller Ballroom or the 91 campus, but to the beloved community “where everybody is included and nobody is excluded,” said <a href="/ethnicstudies/people/core-faculty/reiland-rabaka" rel="nofollow">Reiland Rabaka</a>, founder and director of the <a href="/center/caaas/" rel="nofollow">Center for African and African American Studies</a> (CAAAS), in opening the CAAAS Day Black History Month celebration Saturday afternoon.</p><p>The celebration came, as several of the speakers acknowledged, during a time of great change, when many are feeling the anxiety that often accompanies uncertainty.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Saliman%20and%20Rabaka.jpg?itok=FIzsFaBO" width="1500" height="1116" alt="Todd Saliman and Reiland Rabaka"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">CU President Todd Saliman (left) and Reiland Rabaka, Center for African and African American Studies founder and director, emphasized the importance of compassion in the present moment.</p> </span> </div></div><p>“I have spent many decades watching progress and regress,” said 91 Chancellor <a href="/chancellor/about" rel="nofollow">Justin Schwartz</a>. “We seem to step forward and then back and then forward again.”</p><p>In emphasizing the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s observation that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” Schwartz noted that the arc “is not smooth like a rainbow,” but rough and jagged. “The arc does not bend on its own, people bend the arc. Collectively, we bend the arc toward justice.”</p><p><a href="https://president.cu.edu/bio" rel="nofollow">Todd Saliman</a>, president of the University of Colorado, told those in attendance that “we are not changing anything until we are required to do so by a lawful order. We’ll keep our eye on the ball and continue to do our work. At this point, there’s very little we’ve been required to do lawfully.”</p><p>Saliman added that the University of Colorado remains committed to all of Colorado and encouraged people to “approach each other with compassion right now.”</p><p>CU Regent <a href="https://regents.cu.edu/meet-the-regents/wanda-james" rel="nofollow">Wanda James</a>, the second Black woman and third Black regent in the history of CU, was forceful in pointing out the lack of Black leadership within the CU system, while <a href="/lead/annett-james" rel="nofollow">Annett James</a>, president of the NAACP of 91 County, emphasized the importance of accurately told history during Black History Month.</p><p>“History must be approached as a discipline rooted in fact,” James said, “not interpreted by those who wrote it.”</p><p>91 Mayor Aaron Brockett, while acknowledging the “struggle, setback and oppression” in 91’s history, said that “in the days and years to come, we will continue to build the beloved community here in 91.”</p><p><span>Carrying the theme of building the beloved community, Rabaka emphasized that “we are going to keep doing this and we shall not be moved.”</span></p><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Shegun%20and%20Nandi%20Pointer.jpg?itok=TqplFYE9" width="1500" height="1148" alt="Shegun and Nandi Pointer"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Nandi Pointer (right), a PhD student in the College of Media, Communication and Information, performs with her brother, Shegun Pointer.</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Wanda%20James%20in%20group.jpg?itok=GP4CVJ_Z" width="1500" height="1160" alt="Wanda James talking to a group of people"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">CU Regent Wanda James (center, black baseball cap) observed that "this is a deep Black History Month for us for a lot of reasons."</p> </span> </div></div><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Justin%20Schwartz%20vert.jpg?itok=Qq2iMHNH" width="1500" height="1886" alt="Justin Schwartz at podium"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">91 Chancellor Justin Schwartz emphasized that the "arc (of the moral universe) does not bend on its own, people bend the arc."</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Enmanuel%20Alexander%20playing%20guitar.jpg?itok=DoaBpnAp" width="1500" height="2349" alt="Enmanuel Alexander"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Denver musician Enmanuel Alexander performs at the CAAAS Day Black History Month celebration.</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/Reiland%20Rabaka%20at%20podium.jpg?itok=3IyscG-Q" width="1500" height="2274" alt="Reiland Rabaka at podium"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Reiland Rabaka, a 91 professor of ethnic studies, said that in the work of building the beloved community, "<span>we are going to keep doing this and we shall not be moved.”</span></p> </span> </div></div><div class="row ucb-column-container"><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/dancers%201.jpg?itok=gnuF5F9x" width="1500" height="1142" alt="dancers onstage"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Angel Anderson (left) and Tyreis Hunt (white shirt), both MFA students in the 91 Department of Theatre and Dance, and Constance Harris, an MFA graduate from the department, perform with Parris Fleming (on trumpet).</p> </span> </div><div class="col ucb-column"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/dancers%207.jpg?itok=gOs9FoI1" width="1500" height="1045" alt="three dancers onstage with trumpet player"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text">Denver musician Parris Fleming (left, on trumpet) performed with (left to right) Tyreis Hunt, Constance Harris and Angel Anderson; Hunt and Anderson are MFA students in the 91 Department of Theatre and Dance, and Harris is an MFA graduate from the department.</p> </span> </div></div><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>While speakers acknowledged the change and uncertainty of the moment, they encouraged hope and the importance of continuing to work toward justice.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2025-02/dancers%203%20cropped.jpg?itok=xKwFznBi" width="1500" height="560" alt="three dancers onstage with trumpet player, guitar player and DJ"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 03 Feb 2025 22:07:13 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6064 at /asmagazine Meeting a little princess in the secret garden /asmagazine/2024/12/23/meeting-little-princess-secret-garden <span>Meeting a little princess in the secret garden</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-23T16:46:38-07:00" title="Monday, December 23, 2024 - 16:46">Mon, 12/23/2024 - 16:46</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/Secret%20Garden%20thumbnail.jpg?h=2be5ef22&amp;itok=pKndpvGT" width="1200" height="800" alt="Illustration by Inga Moore from The Secret Garden"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1241" hreflang="en">Division of Arts and Humanities</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/320" hreflang="en">English</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/688" hreflang="en">Literacy</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/510" hreflang="en">Literature</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <span>Adamari Ruelas</span> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span lang="EN">91 Associate Professor Emily Harrington examines the enduring power of stories we read in childhood and what we can learn from them as adults&nbsp;</span></em></p><hr><p><span lang="EN">When many people think of December, their minds are filled with thoughts of snow, warm drinks, family and childhood. This is the time of year when memories of childhood bubble to the surface—burnished by time to seem simpler and happier.