Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship

Taking the Bard "Down Under"

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 18:01:15 +0000

Taking the Bard "Down Under" Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 12/09/2025 - 11:01

Gretchen Minekime

Amanda Giguere, Colorado Shakespeare Festival Director of Outreach, recently traveled to Australia as a featured guest of the Melbourne Public Humanities Initiative at the University of Melbourne. Giguere was invited to share research about the Shakespeare & Violence Prevention program (a collaboration between the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF), the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, and the Department of Theatre and Dance), and to discuss her new book: Shakespeare & Violence Prevention: A Practical Handbook for Educators (University Press of Colorado, 2025).

During her week in Australia, Giguere delivered an interactive keynote, featuring professional actors from Melbourne, participated in a documentary video series, On Humanities, and conducted training sessions at the University of Melbourne and at Bell Shakespeare (Australia’s leading Shakespeare theatre). While in Sydney, Giguere met with Bell Shakespeare leadership about CSF’s innovative project, and hopes that the work which originated at CU ��ý�� can impact people in Australia.

“I wrote the book about Shakespeare & Violence Prevention so other educators could learn from what we’ve done here in Colorado,” said Giguere. “It’s so inspiring to hear, when I share this work with people outside of Colorado, that it resonates with others in meaningful ways.”

For more information about Giguere’s new book: https://upcolorado.com/university-of-wyoming-press/item/6749-shakespeare-violence-prevention

For more information about the Shakespeare & Violence Prevention program, currently touring Colorado’s K-12 schools: https://cupresents.org/performance/10050/shakespeare/csf-schools/

Amanda Giguere, Colorado Shakespeare Festival Director of Outreach, recently traveled to Australia as a featured guest of the University of Melbourne to share research about the Shakespeare & Violence Prevention program.

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Gregor MacGregor

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 19:30:05 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Gregor MacGregor Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 11/19/2025 - 12:30

Gretchen Minekime

Gregor MacGregor gets bored if he sits behind a desk for too long. His energy seems boundless. That’s key because MacGregor’s interests are vast, and his personal ethos about service transcends the personal and professional.

When were you introduced to the practice of community-engaged scholarship?

I came to Colorado Law—supported by the Army—knowing I wanted to work with water law and farmers. At orientation, I learned about the Acequia Assistance Project, which was directed then by Professor Sarah Krakoff. I volunteered with the project during my first year, and in my second year I became the project's student leader. This was my introduction to engaged scholarship. I was hooked.

You were involved in the Acequia Assistance Project for a long time. What was your work and what was its influence on you?

Law students in the Acequia Project provide pro bono legal services to farmers and landowners in rural Colorado regarding their land and water rights. As a student, I provided approximately 700 hours of service in the San Luis Valley—learning about the law and making connections which I still have today.

One of my cases, which lasted the entirety of law school, was a title search and review for approximately 30 properties on the Montez Ditch in the town of San Luis. We completed our title opinion and showed that our clients owned those water rights and could move ahead with ditch improvements to use the water and beautify downtown. My proudest moment during law school was when our client shook my hand and told me that the work would not have been done without our help. They couldn’t afford to hire attorneys. I saw an impact on real lives, and I’ve been chasing that high ever since.

What came after graduating from Colorado Law?

My time in school influenced my decision to go into water law. I finished my service in the Army as Fort Carson’s water attorney in Colorado Springs, before joining a private firm for about a year. This was during COVID, and my wife was the communications director for a hospital. So, I needed lots of flexibility to care for our young daughters. I ended up leaving the firm, but I volunteered with the Colorado Supreme Court to keep up my chops. Then, Professor Krakoff moved to the Department of the Interior and asked me to come back to Colorado Law to teach and direct the Acequia Project. I deferred a clerkship with the Colorado Supreme Court in Justice Hart’s chambers and came back to CU ��ý��.

In 2022, in its 10th year, the Project received the American Bar Association’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy. The same year, I expanded my role with the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES). I had previously been a grant recipient, but I wanted to learn more about setting up engaged scholarship opportunities. I joined the grants selection committee, and I was selected for the inaugural Community Perspectives faculty cohort. Being part of both exposed me to CU ��ý��’s breadth of expertise and resources. Community Perspectives helped me learn about initiating relationships with community partners, and the program’s focus was Southeast Colorado—a potential new area for my water work and, coincidentally, where I have extended family. I managed to join the second cohort as an alumnus—both continuing my own learning and sharing my experience with the new folks.

What is your current portfolio of engaged scholarship projects?

I now lead the Environment and Natural Resources Policy Specialization in the Masters of the Environment Graduate Program. Among my duties, I advise 50 students in the specialization and directly advise three capstone project teams—most of which are rooted in community engagement. Some of the capstone projects have also received PACES grants.

I also sit on the Water Court Committee of the Colorado Supreme Court, and I just finished a video series featuring each of the water court officials for self-represented litigants. The videos are intended to guide people who need to go through the water court process but who can’t afford legal representation.

