Center of the American West

Thomas Andrews is new director of the Center of the American West

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 17:54:43 +0000

Thomas Andrews is new director of the Center of the American West Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/07/2024 - 11:54

Thomas Andrews, University of Colorado Boulder professor of history, has been appointed faculty director of the Center of the American West. His appointment became effective in July.

Thomas Andrews

Andrews’ research and teaching focus on western American, environmental, animal, Indigenous and 19th- and 20th-century U.S. history. He is the recipient a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health Grant for Scholarly Works in Biomedicine and Health, a National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholars Award and other fellowships.

He is the author of Killing for Coal: America’s Deadliest Labor War, which won six awards, including a Bancroft Prize; Coyote Valley: Deep History in the High Rockies; and a book in progress about the Great Horse Flu of 1872-73.

Andrews was born and reared in Boulder and graduated from Fairview High School in 1990 before earning his BA at Yale and his MA and PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Before joining the CU Boulder Department of History in 2011, he taught at CU Denver.

Andrews is one of only a handful of second-generation faculty members at CU Boulder. His mother, Martha Andrews, was a research librarian at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR), and his father, John T. Andrews, joined INSTAAR and the Department of Geological Sciences in 1968 and is an emeritus faculty member.

“Professor Andrews is an exceedingly skilled and respected historian who has helped broaden and deepen our understanding of the history of the American West,” said Daryl Maeda, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“The Center of the American West makes critical contributions to national thought and discourse about the American West, and Professor Andrews is particularly well suited to stand at its helm.”

The Center of the American West is a nationally recognized hub for illuminating the role of the western United States in regional, national and global issues, describing its mission as bringing people together to “explore the ongoing complexities of and challenges facing the western United States through education, research, programs and projects.”

Thomas Andrews, University of Colorado Boulder professor of history, has been appointed faculty director of the Center of the American West. His appointment became effective in July.

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Balancing fraught history and modern collaboration in America’s ‘best idea’

Anonymous — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 21:17:55 +0000

Balancing fraught history and modern collaboration in America’s ‘best idea’ Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 06/24/2024 - 15:17

Rachel Sauer

In new book, CU Boulder scholar Brooke Neely explores pathways to uphold Native sovereignty in U.S. national parks

Since Yellowstone became the United States’ first national park in 1872, these parks have existed in a dual space—praised, per author Wallace Stegner, as “the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst," while existing on Native lands.

National parks “have a fraught history in the United States and globally with respect to Indigenous lands. The creation of U.S. national parks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was part of a broader project to dispossess Native peoples of their homelands,” writes Brooke Neely, a research fellow in the University of Colorado Boulder Center of the American West, and her co-editors Christina Gish Hill and Matthew J. Hill in National Parks, Native Sovereignty: Experiments in Collaboration, a recently published collection of case studies and interviews exploring pathways for collaboration that uphold tribal sovereignty.

Brooke Neely, a research fellow in the University of Colorado Boulder Center of the American West, co-edited National Parks, Native Sovereignty: Experiments in Collaboration.

“There’s a tension between the ugly history of U.S. national parks and the ongoing efforts to assert Native peoples’ sovereign rights to these lands,” Neely explains. “A goal with this book is to rethink relationships between national parks and tribal nations, especially in light of shifts in federal policies over the past 20 years. It’s helpful to think that not everyone is going to come to the table with the same goals or interests, but we can find some room for collaboration.

“So, there are some discrepancies in terms of how the park service understands its job and the land resources, how it separates cultural resources versus natural resources, and the perspectives of tribes who may not distinguish between the two because they see the whole landscape as important or meaningful.”

Perspective of the tribes

Neely became interested in U.S. national parks and Native peoples in graduate school, when she studied Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorial in South Dakota’s Black Hills. Both sites exist on Native land, “so I was looking at how they grapple with this contested history,” Neely says. “How do national park sites work to include more people and tell a broader story?”

During the time Neely was doing her PhD research, Gerard Baker, a member of the Mandan-Hidatsa Tribe of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, became superintendent of Mount Rushmore National Memorial—the first Native American to earn the position. “I got interested in what he was working to do there,” Neely says, “bringing in the perspectives of the tribes, creating exhibits, bringing in Native speakers.”

In 2016, Neely was one of several researchers from the Center of the American West and the CU Boulder Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies to begin working with representatives from Rocky Mountain National Park and members of area tribes to expand interpretive programs and build collaborative relationships with the tribes.

Through this work and research she previously conducted for the 2014 sesquicentennial of the Sand Creek Massacre, Neely met Christina Gish Hill, an associate professor of anthropology and American Indian studies at Iowa State University, and Matthew Hill, an applied anthropologist who was principal investigator for two National Park Service projects focused on early American treaty-making and the Black Hills as a contested heritage landscape, her co-editors on National Parks, Native Sovereignty.

National Parks, Native Sovereignty presents case studies and interviews exploring pathways for collaboration in national parks that uphold tribal sovereignty.

