Undergraduate Students

Outstanding grad unearths roots of challenges to Black women authors

Rachel Sauer — Fri, 20 Dec 2024 15:10:36 +0000

Outstanding grad unearths roots of challenges to Black women authors Rachel Sauer Fri, 12/20/2024 - 08:10

Clint Talbott

Jane Forman, who is earning her BA in English, summa cum laude, is named the college’s outstanding graduate for fall 2024

Jane Forman has painstakingly recounted evidence that Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones and other prominent Black women authors have faced challenges to the authenticity and quality of their work, and that these critiques emanate from racist and sexist conceptions of who is rightly considered an author and an authority.

Forman, who is earning her BA in English, summa cum laude, deeply impressed her faculty committee, and she has been named the outstanding graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences for fall 2024.

Her thesis is titled “Deconstructing Archival Debris in the Margins: How Black Women Writers Navigate Intersectional Oppression During the Authorial Identity Formation Process.”

Jane Forman, who is earning her BA in English, summa cum laude, is the College of Arts and Science outstanding graduate for fall 2024.

In this work, Forman considers cases of Black women authors who were unfairly denigrated and rebuked because their intersectional identity made them targets. Forman cites troubling episodes of Claudine Gay, former president of Harvard; Nikole Hannah-Jones, author of the Pulitzer-winning 1619 Project; Toni Morrison, winner of a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize; and others.

When she spoke recently with Daryl Maeda, interim dean of the college, Forman described her thesis as a “contemplation of how our history continuously influences contemporary figurations of American life.”

In her thesis, she concludes: “The history of slavery is all of ours to confront, disregarding our contemporary racial and gender positionality in America. The virulent debris that emerged from slavery’s formal demolition continues to infect society today … We are all implicated in how this history attempts to exert influence over our collective present and future.”

Jennifer Ho, director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts, Eaton Professor of Humanities and the Arts and professor of ethnic studies, served as Forman’s thesis advisor. In her written narrative to the faculty thesis defense form, Ho said Forman’s thesis was made especially strong by her tracing of the “archival debris” across three periods of Black female authorship:

“Using critical race theory as her main theoretical touchstone, Jane considers the intersectional oppression that plagues Black women writers—the way that they must continuously navigate charges of plagiarism, incompetence and illegitimacy. Combining close reading/explication with theoretical applications of critical race theory, Jane takes readers through the troubling trend of discounting Black women writers due to sexism and racism, linked to U.S. history of anti-Black racism and white supremacy.”

In a letter of support for Forman, Emily Harrington, an associate professor of English who served on Forman’s committee, said Forman’s work “is easily the best senior thesis I have read during my career.”

Through all her thesis chapters, Forman “draws a direct connection between the various ways in which Black women authors have been questioned both in their authenticity and in the quality of their work, from the ‘first’ African American poet to the present day,” Harrington said, adding:

“Having also taken graduate seminars as an undergraduate, Jane is the most advanced undergraduate I have encountered at CU. … She has been a leader in our department, and I cannot think of a more ‘outstanding undergraduate.’”

In the acknowledgment section of her thesis, Forman shares some personal reflection and advice:

“For anyone uncertain of what they should do or where they should go, I urge you to follow the path that leads you toward the most expansive feeling. Three years ago, I dropped out of Georgetown University, unsure of what my life would be like. I didn’t know where I wanted to be, but I knew I couldn’t stay there. Despite the tumultuous journey that led me here, I feel eternally grateful for where I ended up.”

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Jane Forman, who is earning her BA in English, summa cum laude, is named the college’s outstanding graduate for fall 2024.

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CU president urges Quantum Scholars to think critically and creatively

Rachel Sauer — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 23:20:49 +0000

CU president urges Quantum Scholars to think critically and creatively Rachel Sauer Tue, 12/10/2024 - 16:20

Rachel Sauer

At the program’s December meeting, Todd Saliman reaffirmed CU’s commitment to the quantum education and research happening on campus

The way University of Colorado President Todd Saliman sees it, “(quantum) is a sector where Colorado is uniquely well-situated... I want us to be the one. I want us to be front of the line. I want us to be leading the world.”

As for the Quantum Scholars he was addressing Wednesday evening, their mission is to think “critically and creatively, and be dynamic human beings,” Saliman said.

Professor Noah Finkelstein co-directs Quantum Scholars with Michael Ritzwoller. (Photo: Casey A. Cass/CU ��«��Ƶ)

Saliman was a guest speaker at the December meeting of Quantum Scholars, a program conceived in the ��«��Ƶ Department of Physics and the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) that offers undergraduate students opportunities to learn about the quantum field, including connections with local industry leaders and introduction to new quantum technology.

The Quantum Scholars program includes undergraduates studying physics, engineering and computer science and aims to advance quantum education and workforce development through professional development, co-curricular activities and industrial engagement.

“We’re trying to extend what the Quantum Scholars are learning in class to make their education even more marketable and relevant,” said Michael Ritzwoller, a physics professor of distinction and Quantum Scholars founder with CEAS Dean Keith Molenaar. “More than 80% of our graduates eventually work in industry, so Quantum Scholars helps fill that gap.”

Scott Davis (PhDPhys’99), CEO of Vescent Technologies Inc. and a member of the Department of Physics advisory committee, told students at the Wednesday meeting that they are “at a special place” and cited the National Quantum Initiative Reauthorization Act (S. 5411), introduced in the U.S. Senate last week, which would authorize $2.7 billion over the next five years for quantum research and development at federal agencies and shift focus “from basic research to practical applications.”

“So much of that started because of this institution,” Davis said. “We’re really just at the beginning, and we need CU to keep doing what you’re doing—technical development, workforce development, inventing the future.”

Supporting scholars

For Denali Jah, a senior majoring in engineering physics who has been a Quantum Scholar since the program began in spring 2023, the benefits of participating in it are many. The $2,500 that Quantum Scholars receive during the academic year—supported by the Department of Physics and CEAS, as well as contributions from alumni, industry and external partners—gave his budget some wiggle room so he could participate more fully in research and community initiatives.

CU President Todd Saliman (left) spoke to Quantum Scholars at the program's monthly meeting. (Photo: Casey A. Cass/CU ��«��Ƶ)

“I was looking for some way to contribute to the physics department and really put my stamp on CU before I left,” Jah says. “Professor Ritzwoller and I were talking and he said, ‘I really want a quantum hackathon to happen here at CU,’ so Annalise Cabra and I organized the quantum hackathon.

“It was a really great success on the whole, and a great opportunity for Quantum Scholars to be able to get some industry initiatives that were much better integrated into our program. One way that I see Quantum Scholars is we’re a curation of student opportunities. Everybody is really working to be able to create more and more initiatives and opportunities throughout campus.”

Luke Coffman, a senior studying physics and mathematics, is leveraging his time as a Quantum Scholar to study “useful ideas for quantum computation,” he noted during the Wednesday meeting. Specifically, he’s interested in molecular simulation for qubit systems and suggested that perhaps quantum sensing will happen before quantum computation.

