Communication

Projecting their voices

Regan Widergren — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 22:38:14 +0000

Projecting their voices Regan Widergren Tue, 11/18/2025 - 15:38

Joe Arney

As part of the project, professors Phaedra C. Pezzullo and Patrick Clark projected messages the students collected about sustainability outside the University Memorial Center and on buffalo cutouts at the Business Field. Photo by Patrick Clark.

At CMDI, “comm” is often shorthand for the communication major. But for one of its most recent graduates, it also means “community.”

Alysia Abbas (Comm’25) put that into practice in the spring, when she interviewed her peers as part of a project to understand how college students define sustainability.

“Communication gives you the opportunity to connect with people and create a community that moves them,” Abbas said. “In the classes I took on storytelling and climate, it was more engaging—people looked for ways to bring context to the science. When you just study the statistics of climate change, it leads to a sense of powerlessness about an individual’s inability to create impact.”

That’s why she was at the University Memorial Center the night before Earth Day, digitally projecting statements from her classmates into the plaza as night fell. The messages also appeared on cutout buffaloes around campus.

The project was a collaboration between CMDI’s Sustainability and Storytelling Lab and its Immersive Media Lab. Abbas interviewed students from across disciplines—engineering to economics—to ask what sustains them and how the story of a sustainable future begins. Answers ranged from the typical (The Lorax) to more surprising—like moms, equal access to parks and true farm-to-table agriculture.

It’s refreshing to hear from my classmates that not everybody is OK with what we’re doing to our environment.”

Alysia Abbas (Comm’25)

“Doing those interviews made me more hopeful,” Abbas said.

A major influence on Abbas was her arctic studies certificate. Mathias Nordvig, an associate teaching professor and head of Nordic studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, recalled Abbas’ analytical mindset and the perspectives she brought to discussions in his Arctic Society and Culture class.

“It is hard to hear those big-picture statistics and be able to relate to them as an individual human being,” Nordvig said.

“Stories are how I first came to care about these things. And with the type of mind Alysia has, she’ll be able to take the lessons from these stories and make them more visible and meaningful to people.”

The stories and cultures of arctic people, like the Sami and Inuit, are core to the course. Abbas said the class focused her sense of environmental justice as she learned how native people were dispossessed of their lands and ways of life.

That perspective, alongside her communication degree, has her eager to change attitudes around sustainability.

“At the core, it’s community that ends up sustaining people and making them feel connected to what’s around them,” Abbas said. “Sustainability doesn’t happen without community.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

As part of a class project, a communication student interviewed her classmates about sustainability. Their answers were projected onto public spaces.

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Playing to win

Regan Widergren — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:43:36 +0000

Playing to win Regan Widergren Mon, 11/17/2025 - 17:43

Iris Serrano

As the growing sports media industry seeks people with data, communication and social media skills, CMDI has created different pathways to prepare students for rewarding careers.

Photos by Kimberly Coffin and Jack Moody.

When Kathryn Castanoli worked in a backstage production role during Super Bowl LIX, it wasn’t just a dream come true—it was a glimpse of a career that once seemed out of reach.

“I almost gave up trying to get into the sports media industry,” said Castanoli, a junior studying strategic communication. “But coming to CMDI—a college of entrepreneurs, artists, go-getters and leaders—really inspired me to keep pursuing my dream.”

Castanoli is just one of a growing number of CMDI students breaking into sports media. Although journalism has long been a path of study for students interested in this specialty, the changing nature of both sports and media as industries means different skills are needed.

“Sports media has become a convergence of different fields,” said Rick Stevens, associate dean of undergraduate education and associate professor of media studies. “Our majors are particularly well positioned to take a piece of the puzzle and help students understand more cohesively what sports media is.”

Students get a close look at those connections in Prime Time: Public Performance and Leadership, a course Stevens created last year. Guest lectures from prominent alumni like Kordell Stewart (Comm’16), Joel Klatt (Econ’07) and Brent Schrotenboer (Jour’96) round out class discussions led by CMDI faculty, with occasional appearances from Coach Prime.

The course counts toward the sports media minor—the largest in the college. But it’s more than just classroom learning. With a new global seminar, media outlets like Sko Buffs Sports, and conferences and networking events, students have numerous opportunities to develop the skills needed to break into the industry.

Lila Nuttle, a sophomore studying journalism, is already putting those skills into practice. An aspiring sports writer, she is a reporter for the �� Independent and has produced content for Sko Buffs Sports, which gives her on-the-field reporting experience.

Our professors are always telling us it’s not only what you do in class, or what grade you get, but your portfolio and actually getting experience.”

Lisa Nuttle

"These organizations offer a really great way to jump in and get that experience, while also providing a good community.”

There’s more to sports media than what you can see from the sidelines. Priscilla Hopper (InfoSci’22; MS’23) works as a senior reporting and data analyst at Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, which owns the Avalanche, Nuggets and other Denver-area sports franchises.

“There’s an expectation that if you’re working in sports media, you’re going to be on the field, in action,” said Hopper, also a lecturer of information science. “But there’s a whole other side to it, and every year, half of my students want to steal my job,”

Her ability to quickly analyze data and make them digestible for those without technical backgrounds gave her an advantage when interviewing for her role at KSE.

