Don’t miss the Visiting Writer Series with Arthur Sze, tomorrow, Thursday, March 26 at 7 p.m. in Celeste Theatre. Sze is the 25th Poet Laureate of the United States and the first Asian American to hold the office. The reading will be followed by a book signing and reception, with coffee and dessert in Cornerstone Main Space. Books will be available for purchase.

Arthur Sze is a poet, translator, and editor. His collection Sight Lines won the 2019 National Book Award for Poetry, and The Glass Constellation: New and Collected Poems received the National Book Foundation’s Science + Literature Award. His most recent work is Into the Hush, his 12th book of poetry. 

For more information and to register, please visit the Campus Calendar.

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

It’s spring, a time for renewal and celebration! In Block 7, we encourage you to check out a variety of opportunities to learn from and connect with colleagues: join faculty and staff workshops that support communication and problem-solving skills, take a deep dive into the programs and people supporting student success, share your insights with our global Block teaching community, celebrate colleagues’ accomplishments, and commit to nourishing your creative self by joining an interdisciplinary community of innovative thinkers in academic year 2027. The Crown Center is here to provide support, encouragement, and pathways to community, this and every block.

Thursday, March 26, 2-3:30 p.m., Honnen 101
C&I Afternoon Workshop: Creative Problem Solving as a Strategy, by Kris Stanec
Registration
Looking for non-arts-based strategies to engage in creative thinking? This workshop explores the systematic process of Creative Problem Solving (CPS). This evidence-based framework can be applied across disciplines and allows participants time to adapt the approach to multiple pedagogical contexts.

Wednesday, April 1, 12:15-1:30 p.m., Tutt Library 105
Crown Lunch Workshop: Mentorship Strategies, by Marion Hourdequin and Corina McKendry
Registration 
A significant amount of students’ learning occurs outside the classroom, often in extracurricular settings such as coaching, advising, work-study positions, or faculty/student research projects. This session will explore both structured and informal ways to help students effectively plan next steps toward their goals.

Thursday, April 16, 8:30-10:30 a.m., Cossitt Lounge
On the fourth Thursday of each Block, join the Crown Center staff for an informal gathering over coffee/tea and a light breakfast. Drop by any time for conversation and collegiality.

Join Creativity & Innovation’s 2026-27 Creative Courage Cohort 
Registration
The Creative Courage Cohort offers faculty members a structured, year-long program to cultivate creative thinking in the classroom. The program begins with a two-day immersive experience on August 13-14, during which participants learn evidence-based theories, frameworks, and methodologies for creative problem-solving. Attendance at both immersion days is required, as these sessions form the foundational scaffolding upon which the remainder of the program builds. Following the immersion, cohort members reconvene for workshops, structured discussions, and applied exercises held on the third Thursday of Blocks 1-3 and 5-7. Support is tailored to each faculty member’s disciplinary context and pedagogical objectives, ensuring meaningful, transferable outcomes. Upon successful completion of the program, participants are awarded a stipend of up to $4,000. 

Thursday, April 16, 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tutt Library
Student Success Forum
Registration
The inaugural Student Success Forum will bring together academic offices that support student learning to share how students are navigating the rigors of the Block Plan outside of individual classrooms. Students come to our academic resources to access academic coaching and peer-to-peer tutoring. These learning hubs also provide space to unpack the hidden expectations of CC and the curriculum. Peer tutors and peer mentors see firsthand how students tackle writing assignments, handle quantitative data, prepare for oral presentations, and visualize data in spatial reasoning projects. Their insights can illuminate how students interact with your assignments, feedback, and course materials. So, whether you’re a junior faculty member or visiting faculty member looking for some more perspectives on pedagogies or an established professor looking to see another side of teaching and learning and the student experience, please join us for one (or all) of the sessions in the Student Success Forum. A full program is forthcoming, but the forum begins with Welcome and Introduction in the Tim Fuller Event Space, followed by breakout sessions from 9:15-10 a.m., 10:15-11 a.m., and 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. We’ll reconvene in the Fuller Event Space at 12:30 p.m. for a catered lunch and open discussion. The Student Success Forum is co-hosted by Accessibility Resources, the Advising Hub, the Colket Center for Academic Excellence, College Transition Programs, and Digital Student Experience.