“Theoretical quantum computing will always be hot,” added Noah Finkelstein, a professor of physics and Quantum Scholars co-director.

In response to a question from Alexander Aronov, a junior studying mechanical engineering, about whether quantum science is in a period of over-hype, Davis noted that the technology field broadly has long existed in a cycle of hype and bust: “Is that happening in quantum?” he asked. “I take a fairly broad view of what it means to be in quantum systems and a quantum player.

“Exploiting quantum to our benefit is not hype; it’s real… It’s been slowly building for a long time, especially the amount of money (dedicated to quantum research and development) on the public side because of national security aspects. We exploit the laws of physics to the advantage of humanity, and that’s not going anywhere.”

Saliman said that as an institution, CU is committed to quantum—to building and leveraging public and private partnerships that help fund the research and development of which Quantum Scholars are or will be a part. “Our job is to support smart people, and translating the discoveries made here into practical applications is going to help pay for it.”

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At the program’s December meeting, Todd Saliman reaffirmed CU’s commitment to the quantum education and research happening on campus.

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CU President Todd Saliman (second from left) talks with (left to right) professors Noah Finkelstein and Tobin Munsat, Scott Davis and Professor Michael Ritzwoller. (Photo: Casey A. Cass/CU ��«��Ƶ)

Partnering with bots for better learning

Rachel Sauer — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 14:30:00 +0000

Partnering with bots for better learning Rachel Sauer Mon, 11/25/2024 - 07:30

Cody DeBos

CU ��«��Ƶ Professor Mike Klymkowsky uses AI tools to help students develop critical-thinking skills

For many, the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) taking on an expanded role in academia stirs uneasy feelings. Visions of computer-generated tutors and students “writing” essays using a chatbot paint a cold, impersonal destiny for education. However, Mike Klymkowsky, a professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology at the ��«��Ƶ, pictures a different future.

“It’s a tool that students will need to master, but its role will be largely determined by how the institution sets standards,” Klymkowsky says.

Mike Klymkowsky, a CU ��«��Ƶ professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, is using AI tools in the classroom to help students grow critical thinking skills.

Klymkowsky, a veteran educator and innovator, is experimenting with AI not to provide answers to students, but to prompt intelligent questions and facilitate more effective learning. Through self-made AI assessment tools and interactive, personified tutor bots, he encourages students to shift their mindset from memorizing facts to becoming active champions of critical thinking.

Ultimately, Klymkowsky says, the aim of education is to foster skills that extend far beyond the classroom.

“The goal isn’t just to remember the right answer,” he says; “it’s to understand why that answer makes sense and why the other answers don’t.”

Developing more meaningful feedback and assessment

Klymkowsky argues that traditional grading methods, particularly multiple-choice exams, fail to measure true comprehension; they look only for memorization.

Fortunately, he says, AI tools offer a different solution.

“When ChatGPT came out, it became clear to me and everyone else in the universe that these were tools that allowed you to do things you’d always wanted to do,” he explains.

By automating the analysis of students’ responses to open-ended prompts, AI can quickly highlight which concepts cause them to struggle and where instructors can spend more time. Such tasks involving quick analysis of vast datasets to identify patterns are where AI excels, Klymkowsky says.

“Now you can evaluate instructors on whether their learning goals are meaningful and whether the students are achieving them,” Klymkowsky says.

His “Dewey” AI bot can reduce days of manually combing through exam responses down to minutes, offering insights that allow him to target lectures more precisely and understand if learning outcomes are being reached.

Klymkowsky says this approach is key to helping students understand not just what they got wrong but why—and how to improve.

From cramming to critical thinking

Klymkowsky’s approach to AI addresses a long-standing challenge in academia: the prevalence of rote memorization.

“Whenever a class starts using multiple-choice questions to answer, forget critical thinking. You’re not asking them how they got the answer; you’re asking them whether they recognize it,” says Mike Klymkowsky.

“Whenever a class starts using multiple-choice questions to answer, forget critical thinking,” he explains. “You’re not asking them how they got the answer; you’re asking them whether they recognize it.”

Klymkowsky, an avid proponent of exploratory, inquiry-based learning, created an AI “tutor bot” called “Rita” to enhance his students’ learning. The bot uses a technology known as retrieval-generated augmentation and is trained on information provided by Klymkowsky, including lecture materials and textbooks. Limiting the bot’s knowledge to a select dataset prevents it from “hallucinating”—making up potentially incorrect or misleading answers to questions it doesn’t know.

“Our bots, when you ask them a question they don’t know, they say ‘I don’t know.’ If you ask ChatGPT or Claude a question, it’ll answer whether it knows it or not,” he says.

Klymkowsky views Rita as a patient guide capable of leading students through complex materials at their own pace.

“These bots don’t just spit out answers,” he says. “They respond based on what students already know and ask follow-up questions to deepen their understanding.”

He also explains that the bots can be tailored to specific disciplines with a custom knowledge base. Keeping the bots within their trained parameters ensures students can rely on them to deliver accurate information without straying into unfamiliar territory.

“You want to have the bot be focused on what the learning outcomes of the department are,” Klymkowsky says. “So, if students are engaging with a bot in a biology course, that bot is designed to know what it knows and what it doesn’t know.”

Tutor bots like Rita use the Socratic teaching model to promote critical thinking. They work with students to challenge their assumptions and develop solid explanations for their reasoning.

“Imagine being able to practice asking questions with a bot that makes you feel appreciated because it never loses its patience, right? It’s never snarky,” Klymkowsky says.

Rita won’t simply ask a student for the answer. In the form of a conversation, the bot asks for a reflection on why the student believes their answer is correct—or why it isn’t—to help them grasp the underlying principles of a given topic.

“The goal is not to memorize facts, but to understand the why and how behind them,” Klymkowsky says. “It’s about cultivating the kind of thinking that lets students ask the right questions—and teaches them how to start finding answers independently.”

Engaging students beyond the classroom

In addition to Socratic tutor bots, Klymkowsky is using Notebook LM to explore AI-generated podcasts as a novel tool to spark curiosity. As with Rita, he creates these podcasts using a limited dataset, such as a course textbook.

The AI tool then turns the input into a two-way conversation between virtual speakers. Despite the surreal experience of listening to an entirely non-human conversation, the format allows students to explore high-level information in a more accessible style through a medium many younger adults favor.

“The goal with these podcasts is to give students a jumping-off point—something that piques their interest and motivates them to dig deeper,” Klymkowsky explains.

“The goal is not to memorize facts, but to understand the why and how behind them. It’s about cultivating the kind of thinking that lets students ask the right questions—and teaches them how to start finding answers independently.”

Each podcast episode introduces a biology concept, immersing students through storytelling and examples.

While the application is promising, Klymkowsky knows producing such content is a tricky balancing act of depth and attention span: “What is the attention span of the student? How long are you going to keep them on task before you ask them to do something themselves?”

Despite this challenge, Klymkowsky believes AI podcasts can complement classroom learning by acting as conversation starters.

“It’s more about using the podcast to motivate students to go read the book or the chapter—or to ask questions that they wouldn’t otherwise consider,” he says.

