Laughing Eastern man

Warily and often wrongly, the West eyes Islam

June 1, 2009

As the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York was still smoldering, President George W. Bush told the nation that the terrorists came from a small group of religious extremists who “hate our freedoms.” That extremism, he said, “perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam.” Religious tension is as...

Blurry telescope image

Got life?

June 1, 2009

Viewing worlds here, near and far, CU scholars seek answers With his usual irreverence, the author Bill Bryson recently ruminated on the origin of life. “It is possible that events and conditions that led to the rise of life on Earth are not quite as extraordinary as we like to...

James Balog

Watching glacial melt shift into overdrive

June 1, 2009

James Balog vividly illustrates the rapid retreat of ice sheets and glaciers on Earth. His work, which has appeared on the cover of National Geographic and on PBS, turns climate-change skeptics into believers, he says. Balog’s time-lapse photography compresses months of ice retreat into a few minutes of dramatic footage,...

Ken and Ruth Wright look over Ruth's copy of the complete works of Shakespeare.

Act I, Scene I: Enter stage Wright

June 1, 2009

Ruth and Ken Wright have a long history of professional success. The pair also has an abiding passion for the poetry of Shakespeare. Their work and personal interests are as complementary as they are to each other. Ruth is an attorney who spent years as a state legislator and environmental...

Cartoon of Obama

Mixed reviews, cloudy outlook for Obama

June 1, 2009

CU experts note positives, negatives and a plethora of pitfalls Just after the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States, a wry newspaper headline announced, “Black Man Given Nation’s Worst Job.” “America’s Finest News Source,” also known as The Onion, was making a joke. But...

Images from Colorado Shakespeare Festival performances

Canon Fodder

June 1, 2009

For Shakespeare festival, where there’s a Will, there’s a way, new leader hopes The Colorado Shakespeare Festival’s credentials run deep and wide. In 1975, for instance, it became the first American Shakespeare company to perform all 37 plays of the canon. Today, the festival is four plays away from completing...

Nicole Gibson with dogs

Young scholar lends a helping hand

March 1, 2009

Nicole Gibson’s grandparents set aside money for her college. She’s keenly aware of her good fortune. Now she’s paying it forward. Gibson is a 2004 environmental-studies graduate of the University of Colorado who began funding a scholarship in 2005. The $1,000 Donald and Marjorie Gibson Scholarship is open to full-time...

Nuclear cloud

Dr. Strangelove: The Sequel

March 1, 2009

The Cold War is history, and major nuclear powers are slashing their arsenals. No rational leader would start a nuclear war. And even if India and Pakistan traded a few nuclear bombs, conventional wisdom suggests, most of the world wouldn’t suffer much. The nuclear threat is diminishing, right? Wrong. That’s...

Young goths, shown here in Australia, are known for their dark clothing and demeanor. Photo courtesy of Johnny Barker (http://www.flickr.com/photos/71086419@N00/)

Goth and Christian ‘intimacy talk’

March 1, 2009

Surprising similarities between divergent groups, but old stereotypes persist, researcher says Though they express their sexuality in starkly different ways, evangelical Christian men and goth men share a startling amount of common ground in their “intimacy talk,” which in both cases tends to emphasize intimacy, vulnerability and respect for women...

Susan Kent

Aftershocks of World War I

March 1, 2009

They are instructive today, historian says World War I shattered the people and the collective psyche of Great Britain, but the war’s end did not stop the strife or suffering. Between 1918 and 1931, the shell-shocked people and their nation sought to regain a sense of order through repression and...

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