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">For avid childhood readers, a profound element of those memories is the books they read in their youth, which can continue to play a significant role in their adult lives. </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Hodgson_Burnett" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Frances Hodgson Burnett</span></a><span lang="EN">, who died 100 years ago this fall, was the author of such books—the kind that young readers devour and still swoon over in adulthood.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/Emily%20Harrington.png?itok=s47KRXTx" width="1500" height="1072" alt="portrait of Emily Harrington"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text"><em><span lang="EN">“In these books like </span></em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden</span><em><span lang="EN">, the kids are the ones who are empowered to figure things out for themselves and who are in worlds that are magical or partially magical. That kind of magic attaches itself to the kids,” says Emily Harrington, 91 associate professor of English.</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><p><span lang="EN">Her most famous works, including </span><em><span lang="EN">A Little Princess&nbsp;</span></em><span lang="EN">and </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden,&nbsp;</span></em><span lang="EN">continue to be fan favorites for young children and books that many adults consider the beginning of their reading careers.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Remembering Frances Hodgson Burnett</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">Frances Hodgson Burnett is a household name in the world of children’s literature. Her beloved novels are perennially popular with children and have been made into multiple film adaptations. However, says </span><a href="/english/emily-harrington" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Emily Harrington</span></a><span lang="EN">, an assistant professor in the </span><a href="/english/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">English Department</span></a><span lang="EN"> at the 91, who has taught a course on children’s literature, it is important to critically examine even the beloved books of childhood—not allowing memory to obscure what adult readers may recognize as controversial aspects of children’s literature.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Critics and educators have been noted how Hodgson Burnett portrayed characters of color in her novels. For example, in </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden,&nbsp;</span></em><span lang="EN">the character&nbsp;Mary is unhealthy because she grew up in India. Martha, a sympathetic character, contrasts people of color with "respectable” white people. Modern readers have questioned the effect that could have had on the children reading these stories.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Harrington notes it’s important to teach the novels in a way that doesn’t dismiss their issues: “Both (</span><em><span lang="EN">A Little Princess</span></em><span lang="EN"> and </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden</span></em><span lang="EN">) have some super problematic, racist attitudes. It’s not why they’re remembered but I think it’s important to acknowledge,” Harrington says.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">When looking back on novels written in the early 20th century, it isn’t uncommon to discover undertones of racism or sexism.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Some argue that racism was more normalized at the time some books were written, but even in the context of a work’s time, it is important to recognize and consider these issues when they exist in novels written for children, Harrington says. She also notes Burnett’s questionable views about medicine, which are apparent in </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden,</span></em><span lang="EN"> when a wheelchair-bound child is able to walk after a little exposure to fresh air. Burnett believed that nature and God were the solution to most medical issues, which can change the meaning of the Secret Garden as&nbsp;being a magical place outside that fixes all medical ailments.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>A lifetime effect</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">However, even if some of their content makes a modern reader pause, the novels that young readers enjoy can have lasting echoes in their lives as adults. Childhood fans of Harry Potter, Percy Jackson and many other novels may continue to visit those worlds in their minds as adults or to wish they could be transported by books in the way they were as children. This includes Frances Hodgson Burnett’s novels, which many readers continue loving into adulthood. A large part of this connection is how the books made young readers feel while reading them, Harrington says.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“In these books like </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden</span></em><span lang="EN">, the kids are the ones who are empowered to figure things out for themselves and who are in worlds that are magical or partially magical. That kind of magic attaches itself to the kids,” Harrington says.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><p>&nbsp;</p> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/Secret%20Garden%20hedge.jpg?itok=BlWdNGoU" width="1500" height="1857" alt="Illustration by Inge Moore from The Secret Garden"> </div> <span class="media-image-caption"> <p class="small-text"><em>"<span lang="EN">All the people who enjoy these books can take the parts that they love and keep them," says Emily Harrington, 91 associate professor of English. (Illustration: by Inga Moore from The Secret Garden)</span></em></p> </span> </div></div><p><span lang="EN">Due to this escape that children can experience while reading these novels, the stories, characters and places can stay with them into adulthood. It isn’t rare to see someone who is still as deeply infatuated with novels such as </span><em><span lang="EN">A Little Princess&nbsp;</span></em><span lang="EN">or </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden</span></em><span lang="EN"> as an adult because those books have been those escapes for many generations of children. And as parents or grandparents read these novels to children, the cycle continues, and the literary love is passed to new generations.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Even with Hodgson Burnett’s questionable beliefs, as well as aspects of her novels that trouble modern readers, readers still are able to take the best parts of these magical worlds and make them their own, Harrington says. That, in turn, allows the children who read them to make these fictional worlds their own, she adds.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">She notes that this is a process that many children experience while reading these novels as a form of escapism: “[As they grow up, children may think] ‘This magical world is mine now, and it’s not going to be racist or anti-trans. I’m gonna imagine myself in it in my own way and reject the parts of the legacy that I don’t want.’