The Social Sciences Symposium Series
About the Social Sciences Symposium Series
The purpose of the Social Sciences Symposium Series is to host conferences/workshops and bring scholars from a variety of disciplines to our campus to discuss future directions in social sciences, as a form of knowledge production and as it is institutionalized in the university.
We encourage discussion on the changing role of the university in society; how this relates to the way we teach students, and how we relate with surrounding communities. We seek to promote critical and interdisciplinary discussion of the practice of social sciences.
The series is organized by a faculty committee with current participation from the departments of Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, and Women’s & Ethnic Studies (WEST). The Social Sciences Symposium Series Committee was formed in 1994 by Ruben Martínez. Tre Wentling (WEST) serves as the current chair.
More Information
- Tre Wentling (WEST; Chair)
- Sara Hagedorn (Political Science)
- Haruki Eda (Sociology)
- Julie Torres (WEST)
- George Bayuga (Anthropology)
- Dylan Harris (Geography)
- Josh Vandiver (Political Science)
- Kee Warner (Sociology)
- John Harner (Geography)
- Patricia Keilbach (Political Science)
- Aditi Mitra (Sociology and WEST)
- Joseph Postell (Political Science)
- Inhan Kim (Political Science)
- Michelle Escasa-Dorne (Anthropology)
- Stephen Suh (Sociology/WEST)
- Tara Cepon-Robins (Anthropology)
Significant Speakers
Since its beginnings, the Social Sciences Symposium Series' guest speakers have enriched the intellectual environment at CU Colorado Springs in many ways and stimulated new approaches to research and teaching. Below is a list of those speakers and their topics.
Selected Past Speakers: 2024
| Faculty Voices | "Palestine /Israel Teach-In: Histories, Rights, Global Perspectives" | ||
| Kaylani Hocog Manglona | Anthropology | University of Pennsylvania | “Hagan – Haga’: Language, Lifeblood, & Legacy of the CHamoRu Tribe” |
| Casey James Miller | Anthropology | Muhlenberg College | “Inside the Circle” |
| Jonathan Sawmiller | Space Law | U.S. Space Command | "The Evolution in International Space Law" |
| Chantal Figueroa | Sociology | Colorado College | “Picturing Mental Health: Insights from the Americas” |
| Doug Hertzler | Senior Policy Analyst | Action Aid USA | “Does Your TIAA Retirement Plan Include Land Grabs & Fossil Fuels” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2023
| Liat Ben Moshe | Sociology | University of Illinois at Chicago | “(Re)Imagining Communities of Resistance” |
| Faculty & Community Voices | “Palestine/Israel Teach-In: Contexts, Voices, Affects” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2021
| Jason Oliver Chang | Political Science | University of Connecticut | “From Orientalism to Yellow Peril: A History of Asians in the U.S.” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2020
| Michael Munger | Political Science | Duke University | “Is Capitalism Sustainable?” |
| Terry Moe | Political Science | Stanford University | “Exposing the Second Face of Power” |
| Bek Orr | Sociology | SUNY Brockport | “Ethnographic Methods in the Queer Archive” |
| Rebecca Hanson | Sociology | University of Florida | “Harassed: Gendered Bodies and Field Research” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2019
| Agustin Fuentes | Anthropology | Notre Dame University | “What is Race, What it’s not, and Why it Matters” |
| Audrey Horning | Anthropology | William & Mary / Queen’s University Belfast | “Confronting Pasts in the Present: Archaeology, colonial legacies, and building better futures” |
| Amy McDowell | Sociology | University of Mississippi | “‘We’re Drawing a Line’: How Ordinary Evangelicals Promote Religious Liberty at Church” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2018
| Stanley Thangaraj | Anthropology / Ethnic Studies | City College of New York | "Sporting Culture between ‘Model Minority’ and ‘Terrorist’” |
| Mark Koyama | Economics | George Mason University | “Persecution & Toleration: The Long Road to Religious Freedom” |
| Klint Janulis | Anthropology | Oxford | “Minds as Materials: What can the intersection of the Environmental Sciences, Anthropology, and Archaeology tell us about Human social structures and cognition in prehistory?” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2017
| Jennifer Lawless | Political Science | American University | “Why Don’t Women Run for Office and What Happens When They Do?” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2015
| Marjorie Zatz | Sociology | University of California – Merced | “Dreams and Nightmares: Immigration Policy, Youth and Families” |
| Wenda Trevathan | Anthropology | New Mexico State University | “Ancient Bodies, Modern Lives” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2014
| Steve Chan | Political Science | University of Colorado- Boulder | “Looking for Balance: China, the United States and Power Balancing in East Asia” |
| Shari Dworkin | Sociology | University of California- San Francisco | “Men at Risk: Gender Relations and HIV Prevention” |
| Barbara Rothman | Sociology | Baruch College, City University of New York | “Weaving a Family: Untangling Race and Adoption” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2013
| Myron Gutmann | Geography | NSF/University of Michigan | “Greenhouse Gas Production and the Web of Population in the U.S. Great Plains” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2012
| Sidney Milkis | Political Science | University of Virginia | “What Happened to Post-Partisanship? Barack Obama and the New American Party System” |