And, I’ve doubled down on serving with PACES and expanding engaged scholarship on campus.

Tell us about your new roles with PACES and your goals.

So, I’ve been involved with PACES one way or another since 2016. With Community Perspectives evolving into a direct-funding program, I want to help develop relationships around the state, assist community partners with outlining potential projects, and to identify CU colleagues who can work on those projects. As a faculty fellow for rural community-engaged scholarship, I’ll be connecting people and teaching—my favorite kind of role.

This semester I began serving as the chair of the PACES grants committee. The PACES staff runs a tight ship so our faculty members on the committee can focus on bringing the university’s resources into the community. I want our committee’s members to point people to PACES for support of continuing work or new work because communities, faculty members and students all benefit from working together. Really, to me, the big opportunity is educating students about how community engagement can be a part of their career or simply bringing the value of service forward in their lives.

Why are you dedicated to engaged scholarship?

Gregor and another foreign volunteer portion and shape some of the 1200 rolls provided daily by Hell’s Kitchen.

It comes down to serving. It’s why I joined the military. The idea of having resources and knowledge that I can apply directly to impact the lives of others feels like a call to action. That’s not always the case in academia; the impact is often more indirect. But, when you work in a community that needs something, you see the immediate impact for people. It’s what I’m driven to do.

An Army buddy and I went to Ukraine in 2024 with a food aid organization—a continuation of volunteer work I do here in Colorado. I saw how the money we raised stretched to feed people and replace broken kitchen equipment. We delivered food, medicine, clothes and other supplies to villages outside of Kharkiv that, due to the war, were more isolated and impoverished than before. Even a small amount of work can go a long way.

CU ��ý�� has resources, expertise and students who are willing and able. We can help activate them to a good end, which is what real service is. When I look at the history and mission of CU Bolder, service has to be part of that mission. We are rooted in a place. We can apply our skills and resources to improve our state. It’s a major component of what higher education should and can be.

Parting thoughts?

I hope people will think about how they can contribute to public and community-engaged scholarship. We get wrapped up in other aspects of our jobs, and it can be difficult to see how our expertise can be applied, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I hope my work already illustrates how it can happen and why it matters. We can make a big difference person-by-person and community-by-community; it’s not always about changing how the world works.

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Members of the Santistevan Ditch and students work to repair a headgate on the Purgatoire River outside of Trinidad.

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Members of the Santistevan Ditch and students work to repair a headgate on the Purgatoire River outside of Trinidad.

CU ��ý�� student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 18:22:13 +0000

CU ��ý�� student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship Arielle Wiedenbeck Tue, 09/23/2025 - 12:22

Elle Moscinski

Every year, an undergraduate student who demonstrates exemplary leadership is nominated for Campus Compact’s Newman Civic Fellowship, which supports student leaders who show great potential for tackling human rights and social justice issues. This year, ��ý��’s own Anastasia Gallegos-Roque is one of the recipients. She is studying sociology and ethnic studies on a pre-law track with a minor in journalism and multicultural leadership. Gallegos-Roque was nominated by the Center for Leadership and Chancellor Schwartz.

The fellowship is a year-long program that creates a network of student leaders ready to solve societal issues. Only one representative is chosen from each university. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to represent CU ��ý��,” said Gallegos-Roque. During her fellowship, she will participate in workshops about networking, seeking grant funds and how to prepare research proposals. Gallegos-Roque will have the opportunity to ground herself in her leadership skills, soak in expertise and experience, and become a better leader.

Gallegos-Roque has experienced personal challenges during her own journey—such as coming from a single-parent, Hispanic household. “Being a woman in today’s age is very hard,” she shared. “It comes with a whole different set of barriers.” As someone who, at an early age, experienced a lot of unfairness in the world, Gallegos-Roque developed a passion for social justice and standing up for what’s right. The fellowship recognizes Gallegos-Roque’s dedication to social change and promoting multiculturalism and inclusivity. “I think, being a first-gen student and, coming from a very diverse multicultural background, my community doesn’t really have opportunities to go to college or even finish high school. Making my family proud and making myself proud is an honor and a privilege,” she said.

When reflecting on why civic work was important to her, Gallegos-Roque shared that it is teamwork and collaboration that are the most significant. Firstly, she emphasized that experiencing others’ perspectives is crucial for growing as a person. From experiencing a march in Chicago to traveling abroad to India, interacting with communities other than her own gave Gallegos-Roque a sense of her power and her privilege. She noted that one of the most significant parts of her experience in India was seeing little girls whom she worked with smile. They mentioned how their dream was to go to America, and it struck her that their dreams were so different from her own. She realized how privileged she was to grow up in America when other little girls dreamt of growing up and moving there. Experiencing other cultures and livelihoods invokes a certain discomfort, but Gallegos-Roque says that is when you learn the most. It allows you to step outside your world for a moment and grow as a person; to see things in ways that you never would have before.

