Center of the American West Event Podcast

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West. Timothy Egan has demonstrated singular achievement, creativity, and dedication to the perception of the West and Western issues. Mr. Egan writes op-ed pieces with a Western perspective for The New York Times once a week. He is also the author of seven books, including The Worst Hard Time, which won the 2006 National Book Award for nonfiction. Please join us for what will be a wonderful and stimulating evening. A special thanks to Al and Carol Ann Olson for making this event possible.

In We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Doug Bradley and Craig Werner place popular music at the heart of the American experience in Vietnam. They explore how and why U.S. troops turned to music as a way of connecting to each other and the world back home and of coping with the complexities of the war they had been sent to fight. They also demonstrate that music was important for every group of Vietnam veterans—black and white, Latino and Native American, men and women, officers and “grunts.” Co sponsored by: AMRC, CU Boulder Student Veterans Association, CU Veteran Services, The Center of the American West, the Conference on World Affairs, the International Affairs Program, the CU History Department.

A book release event featuring Pam Houston, Patty Limerick, and the book’s editor Taylor Brorby reading selections from the book and engaging in conversation about this complicated and important issue. Fracture brings together the voices of more than fifty writers who explore the complexities of fracking through first-hand experience, investigative journalism, storytelling, and verse. At a time when politics and profits inhibit our ability to have meaningful discussions about fracking, these creative pieces provide an opportunity to change the nature of our national conversation.

William (Will) Wilson is a Diné photographer who spent his formative years living in the Navajo Nation. In 2007, Wilson won the Native American Fine Art Fellowship from the Eiteljorg Museum, and in 2010 was awarded a prestigious grant from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. Wilson created The Critical Indigenous Exchange because he was impatient with the way that American culture remains enamored with photographer Edward S. Curtis’s portraits. For many people even today, Native people remain frozen in time in the Curtis photos. Wilson is resuming the documentary mission of Curtis from the standpoint of a 21st century indigenous photographer, building a contemporary vision of Native North America.

We are thrilled to announce the first Center of the American West Fool for a Day Award. This award was created to celebrate those individuals whose temperaments support the central conviction of the Center of the American West: a dose of good humor is essential to constructive public discussion, and not coincidentally, to public health. In addition to serving as the Cartoon editor of The New Yorker, Mr. Mankoff is the author of How about Never – – Is Never good for you?: My life in Cartoons and is the editor of The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker. Please mark your calendars for what will surely be an entertaining evening.

With the help of community members like you, the Center of the American West’s FrackingSENSE series returns. These Spring 2015 events bring speakers who offer a unique range of perspectives on Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas and Oil development.

Each year, the Center of the American West presents the Wallace Stegner Award to an individual who has made a sustained contribution to the cultural identity of the West through literature, art, history, lore, or an understanding of the West. For the first time ever, the Center of the American West is presenting the Stegner Award to an organization, Rocky Mountain Rescue. This all volunteer organization embodies the spirit of the American West, serving not only as the primary mountain search and rescue agency for Boulder County but also assisting other mountain rescue teams from across Colorado and throughout the West. In addition, Rocky Mountain Rescue provides disaster response services in situations such as the 2013 Boulder floods, blizzards, and fires; along with outdoor safety education to the community.

With the help of community members like you, the Center of the American West’s FrackingSENSE series returns. These Spring 2015 events bring speakers who offer a unique range of perspectives on Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas and Oil development.

The Center of the American West is proud to host a screening of Losing the West a documentary about small ranching and farming, exemplified by the story of a lifelong Colorado cowboy. Howard Linscott IS the original Marlboro Man, a gruff, chain-smoking 70-year-old who’s been ranching all his life. With sweeping shots of the Colorado Rockies, the film explores whether cherished Western traditions and this fiercely independent lifestyle can survive as they collide with inevitable population growth in the West and its dwindling natural resources. The screening will be followed by a discussion between Patty Limerick and the film’s Director and Producer, Alex Warren.