</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“All the people who enjoy these books can take the parts that they love and keep them, and hopefully had enough alternate influences that counteract the colonialist ideology,” Harrington says, citing common issues with </span><em><span lang="EN">The Secret Garden</span></em><span lang="EN"> and</span><em><span lang="EN"> A Little Princess.</span></em></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Best friends forever</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">For many avid childhood readers, books have been a major part of their lives for as long as they can remember and the characters in them their lifelong friends. Those reading experiences can transfer deeply into their adult lives, especially when correlating reading with comfort, Harrington says.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Further, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37376848/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">a study published in the journal </span><em><span lang="EN">Psychological Medicine</span></em></a><span lang="EN"> last year found multiple points of positive correlation between early reading for pleasure with subsequent brain and cognitive development and mental well-being. Also, the most recent </span><a href="https://www.scholastic.com/content/corp-home/kids-and-family-reading-report/key-findings.html?appesp=CORP/intraapp/202411//txtl/keyFindings/kfrr//////" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Scholastic Kids and Family Reading Report</span></a><span lang="EN"> finds that while 70% of 6- to 8-year-olds love or like reading books for fun, that number shrinks to just 47% among 12- to 17-year olds.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">R. Joseph Rodriguez, a teaching fellow with the National Book Foundation, </span><a href="https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/joy-reading-isnt-dead-yet" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">told NEA Today</span></a><span lang="EN">,&nbsp;“The joy of books has been killed. Suppressed, tested and killed. I hate when students are called ‘struggling readers.’ We need to see them as students who need a revival! I want a revival!”</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Educators, researchers, parents, health care professionals and children themselves study and discuss how to </span><a href="https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/joy-reading-isnt-dead-yet" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">support and encourage reading</span></a><span lang="EN">—from alleviating testing pressure to proving time and space for reading, supporting diversity in children’s literature and not dismissing the literature that children actually enjoy as “frivolous.”</span></p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about English?&nbsp;</em><a href="/english/donate" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>91 Associate Professor Emily Harrington examines the enduring power of stories we read in childhood and what we can learn from them as adults.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/Secret%20Garden%20cropped.jpg?itok=3ffuEKqi" width="1500" height="673" alt="Illustration by Inge Moore from The Secret Garden"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Top illustration by Inga Moore, 1944</div> Mon, 23 Dec 2024 23:46:38 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6043 at /asmagazine The world’s food system is broken—this group wants to help fix it /asmagazine/2024/12/04/worlds-food-system-broken-group-wants-help-fix-it <span>The world’s food system is broken—this group wants to help fix it </span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-12-04T07:00:00-07:00" title="Wednesday, December 4, 2024 - 07:00">Wed, 12/04/2024 - 07:00</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-12/frontline%20hands%20holding%20peppers.jpg?h=4cd925df&amp;itok=t6U0TPP7" width="1200" height="800" alt="hands holding mini peppers"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1242" hreflang="en">Division of Natural Sciences</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/160" hreflang="en">Environmental Studies</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/847" hreflang="en">Masters of the Environment</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/sarah-kuta">Sarah Kuta</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span lang="EN">With FrontLine Farming, 91 scholars and community colleagues focus on food security, food justice and food liberation</span></em></p><hr><p><span lang="EN">Many global experts agree: The world’s food system is broken.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Millions of people around the world </span><a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/24-07-2024-hunger-numbers-stubbornly-high-for-three-consecutive-years-as-global-crises-deepen--un-report" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">go hungry</span></a><span lang="EN"> each year, while millions more suffer from preventable, diet-related health issues like </span><a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">obesity</span></a><span lang="EN"> and heart disease. Food insecurity—which disproportionately </span><a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/new-poverty-food-insecurity-data-illustrate-persistent-racial-inequities/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">affects people of color</span></a><span lang="EN">—perpetuates cycles of poverty and makes it difficult for already-struggling families to get ahead. Commercial agriculture practices </span><a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/industrial-agricultural-pollution-101" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">harm the environment</span></a><span lang="EN">, and </span><a href="https://www.unep.org/regions/north-america/regional-initiatives/promoting-sustainable-lifestyles" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">food waste</span></a><span lang="EN"> is a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Farmworkers face unfair and unsafe working conditions while also earning very low wages. The list goes on.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/Damien%20Thompson.jpeg?itok=VYWXgeL4" width="1500" height="1860" alt="headshot of Damien Thompson"> </div> <p>Damien Thompson, an assistant teaching professor in the Masters of the Environment (MENV) program, co-founded FrontLine Farming with MENV colleague and lecturer Fatuma Emmaud.</p></div></div><p><span lang="EN">On a global scale, finding and implementing solutions to these problems will require international cooperation among policymakers, researchers and everyday citizens. But here, on Colorado’s Front Range, a nonprofit with ties to 91 is working to improve the local food system, one bite at a time.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Founded in 2018, </span><a href="https://www.frontlinefarming.org/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming</span></a><span lang="EN"> is a nonprofit food justice and farmer-advocacy organization that aims to build a more equitable food system through community-derived, data-driven and asset-based solutions. Led by women and people of color, the group is also reclaiming the narrative and elevating historically oppressed voices.