“I graduated able to interpret, adapt and analyze,” Hopper said. “That’s pretty much the entire basis of information science, and my degrees meant I was ready to be
catapulted into any role.”

Michael Burns, an assistant teaching professor of communication, also understands what it’s like to have a nontraditional job in the sports industry. He has worked behind the scenes at eight Olympic Games for NBC’s Today show, and now serves as faculty director for Communication, Culture and Sport, a global seminar that takes place in the United Kingdom.

“There is an army of people who are doing all the research and logistics and planning, which enables and empowers the journalists, the PR folks and the camera people to do their jobs,” Burns said.

CMDI’s alumni network also plays a critical role in launching student careers. Michael Davies (Jour’94), an executive vice president at FOX Sports, said there’s no one way to make it in the industry.

“Everybody has their own origin story—some of them come from networking, some come from internships,” he said. “One thing that’s consistent and is required is passion for the sports business and focus.”

Davies graduated at a time when there were fewer paths to a career in sports media. He regularly visits the college to meet students, and is impressed with CMDI’s approach to preparing the next generation for the evolving industry.

“The school’s only 10 years old, it’s still new, it’s still innovative, and I think that it’s a very exciting time to go to CMDI,” he said.

Game on

CMDI is preparing for the return of its annual Sports Media Summit in the spring semester. This multiday event is intended for students who are curious about the industry, as well as alumni and community members looking to expand their networks and transition into this fast-growing field.

Follow CMDI on social media and keep an eye on colorado.edu/cmdi for updates.

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

Photographer Kimberly Coffin graduated from CMDI in 2018 with degrees in media production and strategic communication.

Photographer Jack Moody graduated from CMDI in 2024 with a degree in strategic communication.

Through relevant courses, networking opportunities and student-led organizations, CMDI is helping students turn their passions into careers in sports media.

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10 for 10: Centers making an impact

Amanda J. McManus — Mon, 17 Nov 2025 21:20:40 +0000

10 for 10: Centers making an impact Amanda J. McManus Mon, 11/17/2025 - 14:20

Centers and labs at CMDI are important not just because of the insights discovered by the researchers and creatives working within them, but because of the impact they offer to the public.

Here are some signature labs and centers from CMDI’s first decade.

Center for Communication and Democratic Engagement: Aims to learn from deliberation, dialogue and educational events tied to communication and democratic practice.
Center for Documentary and Ethnographic Media: Creates opportunities for the public to engage with documentary films, especially through the signature Mimesis festival, in Boulder.
Center for Environmental Journalism: Journalists who complete a fellowship from the center have been responsible for award-winning work on environmental issues.
Center for Media, Religion and Culture: Studies the complex relationship between media and religion in an entangled world.
Community Engagement, Design and Research Center: Partners with communities at home and abroad to build resilient, equitable cities and neighborhoods.
Immersive Media Lab: Invites people to explore augmented and virtual reality environments to develop different perspectives on emerging challenges.
Media Archaeology Lab: A peerless collection of obsolete, but functional, technology to experiment with and imagine roads not taken in tech and society.
Neuro D Lab: Explores the intersection of design, neurodiversity, equity and innovation to ensure designs—from products to wayfinding—work intuitively for all users.
Sustainability and Storytelling Lab: Aims to understand how stories influence the ways we practice sustainability and shame unsustainable methods.
Visual Evidence Lab: Studies how the legal system can be better equipped to handle video and photographic evidence presented in court, including deepfakes and generative A.I.

Here are 10 centers and labs that have created public impact in the college’s first decade.

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Full circles

Amanda J. McManus — Sat, 15 Nov 2025 06:34:03 +0000

Full circles Amanda J. McManus Fri, 11/14/2025 - 23:34

Iris Serrano

Peter Lasser still remembers the project that connected him to Daniel Niemeyer.

As a student, Lasser was part of a team that filmed and produced a 30-minute talk show covering Buffs football games. Niemeyer was his professor for the independent study course.

“There was never an idea that was too crazy for him,” said Lasser (Comm’76). “If we could put it together, he was behind us, helping us get it done.”

Niemeyer also provided Lasser with hands-on opportunities in the television industry, even helping him earn his first on-screen credit as a camera operator.

“Dan fostered the entrepreneurial spirit that made me successful in my own career,” Lasser said. “I think he was proud of what I ended up doing in the business, and that’s very rewarding to me.”

Lasser considers himself fortunate to have counted Niemeyer as a mentor for more than 40 years. Today, he pays that experience forward, supporting students through scholarships and connecting them to a broadcasting network he’s spent decades creating.

“Work-wise, it’s invigorating to be surrounded by young people,” Lasser said. “Anytime I can help open a door, I will.”

That spirit is why Lori Bergen, founding dean of CMDI, called Lasser “a quintessential supporter of the college.”

“Peter is not only a tremendously generous supporter, he’s over the top in terms of how he mentors and advocates for our students—listening to their stories and identifying opportunities to start them on their career paths,” Bergen said. “He brings an infectious sense of joy about our students and our college to every conversation he’s a part of.”

After a brief foray in advertising, Lasser moved into sports broadcasting, producing 11 Olympic Games for ABC, Olympic Broadcast Services, NBC and Turner Sports. Since 1998, he has owned Lasser Productions, working as a producer and director for clients such as USA Swimming, Varsity Spirit and ESPN.

