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The Barney Ford Lab for Civic Thought and Engagement is a research group with the mission of promoting research on civics and democratic pluralism at CU Boulder. As part of this mission, the lab regularly hosts extracurricular lectures open to the general Boulder community. We also host more intimate research workshops dedicated to providing mentorship to early career researchers.

We are named after Barney Ford (1822-1902), a lifelong civil rights advocate. Barney Ford was an escaped slave who became one of the wealthiest men in Colorado through hard work and perseverance. He is perhaps best known for successfully advocating for the extension of voting rights to all Coloradoans.

We are housed in the Department of Political Science, but we welcome faculty, postdoctoral, and graduate fellow applications from any department.

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