College News

Materials girls: New exhibit highlights the role women are playing in reimagining built environments

Joe Arney — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 18:37:21 +0000

Materials girls: New exhibit highlights the role women are playing in reimagining built environments Joe Arney Thu, 08/28/2025 - 12:37

Sharon Waters

‘The accelerating realities of climate change demand that we reconsider our built environments, our landscapes and our material practices,’ says Caitlin Charlet, who is curating an exhibit on biogenic building materials this fall. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

Caitlin Charlet never uses the word “sustainability.”

“Anything can be called sustainable,” said Charlet, associate teaching professor in CMDI’s environmental design department. “Like any overused language, it loses meaning.”

That’s why her upcoming exhibit avoids the term altogether. Biogenic Futures: Women Shaping Material Ecologies, which runs Sept. 4 through Jan. 5 at the ��, was curated by Charlet and presents new directions in materials design and research.

If you go

What: Biogenic Futures: Women Shaping Material Ecologies

When: Sept. 4 through Jan. 5. An opening reception is planned for 4 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4.

Where: CU Art Museum, 1085 18th St., Boulder

Who: The exhibit is curated by Caitlin Charlet, an associate teaching professor, and two student researchers, seniors Kaija Galins and Brielle French.

Learn more

Biogenics refers to timber, mycelium, algaes and other regenerative materials—locally sourced, plant- or soil-based substances that are redefining the future of construction. The exhibit features work from nearly 50 female innovators worldwide, along with samples from ��’s materials library.

“We have extracted from the earth to exhaustion, damaging landscapes and communities,” Charlet said. “But there is so much to reclaim. Healthy building isn’t just about new materials—it’s about reusing, reimagining and building holistically.”

The exhibition assembles samples from the research and practice of nearly 50 women, supplemented by contributions from ��’s materials library. By centering women, Charlet seeks to highlight the quiet revolution within materials science over the past decade—one that diverges from the historically male-dominated spheres of engineering and architecture.

“Materials science is collaborative, tactile and iterative. Experimentation requires repetition, and failure is often the condition for discovery,” she said. “Many women have cultivated laboratories in relative obscurity, conducting extraordinary research into construction and design alternatives that do not inflict harm—on us, or on the planet.”

Her aspiration is for visitors to recognize how profoundly material choices shape lived experience, and to reconsider their own role in those choices.

“The exhibition invites touch and engagement,” Charlet said. “Visitors will encounter biogenic materials firsthand, learning not only about their current applications but also about the ways they are being developed for the future.”

Bringing community perspectives to class

Charlet, who is also head of ��’s Biomodernity Lab, considers herself an educator, urbanist, designer and advocate. She started her career as a visual artist before moving into design architecture.

“As a designer, I learn alongside communities—working with them, not merely in them—and I bring those lessons to my students,” said Charlet, who holds dual master’s degrees in architecture and design and urban ecology from Parsons’ School of Constructed Environments at The New School. “Designers must be prepared to adapt, to function as Swiss Army knives—ready to respond to the complexities of place, project and community.”

Her commitment to biomaterials deepened during graduate study, while living with her young family in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood. Observing widespread asthma, allergies, and sensitivities among local children—including her own—Charlet began examining not only external pollutants from the Superfund site and nearby expressway, but also the hidden toxins within domestic interiors: paint, drywall, upholstery and flooring.

That work helped her realize the potential of regenerative materials to safeguard both human and planetary health.

“Everyone deserves to understand the environments they inhabit, because health, community and ecology are inseparable,” Charlet said. “The accelerating realities of climate change demand that we reconsider our built environments, our landscapes and our material practices—and imagine new, restorative ways forward.”

A materials science expert will showcase the use of regenerative materials in building designs to improve health and limit environmental damage.

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Over a Barrel: The branding misfire that put a restaurant chain in the crosshairs

Joe Arney — Wed, 27 Aug 2025 19:18:51 +0000

Over a Barrel: The branding misfire that put a restaurant chain in the crosshairs Joe Arney Wed, 08/27/2025 - 13:18

Joe Arney

Morgan Young says Cracker Barrel’s rebranding about-face reminded him of Coca-Cola in the 1980s. ‘The issue with New Coke wasn’t the flavor, it was doing away with an iconic brand that meant so much to people,’ he says. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

One week after Cracker Barrel unveiled a new logo—part of a reported $700 million investment into updates for the restaurant chain—the company announced it will revert back to its old branding.

And while the political overtones that drove such an intensive backlash against the company are a more contemporary feature of our culture, Morgan Young said the brand likely made the same error Coca-Cola committed in a short-lived rebrand in the 1980s.

“I’m sure Cracker Barrel did the research, ran focus groups and asked good questions—one of them being, do you like this logo better?” said Young, an associate teaching professor of advertising at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. “What Coca-Cola didn’t do, and perhaps Cracker Barrel didn’t do, as well, was ask the next question, which would be, ‘How do you feel about the brand as an identity to you?’ Because the issue with New Coke wasn’t the flavor, it was doing away with an iconic brand that meant so much to people.”