For all that, some of his favorite stories come not from what viewers saw during the Olympics, but from how he was able to be a resource for students seeking careers like his. He has spoken at the college’s Sports Media Summit, supports its residential intensive program for incoming first-years, and served on its advisory board.

He also funds the Peter L. Lasser and Daniel C. Niemeyer Endowed Scholarship, which is awarded to students who demonstrate leadership, community service and extracurricular involvement. Five students have received the scholarship so far; one recipient, Sarah Grim (Jour’24), said Lasser’s mentorship helped her secure work as a social media community manager for the NCAA.

They met over coffee at the UMC in 2023, after she received his scholarship, and bonded over their mutual love of sports.

Grim shared with Lasser her dream of combining broadcasting and cheerleading—“such a niche thing to do, and opportunities aren’t always out there,” she said. But through Lasser, she got the opportunity to cover the Summit All-Star Cheerleading Championship for ESPN.

“Having him as a connection has been so incredible for my career,” she said. “Peter challenges me in a lot of ways and is always pushing me to do things I didn’t think I was ready or able to do.”

Iris Serrano is studying strategic communication and journalism at CMDI. She covers student news and events for the college.

A mentor made all the difference to Peter Lasser as a student. Now, the Olympics producer has become the mentor, providing scholarships and connections to students interested in sports media.

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On the fly

Amanda J. McManus — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 21:45:52 +0000

On the fly Amanda J. McManus Fri, 11/14/2025 - 14:45

Malinda Miller

Lori Ferguson Furth holds the script and her notes for a production of Back to the Future: The Musical outside Denver’s Buell Theatre. As a live audio describer, she uses her notes to ensure audience members who have low sight or are blind have a similar experience to other patrons. Photos by Hannah Howell.

In the darkened Buell Theatre, a scattering of patrons wearing headsets hears a voice describe a flashing screen onstage that reads “Oct. 25, 1985,” and “radiation source detected.”

The voice through the headsets belongs to Lori Ferguson Furth (Comm’85), who is in an audio booth behind the audience. She’s describing the set, costumes and action of Back to the Future: The Musical for patrons who have low sight or are blind.

A live audio describer, she prepares by “scribbling notes in the dark” at a preview to determine which nonverbal jokes, sight gags or visual details are pivotal for audience members who cannot see them. She also writes a preshow introduction for patrons who wear
the headsets.

During the performance, she keeps an eye on her notes while calling out the action as it happens, watching for things she may not have anticipated.

“You try to fill patrons in on any nonverbal thing that happens that the audience might react to, like a glance or a shrug,” Furth said. “But you would say ‘shrug’—you wouldn’t say ‘he’s bored,’ or however you might interpret it. That’s what the audience gets to do.”

"It was probably among the best performances I ever gave, because it was raw and unrehearsed—and my preparation paid off.

Lori Ferguson Furth (Comm’85)

As with most live performances, things don’t always go as planned. At a summer showing of & Juliet, the mic wasn’t working properly and had to be replaced midshow. A few days later, Furth left the printed script at home between performances. She pulled the script up on her phone—without her annotations—and used the show’s program and her memory to write a new introduction on the fly.

“I had some difficulty getting the document to scroll on my phone, so I gave up and just live-described in the moment,” she said. “It was probably among the best performances I ever gave, because it was raw and unrehearsed—and my preparation paid off.”

As more touring productions, like Back to the Future, rely on video and visual elements, describers like Furth provide the additional details needed to ensure patrons who have low sight enjoy an experience similar to other members of the audience.

Live audio description is available for designated weekend showings and on request at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. During the 2024-25 season, 587 patrons and companions reserved tickets for the service.

A simple touch between actors “can show there’s a change in the relationship, and so you want to make sure you’re including something that might impart a little bit more information than they could hear,” she said.

“Lori is definitely one of our top describers,” said Aaron McMullen, Denver Center for Performing Arts’ patron experience manager on duty. “You have to know what is important and when to talk. You don’t want to interrupt what’s happening in the show or describe something that isn’t helpful.”

In each stage of Furth’s career—which has taken her to banking and corporate communications, in addition to voice acting—she’s relied on skills learned as a communication major, like speaking in public, working in small groups and communicating concisely.

"I heard about live theater, and I thought, ‘I can’t imagine anything more terrifying, there’s no possible way to do that comfortably’—which meant I had to try it.

Lori Ferguson Furth (Comm’85)

“Communication is about people and relationships, and how to make the most of the processes we all use every day,” she said. “It’s a valuable degree, and I use it all the time.”

She also continued to seek out workshops, which is how she found Roy Samuelson, an advocate for the blind and low-vision community.

“He does a lot of work in film and television, and I thought that was where I was headed,” Furth said. “And then I heard about live theater, and I thought, ‘I can’t imagine anything more terrifying, there’s no possible way to do that comfortably’—which meant I had to try it.”

She took classes with Samuelson and then Bonnie Barlow, who has described more than 260 plays for DCPA since 1992. When Furth left Los Angeles two years ago to be closer to family in Denver, Barlow connected her to DCPA.