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">The organization was co-founded by </span><a href="/menv/damien-thompson" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Damien Thompson</span></a><span lang="EN">, a </span><a href="/menv/academics/specializations/sustainable-food-systems" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Sustainable Food Systems specialization</span></a><span lang="EN"> lead as well as an assistant teaching professor for the 91 </span><a href="/menv/" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Masters of the Environment</span></a><span lang="EN"> (MENV) graduate program, and </span><a href="/menv/fatuma-emmad" rel="nofollow"><span lang="EN">Fatuma Emmad</span></a><span lang="EN">, an MENV lecturer and Sustainable Food Systems career advisor.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Working alongside FrontLine Farming volunteers and staff, Thompson and Emmad are striving to improve the region’s food system through farming, education, policy changes and many other initiatives.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Food access and education</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming is trying to improve the Front Range’s food system from the ground up—literally. The group runs three urban farms—Sister Gardens and Celebration Community Farm in Denver and Majestic View Farm in Arvada—where it grows thousands of pounds of vegetables each year.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Much of that produce is distributed through community-supported agriculture shares, or CSAs. Participants pay upfront, then receive weekly distributions of vegetables between July and October.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Many CSA members pay full price, but FrontLine Farming provides a small number of free CSA boxes to families in need of additional support. The organization also accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as payment for CSA shares and, thanks to the Double Up Food Bucks program, gives a 50% discount to SNAP customers.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming also donates up to a third of its annual harvest to a network of partner organizations through its Healing Foods program. These partners include organizations like Project Angel Heart, a nonprofit that prepares and delivers meals to Coloradans with severe illnesses.</span></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/Frontline%20farming.jpg?itok=s6rFbCb7" width="1500" height="1126" alt="Volunteers working in field at FrontLine Farming"> </div> <p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming runs three urban farms—Sister Gardens and Celebration Community Farm in Denver and Majestic View Farm in Arvada—where it grows thousands of pounds of vegetables each year. (Photo: FrontLine Farming)</span></p></div></div><p><span lang="EN">“We’re trying to provide access to healthy food in the places where folks are already accessing services,” says Thompson.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">In partnership with Denver Food Rescue, the group also hosts regular No Cost Grocery events at its farms. Shoppers can get free groceries and specialty items rescued from Whole Foods and Sprouts stores in Denver, without needing to show identification or documentation. These events not only increase food access but also help reduce the stigma around food insecurity.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming offers an array of educational programs, including classes on topics ranging from herbalism and beekeeping to insect identification and seed-saving. It also runs a two-week farm immersion program to support aspiring Black, Brown and Indigenous farmers and gardeners.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“All of our education is rooted in this idea of sovereignty,” says Thompson. “Folks need information, they need knowledge in order to be able to start to participate in the food system in more meaningful ways.”</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Achieving food sovereignty</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">Improving working conditions for farm laborers is another major priority for FrontLine Farming. In 2021, the group was part of a coalition that helped pass the state’s first farmworkers’ bill of rights, a law meant to protect the more than 40,000 farm laborers in Colorado, many of whom are migrants from Central America and Mexico.</span></p><div class="ucb-box ucb-box-title-left ucb-box-alignment-left ucb-box-style-fill ucb-box-theme-lightgray"><div class="ucb-box-inner"><div class="ucb-box-title"><span lang="EN"><strong>How you can help</strong></span></div><div class="ucb-box-content"><p><span lang="EN">Overhauling the food system may seem daunting. But as FrontLine Farming demonstrates every day, small actions can have a big effect. Here are three steps you can take.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Plant a garden</strong>: One of the easiest ways to get involved? Grow your own food. “Become a community gardener, really into understanding the nature of the work that it takes to produce even a small amount of food,” says Thompson.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Join a CSA</strong>: If you don’t have time to grow veggies—or you worry you just don’t have a green thumb—consider buying a community supported agriculture (CSA) share from a farm near you, says Thompson. Also, spend some time learning about the farm’s values—how do they treat their labor? Do they follow organic practices? “Getting involved with a CSA and directly financing a farm contributes to the stability of local farms,” he adds.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Volunteer at a farm</strong>: FrontLine Farming relies on volunteers at its three farm locations—but they’re not the only organization you can support. Show up, get dirty and give your time and energy to your local farm. And if volunteering is not an option for you, consider joining your city’s sustainable food policy council or donating to organizations that support local agriculture.</span></p></div></div></div><p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming also worked on the City and County of Denver’s Good Food Purchasing Program, which encourages major institutions to buy foods that are local, sustainable, fair and humanely produced.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“For us, food justice is policy work,” says Thompson. “How do we work within the system to try to change the system as it is currently constituted?”</span></p><p><span lang="EN">With these and other programs, FrontLine Farming is working toward its goal of achieving food sovereignty, or the right for individuals to define and implement their own food and agriculture systems. Food sovereignty also encompasses the right to food that is both healthful and culturally appropriate, as well as produced sustainably.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“That’s where we want to be moving forward,” says Thompson.</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Land ownership key to equity</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">Zooming out, all of FrontLine Farming’s work is informed by the team’s identities as women and people of color. Historically, Black, Brown and Indigenous farmers have faced myriad barriers to land ownership, resources and technical assistance.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“It’s been outright racism in terms of access to resources like banking and financing,” says Thompson. “Back in the day, it was racialized terror. Black farmers were literally terrorized and run off their land, potentially even lynched, depending on the circumstances.”</span></p><p><span lang="EN">Farmers of color continue to face many of these same hurdles today. FrontLine Farming wants to help remove those obstacles while also amplifying the agricultural wisdom and skills of Africans, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, refugees and other communities.