Between 2016 and 2019, the researchers worked together on an ethnographic overview and assessment of Mount Rushmore for the National Park Service, seeking to understand the meaning of Mount Rushmore for Native people.

Talking about history

The idea for National Parks, Native Sovereignty came, in part, from a desire to highlight case studies from National Park Services sites, focusing on contemporary efforts to address the colonial history of U.S. national parks through research, outreach and collaborative partnerships with tribal nations, Neely says. It includes interviews with Gerard Baker and Max Bear, the tribal historic preservation officer for the Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma, among others, as well as research and commentary from scholars and historians.

“Our goal was to represent a wide range of folks and the kind of work that’s being done currently,” Neely says. “There’s a federal mandate to consult with tribal nations, and it’s a unique mandate because tribes have sovereignty, so these interactions are government-to-government, and consultation can vary considerably across park sites.

“We focused on efforts over the last 15, 20 years to broaden that consultation and engagement. We wanted to look at what parks are doing to build relationships, to establish co-stewardship or co-management or some steps toward that.”

Neely and her co-editors chose interviews and scholarship that represent a range of national parks, “some of them in very emergent stages of exploring this kind of work, all the way to ones that have some kind of co-management relationship with tribes,” Neely says.

For example, Natasha Myhal, who earned her PhD in the CU Boulder Department of Ethnic Studies, wrote about indigenous connections at Rocky Mountain National Park, and Clint Carroll, an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies, focused on Cherokee medicine keepers and the making of a plant-gathering agreement at Buffalo National River in Arkansas.

“There are 574 federally recognized tribal nations with different views on how they want to engage with public land agencies,” Neely says. “We consider the painful histories, the lands that have been taken illegally, the customs and traditions that existed for centuries before the parks were established. So, this book looks at the push and pull of this conflict and collaboration, and at the way we educate and talk about our shared history and shared landscapes in this country.”

CU Boulder scholar documents plant-gathering agreement

In April 2022, the Cherokee Nation and the National Park Service signed a landmark agreement to designate a 1,000-acre site along the Buffalo National River in Arkansas as the Cherokee Nation Medicine Keepers Preserve.

Under the agreement, the National Park Service will issue an annual permit to the Cherokee Nation to gather 76 types of plants within the national river area, and the Cherokee Nation agrees to provide a list of those who will be gathering plants.

For Clint Carroll, an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, the agreement was a significant moment in his longtime work and research with the Cherokee people in Oklahoma on issues of land conservation and the perpetuation of land-based knowledge and ways of life.

Clint Carroll, an associate professor of Native American and Indigenous studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies and citizen of the Cherokee Nation, collaborated with Cherokee Medicine Keepers and research colleagues to study the desirability and feasibility of a plant-gathering agreement in Buffalo National River.

In most situations, taking plants from national park land is against federal law, but a 2016 rule protected plant gathering by members of federally recognized tribes. The Cherokee Medicine Keepers, with whom Carroll closely works, contributed “their expertise on land-based knowledge and stewardship practices that provided the basis for such a landmark agreement,” Carroll wrote.

The Cherokee Medicine Keepers also were the experts with whom Carroll and his co-researchers—Richard Stoffle, a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, and Michael Evans, a cultural anthropologist with the National Park Service—partnered while studying the desirability and feasibility of the Buffalo National River agreement, which research they detailed in “Returning to Gather: Cherokee Medicine Keepers, the National Park Service and the Making of a Plant-Gathering Agreement at Buffalo National River” for the book National Parks, Native Sovereignty.

“It was a multiyear collaboration that entailed multiple visits to the park and meetings with the elders,” Carroll explains. “One visit was to make sure the places elders would be gathering were safe and had amenities for them. The next visit entailed an ethnobotanical study, where a team of researchers from the University of Arizona interviewed the elders during a two-day event at Buffalo National River, asking them about the plants that would make up the list that is now represented through the agreement.”

Plants such as wild onion, sage, bloodroot, wild indigo and river cane have long been important to citizens of the Cherokee Nation for food, medicine, art and other purposes, Carroll explains. However, patchwork land divisions with differing ownership, as well as habitat loss related to climate change, have made some of these plants harder to access and harder to find.

In fact, many tribes still feel the effects of the Dawes Act, which divided communally held tribal lands into individually owned private property, so lands where Cherokee people had long gathered plants “can be private property, state land, other types of lands that Cherokee people simply don’t have access to anymore,” Carroll says.

“It’s an issue of not only limited access to land, but those places where Cherokee people were gathering, the plants they were seeking were less prevalent. So, it was these compounding factors that led to thinking about what else can we do to ensure that Cherokee people can continue to gather into generations beyond this one.”

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In new book, CU Boulder scholar Brooke Neely explores pathways to uphold Native sovereignty in U.S. national parks.