Furth said her continued enthusiasm for her work comes from her flexibility and willingness to pivot—characteristics she also sees in CMDI.

“We need to pay attention to what’s going on and what’s changing, and we need to be able to react to it,” she said. “At CMDI, it’s the same kind of idea—that it’s embracing the cutting-edge stuff that’s happening and saying, we’re ready for the future.”

Malinda Miller graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in English in 1992 and Masters in Journalism in 1998.

As more touring productions rely on video and visual elements, patrons who have low sight or are blind rely on Lori Ferguson Furth to describe the action onstage as it happens.

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10 for 10: Notable newsmakers

Amanda J. McManus — Fri, 14 Nov 2025 06:11:51 +0000

10 for 10: Notable newsmakers Amanda J. McManus Thu, 11/13/2025 - 23:11

Because of the multidisciplinary nature of their work—and their fearlessness in confronting the biggest problems—CMDI faculty are regularly featured in local and national media. Here are 10 times over the past decade when major news outlets have featured our faculty.

The New Republic: Nathan Schneider wrote an essay on the Slow Food movement, arguing a slow computing approach could repair our experiences with technology. May 19, 2015.
The Denver Post: Chris Vargo studied Twitter data to see how vaccine misinformation spread and took hold in particular American communities. Sept. 27, 2017.
The Washington Post: Angie Chuang wrote an op-ed on the problems her race and journalism class tries to solve, and the struggle businesses like Starbucks have faced in confronting them. June 13, 2018.
Forbes: Casey Fiesler sat for a Q&A on the need for ethics in the technology industry, particularly social media. Jan. 14, 2021.
The Guardian: Elizabeth Skewes talked about her research on whether news media covering school shootings influences future acts of violence. May 12, 2023.
Scientific American: Leysia Palen talked about the dangers of information isolation during disasters that knock out telecommunications services. Sept. 11, 2023.
KUNC/NPR: Josh Shepperd talked about the history and influence of public media, especially amid great economic change in the journalism industry. April 10, 2024.
The New York Times: Following the publication of her most recent book, on romance writing, Chris Larson explained the circumstances behind the breakup of Romance Writers of America. July 24, 2024.
The Associated Press: Erin Willis was interviewed about her work on patient influencers and the language used in pharmaceuticals advertising. Nov. 14, 2024.
Denver7 (ABC): Jed Brubaker discussed the launch of the Digital Legacy Clinic and the need to proactively manage our digital footprints before we die. Dec. 11, 2024.

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Band together

Amanda J. McManus — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 22:14:09 +0000

Band together Amanda J. McManus Tue, 11/11/2025 - 15:14

Joe Arney

What role does CMDI play in the university chancellor’s vision for an institution that leads on sustainability? From left, faculty experts Phaedra C. Pezzullo, Caitlin Charlet, Hong Tien Vu and Morgan Young explored that question from their different areas of expertise. The group was photographed at the tree office, which was built by environmental design students and installed on the �� Boulder campus in 2016. Photos by Kimberly Coffin.

Phaedra C. Pezzullo is a professor of communication and director of the Sustainability and Storytelling Lab. She is an expert on communication’s role in shaping and influencing environmental and climate justice movements.

Caitlin Charlet is an associate teaching professor of environmental design, specializing in regenerative architecture and urban ecologies. Her research is situated at the experimental intersection of transformative design strategies, biogenic materials and the built environment.

Hong Tien Vu is the director of the Center for Environmental Journalism at CMDI. His work examines journalism and communication practices in addressing global challenges, from environmental degradation to societal inequalities.

Morgan Young has decades of experience in branding, strategy and creative execution—including managing campaigns about, and clients working in, sustainability. He is an associate teaching professor of advertising at the college.

�� Boulder Chancellor Justin Schwartz has been clear that he expects Colorado’s flagship university to be a leader in sustainability. But what does “sustainability” even mean? How do we get there without becoming discouraged? And in the current political and social moment, how do we advocate for the steps needed to advance sustainability?

At the time of this conversation, Hong Tien Vu—an associate professor of journalism and director of the Center for Environmental Journalism—was so new to the college that most of his belongings were still in boxes after relocating from the University of Kansas to CMDI. But he has a long track record of doing environmental journalism, so we threw him into the deep end with three faculty experts who have been doing sustainability long before it became a buzzword—whether directing ad campaigns, being mindful of building materials or podcasting about plastics.

This conversation was edited for length and clarity.

Vu: I’d like to start by asking each of you about sustainability, and how you define it.

Pezzullo: I’m a little nerdy about the definition of sustainability. There’s a new edition of my textbook out now, and we literally have a boldfaced definition I make my students memorize. So, for me, sustainability is the capacity to negotiate environmental, social and economic needs and desires for current and future generations.

Charlet: I rarely use the word “sustainability,” actually. There needs to be something regenerative—not just sustainable—in how we build and design. I’m interested in the long-term cultivation of regenerative relationships, in terms of materials, ecosystems and communities. For most of human history, we’ve built with what we’ve been able to grow locally, and it’s been able to go back into the earth. There was care for the environment, animals and humans. That changed with the Industrial Revolution.

Young: I come at this from a different perspective. Advertising and branding is both a leader and a follower in society. And at this moment, the industry is more of a follower, as people try to figure out what’s going on in this administration.