From there, students can bring their questions into class discussions or interact with a tutor bot to reinforce their learning.

By embracing AI tools like Socratic tutor bots and podcasts, Klymkowsky believes it’s possible to create an educational space where students can deepen their understanding through diverse content formats while cultivating a habit of lifelong learning that goes beyond a multiple-choice bubble.

Fueling curiosity, one question at a time

As technology continues to shape academia, Klymkowsky emphasizes that AI, when thoughtfully applied, needn’t be the villain. Instead, it can be a powerful catalyst for cultivating critical thinking.

“If you don’t understand a thing, can you ask an intelligent question?” Klymkowsky says.

With AI as a partner, he says he believes students can learn to ask those questions, and that AI can be used to develop curiosity and intellectual resilience—skills that will serve students far longer than a perfectly memorized breakdown of the Krebs cycle.

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CU ��«��Ƶ Professor Mike Klymkowsky uses AI tools to help students develop critical-thinking skills.

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Scholar learns that ‘language links us all’

Anonymous — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 16:46:45 +0000

Scholar learns that ‘language links us all’ Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/05/2024 - 10:46

Doug McPherson

Political science undergrad Cooper Baldwin wins prestigious U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to learn ‘one of the most critical languages for future United States policy’

Cooper Baldwin, a junior from San Antonio, Texas, majoring in political science and journalism, has been named a recipient of the 2024 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) from the U.S. Department of State.

The scholarship allows American college and university students to learn languages that are key to America's engagement with the world.

Baldwin is the only CU ��«��Ƶ student to receive the CLS in the last two years. Just 500 undergraduate and graduate students in the United States are chosen each year from an application pool of more than 5,000 students, according to the Department of State.

Cooper Baldwin, a junior majoring in political science and journalism, received a 2024 Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State and studied Russian over the summer.

As a CLS recipient, Baldwin chose to study Russian (over Arabic and Chinese) and spent the summer learning the basics of the language online from what he calls “an awesome instructional team” based in Chișinău, Moldova. Russian was the language he’s most interested in learning, he says, and he wanted to get the basics down before he applied to go to a Russian-speaking country next summer and study the language in more detail.

“In my opinion, Russian is one of the most critical languages for future United States policy facilitators, executors and diplomats to learn,” Baldwin says. “Not only is it primarily spoken in many Eastern European countries, it’s the cornerstone of many languages and dialects worldwide. So, with such a broad reach, the choice seemed obvious to me.”

He says his initial curiosity about Russian stems, in part, from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine: “The invasion … stoked a connection to that part of the world. To be honest, the invasion seemed entirely surreal to me, and the onset of a full, unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country rattled the conceptions I had about the relative peaceful nature of nations worldwide. I’ve never lived in a world without Russian aggression and a tense atmosphere from the Kremlin toward the United States.”

'A patriot above all'

Baldwin—who is interested in international relations, geopolitical relations, history and national security—calls himself “a patriot above all” who wants to give back to the United States.

“I believe the CLS program is the perfect way to do that. To learn a language critical to the U.S.'s national security and economic interests nationwide will allow me to pursue this commitment and philosophy fervently, which I intend to do.”

He calls his career goals “big and numerous” and says that working on political campaigns boosted his interest in politics and government.

“To those who know me, it's no secret that I’m thoroughly committed to entering the field of politics, campaigns or government when I graduate from CU. I intend on using my studies and experiences to seek a role in the federal government.”

He hopes to work in the Department of State, Homeland Security, intelligence services, civil military service or policy administration.

I want to live a life of service to the country that has given me so much. I know it is my birthright to be an American, but I see it as an incredible and awe-inspiring privilege to say I am.”

“I want to live a life of service to the country that has given me so much. I know it is my birthright to be an American, but I see it as an incredible and awe-inspiring privilege to say I am.”

Baldwin says that for as long as he can remember, he’s had a “deep interest” in language and linguistics.

“They’ve been an intellectual love of mine,” he says. “I taught myself to read at age 4 because I was so deeply invested in language and its capability for beautiful, complex expression. I find it incredibly interesting that people worldwide have such different ways of expressing themselves. Language links us all.”

He credits his middle school Spanish teacher in San Antonio for bolstering his interest in languages, and adds that she encouraged him to excel in class.

“My teacher never told me to slow down, to stay on pace with the class, to stop answering all the questions she asked,” he says. “She always gave me more material to push my studies further and took time … to give me additional practice with the language. The CLS program was the perfect opportunity to pursue language at the rapid pace I’m capable of, and it challenged me every day. I absolutely loved that.”

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Political science undergrad Cooper Baldwin wins prestigious U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to learn ‘one of the most critical languages for future United States policy.'

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Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22

Anonymous — Wed, 05 Jun 2024 22:13:25 +0000

Scientists help students vanquish research-experience Catch-22 Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/05/2024 - 16:13

Rachel Sauer

In new publication, CU ��«��Ƶ scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills

It’s an unfortunate truth of higher education that students are not exempt from a classic Catch-22: You need research experience to gain research experience.

“Undergraduates participating in research is a key variable for enhancing their persistence in STEM professions,” explains Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the ��«��Ƶ Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology. “But to gain access to opportunities in research is not the most straightforward. For a lot of students, these things aren’t baked into their undergraduate degree plan.”

So, students seeking research-focused internships, jobs or higher education opportunities after graduation are often inconsistently prepared with the necessary skills and experience. Hence, the SkillsCenter.

Zachary Hazlett, a PhD candidate in the ��«��Ƶ Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, is a lead TA on the SkillsCenter proctor team and first author on a paper newly publish in Cell detailing the organizing philosophy, structure and goals of SkillsCenter.

As detailed in a paper newly published in the journal Cell, the SkillsCenter is a modular research skills training course that allows students to “gain training and micro-credentials in the laboratory skills of their choosing.”

In other words, Hazlett says, “what if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?”

Module-based curriculum

The SkillsCenter, which is open to students of every major, emerged, in part, from a recognition that undergraduate students have often gained research experiences “by cold-calling faculty members and saying, ‘I’d like to work in research, are there any opportunities in your lab?’” Hazlett says.

Understandably, faculty often ask what their previous experience is, and if a student doesn’t have any, they have to hope they’ll get lucky and find a faculty member willing to teach them.

So, faculty and graduate students in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, led by Professor Michael Stowell, began researching and discussing alternative means by which undergraduate students could gain the training and experience they need to gain these critical professional development opportunities.

Based on the principle of “learning by doing,” they designed a module-based curriculum in which modules are scaled by skill level, with appropriate prerequisites, and students can learn at their own self-directed pace. In fall 2021, the first 10 students enrolled in the for-credit SkillsCenter course, working through skills such as lab safety, pipette operation and calibration, centrifugation, buffers and stocks preparation, autoclave sterilization and more.

Today, the course offers training in the laboratory basics as well as advanced training techniques such as polymerase chain reaction, protein expression and purification and various forms of microscopy.