“We are in a moment of rapid innovation, and if you are older, change is not necessarily a good thing—because it can mean being left behind. And I think that’s what’s happening here.”

Morgan Young, associate teaching professor, APRD

Young (Hist’94) has never worked on the Cracker Barrel brand, but has decades of experience, both in running his own agency, Young Ideas, and as a former senior vice president and creative director at Goddard Claussen. So, he has a keen eye for what happens when a brand misses the mark.

In trying to grow its customer base, Cracker Barrel alienated its dedicated fans by not only drastically simplifying the logo, but changing the look and feel of some of its restaurants to get away from its farmhouse aesthetic.

“Cracker Barrel likely didn’t understand that their fanbase—likely an older group of customers—doesn’t want a change,” Young said. “We are in a moment of rapid innovation, and if you are older, change is not necessarily a good thing—because it can mean being left behind. And I think that’s what’s happening here.”

In the undergraduate classes he teaches, Young asks his students what their most admired brands are. In each class, Nike and Patagonia top the list, and it’s not because of the clothes they sell.

“They feel Nike has a set of values they stand by. Same with Patagonia, which calls itself an environment-first company,” Young said. “I think in 2025, you can’t hide from your values as a company. Nike and Patagonia have built a devoted fanbase by leaning into those values, which inspires loyalty among customers and help them grow.”

So, in a hyperpolarized moment—when a new logo sets off a political firestorm that even the president of the country feels inclined to weigh in on—what is the lesson for advertising and branding professionals? Young shared some thoughts he brings to the classroom:

Don’t be afraid to take chances. “If you’re always in the backseat, waiting for someone else to lead, you’ll always be Pepsi,” Young said. “In my agency days, we were always about change, trying to help brands stay with the times. That’s how you succeed.”
Know your audience. You can’t sell to everyone—and when you try, you invite backlash like Cracker Barrel is going through, or like Bud Lite a couple years back. “Think about your target audience and how to communicate with them effectively, and bond with them,” he said.
Question yourself. Young had several campaigns he was quite proud of die in focus groups. “When I would do anything that harkened back to the past, we would have focus group members—especially with Black audiences, and especially women—say, ‘Those 1950s Americana themes might look good to you, but they bring up bad feelings for me. You have a different history than I do,’” Young said. “And they were right.”

Ultimately, the swirling controversy around Cracker Barrel’s re-rebrand is unlikely to cost the chain in the long term, Young said. But it is a reminder—especially in the digital age, where social media can both burnish and tarnish a brand’s bona fides—that companies have less control than ever over their value and meaning.

“We don’t determine a brand—the consumer does,” Young said. “Just ask Cracker Barrel.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

An advertising and branding expert weighs in on Cracker Barrel's rebrand and reversal.

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In its milestone year, CMDI welcomes more than a dozen new faculty

Joe Arney — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 20:40:01 +0000

In its milestone year, CMDI welcomes more than a dozen new faculty Joe Arney Fri, 08/15/2025 - 14:40

Joe Arney

Kevin Hoth is among the new faculty at CMDI this fall, though he's been lecturing at the university since 2011. ‘It feels like a perfect home for me; I’m very grateful to be with such a forward-thinking department,’ he says. Photo by Hannah Howell.

Kevin Hoth probably knows what it’s like for a longtime AAA pitcher to at last get the call to join the big leagues.

Hoth has been teaching at �� since 2011—originally as part of the ATLAS Institute—but this fall, he joins the critical media practices department at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information as an assistant teaching professor.

“I’m so excited to have this department as my home on a more permanent basis,” said Hoth, previously a lecturer in critical media practices. “It feels like a perfect home for me; I’m very grateful to be with such a forward-thinking department.”

Hoth is one of 10 new professors to join CMDI this fall, bringing experience in artificial intelligence, surveillance studies, technology, journalism and more to the college. Coincidentally, the college is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its founding this year.

Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMDI, said while the quantity of new faculty is impressive, it’s the quality that helps this group stand out.

“I am so impressed with the credentials our new faculty are bringing to the college,” Bergen said. “Whether it’s their published work, varied research interests or boundless enthusiasm for teaching young people and preparing them for professional and person success after college, I know we have an impressive group that will create a lasting impact on the college and university.”