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">FrontLine Farming also recognizes that land ownership—particularly among people of color—is crucial for resilience and equity. The organization recently celebrated a major milestone when it acquired the land on which Sister Gardens sits in Denver’s Chaffee Park neighborhood, but continues to raise money to buy more property through its Liberation by Land reparations campaign.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“The fact that we own Sister Gardens now—that’s land no one can take from us,” says Thompson. “That’s really important and really meaningful, ultimately, for the idea of sovereignty, especially for Black folks.”</span></p><p><span lang="EN"><strong>Understanding the food system</strong></span></p><p><span lang="EN">Looking ahead, FrontLine Farming will continue to push for changes to the food system. Much of that work comes down to raising awareness about how that system is inextricably intertwined with labor, immigration, climate change, human health, policy and other topics.</span></p><p><span lang="EN">“There are all of these different experiences that folks have in their everyday lives that are actually related to the food system,” says Thompson. “And it’s important to start to understand that. Not so we can scold farmers or turn producers into the bad guys, but so that we can understand that changes in the food system really do have so many knock-on effects.”</span></p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about the Masters of the Environment graduate program?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/50245/donations/new?a=8421085&amp;amt=50.00" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>With FrontLine Farming, 91 scholars and community colleagues focus on food security, food justice and food liberation.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-12/frontline%20hands%20holding%20peppers.jpg?itok=66CZHya6" width="1500" height="737" alt="hands holding mini peppers"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Top photo: FrontLine Farming</div> Wed, 04 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6028 at /asmagazine Difficult Dialogue focuses on extremism, antisemitism /asmagazine/2024/11/11/difficult-dialogue-focuses-extremism-antisemitism <span>Difficult Dialogue focuses on extremism, antisemitism</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-11T15:18:47-07:00" title="Monday, November 11, 2024 - 15:18">Mon, 11/11/2024 - 15:18</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/2024-11/CWA_506.jpg%20.jpeg?h=64f3aaa3&amp;itok=7tGPK_4C" width="1200" height="800" alt="Students on college sidewalk lined by international flags"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/400" hreflang="en">Center for Humanities and the Arts</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1246" hreflang="en">College of Arts and Sciences</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span>91’s Center for Humanities &amp; the Arts welcomes German delegation for latest in Difficult Dialogue Series</span></em></p><hr><p><span>Late last month, a delegation from Germany joined scholars from the 91 to discuss extremism, antisemitism and misinformation.</span></p><p><span>The discussion was organized by the 91 Center for Humanties &amp; the Arts (CHA) in collaboration with the&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.bciv.org/" rel="nofollow"><span>91 Council for International Visitors</span></a><span> and with support from the U.S. State Department. It was the latest of the CHA’s Difficult Dialogue Series.</span></p><p><span>The six visiting delegates, representing various regions in Germany, asked not to be photographed or quoted but engaged in a structured discussion facilitated by CHA Director Jennifer Ho. Topics spanned antisemitism, media literacy and the global effects of extremism, reflecting the delegates’ interest in the CHA’s approach to fostering meaningful discussions around divisive issues.</span></p><p><span>The Difficult Dialogue series is designed to emphasize open-mindedness, respectful listening and personal storytelling. This approach enables participants to confront challenging topics and seek mutual understanding without pressure to agree.</span></p><p><span>During last month’s discussion, participants shared their perspectives on democracy, racial inequities and the historical issues that influence the present-day political landscape, such as what is happening in Gaza. The U.S. and German participants exchanged experiences and strategies for navigating division, demonstrating the CHA’s commitment to conversations that resonate across borders.</span></p><p><span>Through the Difficult Dialogue series, the CHA aims to connect people from diverse backgrounds, emphasizing that discussing challenging topics is essential to problem-solving and cultural understanding. By hosting this German delegation, the CHA continues to affirm its dedication to promoting respectful dialogue rooted in the humanities, the center stated.</span></p><p><span>The next event in the Difficult Dialogue series is scheduled for Nov. 13 and is titled “Is that a fact?!” The session will focus on how to find facts in a world filled with misinformation. This community conversation is co-hosted with Colorado Chautauqua and open to the public and will be held at 6 p.m. at the Chautauqua Community House Rocky Mountain Climbers Club room.</span></p><p><span>For more information, visit Chautauqua’s website:&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.chautauqua.com/event/difficult-dialogue-is-that-a-fact/" rel="nofollow"><span>www.chautauqua.com/event/difficult-dialogue-is-that-a-fact/</span></a></p><p><span>The 91’s&nbsp;</span><a href="/cha" rel="nofollow"><span>Center for Humanities &amp; the Arts (CHA)</span></a><span> is known internationally for its&nbsp;</span><a href="/cha/difficultdialogues" rel="nofollow"><span>Difficult Dialogue series</span></a><span>, which fosters meaningful conversations about complex issues.</span></p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about humanities and the arts?&nbsp;</em><a href="/cha/giving" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>91’s Center for Humanities &amp; the Arts welcomes German delegation for latest in Difficult Dialogue Series.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/2024-11/CWA%20cropped.jpg?itok=axQc-QiL" width="1500" height="667" alt="Students on college sidewalk lined by international flags"> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Mon, 11 Nov 2024 22:18:47 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6013 at /asmagazine World War II vet, CU prof joins event marking end of that war /asmagazine/2024/11/08/world-war-ii-vet-cu-prof-joins-event-marking-end-war <span>World War II vet, CU prof joins event marking end of that war</span> <span><span>Rachel Sauer</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-11-08T08:17:11-07:00" title="Friday, November 8, 2024 - 08:17">Fri, 11/08/2024 - 08:17</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/feature-title-image/dick_jessor23ga_0.jpg?h=df36ecf1&amp;itok=k3p5hnuY" width="1200" height="800" alt> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1179" hreflang="en">Behavioral Science</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1242" hreflang="en">Division of Natural Sciences</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/clint-talbott">Clint Talbott</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div class="ucb-article-content-media ucb-article-content-media-above"> <div> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--media paragraph--view-mode--default"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ucb-article-text d-flex align-items-center" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em><span>Richard Jessor, 91 professor emeritus, to join Miami’s New World Symphony this weekend to be interviewed by historian James Holland</span></em></p><hr><p>Next spring marks the 80<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the end of World War II and the Holocaust, and Miami Beach’s New World Symphony is performing two concerts this weekend that will feature pre-concert interviews with Richard Jessor, a 91 professor emeritus of behavioral science who fought with the U.S. Marines on the island of Iwo Jima.