Pezzullo: I think, interestingly, that the ambiguity Caitlin was talking about, around the term “sustainability,” works well in this moment. It’s not a banned word, because we could be talking about anything. We could be talking about, for instance, economic sustainability.

There’s no reason why CMDI can’t be a leader in sustainability, particularly with the incorporation of environmental design."

Morgan Young, associate teaching professor

Vu: That’s an interesting point. I’d like to hear more from you all on what you’re seeing in the world as it relates to those organizations and sustainability.

Young: One example: I’ve done a lot of work with General Motors; in fact, I was the first person to make a commercial for an electric vehicle. It was the Chevy Volt, and it was their first ad talking about a sustainable future. And, in my classes, we do projects on how brands can create extensions to existing product lines. How can we use sustainability as a marketing tool to reach people who will respond positively to that information?

Pezzullo: I think it’s important to note that over the summer, �� Boulder transitioned away from all single-use plastics in beverage bottles on campus. It’s a great sustainability story, because it’s a tangible difference in our everyday lives that was made systemically, following the wisdom of the growing climate justice movement.

Charlet: I’ve been working on a documentary to collect the stories of how women have used collaboration as a foundation to run material science departments in academic settings, and work toward scalable alternative material solutions—and to show how they will have a major impact in changing our built environment.

Pezzullo: Collaboration is the only way to get things done for systemic change. Otherwise, you just have individuals, which isn’t enough to generate impact. In my work with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, we co-create story maps of the five most-polluted communities in Colorado. And working with those communities—instead of just about them or at them—creates better outcomes for public participation.

Charlet: Oh, I agree. Individual behavior won’t solve this problem. How do we educate a generation of architects and designers to choose better materials? That’s a radical notion for an architecture school. And the choices they make in building things will have a larger impact, because the construction sector is responsible for so much destabilization—humans, animals and topographies—and carbon emissions. There is no one solution, but biogenic and regenerative architecture and design is a basis for a scalable, forward-looking model.

Vu: We talked about how to define sustainability earlier, but Morgan, I wonder if you can talk about challenges you have faced in working with brands and avoiding overuse of the term, so they’re not accused of greenwashing.

Young: The reality is, even some of the brands we think of as being best for the environment are greenwashing. And as an advertising person, we’re not so deep into the business that we can look at their entire supply chain and influence that. If you hire someone like me, I’m going to focus on the best things to accentuate for a specific target audience—but what we’re missing is the rest of that chain that doesn’t have that positive impact. And in advertising, we have to be careful not to get in front of our skis and pretend a client is someone they’re not.

Vu: So that’s kind of mobilizing companies. Phaedra, I know you’ve done a lot in terms of initiatives that mobilize communities. Can you share some of the challenges you’ve faced there?

Pezzullo: Well, there’s a reason I use the word “sustainability” in my lab—I was launching it knowing the administration was going to ban words. I was set up to work with the Environmental Protection Agency’s environmental justice office, and the week I was supposed to present to them, they sent me an email and said the department was being shut down. Part of what’s exciting about this campus and the Boulder community is that we’re not giving up on our values.

Young: To build on that, on this campus, we are different. I had 13 students with me in London for a month, and we were really struck by the complete absence of reusable water bottles there. They don’t have their Yetis or their Hydro Flasks like we do in Colorado. The point I’m trying to make is, much of the world is not there with us.

Vu: We’ve brought up current events a couple of times now. I wonder if we could talk about what the shift in public perception around sustainability has meant for your students, or the way you teach.

Young: A lot of my students are very business-minded. Some want to do advertising for the Environmental Working Group, the League of Conservation Voters or Earthjustice. But some would rather work for Chevron, Sephora or a fashion brand, like Kith. So, my goal is to create a student who can do external communications that show sustainability is good business.

Pezzullo: I think one of our biggest challenges, in communication, is A.I., which has radically changed our classrooms and what we understand labor to be—for creative content makers, for storytellers and for people just doing research. This generation is going to need to rise to the challenge of whether A.I. can become sustainable.

Charlet: I love this question. I’ve taught a design course where I challenge students to create a resilient ecological strategy for urban design with A.I. And the biggest thing that they learn is that it’s really hard to design with A.I.—it’s a tool like others already in use in architecture. It isn’t magic. In parallel to that, I ask them to consider the environmental detriment of using A.I.—not only the energy use, but the building facilities themselves. What impact do they have on communities? Where do the materials come from? Considering those two aspects of A.I. in parallel is really important for them to think about.

Vu: Caitlin, is that what students are looking for, from the standpoint of their career paths?

Charlet: Architecture is often seen as an exciting, but inherently safe, choice for students. It rests somewhere between the creativity of art and the challenges of engineering—so it’s a middle ground, and a respected profession. And I think the students come in with confidence, knowing they will be able to get a job. In terms of environmental design, there’s such a movement toward regenerative and biogenic architecture now, and the reuse and recycling of materials within buildings. There are a lot of firms with research departments that our students feel very comfortable and very prepared to go right into, and work on certifications like LEED, WELL and Passive House.