The full lineup of new faculty:

Ian J. Alexander, assistant professor, media studies. He researches the implementation and effects of media technologies in U.S. prisons.
Ashley Carter, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Carter earned her PhD in journalism from the college in the spring. As a a student, she took first place in a best paper competition at the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. She has written for The Denver Post, 303 Magazine and elsewhere.
Yiran Duan, teaching professor, information science. Duan studies how different types of users shape the flow of information using machine learning models, inferential statistics and data visualizations.
Cheri Felix, assistant teaching professor, advertising, public relations and design. Felix has been a lecturer at the college since 2022. She brings varied experiences to CMDI, including work as a writer, founder and program manager.
Kevin Hoth, assistant teaching professor, critical media practices. Hoth is a fine art photographer who has won multiple grants for his work.
Erica Hunzinger, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Hunzinger has been a lecturer at the college since 2022. Her journalism experience includes work for The Associated Press, The Denver Post and elsewhere.
Seonah Kim, assistant teaching professor, media studies. She studies global discourses around racial and gender identity in media that are shaped by structural inequality.
Julia Proft, teaching professor, information science. Proft brings experience in software engineering in educational technology to the college.
Mehak Sawhney, assistant professor, media studies. Her research interests include sound and media studies, surveillance studies, and environmental humanities.
Victoria Pihl Sørensen, assistant teaching professor, media studies. Sørensen conducts research at the intersection of media studies, cultural studies, gender studies, and the history and philosophy of science and technology.
Ilana Trumble, teaching professor, information science. Trumble also is returning to Boulder, having earned her bachelor’s degree here in 2014. She is an expert in statistics and data science.
Hong Tien Vu, associate professor, journalism. Vu brings a decade of experience in journalism from living in Vietnam, including a stint with The Associated Press, to the classroom. He also is director of the college’s Center for Environmental Journalism.
Cody Walizer, assistant teaching professor, communication. Walizer has been teaching game studies, sports communication and related topics at CMDI since 2022. He specializes in debate and game studies.
Jonathan Zong, assistant professor, information science. Zong joins CMDI from the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT. He also studied at Princeton University and was a visiting student at the University of Oxford.

Alexander said he’s excited to join the college as part of such a large group of newcomers.

“It almost feels like a cohort, which is really exciting,” he said. “And at the same time, there are folks in the media studies department who have been around awhile, so it feels like I get to join a new group, and also a good, established one.”

Alexander brings particularly interesting research to CMDI. His work studies the introduction of media technologies—radio, telephone, tablets—into the U.S. carceral system. Through his research, he’s interviewed incarcerated people over phone and video call to better understand how technology advances have been used to isolate politically active people trying to create community within—or among—prisons, or to broadcast to communities in the event of an escape.

The newest tool he’s interested in are tablets, PDFs and video visit systems, which are starting to replace letters from home and legal communications.

“I look at these technologies as tools of struggle, oppression, isolation and manipulation—but also as tools of connection,” he said. “So, for instance, the way people inside are using them to make radio shows or podcasts, produce literature, or build solidarity and community and raise political consciousness.”

It’s work that is historical in its approach, but is worth studying in the current moment—both as the nation dramatically increases investment in policing and incarceration, and with generative artificial intelligence strongly reshaping how we communicate.

“It feels like I get to join a new group, and also a good, established one.”

Ian J. Alexander, assistant professor, media studies

“Like many people who study systems of structural oppression, I wish it were less relevant,” Alexander said. “But beyond just the massive expansion of ICE, and the so-called Alligator Alcatraz, there’s a larger question around what social and political function prisons serve—and what the state is saying about itself through its carceral system.”

Proft, who was a lecturer in the information science department in the spring, said she’s excited to bring her industry experience to the classroom, especially since she worked in educational technology.

“I enjoyed that work, but the impact I was able to have was pretty far removed from the actual students,” she said. “I really value having that smaller, but closer, connection to the students.”

Information science, she said, is a comfortable fit for its attention to creating human impact. That’s something she felt she missed while studying computer science.

“I think information science is one of those things where you ask people what it is, and you get tons of different answers,” she said. “But I think having that diversity—whether it’s technical, or business, or design applications—is really important, because that brings back the more human aspects of technology. So we get away from talking about computing as a topic divorced from anything else in the world.”

She said A.I. and large language models are a topic she’s excited to explore with her students, some of whom consider the advent of LLMs as an invitation to not have to learn to code anymore. Crucially, students must learn to use these tools—but they must be taught that they are tools, not shortcuts.

“When you learn to code, you’re developing a problem-oriented mindset, and learning how to approach and solve those problems,” Proft said. “If they’re leaning on LLMs to generate code, they don’t think about what the code is actually doing, which means when something goes wrong, they can’t address it.”

Hoth, as a fine art photographer, has given plenty of consideration to A.I.’s disruptive impact on the creation of images.

“Especially in media production, A.I. is a huge concern,” he said. “But I don’t put my head in the sand and say, ‘You can’t use any of this, we’re not going to talk about it.’ We have to talk about it. We have to integrate it into our teaching and our practices. But I have to show them where the line is.”

Hoth mentioned a conversation with a past student, who used A.I. to touch up nighttime photos in a project he did that took him around the state.

“I liked that he wasn’t afraid to share that with me,” Hoth said. “In this case, these were meant to be creative pictures—he’s not a documentary photographer—and so we discussed, you couldn’t put this in the Denver Post or New York Times, but with limited usage on a creative project, this kind of tool is OK.”

