I was born in a small village full of indigenous Tharu people in Nepal in the year the Nepali Civil War began, 1996. Even though my parents were low-income immigrants from the hilly region, because of existing precedence, we belonged to the upper social strata. Contrary to my parents’ lives, I grew up having enough … Continue reading A Short Reflection on my Privilege and Education
Sustainability: a buzz-word that excites environmentalist and corporate CEO alike has reached a pivotal point in its history. In recent times, this term has impressed itself upon social consciousness in a variety of different ways. At times it has brought about monumental change for the good, and at others, it stood as a symbol for … Continue reading Sustainability: What is in a Word
“The idea of citizen participation is a little like eating spinach: no one is against it in principle because it is good for you.” (Arnstein 1969, p. 216) Photo from 2jdominic at eatthismuch.com Arnstein’s analogy from her 1969 seminal work on citizen participation brings to mind a vibrant visual of a steaming bowl of spinach. … Continue reading Tokenism: The Cooked Spinach of Community Engagement
From the moment I declared my second major in gender and women’s studies and started to share this information with family, friends, and strangers, I have been haunted by a single question in an astounding array of manifestations: “So… what do you do with that?” My responses have ranged anywhere from a detailed, in-depth explanation … Continue reading Putting Feminist Theory to Work
The number one idea we interrogate in each of my masters in higher education classes is who does (insert any aspect of higher education) include? Who does this leave out or not include? This concept arises when we are talking about the historical contexts of specific colleges, when we are unpacking the canon of student … Continue reading The Power of the Next Generation (and Their Access to It)
When I first learned I had been chosen as the gentrification community-engaged fellow at CCESL I had a rush of dichotomous emotions – excitement, confusion and overwhelming fear. How could I possibly focus on the broad and complex term of “gentrification”? As a recent transplant to the Denver Metro Area, I quickly learned small, long-standing … Continue reading From the Tag to the #Hashtag: A Brief Case Study on Street Art in RiNo
What is Public Participation? In the world of policy making and planning, there seems to be a growing conversation on the role of public participation in developing smarter and more effective policies. More public participation has been lauded as a potential solution to address a variety of governance issues, from allocation of environmental resources like … Continue reading Public Participation: The Processes of Citizen Engagement for the Public Good
Quietistic—crippled by what could go wrong and give up on politics as a meaningful pursuit. According to Marriam-Webster, quietism is “a passive withdrawn attitude or policy toward the world or worldly affairs.” That word—quietistic—strikes me as an easy alternative to working through my identity as a privileged student (because of my race, economic status, ability, etc). I work … Continue reading The Harm of Quietistic Tendencies
With more humans holding refugee status than any other time in history, more of the global community have found ways to create empathy and find opportunities to connect with those refugees in need. This year, the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO), a group of thousands of Jewish teens all over the world, selected Denver as the … Continue reading The B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) Empathize with Refugees
The University of Denver Prison Arts Initiative was founded in late 2017 by Dr. Ashley Hamilton and Dr. Apryl Alexander, with a mission to provide therapeutic and educational arts programming to people incarcerated in Colorado prisons. Over the past several months, the DU PAI has grown exponentially. There is now arts programming in four different … Continue reading DU PAI UPDATES
CCESL Student Fellows 