Published: Sept. 1, 2014

The public is invited to attend free, Saturday programs led by University of Colorado Boulder faculty on popular topics as part of the CU on the Weekend series, which begins Sept. 6.

With topics ranging from the sweeping stories behind celebrated musical compositions to the micro-level study of bacteria that uniquely forms each person’s microbiome, CU on the Weekend programs are designed to satisfy the community’s curiosity surrounding some of the intriguing research conducted at CU-Boulder.

New for fall 2014, CU-Boulder will offer CU on the Weekend programs in Parker as part of CU South Denver’s collaboration with The Wildlife Experience. Two CU-Boulder history professors will lead encore presentations of popular CU on the Weekend programs at the new location.

 

CU South Denver events in Parker

Baseball and the American Dream in History

Saturday, Oct. 4, 1-3 p.m., CU South Denver, Classroom 204, 10035 S. Peoria St.

Tom Zeiler, professor of history, will explore what many baseball greats have in common—a shared history of baseball and a belief in the American dream that anyone, regardless of birth and hardship, can achieve success, freedom and happiness.

Nuclear Families, Nuclear Towns: Los Alamos in the Cold War

Saturday, Nov. 1, 1-4 p.m., CU South Denver, Classroom 204, 10035 S. Peoria St.

In this program, Lee Chambers, professor of history, will discuss her research on Cold War weapons laboratories and the war’s impact on family and community life in the “Atomic City” of Los Alamos, N.M.

 

CU-Boulder campus events

Revisiting 1864—The Civil War Just Became Much More Interesting
Saturday, Sept. 6, 9 a.m.–noon, Benson Earth Sciences Building, room 180, CU-Boulder campus

Peter Wood, adjunct professor of history, will explore the wartime election of 1864—held 150 years ago this fall. Through a new generation of research, 1864 emerges as a key year during the nation’s most tumultuous decade, and the greatest confrontation of that fateful year involved ballots, not bullets.

Introduction to Your Human Microbiome

Saturday, Oct. 18, 1-4 p.m., Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, Butcher Auditorium, CU-Boulder campus

Rob Knight, professor of chemistry and co-founder of the American Gut Project, will discuss techniques scientists are using to find out about microbes within the human body, including the gut, and the ways that microbes contribute to disease.

Stories Behind the Musical Masterpiece

Saturday, Nov. 15, 1-3 p.m., Benson Earth Sciences Building, room 180, CU-Boulder campus

Jeremy Smith, associate professor of musicology, will explain how composers over the centuries—from Byrd to Bach to Beethoven—have told their stories through their music, often with powerful results.

Doors open 30 minutes before each CU on the Weekend program, and seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

CU on the Weekend is administered by the CU-Boulder Office for Outreach and Engagement with support from the Office of the Chancellor, the Office of the Provost and Division of Continuing Education. For more information or to sign up for an emailed event reminder visit http://conted.colorado.edu/programs/cu-on-the-weekend/. For questions contact weekend@colorado.edu or 303-492-4561.

 

Contact:
Hannah Fletcher, CU-Boulder Outreach and Engagement, 303-492-3949, hannah.fletcher@colorado.edu

 

University of Colorado Boulder history professor Tom Zeiler sports baseball regailia at Stazio ballfield in Boulder.