| John Kedrowsii | GES | Central Washington University | “Sleeping on the Summit: From Colorado to Mount Everest” |
| Allison Hopkins | GES / Anthropology | University of Arizona | “Traditional Medicine and the Transmission of Knowledge in Mexico and the Southwestern United States” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2011
| Ben Carrington | Sociology | University of Texas at Austin | “Fear of a Black Athlete: White Sporting Mythologies in the Age of Obama” |
| Donovan Kennedy | NGO Activist / Human Rights | Yobel Market - Colorado Springs | “Awareness is a fad! It’s all about action these days.” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2010
| Margaret Randall | Independent Artist / Writer | Poet, Photographer, Activist | “To Change the World: My Years in Cuba” |
| Andrea Smith | Media & Cultural Studies | University of California -Riverside | “Women of Color and State Violence” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2009
| Sam Quinones | Migration Studies /Human Rights | LA Times Reporter and Bestselling Author | “True Tales of Mexican Migration” |
| Ronald B. Mitchell | Political Science | University of Oregon | “Global Environmental Problems and Politics: Musings of a Pessimistic Optimist” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2008
| Mark Hanis Executive | Human Rights | Director of the Genocide Intervention Network | “Student Activism Symposium -- Beyond Bake Sales: How You Can Make A Difference that Lasts” |
| Michael Poffenberger | Human Rights | Executive Director of Resolve Uganda | “Student Activism Symposium -- Beyond Bake Sales: How You Can Make A Difference that Lasts” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2007
| Shep Melnick | Political Science | Boston College | “Law or Politics: Does the Supreme Court Follow the Election Returns?” |
| Nathan Morrow | Geography | United Nations World Food Program | “Evidence and Emergency: How Improvements in Information Systems are Showing Us Just How Little We Understand about International Humanitarian Intervention” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2006
| V. Spike Peterson | Political Science | University of Arizona | "From Children and Casseroles to Commodities and Credit: Rethinking the Global Political Economy" |
| Michael Blakely | Anthropology and American Studies | College of William and Mary | “New York's African Burial Ground: Bioarchaeology for the 21st Century” |
| Cynthia Enloe | International Relations Studies | Clark University | “Gender, Militarization and Security at the Dawn of the the 21st Century” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2005
| Thomas Shapiro | Sociology | Brandeis University | "The Cost of Being Black in America: How Wealth Matters and What Can Be Done About It" |
| Mark Moore | Criminal Justice Policy and Management | Harvard University | “Creating Public Value through Public Universities: Challenges of Governance, Purpose, Leadership, and Management” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2004
| Bernard Amadei | Professor of Civil Engineering | CU-Boulder | “Engineering with Soul: Sustainability Engineering and International Development” |
| Hillary Mizia | Sustainability Outreach Coordinator | New Belgium Brewery | “Brewing Sustainability: The Business Case for Sustainability” |
| Thoric Cederstrom | Sustainability | Counterpoint International | “Malnutrition at the Margin: The Political Ecology of Global Hunger and Sustainability of International Food Aid” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2002-2003
| David Schlosberg | Political Science | Northern Arizona University | “Nature, Justice, and Culture: Environmental Justice in an Era of Globalization” |
| Julian Agyeman | Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning | Tufts University | “Just Sustainabilities: Race, Class, and Urban Sustainability” |
Selected Past Speakers: 2001-2002
| Sallie Marston | Geography | University of Arizona | “Citizens and the State: Contextualizing Citizenship Formation in Space and Time” |
| Paul Quirk | Political Science | University of Illinois | “Can the Public Make Good Policy Choices: The Rational Public Revisited” |
| Michael Kimmel | Sociology | SUNY Stoneybrook | co-sponsored a lecture on masculinity in America |
Selected Past Speakers: 2000-2001
| Simon Glynn | Philosophy | Florida Atlantic University | “Reductive Explanation Versus Interpretive Understanding Human and Social Sciences” |
| Kevin McHugh | Geography | Arizona State University | “Will to Power: Retiree-Latino Conflict in Fragmented Phoenix” |
| Don Michell | Geography | Syracuse University | “Putting Social Theory to Work: The People’s Geography Project and the Popularization of Radical Geography” |
Selected Past Speakers: 1999-2000
|
Selected Past Speakers: Pre-1999
| Ronald Eller | History | University of Kentucky |
| David Noble | Sociology | York University |
| Joni Seager | Geography | University of Vermont |
| Jim Hightower | Social Commentator | Dallas, Texas |
| Mary Romero | Sociologist | Arizona State University |
| Vandana Shiva | Physicist/Environmental Activist | Arizona State University |
| Jim Blaut | Geographer | University of Illinois |
| Jacek Kugler | Political Scientist | Vanderbilt University |
| Jorge Klor de Alva | Sociologist | UC Berkeley |
| Evelyn Hu de Hart | Anthropologist | CU Boulder |
| Michael Omi | Sociologist | UC Berkeley |
| Sandra Harding | Philosopher | University of Delaware |
| Devon Peña | Sociologist | Colorado College |
| Dorothy Smith | Sociologist | University of Toronto |
| Janice Newson | Sociologist | York University |
| Stanley Aronowitz | Sociologist | CUNY |
| Larry Brown | Geographer | Ohio State University |