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Lassoing light and capturing the magic between horse and rider

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Mar 2024 19:22:13 +0000

Lassoing light and capturing the magic between horse and rider Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 03/19/2024 - 13:22

Doug McPherson

Alumnus and professional photographer Chris Sessions explains how one of his first photo assignments 30 years ago in a CU Boulder class evolved into a cultural art exhibit

It’s fitting that in the mid-1990s one of Chris Sessions’ first photo assignments at the University of Colorado Boulder was covering a dog and pony show.

“The assignment was my first experience being close to horses and gave me a good understanding of their sensitivity and the care needed while interacting with them,” says Sessions (BA ’97), a professional photographer and videographer based in Boulder.

And now, 30 years later, Sessions’ photography related to horses is back at CU Boulder. His exhibit, “Charrería: Exploring the Human-Horse Connection in Mexican Rodeo,” is on display at the Center of the American West at CU Boulder through Oct. 17.

Chris Sessions (center) is a CU Boulder alumnus who has phtographed Mexican rodeo athletes for more than 10 years. (Photo: Chris Sessions via Instagram)

The show, already winning praise, is the culmination of 12 years of documentary work and features black-and-white and color photographs of charrería, the national sport of Mexico also known as Mexican rodeo, that dates back to the 16th century.

It turns out those ponies left an indelible impression on Sessions. As the years went by, he says, he’d often find himself pulling over to photograph horses on farms along Boulder’s eastern edge.

Then, one day in 2012, Sessions saw a notice for a Mexican rodeo at the Adams County Fair.

“I went and I was captivated,” he says. “Beyond the colorful culture and horsemanship, it was mostly the way the people carried themselves—conveying a deep sense of pride and elegance in their Mexican heritage and for the tradition that they’ve passed down the generations for hundreds of years.”

A dance between horse and rider

Sessions soon met the Torres family, who have nationally ranked men’s and women’s charrería teams that regularly perform at the Colorado State Fair, the National Western Stock Show and in competitions around Colorado, the United States and Mexico.

After sharing his work with the Torres family, they welcomed him to film and photograph the events and learn more about the sport. “This access provided ample opportunities for creativity and a deeper understanding into the cultural tradition, taking the documentary to a whole new level,” Sessions explains.

Sessions adds that his understanding of the human-horse connection comes from observing the charrería community.

“The nonverbal communication required between a well-trained horse and rider is a larger-than-life inspiration to experience and can only be described with subtlety and nuance, with words like extraordinary. It’s like a dance that brings the two beings together, moving in union, guided by an underlying magical force, and it’s this energetic intuition that I utilize while photographing the events.”

A participant in charrería, the national sport of Mexico also known as Mexican rodeo. (Photo: Chris Sessions)

Sessions also returned to CU Boulder this semester to visit students studying the American West and to talk about his work and his exhibit in Tamar McKee’s class. McKee is the manager of programs and operations at the Center of the American West, which brought the exhibit to life. Sessions, who spoke alongside Carolina Herrera, the escaramuza queen (similar to a rodeo queen), says speaking to the students felt like a full-circle moment.

“It was exciting to share the work with the students and to see their interest in learning more about the tradition.”

McKee says her students wrote initial impressions of the exhibit before Sessions’ and Herrera’s visit and then read and watched more resources to further understand not just the sport, but how it exists in Mexican-American culture given how a large swath of the western United States was carved out of Mexico.

“The end goal is to use the information Chris and Carolina shared, alongside the research and impressions of the students, to co-create an interpretive guide to the exhibit,” McKee says. “This is an example of how the Center of the American West seeks multiple perspectives and knowledge bases to provide deeper and more inclusive insight into the complexity of the region.”

Sessions says the work in the charrería exhibit is part of a larger project called Charros De Colorado, an ongoing exploration into the sport of charrería with multiple elements, including the short film “La Familia Charra,” which was included in a Denver-based film festival. The film was projected onto the History Colorado building and on a turn-of-the-century grain elevator in Denver’s River North neighborhood.

Sessions says he expects the images and footage will end up in a Charros De Colorado book project and feature film in the next two years.

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Alumnus and professional photographer Chris Sessions explains how one of his first photo assignments 30 years ago in a CU Boulder class evolved into a cultural art exhibit.

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Can we improve the discussion about immigration?

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 17:02:15 +0000

Can we improve the discussion about immigration? Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/02/2020 - 11:02

Cay Leytham-Powell

New virtual conversation series from the Center of the American West takes aim at one of the most contentious issues this election.

Immigration is one of the most polarizing issues of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. A new event from the Center of the American West and the Latinx Law �鶹��Ժ Association at the University of Colorado Boulder, however, hopes to clear the air by assembling a panel of immigration experts—including Congressman Joe Neguse.

The virtual event, moderated by Patty Limerick, director of the center, will be held over two days and will explore solutions and resolutions to the challenging issue. One conversation will take place before the election, on Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m., and the other will take place after the election, on Nov. 13 at noon.

