Liberty, Freedom, Democracy: The Fight for Ideas (2023-24)

The Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) concentrated聽its programming for the 2023 - 2024 academic year on the theme of 鈥淟iberty, Freedom, Democracy: The Fight for Ideas.鈥

Liberty, Freedom, Democracy logo

CHA's official logo for their 2023-24 programming theme "Liberty, Freedom, Democracy: The Fight for Ideas"

These three words 鈥攍iberty, freedom, democracy 鈥 are words associated with the United States, the belief that the US in the guise of 鈥淎merican Dream鈥 imagery and mythology promises to all who come to its shores. In the last decade these words, and all they convey and connote, have also been wielded for political purposes, weaponized rhetorically to suggest that certain people and ideologies are more worthy of being American than others. That certain people belong in the US and are entitled to liberty, freedom, democracy 鈥 and everyone else is excluded from these terms and their concepts.

The CHA will investigate what the actual meaning of these terms are. What does 鈥渓iberty鈥 in the context of US civil rights means, particularly given the erosion of rights that the Supreme Court has been handing down in the last few years? And is it 鈥渇reedom鈥 to be who you want to be or 鈥渇reedom鈥 from various oppressions 鈥 and who decides what is considered 鈥渙ppression鈥 vs what is 鈥渇reedom鈥? And in a time when democracy, globally, seems under threat 鈥 where for the first time in its history the United States was in danger of a peaceful transition of power on January 6, 2021鈥攖he question of what makes a nation a 鈥渄emocracy鈥 and who 鈥渄emocracy鈥 is for, are among the considerations that the CHA wishes to take up through this theme.

Spring 2024聽Events and Programming:

Graduate Student Arts & Humanities Salon
Wednesday, January 24, 12:15pm - 1:30pm at the Rec Center - Ice Overlook Large Meeting Room

Why Don't You Think Like I Do? Navigating the Space Between Us
Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations series (partnered with聽聽and their聽听蝉别谤颈别蝉)
January 31, 2024, 6pm - 7pm at聽

The Frontier of Free Speech: Are There Boundaries?
Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations series (partnered with聽聽and their聽听蝉别谤颈别蝉)
February 28, 2024, 6pm - 7pm at聽

Faculty Celebration of Major Works: Showcase and Magazine Launch
Thursday, February 29, 4pm - 6pm at Norlin Library's CBIS Room M549

Difficult Dialogues:聽Reparations
March 20, 2024, 12:30pm - 1:45pm at CASE E390, Center for Teaching & Learning
University Libraries Resources Guide:聽

How to Have Difficult Conversations with Friends and Loved Ones鈥攊ncluding talking about Gaza and Israel
Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations series (partnered with聽聽and their聽听蝉别谤颈别蝉)
March 27, 2024, 6pm - 7pm at聽

Cox Family Process Speaker Series: Gabrielle Calvocoressi
Wednesday, April 17, 5:30pm - 7pm聽at Norlin Library's CBIS Room M549

Liberty, Freedom, Democracy: Maia Kobabe and Gabrielle Calvocoressi in Conversation
Thursday, April 18, 2024. 4pm - 5:30pm at University Memorial Center (UMC) 235聽

Fall 2023 Events and Programming:

Difficult Dialogues:聽Antisemitism and Being Jewish in the US
September 13, 7pm - 8:30pm at Grace Commons Church
How the event relates to the theme
:聽The United States prides itself on religious 鈥渇reedom,鈥 and yet attacks on Jewish people have been all too common throughout human history, and antisemitism is also too common in places like liberal Boulder county. Through our semi-annual Difficult Dialogues event, we聽will engage in conversation about with the rise of antisemitism in the last decade 鈥 a rise that some might say has never disappeared and has resurfaced with events like the march on Charlottesville, the attack on the Tree of Life synagogue, and recent comments by celebrities.

Freedom to Read: Banned Books Week
October 1 - 7, 2023, Social Media Campaign

How the campaign relates to the theme:聽The CHA brings awareness to book censorship and celebrates freedom of expression by supporting and promoting books that have been banned or challenged during Banned Books Week. We invite people to participate in the campaign by submitted a video recording of themselves either reading aloud from a聽banned book OR sharing their support and reasons why a specific book should not be banned. Videos are to be聽featured on the , , and .

Children's Book Festival: Banned Book Panel
October 25, 5:30pm - 7:30pm, Boulder Public Library

How the event relates to the theme:聽The CHA is co-sponsoring a panel on book bans at the Children鈥檚 Book Festival, because challenges to books, be they for children, teens, and adults, have risen exponentially over the last five years, especially books that affirm the experiences of LGBTQ+ people and most especially those that positively embrace and celebrate transgender and gender non-binary children, teens, and adults. We ask who has the 鈥渓iberty鈥 to decide what books children, teens, and adults get to read? Liberty implies choice 鈥 and removing the choice of reading material from library shelves, classrooms, and college curricula is distinctly un-democratic, leading us to ask how book challenges and curtailing academic 鈥渇reedom鈥 has any place in a true 鈥渄emocracy.鈥

Reparative Faculty Fellowship to Address Settler Colonialism 2024 - 2025
Deadline to Apply: October 1, 2023

How the opportunity relates to the theme: We introduced this聽Faculty Fellowship to engage in the repair process 鈥 because we believe that the acknowledgment of Indigenous land should come with reparations. To that end, we have created a baby直播app fellowship to address the harm of settler colonialism.