Tuesday, March 31, 4 p.m., Fuller Event Space, Tutt Library
Book Celebration: Art-Science Undisciplined: A Playbook for Transformative Collaboration by Associate Professor Natalie Gosnell and multidisciplinary artist Janani Balasubramanian
From the publisher’s website: Art-Science Undisciplined invites us into a collaborative journey grounded in mutual exploration and transformation. Moving beyond transactional exchanges of expertise, artist Janani Balasubramanian and astrophysicist Natalie Gosnell, Associate Professor of Physics, draw on their own experiences and stories from other art-science collaborators to offer an imaginative guide to developing a values-based, joyful, undisciplined practice. This playbook offers practical and conceptual tools for co-creation that foster new, powerful alliances among artists, scientists, and their supporters. While attentive to the everyday realities of busy schedules and institutional demands, Balasubramanian and Gosnell illuminate strategies for changing our current ways of working and dare us to imagine a more expansive future. The projects, potentials, and possibilities resulting from undisciplined creation will reshape not only the practitioners but their worlds altogether. All faculty, students, and staff are invited, and refreshments will be provided.

Share Your Block Teaching Strategies!
The International Block and Intensive Learning and Teaching Association (IBILTA) is seeking abstracts for its online conference taking place September 29-30. IBILTA began as a conversation among faculty at block- and intensive-based institutions in Australia, North America, and China. The organization seeks to: advance scholarship and practice in block- and intensive-mode pedagogy, education, and research; share and disseminate knowledge; and build networks and promote greater collaboration among the association’s members, its various stakeholders, and alliance partners. Submit your proposal by April 24. If it is accepted, the Crown Center will cover your conference registration!

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Recently, a colleague shared something that’s stayed with me: she values how much we laugh in meetings and that she can bring her dry British humor into the room, knowing it will land. I told her the greatest compliment I can receive is knowing someone feels they can simply be themselves with me. 

That exchange has stayed with me because it highlights how powerful it is to be in spaces where we can show up fully as ourselves, where our quirks, cultures, humor, and traditions aren’t just tolerated but welcomed: a place where we truly belong. 

This season invites many of us into that reflection of shared humanity. Many religious and cultural traditions mark sacred seasons of reflection, renewal, and community: Ramadan, Lent, Passover, Holi, Nowruz, Vaisakhi, Easter, to name a few. Each tradition carries stories, and rhythms with similar themes: reflection, liberation, renewal, gratitude, and the importance of caring for one another. 

And yet, many of the communities who hold these traditions are also carrying deep grief. War, displacement, and division continue to devastate lives across the globe, touching members of our own community in personal and painful ways. These traditions endure because they remind us that community is not built only in times of ease, but also in moments of uncertainty and grief. They remind us to gather, share stories, break bread, fast, pray, celebrate, and mourn together, keeping us rooted in connection even when the world feels fractured. 

While our practices may differ, these values can be shared. In a world that can feel increasingly broken, the simple act of creating spaces where people can show up as themselves may be one of the most powerful forms of community we can offer. 

In Community, 
Rosalie 

As we strive to continually assess our campus community and climate, IEB will be conducting the HEDs Sense of Community Survey. Every campus member will receive their own link on Wednesday, March 25, and will have until Monday, April 27 to complete it. The survey will give us important data as we work towards realizing the College’s commitment to antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Previous campus climate surveys have shaped and/or led to the creation of impactful programming such as Butler Center’s Peer Education program and the Building Bridges program, which connects faculty and staff across campus. Thank you in advance for taking a few moments to complete the survey. We look forward to learning from your responses as we shape programs, spaces, and systems that reflect our campus community and its needs in relation to ADEI. 

The war in Iran has continued to dominate headlines with reports of devastation of human life and disruption of global markets. In higher education, we are seeing the impacts on our study abroad programs as well as community members with ties to the region. According to NAFSA, the conflict has led to university closures and stranded students across Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE, with many institutions shifting to remote learning. International students in the U.S. from affected countries are also facing growing uncertainty, as embassy closures and canceled visa interviews delay processing and make travel risky. Many are also carrying the emotional strain of worrying about family members and communities directly impacted by the conflict, underscoring the importance of continued care and support for members of our campus community. 