The tradition of the Fool has deep origins in human society. In the mid-1970s, Patty Nelson (soon to acquire the fortunately silly surname ‘Limerick”) undertook to revive the tradition, with higher education as its “kingdom.” In this illustrated talk, she will review nearly four decades of adventures and misadventures as a selfconfessed, officially appointed, forthright Fool.

With the help of community members like you, the Center of the American West’s FrackingSENSE series returns. These Spring 2015 events bring speakers who offer a unique range of perspectives on Hydraulic Fracturing and Natural Gas and Oil development.

The Center of the American West’s Modern Indian Identity series is thrilled to present Montana filmmakers Andrew Smith and Alex Smith and their movie, Winter in the Blood for a free screening and conversation. An adaptation of James Welch’s seminal novel of the same name, Winter in the Blood offers an intimate portrait of Native life that, as Howie Movshovitz says, “leaves ‘feathers or leather’ clichés behind.” Following the film NPR film critic Howie Movshovitz, the Center of the American West Faculty Director Patty Limerick, and Alex and Andrew Smith will engage in a discussion about the film and the issues it raises. Don’t miss this very special evening. The presentation will be followed by a discussion about the film featuring Patty Limerick, NPR film critic Howie Movshovitz, and the film’s writers, directors, and producers, Andrew and Alex Smith.

FrackingSENSE events are public forums, convened by the Center of the American West, that aim to increase the productivity and elevate the character of public dialog about unconventional oil and gas development in Colorado and the American West at large. At FrackingSENSE events, the emphasis is on increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of public discourse through listening, evidence-based discussion, thoughtful questioning, respectful disagreement, and an atmosphere of civility.

The Center of the American West is proud to present former National Park Service Director Robert Stanton giving the 2014 Randy Jones Lecture, October 9, in celebration of the centennial of Rocky Mountain National Park. Robert G. Stanton, former Senior Advisor to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C., and former Director of the National Park Service, is a Visiting University Lecturer and Private Consultant in national park administration, natural and cultural resource management and diversity in employment and public programs. The Randy Jones Memorial Lecture Series was created by CU-Boulder’s Center of the American West, in collaboration with Rocky Mountain National Park, as a tribute to former National Park Service Deputy Director Randy Jones. Jones served as superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park from 1995 to 2002.

Organized by the Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and with support and participation from the City of Greeley, KUNC, Mineral Resources, Inc., Synergy Resources, The Tribune, the UNC Faculty Task Force on Hydraulic Fracturing, University of Northern Colorado, and Weld Air & Water.

Organized by the Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and with support and participation from the City of Greeley, KUNC, Mineral Resources, Inc., Synergy Resources, The Tribune, the UNC Faculty Task Force on Hydraulic Fracturing, University of Northern Colorado, and Weld Air & Water. *Note - Due to complications with the audio set up at the location of this event, we were unable to obtain quality audio for this entire presentation and removed the second half of the Q & A session from the podcast. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.*

The Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Network and Boulder County are proud to introduce the Spring edition of FrackingSENSE 2.0. We have encouraged our speakers to offer evidence-based findings that might lead to recommendations and prescriptions for the future. All our upcoming speakers will demonstrate how they weigh evidence, evaluate conflicting studies, and appraise contradictory claims.

Organized by the Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Research Network funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and with support and participation from the City of Greeley, KUNC, Mineral Resources, Inc., Synergy Resources, The Tribune, the UNC Faculty Task Force on Hydraulic Fracturing, University of Northern Colorado, and Weld Air & Water.

The Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Network and Boulder County are proud to introduce the Spring edition of FrackingSENSE 2.0. We have encouraged our speakers to offer evidence-based findings that might lead to recommendations and prescriptions for the future. All our upcoming speakers will demonstrate how they weigh evidence, evaluate conflicting studies, and appraise contradictory claims.

The Center of the American West, in conjunction with the AirWaterGas Sustainability Network and Boulder County are proud to introduce the Spring edition of FrackingSENSE 2.0. We have encouraged our speakers to offer evidence-based findings that might lead to recommendations and prescriptions for the future. All our upcoming speakers will demonstrate how they weigh evidence, evaluate conflicting studies, and appraise contradictory claims.