Young: I already mentioned advertising is more of a follower than a leader right now, but oftentimes, advertising is a reflection of society, as well. Right now, we see companies pulling back and hiding on sustainability issues. There are good companies—Patagonia, Outside magazine—that will continue to stand up and fight. But those that are more about their bottom line will let go of their sustainability programs to keep making money. This is where we have to work with our students, to show them these companies don’t have a moral high ground and will change with whatever the environment is in order to look good. But—is this important to all our students? I’m not sure, en masse, that they’re much more focused on sustainability than past generations were.

Pezzullo: There are lots of reasons to be alarmed and depressed, and I’m Italian American, so I can have, like, 100 emotions in five minutes. But I do have hope. You know, when South Park started—it was written by two �� Boulder grads, you know—

Young: Yes! I went to college with them.

Pezzullo: That’s right, so you know they began South Park making fun of climate change, saying Al Gore believes in this thing called ManBearPig, and there’s no such thing. But South Park has, over time, recognized climate change does happen, and they even apologized to Al Gore. It’s important to remember that attitudes change, and we can shape public opinion in creative ways.

There needs to be something regenerative—not just sustainable—in how we build and design.”

Caitlin Charlet, associate teaching professor

Vu: Let me ask one final question. After listening to your colleagues, what’s one thing you’re inspired to explore?

Charlet: I’m inspired by and appreciate the chance to learn more about my colleagues’ work. Especially advertising—that’s a field I’ve never delved into. How might that impact the field I’m working in? Does it pertain to architecture firms and how they forefront buildings and construction ethics? Is there a measurable impact?

Pezzullo: That’s what I love about being part of a college like this—the opportunities to publish, edit, co-author or just talk to people in so many different disciplines. So, when we have a challenge like sustainability, we approach it from a more systemic, holistic perspective. We all bring different experiences from the institutions and companies and communities we’ve worked with.

Young: I think this college is in a rapid growth trajectory. We are very well positioned to have a big impact on the next generation—specifically, A.I. I’m inspired by people like Caitlin, who are already building A.I. into their syllabi, because I don’t have a handle on how A.I. will be incorporated into our academics. But I am worried about intellectual property rights around it—specifically related to advertising, but also areas like architecture, design and communication. Our college needs to tackle that—it’s a great opportunity for us to become a leader within that sector, because right now, nobody has a handle on it.

Vu: So, can CMDI be a leader in sustainability communication?

Young: Absolutely. I think our students are more concerned about this matter than those at other universities. There’s no reason why CMDI can’t be a leader in sustainability, particularly with the incorporation of environmental design.

Pezzullo: I absolutely agree with you, Morgan. It’s not that we don’t know the science, or what’s wrong, or what we could do to have a more sustainable future. It’s that we have to find ways to bridge differences, and that’s a strength of ours. With our expertise across a wide range of human expression, I really believe CMDI has a strong role to play in sustainability in the future.

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Photographer Kimberly Coffin graduated from CMDI in 2018 with degrees in media production and strategic communication.

When it comes to sustainability, individual actions aren’t enough. The same is true for how we look for solutions, so we asked a group of CMDI experts how collaboration might save the day.

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Illustration by Dana Heimes

Deer in the spotlights: What Bambi tells us about animation and death

Joe Arney — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:45:51 +0000

Deer in the spotlights: What Bambi tells us about animation and death Joe Arney Thu, 11/06/2025 - 08:45

Joe Arney

When she asks her classes who remembers this scene from Bambi, Marissa Lammon says everyone's hand goes up. But while you probably can also recall this image, this isn't a scene from Bambi—it never appeared onscreen. A new paper from Lammon studies what this recollection teaches us about how we encounter and interpret violence and death as children.

You know that heartbreaking scene in Disney’s Bambi, in which the title character cuddles up to his mother’s lifeless body after she’s been shot by a hunter?

No, you don’t. It never happened.

“I show this image to my students all the time in class, and ask who remembers this scene,” said Marissa Lammon, a lecturer in the communication department at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information at �� Boulder. “And everyone raises their hand, even though this is never shown onscreen.”

Lammon (PhDMediaSt’24) is an expert in popular culture and children’s media, especially as they relate to death. And, she said, the widespread misremembering of how Bambi’s mother dies is a testament to the impact her death has on audiences.

“The image represents collective trauma, and how the vast majority of people interpreted this death as traumatic,” Lammon said. “We talk about animated deaths that really stick with us, and Bambi’s mother is the one. And it actually changes the way we remember the film.”

In a new paper in Omega, Lammon looks at the story of Bambi’s mother dying and what it says about Western culture, which has made death taboo, and how children interpret the media they absorb.

“We tend to think about children as passive, blank slates,” she said. “My work suggests children are active agents who are creating and negotiating meaning from what they see and hear. And what’s fascinating is that, as a culture, we don’t talk about death, but we show it profusely in media.”

How children create meaning from media

“Children are active agents who are creating and negotiating meaning from what they see and hear.”

Marissa Lammon (PhDMediaSt’24), instructor, communication

Lammon’s interest in mediated death started while she was studying psychology as an undergraduate at UCCS, and evolved while she was doing her master’s work there.

“Children create meaning in ways different from how we do, but they’re still very social,” she said. “I wanted to bridge this gap between psychology and media and cultural studies to understand how children use media to reinforce or challenge ideology in ways that are significant to their development.”