As you consider travel both in the U.S. and abroad, it is essential that you stay up to date on rapidly changing risks. Please see the Travel Advisory email from COO Pedro de Araujo for important resources and reminders.

Pikes Peak Pride Festival and Parade 

Are you interested in marching, designing, and planning CC’s parade submission? Everybody is welcome! Please reach out to Nancy Ríos by email.  This year’s parade will return to Tejon St. and will take place on Sunday, June 14.

International People and Practices has spent significant time discussing how domestic and global crises affect members of our community, particularly when the impact is personal and not widely visible, such as harm to family or loved ones, and when these issues fade in and out of public attention regardless of whether they are resolved. It is essential that we connect classmates and colleagues to key resources—such as the Counseling Center, Timely Care, EAP, UWill, the Chaplains office, the Ombuds office and Employee Relations—during these times.

A huge thank you to those who joined IEB for our book club discussion with Dr. Brenna Swift ’09, who brought a disability justice lens to our conversation on Nnedi Okorafor’s Noor. If you were unable to join us and are interested in learning more about disability justice, please look at Swift’s presentation, which she has generously shared with our CC community. Thank you, Dr. Swift!

The cover of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange.

Would you or your department, program, or office be interested in partnering with IEB on our Fall ABC selection, Wandering Stars (2024) by Tommy Orange? We are currently in discussions to invite Orange, a 2025 MacArthur Fellow, to CC this fall during Block 3. Both a prequel and sequel to There There (2018), Wandering Stars “traces the legacies of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School through to the shattering aftermath of Orvil Red Feather’s shooting in There There.” Publisher Penguin Random House describes Wandering Stars as “a novel about epigenetic and generational trauma that has the force and vision

of a modern epic…” If you or your unit would like to get involved, please reach out to Nancy Ríos. 

Save The Date: Dr. Myrriah Gomez, author of our Fall ABC selection Nuclear Nuevo Mexico will be delivering The Hulbert Center’s Andrew Norman Guest Lecture on the evening of Saturday, April 28. Please stay tuned for a book club discussion with Dr. Gomez.

March 16 – April 3, Sense of Place: Dr. Adrienne Lanier Seward, Professor Emerita of English

Stop by IEB’s Sense of Place: Colorado College display, featuring Dr. Adrienne Lanier Seward, Professor Emerita of English (1981–2012) and a key force in establishing the college’s ethnic studies program. Explore how her teaching and service helped shape CC’s sense of place. Location: Fireplace, Worner Campus Center.

Saturday, April 4: NASU Annual Powwow

Join the campus community for NASU’s Annual Powwow, a celebration of tradition, culture, and connection. Enjoy frybread and browse a selection of local vendors as you experience this vibrant gathering. Free admission, held in the Ed Robson Arena.

April 3, Celebration of Life: Dr. Dwanna McKay, Associate Professor of Race, Ethnicity, & Migration Studies, 12:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m.

Join CC for a Celebration of Life honoring Dr. Dwanna McKay, whose teaching, scholarship, and community impact shaped the Race, Ethnicity, & Migration Studies program. The memorial is being held in Tava Quad (Bemis Great Hall in case of inclement weather).

Tuesday, March 24: Table Talk – Portraits of Women @ Arts & Crafts, 3–5 p.m.

Join a creative conversation exploring representations of women through art. Materials provided. Held in Arts and Crafts.

Tuesday, March 24: T‑Time – Rise & Pride Sourdough Pizza Making Workshop, 2:30–4 p.m.

Learn hands‑on sourdough pizza techniques and enjoy food in community. Held in the Interfaith House.

Tuesday, March 24: Drop‑In Career Coaching with Micheal Harris, 12:30–2 p.m.

Stop by for individualized support with résumés, cover letters, and career planning. Held in Worner 226.

Wednesday, March 25: Financial Aid Wednesdays with Graysen, 12:30–2 p.m.

Receive guidance on financial aid, budgeting, and campus funding resources. Held in Worner 218.

Friday, March 27: First‑Gen Friday – Career Center Networking Workshop, 12:30–2 p.m.

Build confidence and practice networking skills in a supportive environment. Held in Hybl.

Wednesday, April 2: Financial Aid Wednesdays with Graysen, 12:30–3 p.m.

