Sociology Newsletter - March 2025

Each spring, CU Denver’s campus-wide Research and Creative Activities Symposium (RaCAS)  celebrates undergraduate and graduate student research and creative projects. This year, RaCAS is on Friday, April 25 in the Student Wellness Center. RaCAS is a wonderful opportunity for students to present their thesis, capstone, or final project to the CU Denver community. Presentations can be a poster, 10-minute oral talk, or media exhibit/display. The deadline for submitting abstracts is Friday, March 21.

The RaCAS team is available to support students as they work on their research. 1-on-1 advising can be scheduled by calling 303-315-4000 or through Handshake (select: Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities: ‘RaCAS Prep’). Weekly Drop-in Hours are available on Zoom on Tuesdays, 1:00-3:00  and in-person on Wednesdays in LynxConnect 11:00-1:00. Workshops and prep sessions are also available. Questions and information requests can be directed to undergrad.research@ucdenver.edu or 303-315-4000.

Our master’s degree program is accepting applications! Students interested in transforming their passion for social change into expert knowledge and actionable skills can now do so in a flexible, hybrid environment that doesn’t compromise on quality. Our faculty specialize in criminology, law, and deviance; medical sociology; urban studies; and families and social welfare. Our program allows you to MA Your Way through four different finishing options, including a traditional thesis or an applied internship experience. Students have leveraged their time with us to gain entry to leading PhD programs such as Princeton, Wisconsin, and Washington; secure jobs with innovative firms like Zayo and Transamerica; and join nonprofits and public institutions doing meaningful work in our communities, including the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and the Colorado Department of Public Health. We hope you’ll consider joining our team!

Applications for Fall admission are requested by March 15. Students interested in more information about the program are encouraged to contact our graduate director, Dr. Adam Lippert.

Do you love teaching, working with young people, and promoting change? If so, check out the award-winning Generation Teach AmeriCorps Summer Teaching Fellowship. Fellows earn a living allowance of $3,234.92 and an AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,565.08 while gaining leadership and teaching experience. Fellowships include pre-summer preparation, 7 days of in-person training, and 24 days of teaching Denver middle-school students. Serving as a teaching fellow offers a unique chance to grow as a leader and teacher and develop skills for your future career. And as a fellow, you will join a loving community of 32 undergraduate and high-school students. The upcoming application deadline is March 15. Learn more through this flier and video. Applications can be found here!

The CU Denver Writing Center is available to help you with your upcoming writing assignments. Even if you don’t have a paper due soon, the Center is available to meet to talk about your ideas and how you might grow as a writer. You can meet with them in-person or online. To learn more and schedule an appointment, head here!

Alpha Kappa Delta is continuing its workshop series for sociology graduate students: The Graduate Student Lounge. The AKD Grad Student Lounge is an initiative sponsored by Alpha Kappa Delta to support and foster graduate students’ professionalization, well-being, and peer networking. It meets monthly to discuss various topics of interest to graduate students in sociology and offers a grad-only safe space to share tips, ideas, and recommendations. Graduate students are welcome to sign up to be invited using this link.

Alpha Kappa Delta currently provides funding to AKD student members who present at regional sociology conferences. Awards are up to $500/student, although no more than $1,500 may be awarded per chapter. This is another great reason to join sociology’s honor society. For more information about AKD, contact Dr. Jenny Vermilya.  

The CU Denver Lynx Food Pantry responds to the need of CU Denver students for resources to fight food insecurity. CU Denver students have access to free food and hygiene products. All students are allocated 10 points each week to use on items from the pantry, whether it's just to grab a snack for the day or to help out with a meal. Bring your student ID when you visit. The Lynx Food Pantry is located on the 3rd floor of the Wellness Center. 

William Edward Burghardt (W.E.B.) Du Bois (1868-1963) was an American sociologist, historian, political activist, Pan-Africanist, and co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Reflecting on the challenges facing African Americans in the US, Du Bois wrote that “the bright ideals of the past,--physical freedom, political power, the trainings of brains and the training of hands,--all these…have waxed and waned”. Where do we find ourselves today as a society?

On Thursday, March 13, from 12:00 to 3:00 at the Lawrence Street Center Second Floor Terrace, the University of Colorado Denver will honor the life and legacy of Dr. Du Bois through keynote presentations and interactive activities. The keynotes will feature Dr. Reiland Rabaka, a prominent Du Bois scholar at CU Boulder, and Arthur McFarlane, the great-grandson of Du Bois and chair of the Denver Black Reparations Council. Please mark your calendars and join us for this unique opportunity to build connection across the Denver community in celebration of Du Bois’s extraordinary life. Lunch will be provided for attendees registering before March 10. You can RSVP here. Contact antwan jefferson or Keith Guzik for details.

March is Women’s History Month. On March 8, people around the globe celebrate International Women’s Day, which celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. Throughout the month, people across the US will be doing the same.

While we take this time to recognize women’s contributions to society, leaders across the country and world are systematically dismantling women’s rights to health care, bodily autonomy, freedom from gender violence, political equality, equal compensation, and individual expression. The fight for women’s rights and equality remains as urgent as ever.

This month, the Auraria Campus is hosting a series of events and activities to celebrate Women’s History Month and empower women. These include a Women’s Market kick-off event; The Body Project, a student-led program to confront unrealistic beauty standards and boost self-esteem; Honoring Voices, an event raising awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women; and Hygiene for Hope, where hygiene kits for women in need will be assembled. Off campus, the Center for Colorado Women's History, a museum focusing on the lives of Colorado women, hosts exhibits, personalized tours, and special events. RTD, yes, RTD!, also has a great website publicizing a variety of activities in the community. Take part in these events and others around the city to celebrate women and stand up for gender equality.