A major lesson in his classes, outside of technology, is that the right kind of failure is required for growth. He often shares failures from his own career to show how getting things wrong can be helpful.

“The learning environment should be a place of safety, in terms of play and also of learning how to fail well,” he said. “If you put forth your best effort, you’re trying something new and you fail, that’s commendable. That’s how you get to great things.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

The college is welcoming experts in artificial intelligence, surveillance studies, technology, journalism and more this fall.

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A positive influence

Joe Arney — Tue, 12 Aug 2025 21:22:31 +0000

A positive influence Joe Arney Tue, 08/12/2025 - 15:22

Sharon Waters

Few people think about disability until it happens to them or someone they love. Now, a new book by an expert in health communication is challenging scholars to rethink how they consider disability in their own research work.

“Really being aware of disability, and asking about it and learning about it—that’s what we're trying to do with this book,” said Erin Willis, an associate professor in the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Design at ��’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. “How are you experiencing it in your life? Who do you encounter? Do you see it on TV?”

Those are fundamental questions that scholars have long ignored—and she puts herself in that category, as well. Willis is an expert in online health communities who has done pathbreaking work in the study of patient influencers, who amass a following by sharing their lived experiences with medical conditions.

But though she’s been interested in health communication since graduate school, “I haven’t come across this idea of disability,” she said. “It’s not something we think about on a day-to-day basis.”

That led her to the new book she co-edited, Communicating Disability: Expanding Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Health Communication and Mass Media.

Health communication has traditionally focused on health disparities or health equity, with an emphasis on how to change patient behaviors. Willis wants to bring disabled people into the conversation—“not just in a way that we’re trying to fix or prevent the ailment, but that really includes them in the community,” she said.

One chapter of the book that Willis co-authored looks at two models of disability, and how they impact health communication. The medical model focuses on patients, and fixing what is wrong: the ailment or disease.

“When you think about disability in the medical model, you can never be fixed. Your disability might be permanent, and so therefore, something is always wrong with you,” she said. The social model, meanwhile, encompasses the environment and stigma that limit accessibility—literally and figuratively—and calls for structural change to foster inclusion.

Overcoming shame, isolation

Another chapter Willis edited is close to her influencer work, and dives into how online amplification of disabled peoples’ experiences erases stigma.

“Social media have given opportunities to a niche group to really be seen, whereas traditional media might have overlooked them,” Willis said.

Take ostomy, for example, a surgery that creates a new opening for urine or poop to exit into a pouch outside the body. Grassroots efforts to discuss the condition on TikTok and Instagram have helped people with ostomy overcome the shame and social isolation they may feel.

That means people with disabilities no longer have to rely on mainstream media outlets to define their issues or the challenges they face in doing their work.

“Social media have given opportunities to a niche group to really be seen, whereas traditional media might have overlooked them.”

Erin Willis, associate professor, APRD

“Social media has really opened the doors to find each other,” Willis said. “This really fills a gap where all these people did not have this peer support before. It’s all these small things that make a difference.”

Willis is doing further research into disability influencers, some of whom have millions of followers on social media and are reaching far beyond people with the same condition.

“It's an emotional connection. Some kind of curiosity is being stemmed,” she said.

Willis co-edited the book with Chad Painter, an associate professor of communication at the University of Dayton. Some of the book’s authors are disabled—including Willis, who has had severe rheumatoid arthritis since she was 2.

“I do have a disability,” she said. “Despite me saying that, I have never identified as having a disability. This book has really made me think about myself and how I identify with disability—and what that means, even.”

A new textbook edited by a CMDI professor aims to show how scholars can think about disability in their own research.

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Underground, but not overlooked: Mimesis is back in town

Hannah Stewart — Thu, 24 Jul 2025 18:54:16 +0000

Underground, but not overlooked: Mimesis is back in town Hannah Stewart Thu, 07/24/2025 - 12:54

By Hannah Stewart (Comm’19)

Boulder. Ouray. Telluride. Colorado is home to numerous film festivals—and one that’s had everyone talking as of late is, of course, Sundance. The Mimesis Documentary Festival, about to celebrate its sixth year, may not have that same cachet, but it’s leaning into its strength as a niche community.

“We’ve never tried to go mainstream,” said Eric Coombs Esmail, director of the Center for Documentary and Media. “It’s kind of a club, in a sense that it’s a community of people who want to share work with each other, rather than a distribution platform for films.”

This year’s theme is “worlds among worlds,” which draws upon the idea that life and art—in this case, documentary—influece each other cyclically, thus becoming a microcosm within the world we live in.

If you go

What: Mimesis Documentary Festival

When: Aug. 5-10

Where: Boedecker Theater at the Dairy Arts Center, 2590 Walnut St., and virtual screenings.