It’s particularly important work at a time when our environment is becoming even more hypermediated.

“If we, as adults, are struggling to discern what is factual information and what is ‘fake news,’ then it’s more crucial than ever to encourage media literacy, critical thinking and reflection with children, so they can develop those skills,” she said.

CMDI advisory board member Christopher Bell (PhDMediaSt’09) advised Lammon’s master’s work, and gave her opportunities to consult in the industry. They have become close collaborators on researching popular culture.

“Marissa has fully embraced the idea of public scholarship—the idea that the knowledge generated at the academic level should belong to the public,” said Bell, president of Creativity Partners and a longtime consultant in animation. “When she goes to Pixar or Skydance and presents her work to people who make things, it changes how these companies produce media for children. It literally changes the world.”

That’s something she’s trying to do with Bemoaning Bambi: Visual Communication of Trauma From Witnessing One of Disney’s Saddest Character Deaths.

Marissa Lammon, right, presents work on animation and death at Fan Expo Denver. ‘Children’s media actually are the most violent out there, but when we think about animation, we tell ourselves it’s just fantasy, it’s just fun, it’s not actually harmful,’ she says. Photo by Kimberly Coffin.

“Children’s media actually are the most violent out there, but when we think about animation, we tell ourselves it’s just fantasy, it’s just fun, it’s not actually harmful,” Lammon said, adding that our culture uses violence to teach moral lessons. “In the case of Bambi’s mother, her death embodies traumatic frames in ways that make it so salient in our recollections of animated death.”

Those frames, she said, are homicide, gender coding—especially the theme of maternal sacrifice—and character development after the act of violence.

‘Completely shattered’

While most of us remember Bambi’s mother being shot in the early stages of the movie, “in fact, it happens about 40 minutes in,” Lammon said. “So for 40 minutes, you see this loving and nurturing relationship develop, and then Bambi’s world is completely shattered.”

That trauma changes how Bambi develops, “leaving you, as an audience member, thinking about how he has to completely change the way he exists,” she said.

And that goes for the children in the audience, as well.

“The conversations I have with children are so deep and intellectual,” she said. “If parents really talked with their children about what they’re seeing and how they’re interpreting it, they would be so surprised with what they’re picking up on and how they reflect on it.”

Lammon’s hope is that her findings change both how the industry communicates themes around death and how parents and caregivers have conversations about what their children absorb.

“There is a lot that the industry is doing well, but we need to change media texts to include death that is natural, not just murder, so we can prepare them for what bereavement will look like in their own lives,” she said. “Meanwhile, we need to make parents more comfortable about having these conversations with their children, instead of just ignoring what they’ve watched or prevent them from seeing it.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

Children aren’t just blank slates—they create meaning from the media they experience. An expert says that’s a reason to think about how we show themes like violence and death.

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CMDI brings the conversation on immigration to center stage

Joe Arney — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 20:33:18 +0000

CMDI brings the conversation on immigration to center stage Joe Arney Thu, 10/16/2025 - 14:33

Joe Arney

Courtesy Motus Theater

For the first two years of its existence, the CMDI Distinguished Speaker Series has invited nationally recognized guests to provide insights on relevant topics like how technology encodes inequality into its products and services, and how to remedy a deeply polarized society.

While the focus on impact and important topics is the same, this year, the college invited local voices to share the stage and lead a conversation on immigration.

Boulder-based Motus Theater, which creates original works to facilitate dialogue on important contemporary issues, will stage a performance that will be followed by a panel discussion featuring journalists from The Colorado Sun, 9News and Colorado Public Radio.

If you go

What: Reapproaching Media and Migration

When: 6 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 22, CASE Chancellor’s Hall, fourth floor.

Who: Motus Theater, which brings silenced histories and marginalized voices to the stage, will give a performance of UndocuAmerica, followed by a panel conversation featuring local journalists.

Why: The CMDI Distinguished Speaker Series showcases some of the most pressing challenges of our time and invites future journalists, communicators, designers and technologists to consider their responsibilities as citizens and storytellers.

The event is open to all members of the �� Boulder community and the public.

Learn more

“What this series demonstrates is that CMDI is at the center of important conversations in our society,” said Nabil Echchaibi, associate dean of scholarly and creative work at CMDI and a professor of media studies. “We’re not just isolated in our own world. What we teach, what we do research on, what we explore creatively, it all has direct relevance to the world.”

Echchaibi encountered Motus as an advisor to one of the company’s performances, and invited the group to participate in a seminar class he taught a few years ago to help the students sharpen their media literacy skills.

“One of the things Motus excels at is reframing the conversation about these communities, around undocumented immigration,” Echchaibi, noting the company has been doing such productions since 2011.

UndocuAmerica, the project Motus will perform at CMDI, was created to counter the dehumanizing portrayal of immigrants through thoughtful engagement on the challenges facing the undocumented community, as well as the assets new arrivals bring to the United States. Motus works with leaders from the undocumented community to help them write powerful stories about their lives and experiences, then showcases them in moving monologues.

Echchaibi said he hopes the audience of communicators, storytellers and designers leaves with a better understanding of “our obligation as citizens, neighbors, journalists and educators to immigrant justice and honoring life for everyone.”