“The course has been designed very carefully,” Hazlett says. “We’ve done our best to build a laboratory space that mimics a traditional research space. Students working in the SkillsCenter gain the experience of what it would be like to be a member of a laboratory research group—in charge of maintaining their space, scheduling equipment, restocking materials, etc. The training modules themselves mimic something a trainee would encounter, with resources to help them and guide them in their conceptual understanding and procedural competence.”

Lab proctors—who are the course instructor, graduate students in the department and a number of undergraduate students who previously took the course—provide on- and off-site guidance for students and assess their work.

What if there was a bridge, something between the classroom and these research spaces that can allow students to gain that necessary experience? That can help equip them to enter those spaces both confidently and competently?"

Learning the scientific process

Through six semesters, SkillsCenter has grown and evolved from the original 10 students to nearly 100 per semester. The lab space is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday thanks to increased staffing, and students can work on their modules when their schedule allows.

“It is very important that we have trained lab proctors, and that we instruct our students very carefully on how to engage in this course,” Hazlett says. “Students are instructed that they are responsible for seeking out the resources and guidance they need, and we make sure they know how to access the supports they need.”

Each module requires a certain number of tasks that students complete and submit to proctors for review. Proctors monitor students’ work through each module, give feedback and assess their progress through the scientific process—from hypothesis through notes and observations to interpretation of results.

After completing a module and passing all its required tasks, students receive a certificate for each skill, “so they can collect these certificates and put those skills on their resumes,” Hazlett says, adding that he and his colleagues are working with ORCiD and digital badge organizations to create digital credentials that students can display to future employers. “We also want to embed students’ raw data into those badges, so if an employer wants proof of their skills, they have direct evidence of students’ technical proficiencies.”

Hazlett and his colleagues also are building a network of industry and academic research lab partners to “create an ecosystem for training STEM students. Many students often excitedly explain to me how they have convinced faculty researchers to let them join their labs because of the experiences they have gained in the SkillsCenter.”

Researchers Beiyi Xu, Jennifer Knight, Michael Klymkowsky and Michael Stowell also contributed to the Cell publication.

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In new publication, CU ��«��Ƶ scientists detail how the SkillsCenter allows students to gain credentials in basic to advanced research skills.

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CU ��«��Ƶ student took a long, winding road to graduation

Anonymous — Thu, 02 May 2024 18:10:49 +0000

CU ��«��Ƶ student took a long, winding road to graduation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 05/02/2024 - 12:10

Bradley Worrell

Student who was just a few credits shy of graduating in 1997 will walk in May commencement ceremony thanks to Finish What You Started program

Marcos Castillo is a big believer in second chances.

Part of that comes from his years of experience working for Catholic Charities of Denver, where he has provided assistance to the Mile High City’s homeless populations and Colorado’s immigrant communities.

Perhaps just as importantly, Castillo knows the value of second chances in his own life and career, which has not followed a straight path.

So close to finishing

Marcos Castillo credits a return to his Catholic faith with getting his life back on track, including a renewed focus on completing college. He will walk with other graduating seniors on May 9 during ceremonies at Folsom Field on the CU ��«��Ƶ campus.

In 1997, Castillo was on a trajectory to success. He was a senior at the ��«��Ƶ, finishing his degree in political science and international business. Fate seemed to further smile on him when he was selected for an internship with the Colorado International Trade Office, which was then in the early stages of establishing trade relationships with chambers of commerce in Mexico. That internship led to an offer of full-time employment working as a contract trade consultant in Mexico and the United States.

“When the job opened, I took it, thinking I was almost done with school, and I could use the money. Plus, I just didn’t want to pass up the opportunity,” he says.

Castillo worked in that job for about 10 years, and by all accounts he was successful at it, before ultimately deciding to return home to Denver. Finishing college was never far from his mind, he says, so he enrolled again. Unfortunately, at that same time he was struggling with depression and battling alcohol addiction.

It was a particularly dark period in his life, he admits.

“I bounced around from job to job for several years,” he says. “I didn’t have a sense of direction, quite honestly.”

Things started to change for Castillo not long after he took a job with Catholic Charities.

“It called out to me because, yes, I’m Catholic, and I wanted to return to my faith. And with these personal struggles, I hadn’t been able to find a way to overcome them on my own, until I decided to take my faith seriously. Once I committed to that, it allowed me to focus on my work, and, later on, school.”

An opportunity with ‘Finish What You Started’

While working to help others in his job with Catholic Charities, Castillo in 2022 received some positive news about his own longstanding goal to finish college. That was the year that the CU ��«��Ƶ Division of Continuing Education contacted Castillo to let him know he was eligible for assistance in completing his degree through the Finish What You Started program (see related story below).

Castillo embraces his calling with Catholic Charities work

With the passage of time, Marcos Castillo says he has come to look at his work for Catholic Charities as a calling.

“I’m committed to working for Catholic Charities and doing whatever I can to help those in need,” he says. “Whether it was helping the homeless population, like I did in the beginning, or now working with migrants, it’s something I know how to do and it’s something I’m good at.”

In his current role at Catholic Charities, Castillo spearheads the Temporary Protective Status and Employment Authorization workshops for qualified migrants, potentially allowing them to obtain temporary protective status and a work permit.

Castillo’s job with Catholic Charities is deeply personal. He was born in Mexico City and emigrated to Denver with his parents when he was just 8 and did not speak English. He says he sees his work as important and meaningful.

“I enjoy going to work every day. It’s hard work. Some days it can be emotionally taxing. There is always a lot going on, but I can’t see myself doing anything else,” he says. “This is where I need to be and this is what I need to be doing. So, that’s what my calling means for me.”

Castillo says he was excited about the prospect of returning to college, but also a bit nervous after being away for so long.

In retrospect, he didn’t need to worry.

“Ann Herrmann with Finish What You Started was amazing to work with, from the beginning until the end,” Castillo says. “She explained what forms I had to fill out, she helped explain the assistance I was eligible for, and she helped me narrow down which classes I needed to finish up my degree. Plus, she would just check in with me during the semester to ask how things were going. So, I felt really supported all the way through.”

That ended up being fortuitous, Castillo says, because he struggled in his first attempt to take an online biology course—an option that didn’t even exist during his first time in college. After he expressed his misgivings to Herrmann, she suggested he take the course as an evening class on the CU ��«��Ƶ campus—and everything clicked.

“She gave me the encouragement to try again and get it done,” Castillo says. “Had it not been for that, I don’t know that I would have tried again, because I was really frustrated with myself at the time.”

With that first college class under his belt, Castillo then took an anthropology class called The Human Animal and an Introduction to Western Philosophy class, both of which he says he enjoyed and successfully passed. He was the oldest student in those classes, but both the instructors and the students made him feel welcome, he says.

Officially, Castillo finished his classes in December, but he’ll walk with other seniors during the May 9 commencement at Folsom Field on the CU ��«��Ƶ campus. One regret is that the timing of the event will prevent his mom and younger brother, Tony, from attending, because they already had plans to be in Mexico at the time.

“It’s kind of sad. My mom, more than anyone, really pushed me to finish college,” he says. Still, Castillo says he has already promised to take selfies and livestream part of the event for absent family members.