Secondly, teamwork is critical to social justice issues because you simply cannot do it alone. “It takes a pack, it takes more than one to firmly get an agenda across,” Gallegos-Roque said. She highlighted that she would not have even considered going to India without the support of her friends, who encouraged her to apply to scholarships she did not imagine herself ever getting. The Civic Newman Fellowship itself is founded on the importance of collaboration. Each recognized student from a university can use their voice, but the fellowship brings them together to amplify each other’s voices. Gallegos-Roque will be a part of a network of students who can all support each other to create change.

Gallegos-Roque plans to use the resources and network of support provided by the program to advance change for immigration, housing security, food insecurity and child advocacy. She will participate in a retreat for fellows in the fall and then attend monthly online meetings while being supported by a mentor. Gallegos-Roque will work with Growing Up ��ý��; a nonprofit whose mission is to help young people use their voices to advance progress for equitable and sustainable communities. She will also continue to be a mentor in first-generation and multicultural communities. For prospective students who want to start civic work, she advises to just do it. “There’s no perfect time, so don’t wait for the perfect time. Don’t wait for a comfortable time,” she said. Gallegos-Roque also advises others to recognize the power their own voice can have. “Your voice can be extremely impactful in a community that doesn’t have the option to use their voice or doesn’t feel comfortable using their voice,” she commented.

It is this unwavering fearlessness to speak up--even in moments of great discomfort—and use her voice on behalf of others that earned Gallegos-Roque the nomination.

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Benjamin Teitelbaum is New Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 22:28:04 +0000

Benjamin Teitelbaum is New Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 09/17/2025 - 16:28

Gretchen Minekime

The Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) is pleased to announce that Associate Professor Benjamin Teitelbaum will serve as the new faculty director for strategic events and public discourse.

Teitelbaum’s role will first focus primarily on planning the Conference on World Affairs (CWA) alongside members of Strategic Relations and Communications (SRC) and committees of volunteers responsible for developing the conference’s programs.

Read on to learn more about Teitelbaum, what we can expect from CWA 2026 and how you can be involved.

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What are the responsibilities of the Faculty Director for Strategic Events and Public Discourse?

My job is to provide a voice for faculty and to contribute to the intellectual profile of a series of public-facing events on campus, first and foremost the (CWA).

How is this role an extension of your scholarship?

I am an ethnographer of culture and politics, which is to say that I study political ideas and expressions through face-to-face observations and conversations. During my career this brought me into contact both with a range of politicians and strategists, as well as writers, artists, and musicians who play (I came to think) a much larger role in shaping our political life than they are often given credit for.

Because the work I do ended up not fitting neatly into any academic discipline, and because much of it commented on current events, a lot of my writing appears in public rather than academic forums. CWA embodies much about the way I’ve gone about my work, in other words: it seeks to understand our world by bringing a diverse range of voices into dialogue with each other and the public.

What can our campus community look forward to for CWA 2026?

Though our planning is still in progress, I think you should expect two broad changes: the first is that I want the conference to be built to a greater extent by input from CU ��ý�� faculty. We have an exceptional concentration of expertise and insight in our midst, and I think we can do a better job of mobilizing it for the conference. That’s my priority.

Second, I want us to increase the diversity of our speakers. And I mean “diversity” in all ways: politically, socially, disciplinarily, etc. Part of the story of politics and culture during the past 10 years or so has been the exploding or transformation of establishments. To me, this means that any effort to understand how we got here, and where we might be going, needs to pay more attention to voices at the margins—people who we might have dismissed as irrelevant yesterday, but who could find themselves in positions of exceptional power or insight today.

How can faculty members, staff members and students be involved in CWA?

The best way to get involved is to join one of our six programming subcommittees (Arts, Business, Politics and Media, International Affairs, Human Condition, and Science and Technology). Joining will give you a direct role with identifying topics and speakers to feature at the conference.

Students can also volunteer during the conference itself, such as by being an on-campus guide for visitors.

But I especially want to add that even faculty who can’t volunteer can still submit recommendations for guest speakers.

Volunteer at CWA | Nominate a speaker for CWA

Why is it important for our campus community members to participate in public and community-engaged scholarship?

Part of the motivation could be purely selfish—you will learn more about the things you are studying and care about if you open yourself up to the ideas, experiences and wisdom of more people. Some scholars or professionals are used to doing that within their professional networks, but there is more to be gained by expanding. Another motivation comes from responsibility: the public, in various ways, supports our work and research, and one hopes that our aspirations in some way align with those of our wider community. For that reason, I think we ought to consider enhanced communication, and even collaboration and coordination, with the public impacted by our work.

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Consider getting involved with CWA in the planning stages or during conference week. You can submit ideas for topics and speakers, request a classroom visit, volunteer on a program committee and more.

Learn more about the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship and how it supports the work of CU ��ý�� faculty, staff and students.