In the issue of immigration, ‘the Party of Practicality’ constitutes the true majority in the nation."

In addition to Neguse, the event’s speakers include Mary Mendoza, an assistant professor of history and Latino/a studies at Penn State University, and Tomás Jiménez, a professor of sociology and comparative studies of race and ethnicity at Stanford University.

“In the issue of immigration, ‘the Party of Practicality’ constitutes the true majority in the nation,” Limerick said. “With the issue of the effectiveness and expense of walls and fences, and with the issue of assimilation and legalization of people who have long resided in the United States, practicality and historical perspective are closely allied. This recognition will infuse our discussion on October 6 with good will and hope.”

Here are the questions that will drive this discussion:

If Congress were able to reform immigration policy in a post-election arrangement of authority, what should be the top priorities for such reform?
What are the most beneficial ways to increase historical understanding to improve the quality of public discussion of immigration and to guide national legislators as they deliberate?
What are the most notable mistaken impressions of the roles played by immigrants in the nation, and what are the most effective channels of communication for correcting those misapprehensions?

Event details include:

The Party of Practicality: An Innovative and Pragmatic Conversation on Immigration, Part I

Date: Oct. 6, 2020

Time: 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

The Party of Practicality: An Innovative and Pragmatic Conversation on Immigration, Part II

Date: Nov 13, 2020

Time: 12 – 1:30 p.m.

New virtual conversation series from the Center of the American West takes aim at one of the most contentious issues this election

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Howdy, partner! Welcome to Jackson Hole, China

Anonymous — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 21:59:33 +0000

Howdy, partner! Welcome to Jackson Hole, China Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/03/2020 - 14:59

British filmmaker Adam James Smith has memorialized the town in a documentary, Americaville, which he will screen on campus Feb. 7

North of Beijing, China, is a replica of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Chinese citizens come to escape an increasingly uninhabitable city life and live out their dreams of freedom, romance and spiritual fulfillment.

British filmmaker Adam James Smith has memorialized the town in the documentary Americaville, which he will screen at the University of Colorado Boulder this week.

Americaville will be shown Friday, Feb. 7, at 7:30 p.m. in Muenzinger Auditorium on campus. It is free and open to the public and will be followed by a talkback featuring the filmmaker.

The screening is part of the CU Boulder International Film Series and is sponsored by the Center for Asian Studies and the Center of the American West.

Director Adam James Smith with his production assistant and sound person.

Smith recently fielded questions about the film, its genesis and the assumptions Chinese people hold about the United States and vice versa. The questions and his answers follow:

Question: Jackson Hole, China, is fascinating for many reasons; what drew you to focus your lens on this topic?

Answer: Even though I'm from the United Kingdom, China and the United States have been a big part of my life since a very young age. My father was a businessman in both countries, and when he would return from trips to China and the United States, he would talk about his experiences over the kitchen table.

I think I internalized this as a child and from those stories, developed a deep interest in both societies. Later in life, I studied in the United States and lived on-and-off in China, where I worked as a teacher, journalist and then later as a filmmaker pursuing feature-length documentary films. After completing my first feature documentary, The Land of Many Palaces, filmed in China's infamous "ghost city" of Ordos on rural to urban migration, I wanted to look at the opposite movement of wealthy urban people looking to escape China's increasingly uninhabitable cities for rural or small-town life. I learned about Jackson Hole, China from a friend who told me about a "cowboy town" built up in the mountains, north of Beijing.

I managed to track the town down on a Chinese search engine, decided to rent a car and attempt to find the town from the vague address listed on the developer's website. Upon finding the town and persuading the security guards to let me in for a brief time, I miraculously stumbled across the founder and figurehead of Jackson Hole who invited me to stay for two nights.

Creating a feature documentary about this town presented an excellent opportunity to explore all of these converging interests. 

During this short stay, I was introduced to many people living and working in the community, plus prospective buyers whom I followed around with a real estate agent. After returning to the UK, I couldn't get this place out of my head—it represented an incredible collision of American and Chinese cultures, ideology and material-culture. As I held a deep interest in both China and America, in how American values and understandings about happiness have translated to foreign countries, and the global impact and influence of Hollywood cinematic representations; creating a feature documentary about this town presented an excellent opportunity to explore all of these converging interests.

Question: Jackson Hole, China, is said to promise a life of freedom, romance and spiritual fulfillment, and the implication is that many people in China hold certain assumptions about life in the United States. If you’ll excuse the generalities, what do Chinese people misunderstand about American life, and what do Americans fail to grasp about life in China?

Answer: Based on my experience talking to people in Jackson Hole, China, and living there, I would say there are a few misunderstandings about the United States. The United States is generally imagined as a country inhabited almost exclusively by white people. This was largely true in much of the United States prior to the Immigration Act of 1965, which has altered the racial fabric of American society and has led to the non-Hispanic white population dropping to around 60% nationally.