“I see CMDI as a convener of these conversations at a time when fewer people are having them,” he said. “We want to give a sense of perspective, some clarity about what we are all dealing with on a daily basis. Those conversations don’t only happen in the classroom—we are trying to foster a culture of meaningful and constructive discussion about issues of great public concern.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

A performance by Motus Theater headlines this year’s Distinguished Speaker Series.

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Slow your scroll: Experts talk news, TikTok and critical thinking in Poynter panel

Joe Arney — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 17:07:41 +0000

Slow your scroll: Experts talk news, TikTok and critical thinking in Poynter panel Joe Arney Thu, 10/02/2025 - 11:07

Joe Arney

Phaedra C. Pezzullo, left, welcomes the audience as she prepares to moderate a panel discussion on journalism at the Boulder Public Library. The other panelists are, from left, Mark Trahant, Amanda Williams and Jade Liu. Photos by Jack Moody.

Much ink has been spilled, airtime spent and pixels devoted to questions around news engagement and the youngest generation.

So, rather than speculate, a panel session earlier this week invited a high school journalist to join seasoned reporters, editors and University of Colorado Boulder faculty to explore intergenerational storytelling and the future of the news media.

It started from the first question that moderator Phaedra C. Pezzullo, a professor of communication and director of the Sustainability and Storytelling Lab at the College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, pitched to Jade Liu.

Pezzullo asked Liu, a senior at Boulder’s Fairview High School, how technology shapes her approach to journalism, especially when telling stories for different generations.

“And you’re going to tell us that Twitter is old news now,” Pezzullo said; Liu drew a lot of laughs when she playfully fired back that “It’s X now, you know.”

“I’m honestly not the most online person, so I don’t know how well I can speak to this,” Liu said. “But years ago, I don’t think anyone was reading the newspaper for eight hours a day—yet today, there are people watching TikTok or scrolling Instagram for that long. When you’re taking in that much information at that rapid of a pace, there’s no stopping to think critically about what you’re seeing.

“I think that the main threat facing journalism today isn’t that it’s going to be replaced, but getting people to really care about it at a time when we’re facing so much information constantly coming at us.”

The panel discussion, which took place Tuesday at the Boulder Public Library, was presented in conjunction with Poynter’s 50th anniversary exhibition, Moments of Truth: An Exploration of Journalism’s Past, Present and Future. This traveling showcase traces journalism’s history, from movable type to A.I.-generated content, and illustrates how the industry has adapted in the face of technical innovation.

“Long before journalism as we know it today took shape, the need to tell our stories and share the truth of the world has been central to the human experience,” said Jessi Hollis McCarthy, a program specialist at MediaWise, the media literacy arm of Poynter. “Across time, we’ve created the tools and techniques we need to communicate the information that shapes our lives. Journalism is a vital part of that tradition.”

CMDI has been honored to be a stop on Poynter’s national tour. The college’s founding dean, Lori Bergen, has been a member of Poynter’s national advisory board and currently serves as a trustee.

“It’s a tremendous privilege to get to bring Poynter’s perspective about news literacy to the university and Boulder communities, especially in a time of hyper-partisanship and ceaseless technical innovation,” Bergen said. “Poynter is personally important to me, and also critical to the work that I do as a journalism educator and a citizen.”

Focus on environmental reporting

In addition to a general discussion of intergenerational storytelling and technology, the panelists spoke specifically about environmental journalism.

Mark Trahant, who has held multiple leadership roles in news, including at SeattlePI and ICT, said the industry is struggling to cover complex, slow-moving environmental crises. He shared stories he’s written about communities on the Taholah River, in Washington, which have been besieged by storm surges and flooding.

One village, Trahant said, has moved itself to higher ground. “But when I went up there with a photographer, we went through 35 villages facing the same lowland situation. Yet none of those communities are going through the same process.

“We have to get people to understand what the big picture is, and then act on it,” he said. “But journalism is not very good on the second part. We can talk about the issues and some of the complexities, but it boils down to policymakers and citizens who have to take the next step and decide what they want to do about it.”

Amanda Williams, a special projects editor for NPR’s 1A, is spending the year at �� Boulder as a Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism. She said the news is responsible for giving people resources to take that action without journalists becoming activists.

“At the end of a conversation, we try to end with things you could do or think about, or a place you could go to learn more about what we’re talking about,” Williams said. “It’s important to leave people with a direction to go after your story, your conversation or your podcast, so they don’t feel you were just dumping all these problems on a page and then walking away.”

A lengthy question-and-answer session with the audience followed the discussion. Topics ranged from technology, news disengagement, and the political and legal climate journalists are confronting.

A lighter question came from an audience member who asked whether games like Wordle, Connections and “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” encourage younger audiences to pay attention to the headlines, in addition to the diversions. Williams credited The New York Times with its boldness in moving into directions like cooking, puzzles and podcasting faster than other outlets.

“I know a lot of people who have New York Times subscriptions because they love the games so much—and making the mini crossword not free anymore probably led to more subscriptions, too,” Liu said. “But I do think the challenge is bridging that gap, and going from playing New York Times games to reading New York Times stories.”

Joe Arney covers research and general news for the college.

CMDI and the Poynter Institute gathered a group of experts to discuss intergenerational storytelling, with a special focus on environmental reporting.

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