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Amanda Giguere

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 19:03:54 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Amanda Giguere Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 07/17/2025 - 13:03

Gretchen Minekime

“This is not the time for siloed knowledge, and experts agree that violence is a complicated issue that will require innovative and collaborative solutions. How can violence-prevention researchers harness knowledge from other disciplines to translate research into practice, and how can we bridge the gap between research and the daily lives of real people? Enter Shakespeare.” ~Amanda Giguere, Shakespeare & Violence Prevention: A Practical Handbook for Educators

Amanda Giguere is a pioneer or, at least, the leader of a team of pioneers. Giguere is the director of outreach for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) and the founder of the Shakespeare and Violence Prevention Program. Since 2011, she and her colleagues at CSF, CU ��ý��’s Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), and other community partners in the violence prevention field have adapted and staged Shakespeare’s plays to see how the content and approaches can reinforce violence-prevention skills in K-12 students. To date, the program has reached nearly 140,000 students in 30 counties and more than 300 schools across Colorado, garnering national attention.

Giguere just published Shakespeare & Violence Prevention: A Practical Handbook for Educators to help educators everywhere apply the lessons of the world’s most famous bard.

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The first play CSF adapted for this violence prevention program was Twelfth Night. What sparked your initial idea to incorporate an anti-bullying message into the play?

As someone who works with Shakespeare, I am always thinking about how the plays resonate with the present moment. Tim Orr, CSF’s current producing artistic director, and I wanted to produce Twelfth Night in K-12 schools because that title was slated to appear in CSF’s upcoming mainstage season. This was 2011, and we were hearing a lot in the news about bullying. It was becoming a prevalent issue. There was even a new term coined for suicide deaths caused by bullying: “bullycide.”

In the play, the character Malvolio spoke to the present moment [2011]. This character is the target of a prank that escalates over the course of the play. His last line of the play is “I’ll be revenged on the whole pack of you.” The play’s scenario reminded us of present-day issues with cyberbullying. Malvolio’s story unlocked a connection to the present.

While we started this as an anti-bullying project, we’ve learned that Shakespeare’s plays invite engaging conversations about violence overall.

What research and evidence did you incorporate in Twelfth Night? What led to adapting more plays?

Research about the power and effectiveness of upstander behavior to address harm gave us an entry point to the plays. Shakespeare’s plays would be very different if the characters operated in a culture where upstander behavior was normalized and respected.

A 2001 study found that 57% of the time, bullying stops in 10 seconds or less if someone acts as an upstander (someone who takes action to protect others). There’s no one way to be an upstander, but if witnesses choose to take action, it’s often really effective. When bullying occurs, young people are usually more aware of it than adults are. Students can practice their own upstander strategies before they need to use them in real life.

When we first staged Much Ado About Nothing in 2014, our CSPV colleagues were concerned about the plotline of spreading a rumor that someone had died. We didn’t know how depicting a rumor of someone dying would impact young audiences. Would there be any chance that depicting the behavior could encourage the idea? So, we changed the play to “Hero has fled” rather than “Hero is dead.” That was 2014. In 2019, when staging Romeo and Juliet, we worked with the Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention and learned that the research had shifted. We know now that talking about suicide, for example, does not plant the idea in someone’s brain. The latest recommendation is that it’s important to ask someone directly if they are having thoughts of suicide. That’s an example of research evolving and, therefore, our approach.

Every time we produce a play we start from scratch, look at what has shifted in the world, and what has shifted in the research. The second time we adapted Julius Caesar was right after the January 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol. So, a play about a planned attack at the capitol resonated differently.

In response to data that show youth are struggling with mental health needs, we’re currently adapting Hamlet and analyzing the mental health themes in the play. The 2023 Healthy Kids Colorado survey revealed that 28% of youth reported poor mental health most of the time or all of the time during the past month.

It’s neat to see how these plays written more than 400 years ago can bring the latest research to life.

How many students has Shakespeare & Violence Prevention reached, in how many schools, and in what areas of Colorado?

Since 2011, the program has worked with schools in 30 of Colorado’s 64 counties and reached 139,919 students from 315 schools. I should shout out to my colleague at CSF, Dr. Heidi Schmidt, for developing the processes we use to keep track of these statistics!

How do you know this program is making a difference?

With our very first Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship grant in 2011, we set up four or five weeks of touring, and it booked up quickly, which suggests there was demand for this kind of arts programming that addressed schools’ needs. After that initial 2011 tour, we repeated the tour due to continuing demand. Then, at the 2012 annual conference of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, we gave a presentation about our anti-bullying approach to Twelfth Night. Colleagues were intrigued about the connection between Shakespeare and violence.

We kept exploring more titles and realized Shakespeare’s plays have so many overlaps with the violence-prevention field. Since that initial production, we have adapted nine Shakespeare plays for the violence prevention program. The upcoming Hamlet will be our 10th.

When our actors visit schools, audiences are surprised by how fun and accessible Shakespeare can be. Teachers tell us that students who are not very engaged otherwise are surprisingly so during our visits. This program is also the first time many students see a play. Teachers and administrators frequently express appreciation for how our work aligns with and reinforces the school’s existing work. My favorite anecdotes are from teachers who report hearing the characters and the stories sneaking into students’ everyday language with one another. An elementary school teacher recently reported overhearing a student on the playground say: “Hey, remember Malvolio.”