The United States they imagine is perhaps from the 1950s or from some other time period where people of European-descent dominated American life and popular culture. There's a selective fixation on certain aspects of American life in the Western states that tie in conveniently to preexisting Chinese tastes and cultural norms.

For example, there are images of the American nuclear family unit and of children around Jackson Hole, China, and in the town's marketing materials. This appeals to the Chinese emphasis on family and children—images of the lone cowboy and other representations of rugged individualism are notably absent. The American emphasis on happiness is something that has translated over to this particular community; however, it's poorly understood or defined.

Generally, Americans seem to imagine life in China to be very restrictive. In some instances, this is correct, and it was certainly the case in the past, but in recent years Chinese people have enjoyed many choices in the materials aspects of their lives.

Many of those living in Jackson Hole, China, explained how they grew up under very strict Communist conditions and coming out of that period it felt very empowering to be able to exercise the right to decide to move to an American-themed town, for example, that embodies many of the tangible things they want that have been lacking in their lives—such as large living quarters, a yard, mountainous surroundings—and also intangible aspects like happiness, freedom and spiritual fulfillment.

Annie Liu outside her home with a rose.

Question: As you made this film, what discovery did you find most surprising?

Answer: Prior to starting this project, I assumed these kinds of replica foreign towns in China—which are actually very common—were superficial, crass and represented a kind of identity crisis in contemporary China. However, since shooting Americaville in Jackson Hole, China, and visiting many other replica foreign towns throughout the country, I realized that there's a kind of embedding of Chinese culture taking place in these developments and a reconciliation of Chinese culture and whatever foreign characteristics are being adopted.

From my research, I also uncovered a long history of the Chinese replicating foreign design elements from the known world. These foreign town developments in China are actually very complex places to understand, and I think even after years of research, I'm still discovering new layers to unpack.

British filmmaker Adam Smith has memorialized the town in a documentary, Americaville, which he will screen on campus Feb. 7

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Event aims to help ‘unstick’ climate conversation

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jan 2020 22:38:53 +0000

Event aims to help ‘unstick’ climate conversation Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/30/2020 - 15:38

Cay Leytham-Powell

An upcoming CU Boulder event brings speakers from diverse backgrounds in the hopes of discussing the most polarizing issue of our time.

Climate change is a politically decisive issue that divides the public—but it wasn’t always that way. And an event at the University of Colorado Boulder hopes to provide some semblance of relief.

The event, a panel discussion titled “Why are we stuck on dealing with climate change and how do we get ‘unstuck,’” features speakers from various backgrounds and across the political aisle in the hopes of offering insight into why the United States is so gridlocked and what steps might be taken to get past those barriers.

The discussion is hosted by the Center of the American West and will be held Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the CASE Auditorium on campus.

“In a time of polarization and division on innumerable issues, our nation's inability to convene productive conversations on climate change can seem to be locked in place. But for more a quarter century, the Center of the American West has refused a sense of defeat and inevitability,” said Patty Limerick, the center’s faculty director and a professor of history.

“The timing seems right for us to host an evening with a group of speakers characterized by their good will and civic engagement.”

Since 2000, concern over climate change has become more polarized, with Democrats increasingly worrying “a great deal” while Republicans are worrying less and less, according to a 2017 Gallup Poll. And that divide has only grown, according to a recent Yale University study, which found that the issue is now even more polarizing than abortion or gun rights.

This political polarization has made discussion almost impossible between the two parties. But, by bringing speakers together from across the aisle with a diversity of experiences, the Center of the American West hopes this event can unstick the dialogue, even if just a little.

Event Details

Date: Feb. 6, 2020
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: CASE Auditorium, CU Boulder

Reserve your ticket

“I am certain that we are assembling the right cast of characters to make real progress,” said Limerick.

The cast includes:

Tisha Schuller, the principal of Adamantine Energy and the former head of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association.
Claudine Schneider, the former Republican congresswomen who wrote the Global Warming Prevention Act of 1989.
Leaf Van Boven, a CU Boulder psychology and neuroscience professor.
Dan Palken, a conservative fellow from Citizens’ Climate Lobby and a physics graduate student at CU Boulder.

For each speaker, the event represents something a little different, but they all agree: This is an issue we need to solve.

For some of the speakers, it involves figuring out how we got here.

“America faces a great challenge in climate change, and we will not be able to confront it adequately if we do not recall our shared sense of purpose as Americans,” said Palken.

“Rather than letting the conversation around climate and energy fall prey to the polarization that paralyzes so much in our country, it is important that Republicans and Democrats alike make a conscious effort to extend real dialogue across political lines.”

Van Boven agrees: “The event will provide a forum to understand why we are polarized over climate policy—and how we can overcome that polarization. The panel is an important opportunity for liberals and conservatives to discuss policy solutions to climate change, to identify areas of common ground, and to respectfully acknowledge areas of disagreement.”

For others, this event represents a look to the future.