The long road to finishing college

Even before re-enrolling at CU ��«��Ƶ, one of the biggest turning points in his life, Castillo’s quest to earn a college degree took a number of twists and turns over the years.

A graduate of Denver East High School, he first enrolled at the University of the Americas Puebla, near Puebla, Mexico, where he studied psychology. All of the coursework was in Spanish, which Castillo says was actually a bit of a challenge because he didn’t learn formal Spanish growing up, so there was a learning curve.

After spending about a year and a half at the university in Puebla, where Castillo admits he struggled academically, he decided to return home to Denver. He enrolled at Community College of Denver, then transferred to University of Colorado Denver, where several of his high school friends were studying.

Marcos Castillo (left) with his dad, Juan, his mom, Victoria, and his younger brother, Tony. Castillo says his parents strongly supported his efforts to finish college.

“And then some of us just decided, ‘Let’s go to CU ��«��Ƶ.’ We transferred over and moved up to ��«��Ƶ. It was as simple as that,” he says. “My friends finished college, and I got through my senior year. I was so fortunate to have a good group of friends who helped me by serving as an example of how to do this. Had I not had those examples, I don’t know what I would have done.”

Reflecting on his quest to complete his degree, Castillo says, “I’ve done everything in a zig zag; I’ve never done it straight. I’ve taken the most random routes to attend and finish college.

“It’s funny, when I talk with my brother, he’s like, ‘You’ve been doing this for 25 years. You start, then stop, then start again.’ It’s true. When I stop and think about it, school has been a part of my entire adult life.”

Looking to the future

As for what his own future holds, Castillo, who recently turned 50, isn’t sure what comes next. However, after successfully earning his bachelor’s degree, he says he would love to pursue an advanced degree.

“There’s so many things that interest me. I’ve just started to consider what’s possible,” he says. “Religious studies is something I would be interested in. Obviously, something in the liberal arts—something where I could still be helping people. There’s just so much out there you can study.”

For this moment, though, as he prepares for commencement ceremonies next week, Castillo is happy to reflect on the hard work it took to finish his degree and to celebrate his success.

“I’m proud of being a senior graduate,” he says. “And I’m proud of being a part of the community here. I came to Denver when I was really young. I’ve lived here and in Mexico, but I consider Denver my home. And ��«��Ƶ’s a big part of me, too. And so, I’m proud of staying in Colorado and being a part of the community here. I definitely couldn’t see myself doing this anywhere else.”

As for advice he would have for others contemplating finishing their degree, Castillo says, “There’s a lot of ups and downs, but it’s not impossible. And once you get it done, that feeling of accomplishment is unbelievable; it’s something that can’t be taken away.

“And this is from a normal guy who took a long time and finally found his place. I think that if I can do it, a lot of other people can do it, too. So, I think it would be cool if my story could help someone else.”

‘Finish What You Started’ helps former CU students complete their degrees

Since its inception in spring 2022, the ��«��Ƶ Finish What You Started program has helped 52 students who were a few credits, or even semesters, shy of finishing their undergraduate degree to graduate—with still more students graduating this May.

“It’s rewarding and fulfilling work, for sure,” says Ann Herrmann, program manager and advisor for the grant-funded Finish What You Started (FWYS), which is administered by the Division of Continuing Education.

To be eligible for FWYS, an applicant must be a Colorado resident, must have missed at least two semesters and must be working on their first degree. Applicants also must answer questions about income, must attest that they were negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and they must be able to complete their degree by spring 2025, when the grant period ends.

The $3.1 million grant funding was part of a larger pool of money provided to all state colleges by the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative, which is supported by the American Rescue Plan, a $30 billion federal aid package intended to address the devastation of COVID-19.

FWYS offers students mix of advising and financial assistance. Eligible students have access to semester-over-semester scholarships starting at $1,500, as well as other sources of financial support, depending on individual student need.

“Our goal is to limit out-of-pocket expenses and college loans, if at all possible,” Herrmann says. “Our goal is to maximize the use of this grant money to help them finish their degrees without any additional financial burdens.”

Student support services include one-on-one academic advising and coaching, enrollment support and career advising to help students transition to the workforce after graduation, according to Michelle Pagnani, senior academic coach and lead program specialist for the FWYS program.

“Service offered include a combination of academic skill building and life coaching. Really, life coaching is sort of pulling from a model of positive psychology and motivational interviewing, as well as asking open-ended questions, so students can process their academic experience in light of other things going on in their lives and careers,” Pagnani says. “Lots of conversations are focused on time management and stress management.”

Students enrolled in FWYS program run the gamut in ages, from 20-somethings to those in their 40s, 50s and older. One student who graduated last year was 76 years old.

The Division of Continuing Education hosts a graduation celebration for Finish What You Started graduates on commencement day, and Pagnani and Herrmann say that event highlights how meaningful the program is.

“It’s the most emotionally impactful event I’ve probably ever attended in my career,” Pagnani says.

“For some of these students, we’re their main source of support, so it’s super gratifying to celebrate with them,” Herrmann says. “Many students have said they don’t think they would have finished if not for Michelle’s help.”

Individuals interested in learning more about Finish What You Started can visit the program page or contact a program advisor at fwys@colorado.edu or 303-492-9671.

Student who was just a few credits shy of graduating in 1997 will walk in May commencement ceremony thanks to Finish What You Started program.

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A Nobel laureate walks into a first-year physics class…

Anonymous — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 18:57:11 +0000

A Nobel laureate walks into a first-year physics class… Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/19/2024 - 12:57

Rachel Sauer

General Physics for Majors course designed by CU ��«��Ƶ Professors Eric Cornell and Paul Beale shows students that the furthest reaches of science are built on fundamental concepts

The Nobel laureate was not feeling happy about his minus signs.

He stood back from the blackboard—yes, an actual blackboard on which he wrote with actual chalk—and considered the calculus he’d jokingly hyped just moments before with, “This is some of that real calculus sensation. This is why you sat through that whole calculus class: for this moment.”

His team teacher, a noted scientist who this year is marking 40 years teaching physics at the ��«��Ƶ, called from the back of the classroom, “That’s right, Eric.”

Professors Paul Beale (left) and Eric Cornell prepare for a Tuesday morning PHYS 1125 class. (Photos: Rachel Sauer)

Advanced math is not always easy with an audience watching—in this case, about 85 first-year physics, astrophysics and engineering physics students in PHYS 1125, General Physics 2 for Majors.

It’s a class for students who know they want to pursue a field of physics and are newly starting out in it. And it’s taught by a Nobel laureate.

“I harken back to freshman physics every day of my life,” explains Eric Cornell, a CU ��«��Ƶ professor adjoint of physics and 2001 Nobel Prize winner in physics for his work with Bose-Einstein condensates. “I’m in a Facebook group with people I met my freshman year in physics.”

In other words, there’s absolutely no reason a Nobel laureate shouldn’t teach first-year physics.