The arts offer a powerful kind of learning. I think the idea of taking a play and seasoned professional actors and letting kids watch them work, in and of itself, is highly engaging. I believe any exposure to live theatre is violence prevention because you’re practicing empathy, thinking about the world from other perspectives, and you’re physically around other people.

The most important question we ask after workshops is whether students are likely to act as an upstander the next time they witness mistreatment, and historically, between 85-90% of students say yes.

My hope for this project is that we’ll be able to eventually stop doing it because we have a world of upstanders, and it will no longer be necessary.

Why your book and why now?

The program had been running for about seven years, and we were all excited by how effective the work is. I knew we were onto something here in Colorado—reaching 6,000-10,000 students per year with our in-person performances and workshops. But I wondered how we could reach beyond where our little van could travel. How else could we empower more people to integrate violence prevention into a theatre or language arts curriculum?

CSF, as part of CU ��ý��, has an amazing connection to world-class research. Not every theatre company has a violence prevention research center right next door! Plus, it’s CSPV’s goal to get the research into as many hands as possible. So, I started writing the book in 2018, with a goal of sharing this work more widely and getting this kind of applied Shakespeare into classrooms everywhere.

Although it is written for educators, the content is approachable for a wide readership, regardless of whether you’re a classroom teacher or someone with an interest in Shakespeare.

Really, the book offers a model for how we can consume a lot of different art forms through a violence prevention lens.

How has working in partnership with communities influenced your work?

Over the years, we’ve learned to leave more room for participants’ voices and solutions during workshops in K-12 classrooms. Our actors are trained to facilitate activities, rather than teach any predetermined outcomes. Their job is to get curious about the existing wisdom in each classroom they visit. They ask questions and use students’ ideas to reframe scenarios from the plays, inviting students to step in with their own strategies as upstanders.

Dr. Beverly Kingston, director of CSPV, says that we have a lot of scientific information about violence and preventing violence, but that information alone will not get us there. We need human connection and human stories. The actors who work on this project show up in schools, perform plays that depict a wide range of emotions and experiences, and then they work directly with students to talk about what they saw in the play. When people can authentically connect with others, slow down, and have a discussion about violence in our world, this builds really healthy connections and promotes social and emotional skills. Working with Shakespeare’s plays reminds us about what it means to be human—and this kind of community engagement helps us recognize our shared humanity.

Why do you think community-engaged scholarship is important for this campus?

From my perspective in the theatre world, it’s an important way to expose young people to the arts. The arts are the balm to the soul. Our actors performed in a rural community this past spring, and many of the kids had never seen a play. Afterwards, a student who had not been participating much in the post-show activities approached an actor and said: “That was the best day of my life.”

We truly never know what's going to stick with a kid. It's easy to forget we’re in this bubble on campus where, of course, we value learning and research and the arts and the sciences and the humanities. But, that’s not a given everywhere.

I see this type of work as a pipeline and a way of building excitement about higher education and meaningful work. It’s exposure to CU ��ý�� for many young people and an important reminder for our staff, students, and faculty that we are not alone in our research and creative work. Through community engagement, we are building the next generation of scholars, artists, teachers, and citizens.

What’s next for you?

I’ll be speaking about and signing the book at ��ý�� Bookstore on July 29. And in the fall, I’ll teach an online course for CU’s Applied Shakespeare program (Teaching Shakespeare), oversee the school touring productions of Hamlet and The Tempest, and I’ll visit Australia to speak about the Shakespeare & Violence Prevention Program at the University of Melbourne. But in the meantime, we are in the midst of the CSF summer season (two beautiful productions of The Tempest and Richard II now open—everyone on campus should see them!)

Amanda Giguere is the director of outreach for the Colorado Shakespeare Festival (CSF) and the founder of the Shakespeare and Violence Prevention Program. Since 2011, she and her colleagues and other community partners in the violence prevention field have adapted and staged Shakespeare’s plays to see how the content and approaches can reinforce violence-prevention skills in K-12 students.

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Caroline Frischmon

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 17:51:11 +0000

Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Caroline Frischmon Arielle Wiedenbeck Mon, 06/23/2025 - 11:51

Gretchen Minekime

Caroline Frischmon came to CU ��ý�� to get out of the lab. After studying bioproducts engineering, interning with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and writing for a science communications lab, PhD candidate Frischmon sought to combine her engineering and science communication background through ��ý��’s Hannigan Air Quality and Technology Research Lab (HAQLab), which is known for its community-engaged research.

How does community-engaged research fit into your goals?

I think all air monitoring research should be with the goal of helping people breathe cleaner air. Some of that must happen in the lab. And there’s lots of work to be done to get the lab developments into communities.

I really like bringing technology into communities because it’s powerful to give people access. Industry groups and the government have had access for a long time, and the air quality narrative has centered around what data those entities collect. When only one group has access, it’s a very lopsided story. Now, communities can learn and tell their own stories using data. Data talks both ways, and there’s not one truth when collecting data. I’m interested in exploring what communities can do with the data they collect. I want to support their advocacy. It’s really motivating.