"It is my intention that this event inform, inspire and mobilize those in attendance to be part of the solution, as opposed to concerned observers,” said Schneider.

Either way, the speakers are thankful for the Center of the American West for hosting the event and bringing them together.

“Getting unstuck on climate progress requires new approaches and novel participants—solutions we haven’t imagined yet,” said Schuller. “I love how the center creates the opportunity for that magic to happen, and I expect it will.”

The event is free and open to the public, but advance tickets are required and are available on Eventbrite.

An upcoming CU Boulder event brings speakers from diverse backgrounds in the hopes of discussing the most polarizing issue of our time.

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Former GOP, Dem congressmen stump for respectful discourse

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 23:22:49 +0000

Former GOP, Dem congressmen stump for respectful discourse Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 12/04/2019 - 16:22

Clint Talbott

In Dec. 10 CU Boulder event, Bob Beauprez and Mark Udall will discuss how bipartisanship (and friendship) happen

Partisans in Congress are often adversaries, but they can also be civil, collegial and, believe it or not, friends. That’s the message Bob Beauprez and Mark Udall want to convey, and they’ll be here next week to do so.

Beauprez, a Republican and former congressman, and Udall, a Democrat and former U.S. senator, will appear at an event called “Bipartisanship (and friendship) happen!” on Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Glenn Miller Ballroom on the University of Colorado Boulder campus.

Free tickets are available online at this link.

The event, which is sponsored by the CU Boulder Center of the American West, will be moderated Patty Limerick, the center’s faculty director and professor of history; and Charles Wilkinson, the university’s Moses Lasky professor of law emeritus.

Beauprez and Udall recently fielded five questions about their partisanship and friendship. Separately, Limerick answered questions about the significance of the issue. Their responses are below:

Question: As former representatives in Congress, do you think the level of partisan acrimony seen today is greater than it was when you served? If so, why do you think it’s worsened?

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez

Beauprez: Most definitely! I thought the atmosphere was very acrimonious when I was in Congress, particularly in 2005-06 as weariness with the Iraq war permeated society. But, it's far worse now, and far more personal. The "why" is complicated and multi-faceted, but a big part of it is due to the hardened polarization of our entire culture.

It seems that virtually everyone has moved to the far left or far right of the political spectrum and the big bulge in the middle where historically most people lived (a little left or right of center) has largely disappeared. The bell curve has essentially been inverted.

I’m convinced that there is still far more on which we agree as Americans than what irrevocably divides us. President Reagan’s words of wisdom have been discarded, “The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally—not a 20 percent traitor." Today we focus on division rather than consensus.

Since Congress is a reflection of the nation, members increasingly seem to be "playing to a base" of support depending on whether a member's district or state leans right or left in search of that critical 50% + 1 to win election. It's no secret that winning election, and especially re-election, is the top priority of virtually every member of Congress. If the electorate was more civil, more willing to seek and find common-ground, we'd see candidates reflecting those values. But, so much of society seems to be more interested in "resisting" and finding someone who will "fight" rather than finding a way to thread the needle of understanding to get things done. Politicians largely reflect the electorate they represent.

Former U.S. Sen and U.S. Rep Mark Udall

Udall: Yes, the partisan acrimony is greater than when I served. It’s worsened for reasons that are not hard to identify: social media, gerrymandering for the U.S. House seats, constant fundraising, little time in D.C. to actually build relationships with members of your party and the other party, and the permanent campaign are leaders are engaged in. We’ve effectively built a political system that values polemics over policy and soundbites over sound policy making. There’s less incentive and time to work across the aisle when you are constantly running against your potential allies and their party.

And it’s important to acknowledge that the American people are divided over a host of issues and challenges our society and world

Question: Is there a particular danger you see in today’s level of political discord?

Beauprez: America has always had great diversity of opinion and fierce debate. That's healthy. And, it's also protected by our Constitution. But, when we lose respect for that difference of opinion, for the individual, for common decency—well, then we've lost a vital part of the soul of American exceptionalism.

Udall: Partisanship is poisonous to progress. I’ve seen it firsthand and see it with more frequency today. Lawmakers appear to be more focused on how to force their ideas through the political process instead of finding ways to bridge the political divide and engaging in the hard work of collaboration.

Extreme partisanship also has larger opportunity costs. While our ship of state is rudderless and our historic leadership internationally MIA, other countries and less scrupulous leaders are filling the vacuum.

Question: As citizens and, apparently, friends, what things do you share, and where do you diverge?

Beauprez: Mark and I share a natural and deep love of the West—the land, water, wildlife and culture. And we share a deep respect and love for the greatest nation in the history of the earth and the critical importance of sustaining this republic. We probably also see a very similar set of great challenges that today's America faces. And, while we may differ on what some of the best solutions are to accomplish the objective, our hearts are largely in the same place.