Basic, foundational concepts

Cornell and Paul Beale, a CU ��«��Ƶ professor of physics, created the course six years ago, in part to help students interested in pursuing physics to find community and support among like-minded peers. While other introductory physics courses are open to all majors, this one is specifically for physics, astrophysics and engineering physics majors. Steven Pollock, a professor of physics, and Yuan Shi, an assistant professor of physics, in the fall taught the first half of the course, PHYS 1115, which was created by Professors Chuck Rogers and Shijie Zhong.

“We start from ground zero,” Beale says. “Most (of the students) have had some physics in high school, most have seen these ideas before—they know that same charges repel. But even students who have had really good high school physics classes, maybe even AP classes, we say, ‘That’s great! Take our class.’

“Being with other physics majors helps them relax and get immersed in the field. Everybody in there really wants to be in there.”

Professor Eric Cornell (center, striped shirt) answers student questions in the physics help room.

A cynic might ask, however, why a Nobel laureate would be teaching a first-year class. Shouldn’t they be, you know, spending their time in the furthest, most esoteric reaches of physics? Doing the kind of science only a handful of people on the planet can understand?

“I want to push back on that idea that the basic, foundational concepts of physics don’t have considerable charm of their own,” Cornell says. “This is really fun stuff, and one of the things I like about this course is it gets into really interesting things right away.”

“It’s also a hard class,” Beale adds. “The concepts are difficult, so the challenge for us is to do everything we can to make them approachable. (The students) have got to get them right even though they’re hard, because everything else in physics builds on what they learn here.”

Cornell and Beale designed the class not only with beginning physics students in mind, but learning assistants and graduate students as well.

“In a lot of schools, grad students—who might be just one year past undergrad—are thrown in the classroom and told, ‘Here, go teach,’” Cornell says. In this course, however, graduate students assist with weekly tutorials but meet with Beale and Colin West, an associate teaching professor of physics, before each one, because the skills of teaching need to be taught. The same is true for class learning assistants, who are undergraduate students who took the course the previous year.

Cornell and Beale also spend time in the physics help room each week, which is a space where students can drop by for help with anything physics related.

“I would say that we are a very good teaching department, and not just our graduate program,” Beale says. “This is your introduction to physics, and you’re either going to like it or not, so we put a lot of effort into the first years.”

“We’re always asking, ‘How do we do better teaching?’” Cornell adds. “People like Paul and me have the advantage of people in this department who have studied teaching and have tried approaches like using clickers, using a conversational approach, using hands-on demonstrations. There are ongoing discussions about how we can be teaching better.”

Physics with a purple crayon

Sometimes, better teaching means an apology: “It’s my sorry duty to apologize for all the sins of physicists who went before me, and electrical engineers. And Ben Franklin,” Cornell said, writing “sorry!!” on the blackboard and underlining it twice. “I’m here to apologize for this thing called ‘potential.’ The whole rest of your life you’re going to be thinking about electric potential. It’s unavoidable. Your intuition will overwhelm your minus-sign errors.

Professor Paul Beale (standing, blue sweater) walks around the classroom during PHYS 1125 to help students and answer questions.

“It’s a ‘sorry, but...’ though, which is another way to say, ‘Suck it up.’”

While Cornell pivoted to voltage, “a happier, friendlier term (than electric potential),” Beale walked slowly among the rows of seats, stopping to sit by students who had questions and prompt them toward their response on class-wide clicker questions.

Pranay Raj Poosa, a freshman majoring in astrophysics who hopes to study black holes and neutron stars, cites Cornell’s and Beale’s enthusiasm for physics and their personal, conversational approach to teaching as two of the reasons he likes the class: “The fun they generate makes my understanding crystal clear,” he said. “The first day of class, (Cornell) made a joke about himself, which I personally felt was clap-worthy.”

Poosa added that he was in “utter disbelief” when his advisor mentioned a Nobel laureate would be teaching the class.

For Min Wang, a sophomore majoring in physics and interested in theoretical neuroscience and writing science fiction, Cornell and Beale have shown her that “great minds are not the ones who are walking in front of others all the time. They always slow down and let the young generation be on their shoulders.

“Even though what Professor Cornell taught us is just a tiny piece of knowledge in his mind, he shows amazing patience to every student and shows us how profound even a little, tiny bit in physics can be. And since I have time conflicts with all the office hours, Professor Beale gives me a special office hour time according to my school schedule. It is after class and work time on Friday! They make me feel welcome in the world of physics.”

Wang noted that while learning physics is not without its pains, she doesn’t feel alone in tackling them because she is part of a “lovely and supportive physics community created by the professors.”

Which is good, because it was time to do “a very modest amount of algebra, the kind you could do with a purple crayon if you’ve got one,” Cornell said, explaining how they could figure capacitance between two metal plates and then telling the students, “I’m going to show you something which I think is very neat. It’s kind of an advanced idea, giving you a taste of physics to come.”

The key thing to remember? “The whole idea of physics is zooming all the way into what does matter and ignoring what doesn’t.”

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about physics? Show your support.

General Physics for Majors course designed by CU ��«��Ƶ Professors Eric Cornell and Paul Beale shows students that the furthest reaches of science are built on fundamental concepts.

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College of Arts and Sciences names 2024 Van Ek Scholars

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Apr 2024 22:16:08 +0000

College of Arts and Sciences names 2024 Van Ek Scholars Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/17/2024 - 16:16

Twenty-three students receive one of college's highest honors, recognized for academic achievement and depth of service

The College of Arts and Sciences has awarded the Jacob Van Ek Scholarship—one of the college’s highest honors—to 23 exceptional undergraduates.

The award is named for Jacob Van Ek (1896-1999), who arrived at CU as a young assistant professor shortly after earning his doctorate in 1925 at what is now known as Iowa State University. Within three years, he was a full professor and, by 1929, he was dean of the College of Liberal Arts, serving until 1959.

The following students are this year’s Jakob Van Ek Scholar Award recipients:

Emily Aguirre, English/Spanish
Simon Bantugan, Geology
Seleny Banuelas, BFA Ceramics/BA Spanish
Aaron Barrios, Physics/Astronomy/Math
Mariana Bastias, English/Psychology and Neuroscience
Auburn Berry, Integrative Physiology
Blanca Cerda, Neuroscience
Rachel Coppock, Anthropology
Sarah Coronna, Anthropology
Adriana Espinoza, Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
Samantha Haygood, Philosophy and Sociology
Lucas Hendricks, Chinese
Taylor Johnson, Philosophy
Emma Judge, Biochemistry
Samantha Lane, Sociology
Isabella (Bella) Malherbe, Art History
Grant Mannino, Psychology and Neuroscience
Miles Moore, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Rumi Natanzi, Ethnic Studies
Callie Noar, Integrative Physiology
Alexandra Plocki, Physics
Hayley Thomas, International Affairs
Grace Tuzizila, Integrative Physiology

Twenty-three students receive one of college's highest honors, recognized for academic achievement and depth of service.