Even now, when funding is questionable, I have seen how expertise can go a long way by answering questions and supporting communities with their concerns.

How did you get involved in research in Mississippi?

The American Geophysical Union has a program called Thriving Earth Exchange, and it pairs residents with researchers. I was paired with Katharine Duderstadt from the University of New Hampshire to assist a neighborhood group in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Cherokee Concerned Citizens wanted assistance looking at pre-collected data about their Cherokee Forest neighborhood, which has 110 homes. We all worked together for about a year before I applied for a Tier 2 grant from the Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship (PACES) to continue the work.

What was the scope of the work you completed with the PACES grant?

We set up air monitors (HAQ pods from the HAQLab) in the Cherokee neighborhood and across town for comparison and measured air quality from February 2024 to April 2024. We found frequent and intense episodes of pollution coming on the wind from the industrial area, which includes a Chevron Refinery, a ship building yard, superfund sites, a gas processing plant, and more.

During the same period, seven Cherokee Forest households, recruited by Cherokee Concerned Citizens, recorded symptoms and odors. One particularly intense night, multiple households reported vomiting and nausea at the same time as when pollution spiked in the neighborhood. That pollution wasn’t recorded across town in the other neighborhood further from the industries.

When my colleague and I were there setting up the monitoring equipment, I experienced odors and itchy skin, and she also had irritated eyes.

Most of the involved residents are toward retirement age or older, but there are some young families, and kids were involved in the heavy metal sampling.

In addition, a small group of people maintained the air monitors and downloaded data.

Once we completed our data analysis, Katharine and I returned to share initial findings and get input from the broader community. This happened over a couple of dinners with 15 or so people. Members of Cherokee Concerned Citizens hosted at their homes and guided the discussions. Thoughts from these community discussions were included in the study published March 2025, which was co-authored by Katharine, three community residents, and me.

What’s the status of the project now?

This community has been organizing for a decade-plus, but the pilot study was one of the first times when everything they’ve reported and been feeling was directly linked to pollution data. This was powerful in validating them, and it showed that all the previous times they had been told they were wrong, that they were probably right.

I received an EPA grant that set us up to continue with a multi-year study, but this spring the grant was canceled, with a reason given of “administrative priorities have changed.”

The cancellation is heartbreaking all around. Our initial study did a great job of highlighting air pollution in Cherokee Forest, but it was only pilot scale and didn’t give details about pollution concentrations. So, the EPA study would have allowed for deeper detail, as well as expanded the work in Louisiana.

It’s hard to leave behind these communities who don’t have many allies right now. And this study was going to be my post-doc work. I’m not sure now what I’ll do after December.

I’m doing my best to keep the relationships and support where I can. For example, I’m helping Cherokee Concerned Citizens interpret data collected by the state. But there’s only so much that Katharine and I can do without funding for the citizen science aspect and for equipment.

I would love to highlight how much CU ��ý�� made this project possible. The PACES grant funded the pilot study. The Department of Information Science's Community-based Design course helped me write the proposal for the PACES grant. The Graduate Fellowship in Community-Based Research supported me as I conducted the study. There are a lot of amazing resources to support grad students with community-based research.

What did you learn about research using a community-engaged model?

This was my first time working closely with a community to design and conduct research. It was fun to learn how to collaborate. There were all good intentions but also really different approaches.

The relationships we built started a year before the pilot study. That foundation helped when we ran into technical difficulties, communication challenges and red tape. The trust was there. Community members commented about how different it was working with our team because of our commitment and time given. In the past, other researchers hadn’t taken the time to build relationships or stick around. I’m still meeting with them every other week or so to see how I can continue to provide support. The pilot study also sparked interest from more Cherokee Forest households.

An article in Mississippi Today led to another community group reaching out to me for help. I hope to help however I can.

People can specifically describe their experiences, but they don't always have the data or scientific language to communicate with state regulators. Lots of communities are facing these issues, and researchers can help make that difference.

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Hannah Brenkert-Smith Part of Team Receiving the 2024 Governor’s Pathfinding Partnerships Award

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:06:25 +0000

Hannah Brenkert-Smith Part of Team Receiving the 2024 Governor’s Pathfinding Partnerships Award Arielle Wiedenbeck Fri, 10/18/2024 - 15:06

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Research Professor Hannah Brenkert-Smith, Institute of Behavioral Science, is a member of the Wildfire Research (WiRē) Team that will receive the Pathfinding Partnerships Award through the 2024 Governor’s Awards for High Impact Research on Nov. 20.

The award honors research that engages four or more distinct research entities in Colorado whose results leverage the resources and strengths among partnering organizations—and demonstrate the power of collaboration. Brenkert-Smith received a Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship Grant to support WiRē’s work in Chaffee and Lake Counties.

WiRē collaborates with local wildfire education practitioners to develop evidence-based community wildfire education programs at the invitation of local communities. Social science and community-engagement practices make it possible to tailor information for communities.