Udall: I can’t speak for Bob directly, but I know we share a love of our country and our special state of Colorado. We agreed to be friends when we served in the U.S. House together. We also both hew to the concept that you can disagree without being disagreeable. I think Westerners have more of inclination to find common ground than people from other parts of the country. Our shared history which includes plenty of tragedy and violence has taught us that working together to educate our children, provide health care for our sick, infrastructure to improve our lives, and economic policies that balance profits and community needs must be the number one priority of our political leaders. Those leaders who are overtly partisan and political don’t last long in Colorado.

I’ll find out as will the audience (and Bob too) where we agree and disagree at the forum on Dec. 10.

Question: About issues on which you find yourselves in sharp disagreement, how do you discuss them collegially and rationally?

Beauprez: It's largely about respect. It’s also about perspective—looking for the larger areas of agreement rather than only differences, which are often subtle. Sometimes there's a little common-ground that can be shared. Sometimes there isn't. You simply have to respect that difference of opinion and move on.

Unfortunately, as I said above, much of today's electorate isn't in that frame of mind. The electorate—especially the hardcore loyal activists in both parties—don't reward bipartisan consensus; they penalize it. The singular issue that they are from the other party is often all that is necessary to define irreconcilable differences. Thus, the chosen representatives of those people aren't likely to reflect values different from the folks that elected them.

Udall: There’s no formula as to how to discuss differences collegiality and rationally. At times you have to disagree and move on. I think it’s also appropriate to disagree in public and with the press but with as little rancor and vitriol as possible. That’s leadership when you respect the other person’s point of view.

Another way to answer the question is I would approach a policy disagreement with a colleague like I would a close friend. You must listen, consider, not question the other person’s motives and explore any common ground. Humor helps. Bill Clinton famously quipped, “I have a lot of Republican friends. They are good people, but they’re just wrong.” Republicans could say the same about Democrats.

Question: Why is it important now to have these across-the-aisle conversations?

Beauprez: To use a very obvious example, look at today's political environment in Washington. On any significant issue, members of one-party vote "Aye" and the other "Nay." There is no coming together on common-ground and nothing gets accomplished. The national debt balloons, immigration reform remains unresolved, patients and providers go wanting for healthcare certainty, and the business of government lurches to-and-fro on continuing resolutions and executive orders regardless of which party has the president in the White House. Good government and what's best for the 330 million Americans living outside the beltway take a backseat to bitter partisan rigidity.

Udall: It’s always been important to have these across-the-aisle-conversations. They are always occurring in my experience at every level of government. But at the federal level, if we as a country are going to maintain our international leadership role (which is a form of enlightened self-interest), those now private, off-the-record conversations have to also now be held in public.

Why: To rebuild trust and faith in our democracy here at home and abroad and to help our leaders deliver on their commitments. When you have public discussions and leaders make commitments, those commitments aren’t easily discarded or dismissed.

It’s also important to have these across-the-aisle discussions because our public discourse has devolved to a dangerous level and tone. We are sailing into uncharted waters that may irrevocably damage our ship of state and by extension our society.

Finally, although we are living in most affluent and prosperous country in the history of the world, the challenges we face—income inequality, authoritarian governments on the rise, climate change and energy supplies, health care costs to name my list—will only be met and turned into opportunities if a significant majority of our national political leaders decide to work together.

For her part, Limerick gave a historical view of civic discourse in her answer to two questions, as follows:

Question: We often hear people say that the quality of civic discourse is at or near an all-time low, but as a historian, what is your view of this?

Patty Limerick, faculty director of the Center of the American West

Limerick: Historians always have to say that the era before the Civil War, and the Civil War itself, were the "all-time low." But then we are also obligated to say that there was a crucially important issue at stake, and the crucial importance to the nation of the abolition of slavery has to figure in our evaluation of that dire period of contention and violence.

Maybe even more important, historians have to offer their fellow citizens the reminder that the recognition that the nation has endured worse times of polarization cannot be much of a consolation to us today. Yes, the mid-19th century was the all-time low, but that recognition does not prohibit us from recognizing that polarization and division are in a very bad condition today. We should be concerned about our current troubles, and we should take every opportunity to seek remedies and antidotes for these troubles, rather than saying fatalistically—and unhelpfully—"Things could be worse."

Question: Regardless of whether discourse is worse than ever or simply bad, what can regular citizens do to improve it?

Limerick: Citizens should head to the Glenn Miller Ballroom at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 10, to hear the conversation between former Congressmen Bob Beauprez and Mark Udall! Well, yes, that may sound like institutional self-promotion, but the bigger point is that we should seize every opportunity, first, to establish and celebrate our common ground, and then, second, to explore our differences and disagreements with civility, respect, and—maybe most important, curiosity.

I am very glad that we have received support that will position the Dec. 10 event as the first in a series, where good souls demonstrate their ability to recognize each other's dignity and value as human beings, rather than dehumanize and even demonize those who hold opinions and positions that may befuddle and bewilder us.