Drop in for personalized support navigating financial aid processes. Held in Worner 218.

Wednesday, April 2: Advocates for Immigrant Justice, 3–4:30 p.m.

Join peers to explore current issues in immigration justice and community activism. Held in Worner 226.

Friday, April 4: First‑Gen Friday – Bear Mountain Bike Ride Activity, 12:30–2 p.m.

Enjoy an outdoor group ride and take in fresh air with fellow students. Held in Outdoor Education.

Saturday, April 5: Drag Show – Draglesque, 8–11 p.m.

Celebrate creativity and performance at this high‑energy drag showcase. Held in Cornerstone Main Space.

Monday, April 7: Passion Presentation – Connor Skinner & Tornadoes, 12:30–1:30 p.m.

Enjoy a presentation about tornadoes given by Connor Skinner. Held in WES Room.

Tuesday, April 8: Table Talk – Picnic and Suncatchers, 3–5 p.m.

Craft suncatchers and participate in a picnic. Held in Worner Quad.

Tuesday, April 8: Drop‑In Career Coaching with Micheal Harris, 12:30–2 p.m.

Get one‑on‑one assistance with job searches, application materials, and planning. Held in Worner 226

Wednesday, April 9: Hey719 STI Testing Clinic, 1 p.m.–4 p.m.

Free STI testing. Held in Worner second floor space.

Wednesday, April 9: Leveraging Privilege Workshop, 12:30 p.m.–1:30 p.m.

Join a workshop that aims to support efforts in antiracist practices within and for the CC community. Held in the Student Event Space.

Wednesday, April 9: AAPI Month Celebration: Whale Rider Screening 2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Come watch a screening of Whale Rider. Held in the Cornerstone Screening Room.

Thursday, April 10: AAPI Month Celebration: DIY Tea Bag Making Workshop, 2:30 p.m.–3:30 p.m.

Join in on AAPI Month Celebrations and DIY your own teabags! Held in the Multicultural Lounge.

Saturday, May 2: Colorado Black Equity Listening Session, noon–2 p.m.

Join History Colorado and the Colorado Black Equity Study for their Colorado Springs Community Listening Session at CC. Colorado Springs residents will be asked to contribute to the study by sharing lived experiences and knowledge in a guided table discussion facilitated by the research team. RSVP for the listening session. Email Nancy Ríos at nrios@coloradocollege.edu with questions. The event will be held in Gaylord Hall in Worner Campus Center.

IEB offers up to $250 in co-sponsorship funding for campus events that promote equity and justice. Departments, offices, student groups, and athletic teams may apply by submitting the request form and required materials. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, with decisions issued within two weeks. Funded events must acknowledge IEB’s support and include the IEB logo on all promotional materials. For questions, contact Institutional Equity and Belonging or review this form.

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

All performances are FREE and take place in Packard Hall unless otherwise indicated.

Senior Capstone Presentations 
Wednesday, April 1 from 1-4:30 p.m.  
Senior music majors present their capstone projects, showcasing their unique approach to music studies. 
Saarang Chari: “The Line Between Sound Design and Score” 
Ella Dill: “Trusting Desire: Art, Authenticity, and Institutional Authority”
Sam Goodner: “Evolution” 
Neo Li: “From Music Healing to Music Therapy” 
Elliot Rossman: “The Lowest Fidelity” 
Luca Zoeller: “Where Are We Going? A Colorado College Compilation Album”  

Live from Packard Hall 
Faculty Artists Concert 
Tuesday, April 7 at 3 p.m.  
Featuring the talents of our very own CC Music Faculty, including piano four hands, a Baroque string quartet, and professional gamelan.   

Music at Midday  
Wednesday, April 8 at 12:15 p.m.  
CC students perform an array of vocal and instrumental works. Come see the variety and talent of our students! 

Opera Scenes 
“Ain’t it Awful, the Heat”
Friday, April 10 at 7 p.m.: CC’s Packard Performance Hall
Saturday, April 11 at 7 p.m.: UCCS ENT Center’s Chapman Recital Hall 
Operatic highlights presented by CC and UCCS voice students. 

United States Air Force Academy Band Chamber Recital  
Monday, April 13 at 7 p.m.  
A musical tour de force, the program features the United States Air Force Academy’s premier band! 