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Jota Samper Receives Award for Excellence in Engaged Scholarship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 21:01:06 +0000

Jota Samper Receives Award for Excellence in Engaged Scholarship Arielle Wiedenbeck Fri, 10/18/2024 - 15:01

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Professor Jota Samper, Program in Environmental Design, is the 2024 recipient of the Excellence in Faculty Community Engagement Award from the Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC). This national award is one of the most prestigious of its kind.

Samper’s research concentrates on sustainable urban growth, focusing on the intersection between urban informality and violent conflict. CU ��ý��’s Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship nominated Samper for 15 years of connecting his scholarship and study abroad programs (at CU ��ý��, Duke University, Emerson College and MIT) with multiple unplanned settlements near Medellin, Colombia. Violence prompted Medellin residents to flee and set up informal dwellings outside the city limits.

Settlements in the region face issues such as landslides and access to potable water, healthcare, public spaces and education. Samper’s Colombian Displaced Communities: Planning and Urban Design Seminar students collaborate with residents to create community development plans and infrastructure designs and help build physical interventions. Communities decide which ideas make it to the building phase. Examples include a rain collection system, paving roads, reconditioning a community kitchen that serves more than 200 youth, and building sewers and potable water lines.

The seventh to win the faculty award nationally and the first from CU ��ý��, Samper joined other Awards for Excellence in Engaged Scholarship recipients in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 10 at the annual ESC conference.

The grant selection committee for public and community-engaged scholarship has funded Samper’s work eight times since 2018.

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Jota Samper receives his award

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Faces of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 19:31:42 +0000

Faces of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship: Associate Professor Leah Sprain Arielle Wiedenbeck Thu, 09/28/2023 - 13:31

Gretchen Minekime

Associate Professor Leah Sprain, Communication, College of Media, Communication and Information

Associate Professor Leah Sprain’s work embraces the idea that the communication discipline is a practical discipline and that community partnerships are key components to doing scholarship well. She also believes partnerships with communities outside the university can be high-impact ways for professors to get satisfaction from their work. For these reasons—and more—it makes perfect sense that Sprain is embarking on her second year as a fellow in the Higher Education and Democracy Initiative.

Tell us about being a Higher Education and Democracy Fellow.

I was born and raised in Colorado. Much of my sense of the Western Slope was shaped by opportunities to recreate there. So, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to learn different nuances about a part of the state that I was familiar with in only one sense of the word, to have a sense of the things important to community life and changing dynamics.

I’ve also appreciated the structure of the fellows program because it enables developing relationships, trying things out to see what works and taking time to establish real trust.

What’s an example of a public and community-engaged project you have going, and how is it advancing your scholarly work?

On the Western Slope, the League of Women Voters—Mesa County wanted to ask better questions at their candidate forums. I was able to study past meetings (through transcripts) and provide recommendations based on the types of situations encountered. For example: How do you get people to speak beyond their talking points? How do you ask challenging questions that do not seem to have a partisan bias? When follow-up questions are not part of the format, how do you ask questions that help audiences recognize when a candidate evades the question?

This is part of what’s exciting about community-based work. I’m considering questions like “What counts as a non-partisan question in an age when democracy is under threat?” because the League was asking. It’s connected to bigger stakes and sparks research ideas.

Why is public and community-engaged scholarship important for CU ��ý��?

CU has an important place in the public’s imagination in CO, but sometimes it’s about things we don’t want to be known for. I want us to be seen as a public resource—to students and people of the state. The university is an entertaining place for sports, music and theater, but there are also dynamic relationships of research, thinking, inquiry and knowledge that the university represents and is connecting to the needs of the people of CO.

We face so many interconnected crises, and I want CU ��ý�� to be part of how we respond and move forward.

What would you say to fellow faculty members about incorporating public and community-engaged scholarship into their activities?

I have many colleagues who see their classrooms as important places where they’re working out the type of world they want to be in. Yes, students are a vital part of that, but creating projects that can be capacity-building for everyone, and the way community members can amplify scholarly instincts and connect scholars to the people already doing the work, is valuable. We’re [scholars] investing in big systems and institutions, but engaging with the people inside them helps us understand practical limitations and opportunities.

Like many professions, faculty memberscan feel like we’re asked to do too much with too few resources. Public partnerships can feel like extra. The only way we get out of that trap is to talk about and model synergies between public and community-engaged scholarship and reward so it won’t feel just like extra. I’m excited to be part of a program that supports the work and shows that it’s valued. And, that allows for professional satisfaction.

The CU ��ý�� Office for Outreach and Engagement facilitates mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and scholars who seek to advance their work in community settings. Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship highlights the stories of CU ��ý�� faculty, staff, students and public partners conducting the work and what they’re accomplishing together. See more Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship stories and learn about what the Office for Outreach and Engagement offers.