</p><p>Conductor Lidiya Yankovskaya and best-selling historian James Holland will team up for a commemorative concert honoring veterans and the “global sounds of resilience.”</p><p>The symphony characterized the event this way: “From the beaches of Normandy and Iwo Jima to the skies of the Tuskegee Airmen, explore the global fight for democracy through music that commemorates and reflects. Soprano Emily Magee makes her NWS debut in the pensive and poignant&nbsp;<em>Four Last Songs</em>.”</p><p>In pre-concert appearances on Saturday, Nov. 9, and Sunday, Nov. 10, Holland will interview Jessor about his experiences in the war.</p><p>Jessor, who will turn 100 this month, said the attempt to use music to illuminate “such deeply disturbing human experiences as war and the Holocaust is, to my mind, an admirable enterprise deserving support.”</p><p>Additionally, he said, the event should underscore the need for societies to do everything possible to avoid such calamities in the future. “And finally, perhaps, as one of the diminishing cohort of WWII combat veterans still alive, I feel a continuing responsibility to be a voice against the madness of wars.”</p><p>Jessor noted that the senior vice president for artistic planning and programs of the New World Symphony is Martin Sher, son of Boyce Sher and Daniel Sher, dean emeritus of 91’s College of Music.</p><p>Jessor met Martin Sher in July when he was visiting his parents in 91. At that meeting, Sher discussed his plan to devote the 2024-25 programs to commemorating the end of World War II and the Holocaust, and he wanted to present music that would provide an interesting and inspirational commentary.</p><p>Examples include Shostakovich’s <em>Leningrad Symphony</em>, written when the city was under siege, and the music for the film <em>Saving Private Ryan,&nbsp;</em>written by John Williams. Sher also wanted to learn more about <a href="/asmagazine/2023/11/01/eight-decades-later-marine-and-distinguished-professor-revisit-iwo-jima" rel="nofollow">Jessor’s combat experience as a Marine in the battle for Iwo Jima</a>.</p><p>At the time, Sher was consulting with Holland, and <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-veteran-of-iwo-jima/id1457552694?i=1000620965935" rel="nofollow">Holland interviewed Jessor via Zoom on his blog</a>. Later, Sher conceived the idea of the pre-concert interviews and asked Jessor to have those conversations with Holland in person. “Of course, I agreed,” Jessor said.</p><p>This <a href="https://www.nws.edu/news/2024-25/wwii-veteran-at-iwo-jima-joins-veterans-day-concert/" rel="nofollow">weekend’s Veterans Day concerts</a> are free to veterans. Saturday’s concert is available to stream live and will be available online after the performance. The streaming option is free to anyone with an email address who registers at <a href="https://media.nws.edu/events/veterans-day-concert-a-wwii-journey" rel="nofollow">this link</a>. The full concert program is at <a href="https://www.nws.edu/events-tickets/concerts/2024-2025/veterans-day-concert-a-wwii-journey/#/program" rel="nofollow">this link</a>.</p><p>Jessor’s pre-concert interview will not be streamed, however.</p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about behavioral science?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://giving.cu.edu/fund/institute-behavioral-science-general-fund" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support</em></a><a href="/history/giving" rel="nofollow"><em>.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Richard Jessor, 91 professor emeritus, to join Miami’s New World Symphony this weekend to be interviewed by historian James Holland.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/dick_jessor23ga_0.jpg?itok=EmmvlIUC" width="1500" height="1125" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> <div>Above: Richard Jessor at his home in 91. 91 photo by Glenn Asakawa.</div> Fri, 08 Nov 2024 15:17:11 +0000 Rachel Sauer 6008 at /asmagazine Swastika Counter Project launches /asmagazine/2024/10/24/swastika-counter-project-launches <span>Swastika Counter Project launches</span> <span><span>Anonymous (not verified)</span></span> <span><time datetime="2024-10-24T15:19:27-06:00" title="Thursday, October 24, 2024 - 15:19">Thu, 10/24/2024 - 15:19</time> </span> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle focal_image_wide"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/focal_image_wide/public/article-thumbnail/anti_swastika_graffiti_cropped.jpg?h=d8e02bda&amp;itok=DJ7LWsO0" width="1200" height="800" alt="graffiti of person throwing away swastika"> </div> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-categories" itemprop="about"> <span class="visually-hidden">Categories:</span> <div class="ucb-article-category-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-folder-open"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/30"> News </a> </div> <div role="contentinfo" class="container ucb-article-tags" itemprop="keywords"> <span class="visually-hidden">Tags:</span> <div class="ucb-article-tag-icon" aria-hidden="true"> <i class="fa-solid fa-tags"></i> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1241" hreflang="en">Division of Arts and Humanities</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/320" hreflang="en">English</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/168" hreflang="en">Program for Writing and Rhetoric</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/686" hreflang="en">Research</a> <a href="/asmagazine/taxonomy/term/1053" hreflang="en">community</a> </div> <a href="/asmagazine/bradley-worrell">Bradley Worrell</a> <div class="ucb-article-content ucb-striped-content"> <div class="container"> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--article-content paragraph--view-mode--default 3"> <div class="ucb-article-text" itemprop="articleBody"> <div><p class="lead"><em>Public advocacy website envisioned by 91 associate professor Laurie Gries tracks swastikas across the U.S. and offers resources to counter those hate-filled incidents</em></p><hr><p>In the months leading up to Donald Trump’s election in 2016, <a href="/english/laurie-gries" rel="nofollow">Laurie Gries</a>, director of the 91 <a href="https://experts.colorado.edu/display/deptid_10723" rel="nofollow">Program for Writing and Rhetoric</a>&nbsp;and associate professor of <a href="/english/" rel="nofollow">English</a>, became increasingly concerned about almost-daily news reports of swastikas—sometimes accompanied by hate-filled messages—showing up in public spaces across the country.</p><p>“This was the same time when various sources were reporting rising incidents of hate and bias in the United States, when Donald Trump and his racist and divisive rhetoric was just coming into political power, and when white nationalist organizations seemed to be coming out of the woodwork,” she says.