Who: Festival passes ($80) and virtual passes ($30) are available to the public. �� community members are eligible for a 50% discount, and free tickets are available to �� students.

Learn more and purchase tickets

Over the course of six days—Aug. 5 through 10—festival goers can see films selected from a pool of more than 300 submissions from 59 countries. All films will be shown at the Dairy Arts Center; virtual screenings also will be held. Coombs Esmail said the high caliber of submissions made for an exciting challenge for the programming team.

“It was so strong,” he said. “It was extremely difficult to get representation on a regional and community basis. It’s a really difficult balance to strike, but the team was faithful to the idea of selecting the best program possible.”

Opening night will feature Russian cinematographer Masha Chernaya’s award-winning film The Shards, which received recognition from the Doclisboa International Film Festival, in Portugal, and Doc Alliance. It explores the local Russian underground scene, which Chernaya turned to after experiencing multiple personal losses in the spring of 2022. She will take part in a post-screening conversation.

The 2025 featured artist will also participate in a conversation/workshop about experimental filmmaking. Melissa Langer is a professional cinematographer whose credits include the 2020 TV series Cheer, the 2022 miniseries The Principles of Pleasure and an episode of 2024’s Photographer.

Attendees will get the first look at her debut feature film, In Excess, which combines contemporary filmmaking and previously unseen archival footage to examine the interplay of local and global politics.

“I’m excited for that one because we have a piece that’s very beautiful, but that also has a unique feature in that she is the first person to digitize a lot of these analog video tapes,” Coombs Esmail said.

Other films to keep an eye on are Symphonies of Sound by Ray Leonovich (CritMedia’25) and closing night’s Making Utopia by Mitra Kaboli, which is a hiking and listening experience that ends at the Halfway House, up Boulder’s Flagstaff Mountain.

“The more of a popular destination that Colorado becomes, the harder it’s going to be for us locals to keep our projects going and that competition gets steep,” Coombs Esmail said. “It’s super important that people show up for locally made events. Your presence is the most powerful thing you can provide.”

Melissa Langer's debut film In Excess combines contemporary and historic film footage exploring how local elections can be important in terms of global politics. Langer is this year's featured artist.

CMDI’s Mimesis Film Festival returns to Boulder for its sixth year.

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Research awards highlight CMDI’s focus on how art, humanities can empower progress

Joe Arney — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:40:00 +0000

Research awards highlight CMDI’s focus on how art, humanities can empower progress Joe Arney Fri, 07/18/2025 - 09:40

Joe Arney

Can art bridge the increasingly precarious divide between Americans?

If so, Teri Rueb said, it’s not likely to be something you see in a gallery or a museum. It’s one reason her canvas is typically a landscape that invites people using a particular space to slow down and be moved by the sound she introduces into particular places.

“When we talk about other people from other parts of the country, it seems we don’t even start from a place of basic humility—like respect for how you live, or what your culture is, or the history of where you live,” said Rueb, a professor of critical media practices at ��’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

Rueb is one of six CMDI professors to win Arts and Humanities grants through the university’s Research and Innovation Office. It’s an impressive feat, with CMDI faculty claiming one-quarter of the 20 grants awarded this year; four of the college’s seven academic departments were recognized with funding.

The CMDI faculty recognized with grants are:

Steven Frost, assistant professor, media studies. Threads of Resistance: Sampling Labor Histories Through the Lowell Mill Textile Archives.
Zannah Matson, assistant professor, environmental design. Mine-o-Polis: A Board Game About Mining and Extractive Capital.
Hillary Rosner, assistant teaching professor, journalism. Studies in Nature: Lichen.
Shawhin Roudbari, associate professor; Sophie Weston Chien, chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow, environmental design. Dark Papers: Advancing Forms of Design Justice Discourse.
Rueb, professor of critical media practices. Confluences: Mobile App-Based Site-Specific Soundwalk and Website Archive.

“We’re not trying to replace the peer-reviewed journal. Instead, we’re asking, what are the conversations you need for a journal article?”

Sophie Weston Chien, chancellor’s postdoctoral fellow, environmental design

The Dark Papers project is an initiative of Dark Matter U, a collective of educators, researchers and thinkers that’s critically re-examining design education and practice to be more inclusive.

“Dark papers are really just short, quick, urgent conversations—almost research seedlings,” Chien said. “It is both a record in time and a way to connect and expand dialogues that are happening.”

There is a strong activist strain to this work, which is designed to bring an antiracist perspective to problems in design and architecture. It aims to do so by bringing more voices to the table, including some who have been excluded or underrepresented in academia.

“Dark papers fit in a larger ecosystem of the college, where we have faculty and students doing interesting work in things like extraction, or disability justice,” Roudbari said. “And a bunch of them also do creative dissemination models to raise awareness of these issues.”

The grant will help Dark Matter U complete some badly needed blocking and tackling, like making its website accessible and paying for transcription services. But the project is already getting attention in the professional world, including a takeover of Architect Magazine that examined topics like design justice and how to transform professional practice.

