Dear Friends,
Greetings from the History Department at the University of Colorado, Denver. We are excited to share our annual newsletter, which caps off the great achievements of our community of scholars and supporters. More than ever, our community is committed to free inquiry, debate, and critical memory of the past – the very things that are essential to an informed and engaged democracy. This has long been a hallmark of our department and our community of historians, and this year we are celebrating a few significant milestones that make us a vibrant and engaged community.
Milestones mark the life cycle of academic scholarship, as every undergraduate and graduate student knows. This year, we celebrate the successes and achievements of all of our graduates. We wish all of our graduates well and I urge each one to remember that they have a home here in our department – stay in touch, and we are here to support you as you navigate your way forward. For those who continue in the Academy, many more milestones follow in graduate school, in publishing, and academic careers. This year, we also celebrate our colleague Rachel Gross, who has earned tenure and promotion with her brilliant publications, her dedication to her students, and her commitment to helping build our community. Congratulations, Rachel!
We celebrate another milestone this year. Over the past quarter-century, Tom and Judy Ward have been generously supporting our students and alumni in Public History. The award is an endowed prize, so the fund is self-sustaining, guaranteeing that generations of CU Denver students will be able to ask important questions about how communities collectively commemorate the past. In creating the prize, Tom and Judy have laid the foundation for great careers in Public History. We are grateful to Tom and Judy Ward for their generosity, which has changed our students’ lives.
And we have another significant quarter-century milestone for our department: this year, we celebrate the 25th anniversaries of Gabriel Finkelstein, Majorie Levine-Clark, and Tabitha Fitzpatrick at CU Denver. Put together, all three of our dear colleagues have made this department what we are today: a welcoming, supportive, and critically-engaged community. As teachers and scholars, Gabriel and Marjorie make major contributions to their fields, and they place mentorship and student support at the center of their praxis. And Tabitha, as program assistant, brings kindness, dedication, and great care to our community. We are all grateful to count all three as colleagues and friends.
With all these achievements providing wind at our masts, we remain committed to our important work: supporting independent inquiry, promoting a critical and self-aware memory of the past as a guard against the many public abuses of memory, all with the goal of better understanding human experience.
All best wishes,
Ryan Crewe