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-large"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><div> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/article-image/laurie_gries.jpg?itok=tuPprlgf" width="750" height="1000" alt="Laurie Gries"> </div> <p>Laurie Gries, director of the 91 <a href="https://experts.colorado.edu/display/deptid_10723" rel="nofollow">Program for Writing and Rhetoric</a>&nbsp;and associate professor of <a href="/english/" rel="nofollow">English</a>, became increasingly concerned about almost-daily news reports of swastikas—sometimes accompanied by hate-filled messages—showing up in public spaces across the country.</p></div></div></div><p>Determined to address the issue of the swastikas head on, Gries began working on a project with a team of interdisciplinary scholars with expertise in visual communication, critical geography and social justice education. Their aim was to identify how and where swastikas were placed, who they targeted, what messages they conveyed and how communities responded. The coordinated results of that five-year effort—which document 1,340 swastika incidents in total—recently went live on <a href="https://theswastikacounter.org/" rel="nofollow">The Swastika Counter Project</a> website.</p><p>Recently, Gries spoke with<em> Colorado College of Arts and Sciences Magazine</em> about the Swastika Counter Project. Her answers were lightly edited for style and condensed for space limitations.</p><p><em><strong>Question: How did the swastika project come together and why did you decide you needed to address this issue?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries: </strong>When Trump first came onto the political scene<strong>, </strong>I started hearing about increased incidents of hate and violence, and as a visual rhetoric scholar, I began noticing more and more reports of swastikas showing up on the streets of the United States.</p><p>On the day that Trump was elected, I woke up deeply concerned and asked, ‘What if I tracked these swastikas? What if I took the digital research method called iconographic tracking that I worked for 10 years to develop and applied it to this particular case? What might we discover?’</p><p>I didn’t really start tracking swastikas on that day; I just made the commitment because I had long wanted to use my scholarship for public humanities research. I guess, then, one might say that Trump was the motivator, but really it was fear. At the time, a lot of people—the FBI, the Southern Poverty Law Center, journalists and scholars—were attributing a rise in antisemitism and violence to his rhetoric. It was my fear that if that’s the case, those incidents were surely only going to be amplified as he rose to power.</p><p>I don’t have any comparative data (i.e., data on swastika incidents) prior to Trump’s arrival on the political scene to confirm whether that’s true or not, so I’m very careful to say that the data we collected can’t really be used as evidence for that claim, but in our data, we certainly can see that there are a lot of associations that people are making between swastikas and Donald Trump and white nationalism.</p><p><em><strong>Question: Was no one else tracking and compiling these incidents in which swastikas were being placed at houses of worship, schools and other sites?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries:</strong> Actually, there are quite a few projects that have tracked antisemitism, and even swastikas, but they have been constrained in various ways. Some sites only track antisemitism that happen on college campuses. Some track antisemitic events that happened all over the world. Then there are sites like <em>ProPublica,</em> whose tracking projects were limited to a particular year. So, I wanted to create a project that would transcend some those constraints.</p><p><em><strong>Question: What are some of the top findings of your research as it relates to swastika placement, any language accompanying the swastikas, maybe any surprises your research uncovered?</strong></em></p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><div> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/article-image/swastika_graphic.jpg?itok=PMdmOU46" width="750" height="288" alt="Map of swastika incidents in United States"> </div> <p>Data analysis by The Swastika Counter Project found at least 1,300 documented incidents of swastikas in the United States between Jan. 1, 2016, and Jan. 20, 2021.</p></div></div></div><p><strong>Gries: </strong>I think it’s important to note that the swastika incidents we discovered occurred in all 48 contiguous states and in the District of Columbia, so this is a national problem. Of course, they were showing up more in cities with large populations, which is to be expected. But we were surprised that according to our data, swastika incidents most often surfaced in schools, and almost equally in K-12 and higher education settings. We thought swastikas might mostly show up on the exterior of religious institutions, and particularly Jewish religious institutions, but that wasn’t the case.</p><p>We also were surprised to discover so many swastikas surfacing in private spaces. Of course, a lot of swastikas were spray painted on the exterior of buildings in urban spaces. But our data discloses how swastikas were often drawn on people’s cars, on their homes, on the dorm doors of students, and in some cases, on the interior walls of people’s homes that had been broken into and, in one case, lit on fire.</p><p>I think the other most surprising finding was just the horrific language that was showing up alongside swastikas—from racist and homophobic appeals to white nationalism to implicit threats of surveillance and violence to direct threats of genocide. And also that such threats were directed at not only Jewish community members; a lot of Black American, Latinx, LGBTQ-plus community members and immigrants were also commonly targeted. It was just overwhelming—the multi-directional hate and very graphic violence.</p><p><em><strong>Question: How did Colorado compare to other parts of the country when it came to swastika incidents?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries: </strong>For Colorado, there were 30 reported incidents in our data set. So, I would say it’s not uncommon in Colorado for these swastikas incidents to occur, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me about swastikas they witnessed that aren’t even in our data set.</p><p>We know, for instance, that Colorado State University in Fort Collins has had so many swastika incidents that they recently created an antisemitism task force. One of our (Swastika Counter Project) advisory board members is actually heading up that task force because antisemitism on that campus has become such a serious problem.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><div> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/article-image/anti_nazi_graffiti.jpg?itok=tD5EaIoo" width="750" height="594" alt="anti-swastika graffiti"> </div> <p>In contrast to the incidents of public swastikas that The Swastika Counter Project tracks, some cities worldwide have also seen anti-swastika graffiti. (Photo: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Antinazi-antifa-graffiti.JPG" rel="nofollow">Cogiati/Wikimedia Commons</a>)</p></div></div></div><p><em><strong>Question: Beyond tracking incidents of swastika placement around the country, what other kinds of information can be found on the Swastika Counter Project website?