“We’re not trying to replace the peer-reviewed journal,” Chien said. “Instead, we’re asking, what are the conversations you need for a journal article? And how can those conversations be their own kind of instigator to move these ideas forward?”

Rueb’s project, Confluences, is a site-specific sound experience already installed at Ucross, which hosts artists in residency at its Wyoming location, situated amid working ranches. The region is unique—it’s been shaped by agriculture and resource extraction, but is close to arts communities and, of course, Ucross itself. Visitors to the campus who download a free mobile app can hear voices from the community—local ranchers, past artists and field recordings—as they wander the landscape.

The sense of connection in Confluences isn’t just about the land visitors can see, but its original inhabitants. During the course of the project, she worked with Native historians, ethnobotanists and astronomers to better incorporate the narratives of Indigenous people in her art.

Confluences, which Rueb created alongside interdisciplinary artist Laurids Sonne, soft launched earlier this year, and is scheduled to formally debut in August.

“The project has this opportunity to bring people from very different walks of life together, and maybe make the rural-urban dichotomy become more porous,” Rueb said. “There’s simply not enough unscripted, unaffiliated, nonpartisan public space for debate and dialogue at this moment. If we can change that in the tiniest measure, giving amplification to the diversity of walks of life that make up our country, maybe that would help mend some old wounds, and find new ground for conversations.”

Of the 20 projects to earn RIO grants, five are led by faculty from the college.

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A visitor to Ucross uses a smartphone to experience Confluences, a site-specific sound experience in Wyoming. Photo courtesy Ucross Foundation.

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A visitor to Ucross uses a smartphone to experience Confluences, a site-specific sound experience in Wyoming. Photo courtesy Ucross Foundation.

From journals to the op-ed page: Getting the word out about your research

Joe Arney — Thu, 17 Jul 2025 16:51:18 +0000

From journals to the op-ed page: Getting the word out about your research Joe Arney Thu, 07/17/2025 - 10:51

From quantum and aerospace, to sustainable design and biotechnology, research breakthroughs from the �� are responsible for important advances that shape our world for the better.

Now, a workshop led by the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information aims to equip researchers with the skills to write and publish commentary, op-eds and other public-facing work.

Apply now

Applications to the workshop are due Aug. 8. Faculty from across �� are invited to apply.

CMDI, in partnership with the university’s Research and Innovation Office, Office of Collaboration and Center for Humanities and the Arts, will bring the globally recognized OpEd Project to Boulder for a two-day workshop that will include real-time feedback on a draft, advice on how to pitch to media outlets and a month of access to OpEd’s network of mentor-editors.

“The impact of our faculty research is truly changing lives, and it’s crucial that scholars communicate that impact to the public,” said Christine Larson, an associate professor of journalism and the leader of the workshop. “The workshop will help faculty generate ideas, structure public-facing opinion pieces and sell editors on the value of their articles.”

The workshop interrogates constructions of credibility, authority and persuasion, and walks participants through the elements and structure of persuasive media commentary.

The OpEd Project has worked with universities such as Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, Northwestern, the University of Arizona, the University of Texas and Yale. It has partnered with the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation and other organizations, resulting in the publication of tens of thousands of opinion and commentary pieces in major news outlets.

The workshop takes place all day Friday, Sept. 12, and the morning of Saturday, Sept. 13. Applications are due by Aug. 8.

CMDI welcomes the OpEd Project to Boulder for a practical workshop on writing commentary and pitching editors.

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Designer label

Amanda J. McManus — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 19:11:50 +0000

Designer label Amanda J. McManus Tue, 07/01/2025 - 13:11

All things CMDI

Visit our CMDI resources page for more on the college name and FAQs about the opportunities this change will afford to students and alumni.

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm'18)

Art by Cuauhtémoc Campos

A childhood trek to visit Aztec temples in Mexico was the first time Cuauhtémoc Campos thought about a future in architecture.

It wasn’t the last.

Long before the first-year landscape architecture student set foot on the �� campus, Campos helped his father design a porch and a patio area for their home. Now, in his environmental design courses, he’s refining those skills and interests to bring his visions to life, from reusing physical space on campus to a design of his name that borrowed from those Aztec ruins that inspired him.

“Most of the projects we do are hands-on and challenge us to experiment with our creativity,” Campos said. “But also, we do a lot of presentations to prepare us for when we need to talk about our work publicly.”

He said he hopes to further strengthen his communication skills once the environmental design program becomes fully integrated with the College of Media, Communication and Information. On July 1, Campos and his peers will formally become part of CMCI, at which point the college will rebrand itself as the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, or CMDI.

“I was a little shocked when I first heard we were becoming part of CMCI,” he said. “But I feel like the resources we’ll have from being part of the college will add more to what we’re able to learn, while hopefully introducing CMCI students to what makes ENVD special.”