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But seriously, folks, climate change is a laughing matter

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Apr 2024 18:30:24 +0000

But seriously, folks, climate change is a laughing matter Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 04/05/2024 - 12:30

Rachel Sauer

‘Stand Up for Climate Comedy’ unites CU ��«��Ƶ student performers and professional comedians in a show that encourages the audience to laugh together and then work together

The Green Bachelor was not impressed with Oceana Sea and her 2 million followers—despite her name, she hates the water and doesn’t know how to swim. Nor was he impressed with Petrolina Exxon and her daddy’s helicopter. They clearly weren’t there for the right reasons.

Not to spoil the true-eco-love ending, but the Green Bachelor, a marine biologist, was smitten with the contestant who rode her bike to the Green Bachelor mansion and knows the flow of her local watershed.

Pause scene.

"Stand Up for Climate Comedy" is at 7 p.m. April 15 at ��«��Ƶ Theater, 2032 14th St. Admission is free.

“I think we should say, ‘What is your local watershed and what are you doing to support it, hmm?’” says Elizabeth Smith, a junior majoring in environmental studies.

This followed discussion of defining Oceana as someone who obviously doesn’t know her bodies of water, and advice from Beth Osnes to remember that the sketch is “a physicality thing, so get it up on its feet as soon as you can.”

It was a Tuesday morning in the Climate Change Communication class, and students were laughing at climate change.

Not the reality of it, of course—it’s the defining issue of their generation and there’s nothing funny about it—but in preparation for Stand Up for Climate Comedy April 15 at the ��«��Ƶ Theater. The show, which is in its ninth year, will feature comedians and science communicators Chuck Nice, Rollie Williams and Kasha Patel, as well as students from the Climate Change Communication class, who write and perform either solo stand-up or group sketches that they create together with support from Osnes and Ben Stasny, a PhD candidate in theater and teaching assistant for the class.

“Comedy has always taken on serious, heavy, depressing social issues,” explains Osnes, a ��«��Ƶ professor of theatre and dance who teaches the class. “Instead of people just yelling at each other about these issues, approaching them through comedy makes engagement with the issues not only positive, but helps us process them in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming or hopeless.

“Comedy relies on double meaning. I think it’s easy for us to get stuck in binary thinking, things are one way or the other, and once you get locked into one thought, you’re stuck. Comedy can help us get unstuck, and the gorgeous thing about it is when it works, our response is involuntary, that burst of laughter, and all of a sudden everybody’s having that same response and we’re having it together. It’s golden. When we’re talking about climate change, we need things that are going to help us burst through our set ways of thinking and that we do together.”

Laughing together

Stand Up for Climate Comedy is the brainchild of Osnes and Max Boykoff, a CU ��«��Ƶ professor of environmental studies, who also are two of the project leaders for Inside the Greenhouse, a collective effort that aims to creatively frame and tell the stories surrounding climate change through video, theatre, dance and writing.

Osnes and Boykoff figured that people might have a better time carrying or reframing the burdens of guilt and despair that shadow climate change if they were laughing together rather than shouting at each other. It’s not so much “laugh to keep from crying,” she says, but more “laugh and get moving.”

The first year of Stand Up for Climate Comedy “was basically Max and me downstairs (in the Theatre Building) with a $250 budget,” Osnes says.

Not long after, however, they were approached by representatives from the Argosy Foundation “who came to us and said, ‘We’re so sick of people screaming at each other; if we gave you $25,000, what would you do with it?’” Osnes recalls.

Beth Osnes (center) works with Lief Jordan (left), Jayden Simisky and Taylor Gutt as they prepare their stand-up comedy performances. (Photos: Rachel Sauer)

They would make the show bigger, they would organize events across the country, they would bring in luminaries of comedy who also know their science and they would integrate students as a key part of the show. That last part—student involvement—is especially key, Osnes says, because students have deep knowledge of the issues of climate change and are demanding action.

Hence the environmental hostility.

‘The seas are rising, and so are tensions!’

“My best bit is, ‘I’m sick of all this environmentally friendly shit. I’m environmentally hostile now,’” says Taylor Gutt, a senior in environmental studies.

“That’s a good bit,” says Lief Jordon, also a senior in environmental studies. “Environmental hostility is funny.”

They’re sitting with Jayden Simisky, a senior in environmental studies, and Cate Billings, a senior majoring in creative technology and design, at the top of a staircase in the Loft Theatre, workshopping the stand-up routines they’re writing.

None of them has performed stand-up before, “but why not, right?” Jordan says with a laugh. “If you’re going to go down, go down big.”

Billings is taking her stand-up in a multimedia direction, complete with a PowerPoint presentation “so it’s a little educational,” she explains. “I have a slide of coral bleaching and I say, ‘Up here on the surface we bleach our assholes, but coral is way ahead of the trend.’”

That earns an appreciative laugh from her classmates. Meanwhile, Simisky is thinking out loud about how to make carbon dioxide funny.

“The biggest thing for me with CO2 is they’re always saying, like, ‘7,000 tons of CO2,’” he says. “So, there’s this whole-ass neighborhood of carbon dioxide in the sky. Maybe something like, ‘There’s so much CO2 in the air that they’re starting to weigh it in terms of cruise ships. I’ve started to live in fear of a boat falling out of the sky.’”

Skyler Behrens (foreground) times her group's comedy sketch on a practice run-through.

That’s good, his classmates agree.

Elsewhere in the theater, Skyler Behrens, a sophomore studying engineering and education, and Claire Grossman, a junior in creative technology and design, are considering what contestants on a climate change-informed “Love Island” would say.

“What if he just says, ‘Wow, that’s hot’?” Behrens suggests.

“That’s perfect,” Grossman says, and soon Behrens is running through the sketch introduction again: “Welcome back, everyone, to the most exciting season of ‘Love Island’ yet! The seas are rising, and so are tensions!”

Nearby, Marcus Witter and Jake Mendelssohn, both seniors in environmental studies, and Austin Villarreal, a junior studying environmental design, are working with Osnes on their sketch involving three guys on a chairlift deciding who has to jump off.

“I don’t really like murder,” Osnes observes. “I think it’s funnier if an act of God knocks you off.”

Many of the students have not done this kind of performance before, and certainly not on a stage the size of ��«��Ƶ Theater’s. They admit to nerves and to thinking about jokes so much that they stop being funny, but they’re excited, too.

“It helps that we’re doing it together,” notes Danielle Harris, a senior in environmental studies who plays Oceana Sea on “The Green Bachelor,” and her comedy partners nod in agreement.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to our newsletter. Passionate about creative climate communication? Show your support.

‘Stand Up for Climate Comedy’ unites CU ��«��Ƶ student performers and professional comedians in a show that encourages the audience to laugh together and then work together.

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Counting to three and then flying

Anonymous — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 21:14:31 +0000

Counting to three and then flying Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/02/2024 - 14:14

Neuroscience and art practices major Rachel Suter joins The Ampersand podcast to discuss asking ‘Why not?’ and stepping into the unknown

Listen to The Ampersand

Rachel Suter steps to the precipice and looks over the edge. Below her, a glowing aqua pool that’s 30 feet down. As many times as she’s pushed off the edge, she still feels a little zing.