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries: </strong>Part of our challenge was figuring out how to present the data in ways that would be useful for a variety of community stakeholders—people who are dealing with swastika incidents in their communities, such as school administrators, teachers and parents, the local police force, and local and national politicians. We wanted to create a swastika tracking project that has a strong civic component to it, which I think makes this project a bit unique. So, we created an interactive map that can be filtered in different ways; data visualizations that can be easily downloaded; and educational resources and lesson plans for teachers at various levels. We also generated two different reports, one of which describes and analyzes how different communities have responded to swastika incidents, so that stakeholders can read those accounts and learn from them. That’s especially important, because in our research we found that the various stakeholders often worked in isolation in responding to swastika incidents.</p><p><em><strong>Question: The Swastika ‘Counter’ Project—is it fair to say the name is a play on words?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries: </strong>Yes—it’s a double entendre. The goal is to both count and counter the contemporary proliferation of swastika incidents in the United States. And in that sense, the Swastika Counter Project is very much a scholarly activist project.</p><p>When we first began tracking swastika incidents, we planned to simply report our data and let the evidence speak for itself. And to a great extent, the data still does do that. Our findings report, for instance, is largely descriptive. But the longer we worked on the project and discovered the gross horror of violence that was ensuing, the more we felt compelled to also take more concerted action by building out the educational component of the website. So today, I don’t pretend that the data advocacy website isn’t motivated by my own desire to try to address some very real, pressing problems and to use my scholarship to try to create a more just world. This is very much a project where I’m wearing my activism on my sleeve.</p><p><em><strong>Question: What kind of assistance did you have when it came to tracking and compiling data, creating visual representations, developing a website, etc.?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries:</strong> The central work of tracking, coding, and analyzing was done by myself and Kelly Wheeler (assistant professor at Curry College), but we soon realized we needed more help. I reached out to Morteza Karimzadeh in the geography department here at 91, and he and his former student, Jason Miller, ended up doing all the amazing work with the mapping part of the project.</p><div class="feature-layout-callout feature-layout-callout-xlarge"><div class="ucb-callout-content"><div> <div class="imageMediaStyle medium_750px_50_display_size_"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/medium_750px_50_display_size_/public/article-image/anti_swastika_flyer.jpg?itok=cPEcMqRO" width="750" height="563" alt="anti-swastika flyer on light pole in Eugene, Oregon"> </div> <p>Residents of Eugene, Oregon, responded against swastikas found in a city neighborhood in 2017. (Photo: SBG Photo)</p></div></div></div><p>I am also really proud that we received a lot of help from various students at and beyond CU. For instance, an undergraduate computer science major at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, worked on the data visualizations with us, while graduate students from that same institution helped to create some of the lesson plans. Here at 91, a team of undergraduate students enrolled in a technical communication and design class in the Program for Writing and Rhetoric did a user-centered study for us to help develop a website that would be easy to navigate and comprehend for a public audience. And then another group of tech comm students helped us figure out how to invite community participation through features under the Contribute tab of the website. In this sense, the Swastika Counter Project is really exemplary of the immense value that data humanities and public humanities education can have for both undergraduate and graduate students. I am really excited about that.</p><p><em><strong>Question: People who commit several years of their life to a project will often call it a labor of love. Is that how you would describe this project?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries:</strong> For me, I don’t think it was about love so much as it was about committing to do social justice work and really trying to walk the walk. I mean, as you might imagine, it was not fun to track so many incidents of hate and violence around the country. …</p><p>It’s also just been a beast in terms of labor. I tell people that this project was probably more intense work than my first 350-page monograph because I had to teach myself so many new skills, not only in terms of research, but also guiding and managing team projects, doing data advocacy, and developing web content skills. I am so glad I did this project, but for the last eight years, it’s just been very intense.</p><p><em><strong>Question: If former President Trump is elected to a second term in November, do you think you would take up this project again?</strong></em></p><p><strong>Gries: </strong>I’m really, really torn. Part of me wants to try to secure some national funding and put together a larger team. If I did, I would also want to research (swastika incidents during) the Biden administration, and then start tracking in the present time, too, because I think that longitudinal study would help us address certain questions that we weren’t able to address in this project.</p><p>On the other hand, I started this project in early 2017, and it became a large part of my life. My husband would tell me that on days I was doing the researching and the coding that I was affectively different. I was angry. I was upset. I was impatient.</p><p>I honestly don’t know if I want to put myself through that again on a personal level. I truly believe that more arts and humanities faculty need to be doing this kind of work, as I think we can bring an important perspective to data-driven research that addresses pressing socio-cultural problems. And maybe if I had the funding and could put together a large enough team where I didn’t have to bear so much of the burden I would consider it, but right now I just don’t know.</p><hr><p><em>Did you enjoy this article?&nbsp;</em><a href="https://cu.tfaforms.net/73" rel="nofollow"><em>Subscribe to our newsletter.</em></a><em>&nbsp;Passionate about English?&nbsp;</em><a href="/english/donate" rel="nofollow"><em>Show your support.</em></a></p><p>&nbsp;</p></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div>Public advocacy website envisioned by 91 associate professor Laurie Gries tracks swastikas across the U.S. and offers resources to counter those hate-filled incidents.</div> <h2> <div class="paragraph paragraph--type--ucb-related-articles-block paragraph--view-mode--default"> <div>Related Articles</div> </div> </h2> <div>Traditional</div> <div>0</div> <div> <div class="imageMediaStyle large_image_style"> <img loading="lazy" src="/asmagazine/sites/default/files/styles/large_image_style/public/feature-title-image/anti_swastika_graffiti_cropped.jpg?itok=eXNp46Ni" width="1500" height="881" alt> </div> </div> <div>On</div> <div>White</div> Thu, 24 Oct 2024 21:19:27 +0000 Anonymous 6003 at /asmagazine