An important charge for Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMCI, was structuring the integration in a way that added value for ENVD students, alumni, faculty and staff without disrupting the cultures of either entity. As a department within the college, environmental design will be able to retain its identity while benefiting from enhanced and expanded services and networks.

“When we created CMCI, we had three concepts that guided our vision—think, innovate and create,” Bergen said. “Now, as we become CMDI, those principles are just as relevant to our identity. If anything, the intensely hands-on nature of an ENVD education reinforces our mission as a college that brings different, but related, disciplines together, to help us bring interdisciplinary insights to increasingly complex problems.”

Azza Kamal, right, works with a student on a project to refresh the Boulder Dushanbe Teahouse.

First forays at collaboration

Faculty and staff from environmental design became part of the college in July 2024, so some collaboration has already begun. Azza Kamal, an associate teaching professor of sustainable planning and urban design, is working with Pat Clark, an assistant professor of critical media practices, to give her students access to the college’s Immersive Media Lab later this semester.

“In my studio, we’re working on a virtual reality/augmented reality model for retrofitting neighborhoods in Denver to comply with green building codes and emission reduction bills, and we’ll use his facility so that students can work on their models, but also to explore and get hands-on with the technology,” Kamal said. “I was going to buy the equipment, but then found out Patrick had everything we needed in his lab. And he’s just amazing—he works around our schedule, students will have access to the lab 24/7, I couldn’t ask for more.”

That kind of collaboration is something Stacey Schulte hopes faculty will build on as the players begin to work together.

“No discipline exists in a vacuum,” said Schulte, director of environmental design. “I am excited to see how environmental design will collaborate with communication- and media-related disciplines, and vice versa.

“As our students continue to create impactful work, they learn how to tell the story of their projects—the problems their designs are intending to solve, and how those solutions create positive community impact—in ways that resonate with stakeholders.”

CMCI's emphasis on communication and presentation skills has Ella Seevers excited about environmental design becoming part of the college.

Kamal said she’s still learning about the players in CMCI who would be good fits for collaboration, “but there is a lot of potential where technology meets storytelling.

“Communication has always been a challenge for architecture and planning students—how to communicate in lay terms. Helping students to take technical, complex designs and be able to tell a story through them—so their clients and the public can appreciate their vision—will be incredibly helpful in their careers.”

That’s a need students recognized, as well. Sophomore Ella Seevers, a landscape architecture student, got some professional communication experience last year, when she worked on a project for the city of Boulder and was challenged to make better use of sites along its creek path. Earlier this month, she went on a site tour and presented her vision to city officials and landscape architects working on a pop-up installation for the summer. Hers is one of three student projects that will influence the final design.

“It was an amazing experience to share our ideas and see that they were actually valued by professional designers who have been doing this for decades,” said Seevers, a teaching assistant in ENVD’s design studios and a mentor to first-year students. “So, I’ve had this opportunity to work with the city already, which is very exciting, because that usually doesn’t happen with a first-year project.

“If you can’t present your design well, and tell other people what you’re thinking and how it’s going to be implemented, then you won’t be a very effective designer,” she said.

Helping students to take technical, complex designs and be able to tell a story through them—so their clients and the public can appreciate their vision—will be incredibly helpful in their careers."
Azza Kamal
Associate Teaching Professor
Environmental Design

‘The story we live in’

While both entities value hands-on learning, critical thinking and creativity, at first glance, it may not be immediately obvious how ENVD and its four majors—architecture, environmental product design, landscape architecture, and sustainable planning and urban design—fit into CMCI. However, “when you think about the stories we hear, tell and watch, environmental design becomes another dimension of the story that we live in,” said Stephanie Marchesi, president of WE Communications, a global integrated communications firm.

“Storytelling is verbal, written and visual—but through their environmental designs, these talented individuals are bringing stories to life in 3D,” said Marchesi (Jour’85), who sits on CMCI’s advisory board. “This will be something very defining for the college, because it’s taking storytelling to new dimensions—literally.”

That’s something faculty in the college are excited to explore in depth.

“My initial reaction to the news was one of intense joy and excitement over what’s possible,” said Bryan Semaan, chair of CMCI’s information science department. “Design intersects so many different spaces. Environmental design researchers are looking at many of the same problems and topics as people across CMCI and within our disciplinary communities, but they’re operating on a scale of how humans will experience and be shaped by the natural and built environments in ways that are important to a sustainable future.”

That could be anything from a database that governs an algorithmic system to the impact of a data center on the environment and people who live nearby.

Elena Sabinson, an assistant professor of environmental design, said an important part of her program’s culture is recognizing and creating things that match the needs of their users. It’s something she works on very closely as director of the Neuro D Lab, which studies how design can trigger innovations that support wellbeing and accessibility to those who are neurodivergent.

“I would say my colleagues in ENVD are interested in bridging those mismatches between the environment and the needs of a user,” she said. “And I think CMCI is already doing a lot of that in its own way, whether it’s documentary or information science or any of those spaces.”