Not to engage in further "product promotion," but Boulder's entrepreneurial scene presents another fine opportunity: persuading antagonists and opponents to gather around to assemble one of Chris Wirth's beautiful jigsaw puzzles might make a significant difference in giving civil discourse a new lease on life, while literally solving a puzzle!

In Dec. 10 CU Boulder event, Bob Beauprez and Mark Udall will discuss how bipartisanship (and friendship) happen

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‘Climate of fear’ can erode social fabric, Japanese American scholar says

Anonymous — Mon, 06 Feb 2017 02:48:33 +0000

‘Climate of fear’ can erode social fabric, Japanese American scholar says Anonymous (not verified) Sun, 02/05/2017 - 19:48

Courtney Packard

Tom Ikeda, founder of Japanese American Legacy Project, to give keynote address at CU Boulder event on Feb. 23

Parallels between the political climate 75 years ago, when 120,000 Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps, and today, raise red flags, says Tom Ikeda, the founder of Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project.

Tom Ikeda

“In a climate today, where we think perhaps Muslims, whether they’re immigrants or United States citizens, might be suspicious or a threat, the big takeaway for people to remember is what happens when our country is fearful and has racial prejudices,” Ikeda said.

“If people become fearful enough…it will break down the fabric of our society,” he added

This month, Ikeda will be the keynote speaker at an event here commemorating Japanese American internment: “Remembering the Japanese-American Internment: 75 Years.”

The event will be held at the University of Colorado Boulder on Feb. 23 from 4:30-7 p.m. in the British and Irish Studies Room in Norlin Library. The event is hosted by the CU Boulder Center for Asian Studies.

The Japanese word “densho” means “to pass on to the next generation.” Founded in 1996, Densho is a digital archive that collects and preserves the testimonies of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II.

The online database includes interviews, documents, photographs and newspaper clippings, as well as over 900 oral histories from Japanese Americans who lived in what are officially called internment camps but which Ikeda terms concentration camps.

Tom Ikeda’s grandparents Fred Suyekichi and Akino Kinoshita (left and center) receive a flag in honor of their son Staff Sergeant Francis “Bako” Kinoshita, killed in action in World War II, accompanied by a family friend. The photo was taken in the Minidoka, Idaho, incarceration camp. Bako Kinoshita had been incarcerated there until he volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army. Photo courtesy of Tom Ikeda.

“Hearing the personal stories, for me, has a stronger impact than just reading it in history books,” Ikeda said. He recalls sitting across from a woman who, after sharing her story, said she now felt she could die.

“It was like an emotional release for many of them. They had been holding back these memories…for 50 years,” Ikeda continued. Ikeda himself is a third-generation Japanese American whose parents and grandparents were incarcerated during World War II at Minidoka, Idaho.

“What we’ve witnessed with families and communities is this healing process,” said Ikeda. Twenty-one years into Densho’s work, “it’s much easier for people to share their stories.”

Ikeda contends that sharing the stories from this dark time in America’s history is extremely relevant today.

“It’s really important for all of us to remember the mistakes of the past so we don’t repeat them,” Ikeda said. “It may not be exactly what happened in the incarceration. It may be a registry of a particular group because of their religion or enhanced surveillance. Things like that will really start breaking down the fabric of our society.”

In light of President Trump’s recent executive order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, reflecting on the mistakes of the past sparks a discussion about democracy, civil rights, and citizen responsibility.

“We take so much for granted,” Ikeda said. “We believe that as citizens we will be given certain protections and we don’t really have to worry. What students need to know is that these things can happen.”

After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japanese-American citizens faced prejudice and suspicion from neighbors and government officials alike. Today, Ikeda hopes people can see the danger in making assumptions based on fear.

“In a climate of fear, whether it’s real or manufactured, people want to feel safe. To characterize a whole group and treat them as guilty is where it falls apart,” he said. “When confronted with this fearful climate, rather than shrink back from it, we should reach out to each other.”

When Ikeda visits Boulder this month, he will weave some stories he’s collected into the larger historical narrative of what was happening 75 years ago, as well as address why it’s important to commemorate this event today.

“What we find is that every story is unique,” Ikeda said of the stories he’s been told. “What the oral histories have done is to really give us a perspective from the individual. It’s not black and white, how people thought about and what they did in camps and after camps. It varies from person to person. I think it’s important that these stories are told.”

He added, “The more we get to know each other, what we find is how common our stories are.”

“Remembering the Japanese-American Internment: 75 Years” is cohosted by the CU Boulder Center of the American West as well as the history and ethnic studies departments. Ikeda's presentation will be followed by a panel discussion comprising Patty Limerick, director of the Center of the American West; Daryl Maeda, associate professor of ethnic studies; and Marcia Yonemoto, assocate professor of history.

Tom Ikeda, founder of Japanese American Legacy Project, to give keynote address at CU Boulder event on Feb. 23.

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