The Sociology Club meets every other Tuesday this semester from 6PM-7:30PM at the Sociology Department Library (Lawrence Street Center 420). Also, the next Club event will be a Movie Night on March 18^th at 6pm. Details are still being finalized! So, watch your emails and social media for more information. And see you there!

The Ethnic Studies department is hiring a new faculty member in Native American/Indigenous Studies, and finalists will be on campus during the first two weeks of March. The department cordially invites you to the following talks and welcomes your feedback.  

• "How to Get Away with Murder: A Transnational History of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Two Spirits, and Girls," Tuesday, March 4, 4:00-5:00 PM, North 1005, Dr. Liza Black. 

In this talk, Liza Black focuses on six women, girls, and non-binary people in Mexico, Canada, and the United States over the 20^th and 21^st centuries. In laying out the scholarship and her chosen cases, she will suggest that Native and Indigenous women face femicide because of ideas rooted in colonial culture, laws protecting assailants, the stripping of tribal authority over Native citizens, and the extension of settler jurisdiction over Native people. She will end the talk highlighting activists and activism aimed at healing victims' families and stopping the violence.

• “Major Crimes: Inequalities in the Criminal Justice System on Native American Reservations,” Thursday, March 6, 4:00-5:00, North 1539, Dr. David Weiden. 

David Heska Wanbli Weiden will discuss the numerous criminal justice policies enacted by the U.S. government that harm Native American nations and their citizens, and how these laws contribute to the growing problem of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives. He’ll discuss the Major Crimes Act, federal sentencing regulations and other governmental policies, and he’ll read a short selection from his award-winning novel, Winter Counts.

• “We Are the Stars,” Tuesday, March 11, 4:00-5:00, North 1005, Dr. Sarah Hernandez.

In this presentation, Dr. Sarah Hernandez (Sicangu Lakota) will discuss her new book, We Are the Stars: Colonizing and Decolonizing the Oceti Sakowin Literary Tradition , a literary recovery project that critically examines the U.S. as a settler colonial nation and re-centers Oceti Sakowin women as the traditional culture keepers of the Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota nations. Through this comparative literary analysis, Dr. Hernandez will explore the intersections of settler colonialism, literature, nationalism, and gender.

The Ethnic Studies Department at CU Denver and the Center for the Study of Evangelicalism at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs are hosting a moderated discussion about the role of white Christian nationalism in the 2024 U.S. election and its aftermath between Dr. Anthea Butler, historian of African American and American religion and author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America, and Dr. Randall Balmer, historian of religion in North America and author of Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right. The talk will take place on Friday, March 28th from 6:30-7:30PM, Student Commons, Room 2600.

“Untitled: Four Generations” (2019), Gamma Gallery, Main Street, Longmont, CO

The Department of Sociology would like to give the loudest of shout outs to this year’s WJS Keep on Truckin’ Scholarship recipients. This is the first cycle of awards following the historic $1 million gift the department received to support the scholarship. The department was able to make 3 awards, which cover most tuition and fees for the academic year. Among the recipients was Shannon Bucci, a 4+1 student with an interest in criminal justice reform. Shannon writes, “I am honored to be one of the recipients of this year's Department of Sociology's WJS Keep on Truckin' Scholarship. Studying sociology has not only helped me gain a deeper understanding of my own and others' lived experience within a broader social context, but it’s also changed my life in ways I never could have imagined. This award will allow me to continue my education and my work in the community, and it came at a time when I was unsure I'd be able to do so. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity.” Congratulations Shannon and all award recipients!

In her new position as a Nonresident Fellow at the Urban Institute, a Washington D.C. research-to-impact organization equipping policymakers with evidence-based solutions to pressing social problems, Dr. Esther Sullivan is co-leading a team of researchers whose goal is to produce manufactured housing research with direct policy applications. Her team’s first report—Building a Climate-Resilient Manufactured Housing Stock: Framing the Challenge and Identifying Opportunities for Federal Action—was just released at a hybrid event in the nation’s capital attended by over 1,000 registrants. A recording of the report's release is here. Awesome work Esther!!!

Narges Mohammadi, an Iranian human rights activist, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 for her advocacy for women’s rights and against capital punishment. She has been jailed by Iranian authorities repeatedly over the past 25 years for her work. Condemning gender apartheid across the globe, Mohammadi writes, “"The liberation of women from the grip of oppression and discrimination is essential for empowering the force that drives peace and democracy.” The fight for women’s equality continues.

Denver is a “sanctuary city,” a municipality that defines, limits, or denies its cooperation with federal immigration law. On Wednesday, March 5, Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, together with the mayors of Boston, Chicago and New York City, is set to testify about local immigration policies before the powerful House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The hearing could have serious implications for Denver’s finances and future. Denverite has coverage here.

On February 14, the Department of Education issued a “Dear Colleague” letter informing universities that many diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-related activities beyond admissions and hiring may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause. The Department recently posted a frequently asked questions page explaining its position. Meanwhile, the American Council of Education, 60 higher education associations, and Democrats have called on the Department to rescind the letter and associated threats against schools with DEI programs. Inside Higher Ed is one source among many to keep pace with developments in this critical education policy area.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country rich in natural resources that suffers from political instability, a lack of infrastructure, and centuries of both commercial and colonial exploitation. Since 1996, a pair of wars involving dozens of armed groups has claimed up to six million lives there, either as a direct result of fighting or because of disease and malnutrition. In February, March 23 Movement (M23) rebels purportedly aided by Rwanda captured the strategic city of Bukavu, which has aggravated the humanitarian crisis in eastern DRC. The Guardian and BBC offer updated reporting.