‘Who needs to learn about argument more?’

Alumni like Christopher Bell (PhDMediaSt’09) are watching to see how the college prepares students for the kinds of challenges he sees at work. Bell, a consultant and president of CreativityPartners LLC, said he’s excited to see student and alumni collaborations going forward, such as social media managers who can raise money and awareness for life-changing products coming out of environmental design.

“People who believe they are ‘just’ technically focused are the people who need the most instruction in communication,” said Bell, also a member of CMCI’s advisory board and an instructor who teaches courses in screenwriting and cultural studies. “Those are the people who need us the most, because they are making arguments and sending messages.

“Architecture and city planning are arguments. They’re arguments about what matters, who matters and doesn’t, how we see ourselves in relation to other people, and what is important to spend resources on. So, who needs to learn about argument more than environmental designers?”

When you think about the stories we hear, tell and watch, environmental design becomes another dimension of the story that we live in.”
Stephanie Marchesi (Jour’85)
CMCI Advisory Board member

Meet the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information.

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CMCI and ENVD share a tradition of hands-on learning, a thirst for innovation and a passion for solving problems in ways that move the world. Those shared values will guide them as they join together and CMCI renames itself the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. Art by Ella Seevers.

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CMCI and ENVD share a tradition of hands-on learning, a thirst for innovation and a passion for solving problems. Those values will guide them as CMCI renames itself the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information. Art by Ella Seevers.

Wildfires, water quality, weather patterns: Scripps fellows have ambitious plans for climate reporting

Joe Arney — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 22:25:22 +0000

Wildfires, water quality, weather patterns: Scripps fellows have ambitious plans for climate reporting Joe Arney Thu, 06/26/2025 - 16:25

By Sharon Waters

The 2025-26 class of Ted Scripps Fellows in Environmental Journalism at ��’s College of Communication, Media, Design and Information will explore a range of issues related to climate change, encompassing emerging infectious diseases to technology’s potential role in catching arsonists responsible for wildfires.

Part of the college’s Center for Environmental Journalism, the Scripps fellowship gives full-time journalists the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and understanding of a variety of topics, so they can more effectively report on pressing environmental issues in ways that resonate with broad audiences. Over a nine-month period, fellows attend classes, participate in weekly seminars and field trips, and meet experts as they develop independent journalistic projects related to the environment.

Established in 1993, the Scripps fellowship has been based at �� since 1997, making this the 29th class to join the program as part of the university.

This year’s fellows are:

	Ben Cathey, meteorologist and environmental/science reporter, WLVT. Cathey will spend his fellowship pursuing a serialized set of news pieces on wildfires. With the Front Range as a backdrop, Cathey plans to predict weather patterns governing wildfires while studying the use of artificial intelligence and drones to spot fires and catch arsonists. Cathey has won Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards, and his work has been honored by The Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and American Meteorological Society.
	Erin Douglas, climate reporter, The Boston Globe. As a Scripps fellow, Douglas will study the relationship between climate and emerging infectious diseases. At the Globe, Douglas covers climate adaptation and resilience, including rising sea levels, disaster recovery, inland flooding and water quality. She has also covered climate change for The Texas Tribune and energy and environment issues for the Houston Chronicle. Douglas’ work has been recognized by Investigative Reporters and Editors, Society of Environmental Journalists, and Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. She was part of Tribune teams honored with Murrow awards in 2022.
	Christopher Solomon, freelance journalist. A full-time freelancer since 2002, Solomon writes frequently for The New York Times. His work also has appeared in Outside Magazine, National Geographic, Wired, Travel + Leisure, Orion and other national publications. Solomon is a former staff reporter for The Seattle Times and was a contributing editor and contract writer for Outside. His work has been featured seven times in the annual Best American anthologies of notable writing from HarperCollins.
	Chris Walker, freelance journalist. During his fellowship, Walker will study corporate sustainability, with a focus on how investors, regulators and the current political climate are influencing climate actions by businesses. His environmental reporting includes stories about a Turkish town’s fight against a coal plant, rights of nature lawsuits, and climate denialism among oil and gas executives. A three-time Livingston Award finalist, Walker has been a staff writer at two alt-weeklies and an editor with 5280. His work has appeared in The Ecologist, Westword and The Lever.
	Amanda Williams, special projects editor, NPR 1A. As a fellow, Williams will explore intergenerational stories of climate change around the world, connecting family stories of environmental change to climate solutions. Williams hopes to center young people in her reporting, including her daughter, born in 2024. At NPR’s 1A, Williams manages long-term projects, including on-air series, partnerships and events, plus daily news coverage. She was a local newspaper reporter in southern Virginia and a student reporting fellow with the Pulitzer Center.

The newest class of fellows at the Center for Environmental Journalism brings experience from NPR, The New York Times, National Geographic and more.

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