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Scholars and Leaders from CU Campuses Gather to Discuss University’s Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship

Arielle Wiedenbeck — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 21:37:42 +0000

Scholars and Leaders from CU Campuses Gather to Discuss University’s Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship Arielle Wiedenbeck Wed, 08/30/2023 - 15:37

Gretchen Minekime

Whether it’s addressing workforce development needs, providing data on air and water quality, or supporting future physicians with placements at regional health education centers, the University of Colorado actively partners with communities to address the issues facing our state.

In recent years, the Board of Regents and President Saliman have made strengthening connections around Colorado a top CU System priority. Against this backdrop, representatives from all four campuses gathered last April to discuss the University of Colorado’s public and community-engaged scholarship efforts. The ��ý�� campus’s Office for Outreach and Engagement organized and hosted the April gathering. The presidents of two influential national organizations with a focus on public and community-engaged scholarship (Engagement Scholarship Consortium [ESC] and Campus Compact) supported the summit, providing opening remarks and facilitation services; ESC also provided fiscal sponsorship through a grant.

Building partnerships with communities and harnessing the University of Colorado’s academic resources to address public issues has been an institutional priority since at least 1912 when leaders created University Extension to reach beyond the campus. A quote from the department’s first director, Loran D. Osborn, rings as true today as it did then.

“Only a fortunate few have the privilege of being in residence at the University of Colorado…Its expert resources are too valuable an asset to the state to be thus limited. They should be at the disposal of individuals who cannot come within the college walls, and communities which are seeking information and guidance in solution of the complex problems of modern life.”

Extension efforts eventually grew into the University of Colorado system, which was established in the early 1970s. Over the years, each of the system’s four campuses has built a reputation based on its unique attributes. By no means is the reach of each campus limited to its immediate geographic area, nor can any of the campuses alone address the complex needs facing Colorado communities. Participants who attended the April 21 summit shared their perspectives about potential gains from more coordination and related obstacles. They explored issues pertaining to communications, financial and human resources, data, and approaches with community partnerships.

Those gathered included campus-level administrators of research and faculty development, several chairs, deans, and program directors, and a small number of faculty and staff practitioners. Together, the group explored ways that coordinated and collaborative efforts would reduce redundancies and increase efficiencies, while increasing opportunities for more profound community impact and authentically building the university’s standing with diverse constituencies throughout Colorado.

They also identified challenges related to decentralization, inadequate resources, messaging and political will. Many participants emphasized, however, that an aligned approach would not need to be at odds with each campus’s distinct characteristics and offerings. Instead, leveraging the best from each campus in a more coordinated approach to partnering with the residents of Colorado could reinforce the unique character of each while achieving greater collective impact.

“A major part of the mission of CU is to serve the State of Colorado. Community-engaged scholarship is an important way that we do that,” said Lynn Vidler, professor and dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Colorado Colorado Springs. “The summit facilitated connections between faculty at the different campuses who are engaged in this work and highlighted for CU System leaders the impact they are making. I was truly inspired by the mission-focused work everyone is doing.”

Participants’ exploratory efforts regarding a more coordinated approach to public and community-engaged scholarship will complement the CU system Office of Outreach and Engagement’s work, especially the group known as the Strategic Colorado Outreach and Engagement (SCOrE) team convened by Vice President Tony Salazar. SCOrE is the coordinating body for the university’s outreach activities and comprises representatives from all four campuses.

According to Salazar, “The incredible service that CU provides to Colorado communities has been and will continue to be driven by the work of the faculty, staff and students on our campuses. At System, we seek to help coordinate and publicize engagement statewide for even greater impact.”

In response to one proposal that emerged from April 21 summit participants, System will be covering membership costs for all four campuses to join Campus Compact for one year. A leading national organization supporting public engagement in higher education since its creation in 1985, Campus Compact membership will unlock access to a number of opportunities and resources. The organization’s national conference will be held in Denver April 7-10, 2024.

More than one hundred years after Osborn encouraged the University of Colorado to extend its resources beyond campus borders, the problems of modern life continue to increase in complexity. The university can still play a unique and transformational role. As Colorado’s first and largest university system, it is the University of Colorado’s responsibility to offer its best to the residents and communities of this state.

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship

Taking the Bard "Down Under"

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Gregor MacGregor

When were you introduced to the practice of community-engaged scholarship?

You were involved in the Acequia Assistance Project for a long time. What was your work and what was its influence on you?

What came after graduating from Colorado Law?

What is your current portfolio of engaged scholarship projects?

Tell us about your new roles with PACES and your goals.

Why are you dedicated to engaged scholarship?

Parting thoughts?

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CU ������ý���� student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship

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The first play CSF adapted for this violence prevention program was Twelfth Night. What sparked your initial idea to incorporate an anti-bullying message into the play?

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Faces of Community-Engaged Scholarship: Caroline Frischmon

How does community-engaged research fit into your goals?

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Hannah Brenkert-Smith Part of Team Receiving the 2024 Governor’s Pathfinding Partnerships Award

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CU ��ý�� student Anastasia Gallegos-Roque receives Newman Civic Fellowship