Liliana Carrizo, our Associate Academic Chair and the Christine S. Johnson Distinguished Professor of Music, recently earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor. Her scholarly achievement, teaching excellence, and service to the department and the College have made a lasting impact on our students and community. We are grateful for the creativity, insight, and care she brings to her work and are delighted to celebrate this well-deserved milestone. We all look forward to this next phase of her CC career!  

Students attend a concert at the renowned Musikverein.

Assistant Professor Lidia Chang’s Block 6 Music and the Museum class spent three intense weeks in Vienna, Austria visiting museums, attending concerts, and designing their own interactive virtual exhibition in the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s musical instrument collection. The students went behind the scenes with curators, museum directors, and restoration/conservation specialists to learn first-hand about the multifaceted and interdisciplinary work that museum professionals do every day. The students worked in small groups to curate exhibitions on five objects in the collection: a 16th-century lute by Hans Frei, a curiously un-playable spinet-regal, a composition board used by the blind composer Maria Theresia von Paradis, a set of royal trumpets and timpani, and an 18th-century quartet table. Their virtual exhibitions opened on March 5, and the quartet table was featured on the Kunsthistorisches Museum’s public lecture-recital series, “Unerhört!” 

MU398/CO300: Doctor Faustus–
Exploring Music and Fascism in the Twentieth Century with Assistant Professor Lidia Chang
Thomas Mann’s 1947 novel, Doctor Faustus, captures the anxieties and horrors of the 20th century while weaving them into the history of Western music. This remarkable work of fiction that blends truth and fantasy will be our guide to learning about composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Schoenberg, and other canonized figures of European art music whose legacies have become inextricably linked with the Third Reich. Fulfills General Education requirements: Analysis and Interpretation of Meaning OR Historical Perspectives. 

MU228: Decoding Music with Professor Ofer Ben-Amots
What makes a piece of music feel cohesive, powerful, or surprising? And how do we uncover the deeper workings beneath its surface? In this course, students will break down music into fundamental elements for analysis—scales, harmony, rhythms, form, and beyond—while understanding how and when such theoretical constructions can be applied to a range of historical and global repertoires. Through hands-on exercises, listening sessions, and case studies, we will explore an array of analytical techniques that reveal new layers of meaning. Students will gain fresh perspectives on how music is constructed, emerging with analytical skills that can be applied in future music-making, scholarship, and everyday listening. All interested students are welcome to join, regardless of their level of music theory background. 

Colorado College and the University of Denver music departments join forces for the first time to present The Brandenburg Project! This groundbreaking collaboration explores the resonance of J.S. Bach’s compositions and instruments in the modern world, juxtaposing them with newly-commissioned works for period instruments. After a year of intense study of early instruments, techniques, and practices, students bring their own experience and artistry to J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Join us for a joyful celebration of music, old and new. Both performances are free and open to the public. 

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Join CC Associate Professor Aline Lo for the Block 7 Faculty Lunch talk, “Telling on No Name Women: Family Photographs and Southeast Asian American Refugee Life Writing” on Tuesday, April 7 from 12:15-1:30 p.m. in Bemis Great Hall. Faculty and staff are invited to attend. Learn more about this event. 

Registration is required, and spots are limited. Please register by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 1. Lunch will be provided.

Reach out to kfischer2025@coloradocollege.edu“>Kinsey Fischer with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there! 

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Join Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine on Wednesday, April 1, from 3-4 p.m. in Bemis Great Hall for a conversation about what makes our College’s athletic program unique: competing in both Division I and Division III.

This session will explore how the College balances these two distinct divisions in an evolving NCAA landscape and what that means for student-athletes and the campus community. We’ll discuss practical differences between DI and DIII athletics, including scholarships, recruiting, training commitments, and competition schedules, and how our student-athletes navigate these different environments.

Come learn more about how athletics fits into the College’s broader educational mission and how our dual-division model enriches the student experience. All members of the campus community are welcome to attend.

The Work of the College Series is a year-long program of events with four goals: (1) clarify organizational structures and decision-making processes; (2) offer campus constituencies the opportunity to dialogue with leadership about campus affairs; (3) increase decision-making transparency in hopes of building trust; and (4) build community.

The Work of the College Series consists of:

14 E. Cache La Poudre St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903