She dives into a pool at the newly renovated Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver. The way the water blends in and out of sapphire blue reminds her of her newest painting, exploring neurological degeneration, which reminds her, in turn, to finish her neuroscience homework before she can get to her next student body government meeting.

Amid the noise of the restaurant, the sweet fried scent of sopapillas, her fellow performer in a gorilla costume, she takes a breath, counts back from three and soars.

Rachel is a lot of things, not just a woman who flies. She crafts visual art based on scientific systems and principles she explores in her neuroscience coursework. She guides the College of Arts and Sciences student body as vice president. She's a model, she dives, she approaches new opportunities asking, “Why not?”

At the top of the page: Rachel Suter works on her art. Photo by Kylie Clarke. Above: "Vibrant" by Rachel Suter.

She recently joined host Erika Randall, associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, on "The Ampersand,” the college podcast. Randall—who also is a dancer, professor, mother, filmmaker and writer—joins guests in exploring stories about “ANDing” as a “full sensory verb” that describes experience and possibility.

Their free-wheeling discussion addressed confronting fear, the mechanics of diving and oatmeal baths, among many other topics.

Suter: When I was younger, I always wanted to dive, but I couldn't because I have pretty bad eczema. I was a competitive gymnast, and then, following that, I did competitive dance. So, you know, just parallel sports, almost. And then senior year of high school, I just kind of decided, like, end of COVID, I'm really bored. I'm just going to give it a try, you know, just for fun?

Randall: Screw the eczema. There's oatmeal baths for that.

Suter: So true.

Randall: Yeah. (laughs) My kiddo has eczema. OK, so you're going to try it.

Suter: Yes.

Randall: You're going to go in.

Suter: Mm-hmm, and like, in the past, I had gone cliff-diving with friends just at lakes and vacations and…

Randall: See, again, you say that so casually: ‘In the past, I'd gone cliff diving.’ There isn't a world where I walk up to the edge of something and jump off of it. There was no fear for you there.

Suter: Yeah, I have two brothers, and they're the type that they see a cliff, and they will jump off of it. I just don't want to be left out of that, you know? And then, just having the gymnastics background, and the worst that could happen in gymnastics is you fall on a really hard surface, and that's really scary. But with diving, it's like you're falling on water, so there's only so much bad that could happen. And the hurt, it's going to hurt, but it won't last that long. And cliff diving, I don't go from too high, so the risk is minimal.

But I think the most important thing is when I do the one, two, three count, I have to trust myself that I'm going to go for it, you know? And it's like…

Randall: Is that what you say literally every time you get to the edge?

Suter: Yep.

Randall: OK, well, I want to hear it. Walk me through. Put me in your body.

Suter: Oh, man. Yeah, I think it's just a quick visualization of the dive. I mean, if it's a forward dive or a backflip, not too much. It's pretty simple. But if it's more of like a twisty dive, just stepping through what my arms are going to do and whatnot, and then standing on the edge, marking my place in the water. And if it's a smaller pool, just making a plan for what I'm going to do underwater because you can flip out of it either way.

So, choosing space and also choosing if I'm going to flip out of it right away or if it's safe enough to go and bounce off the bottom almost, which I can do at pools like Casa Bonita, but I can't at cliff diving spots like Paradise Cove. So, yeah, just making a plan, going through it, and then just counting off, like one, two, three, go, and just trusting that on three, I would go.

Randall: Life lessons with Rachel Suter, making a plan, trusting it. One, two, three, go. OK, so is that what took you to interview at Casa Bonita, that just one, two, three, go, let's do this?

Suter: Yeah. I mean, I didn't expect to get the job. So, it was more of a, ‘I might as well.’ That would just be so cool. I have a dance background, so I have the performance aspect.

Randall: And had you been there as a kiddo if you're from the Springs?

Suter: No, I'd heard all about it, but I had never actually been.

Randall: OK, so you heard the lore.

Suter: Yes.

Randall: But you had never been and had the terrible taco salad with the Pepto-Bismol chaser.

Suter: Never had it.

Randall: Never had it. And did you hear about how there used to be the electrical room at the bottom of the dive pool?

Suter: They fixed that.

Randall: OK. (laughs)

Suter: Yeah, so I ended up going because just so many of my friends and family had just been, like, oh, you have to. You dive. You just have to do it. I was like, OK.

Randall: So, when we think about this pattern of success, this way that you set up the visualization, all of the things, does this show up for you in other ways in your life? Because on top of being now this enigmatic Casa Bonita diver, you are also a neuroscience student. You're also a visual artist. You are on student government.

You are a leader in your community. You are one of the kindest humans I know. And, and, and, and then you tell me you model, and I just couldn't even put that part into the Rachel egg. Talk to me about if that method for getting to the edge and looking over, does that serve you in other spaces?

Suter: Yeah, it's more of like, I'm young and I know that this is the time in my life where I will most be able to try new things and pursue different things and have no consequences if it doesn't work out.

Randall: OK, wait a second. You really just have that freedom in your mind, like this is the time when I'm young. How good were your parents, or did they just never know if you were home?

Suter: (laughs) No, my parents are amazing. They’re very adventurous and pushed us, my brothers and I, all to try new things and just be confident in what we're doing.

Randall: Did they throw you into the pool when you were a little kid with all your clothes on and see if you would drown?

Suter: I don't know, but they might have.

"Too Much to Hold" by Rachel Suter

Randall: They might. They were that parenting book.

Suter: Yes. And if we had a little interest in something, they would help us and support us and provide the materials to do those, which I really appreciate and I know not everybody has. So, I think that definitely has allowed me to become a better artist and interested in sciences because they allowed me to have those resources as a kid. And so now that I have the freedom of my own time, I'm able to explore those.

Randall: Were science and art always married for you? Because when I look at your art, first of all, it's astounding to me.

Suter: Thank you.

Randall: I had seen the original piece that you shared with me with, this gesture of hands under the sternum and the heart dripping out of your cage. And then there were other things that showed up in your art, this perspective, detail, that kind of pencil sketch fury. Like, there's a quickness that also maybe is not showing how much time it takes. I mean, it's a lot of time.

Suter: Yes, quite. And a project will take probably 15 more hours. It really depends. But the more time-consuming part is the research and development portion.

Randall: Yes, and you can see that the science is in it. And the research is in the science.

Suter: Yeah, because a lot of my art does deal with scientific topics. A lot of times, I just don't even know what I want to do, and it starts with the research and just taking notes and deciding on a topic that I like and I'm passionate about. And so, I'll continue doing research and start with little one-inch by one-inch thumbnail sketches of little ideas I could do.

Randall: Kind of storyboarding?

Suter: Yes, so it starts with just a lot of research and then thumbnail sketches. And then it almost becomes a conversation on the page of, oh, I like this idea, but not this. So, it's a way to have a conversation with myself because I never know what it's going to be when I first start. And it goes through so many stages. And sometimes what I end up with is not even on the same topic as what I began with.

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Neuroscience and art practices major Rachel Suter joins The Ampersand podcast to discuss saying ‘Why not?’ and stepping into the unknown .

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