MHMSS Website

MHMSS Community

Talk of the Program:

Welcome to the MHMSS Community! Here, we celebrate our students, faculty, and their accomplishments in and out of the classroom.

Take a look at what we’re up to!

Food Justice Students at Ekar Farms!

Fall 2022

Food Justice

course at

Ekar Farms

Natalia graduated

MHMSS May 2023

“I chose this program for the interdisciplinary aspect, pursuing a PhD in Psychology with a particular interest in parapsychology. The variety of lenses within Humanities classes allows me to expand my perspective and more empirical background, in efforts to eventually integrate philosophical and psychological practices in my career, whatever that may be. Currently, I’m honing my interests through philosophy, psychology, and communications courses, and there exists few programs where that’s an option.”

- Caroline Bowden, MH

c/o 2025

Congratulations,

Darcy Copeland, MH

A Historical Analysis Of Ethics In American Nursing

Chance Rich, MH

Weak Men Breed Weak Virtues: A Realist Critique of Academia in the Age of Postmodernism Through a Classical Liberal Lens

Magan Brody, MSS

Ojos Así: Shakira and Fused Identity

Shalene Henderson, MSS

Project: “Civil Discourse: A Curriculum Exploring, Understanding, and Discussing Social Justice Issues That Divide America”

Mykal Hogan, MSS

No Justice: On the Criminalization of Black, Trans Individuals for Sex Work

Jillian Pratzner, MSS

The Intuitive and Somatic Intelligence of Dreaming: Using the Dreambody to Interpret Dreams

Suwanitcha Tangchittsumran, MSS

Deviant Girl’s Karma: Thailand’s Buddhist Practitioner’s Perspectives on Abortion among Female Adolescents with Premarital And Unintended Pregnancy

Eric Wheeler, MSS

Stolen Water: Ute Mountain Ute Water Rights and the Legacy of Settler Colonialism

2024 Graduates!

Fall 2024 Dates & Info

APPLY FOR FALL 2024 GRADUATION: April 1, 2024 - September 4, 2024

FIRST DAY OF CLASS: August 19

SPRING 2025 REGISTRATION: November 1 - 18

OPEN ENROLLMENT BEGINS: November 19

FALL BREAK: November 25 - December 1

FINALS: December 9 - 14

COMMENCEMENT: December 14

WINTER BREAK: December 25 - January 1

FALL DEGREES POSTED: January 10

Fall 2024

Suggested Courses:

HERE!

MHMSS Student Highlights

Bryn Brodie & Erica Zwahlen

Jack (Eric) Wheeler

MHMS students Bryn Brody and Erica Zwahlen travelled to Baltimore Oct. 2023 for the Nat’l Women’s Studies Association (NWSA) conference. Teaming up with professors Mia Fischer and Katy Mohrman, their inclusion and harm reduction effort was a continuation of the department training sessions the team has been conducting on our CU Denver campus. Bryn and Erica's NWSA roundtable, entitled, "Teaching to Transgress: Reflections on LGBTQ+ Inclusive Pedagogy Workshops," highlighted their experiences implementing the LGBTQ+ faculty committee’s inclusive pedagogy workshops, and the climate that prompted the design of the workshops. Erica and Bryn spoke to their workshop facilitation at CU Denver, and the institutional possibilities and challenges surrounding the promotion of LGBTQ+ inclusive pedagogy at a time when LGBTQ+ people and their rights are under attack.

My investigation focuses on Ute Mtn’s Ute tribal nation. It explores how colonial encroachments have affected the Ute Mountain Ute’s water rights, how settler legacy has complicated and created ethical challenges for them, and what is needed to decolonize their waters rights. Due to inequity, many indigenous households lack running water, their nations face steep water cuts in drought, and many still are unable to use their water rights since the 1908 ruling of Winter vs The U.S.

Beyond the Classroom

“Meet Brooke Delgado”!

To check out Brooke’s most recent interview with Canvas Rebel, click the image above!

Shown here recording her song at a studio in Prague while on a 2023 Summer study abroad with the CU Denver College of Arts and Media. That song will be released January 27th at the single release party shown below!

MHMSS Student, Brooke Delgado, One of Fifteen to Sing with Brandi Carlile!

Brooke Delgado won a spot in Brandi Carlile’s contest, Brandiokie, where contestants compete for 1 of 15 spots to sing a song with Brandi at her music festival, Girls Just Wanna Weekend. The event takes place January 18-22, 2024 in Riviera Maya, Mexico, where Brooke will be accompanied by her partner and her partner’s daughter. Brooke will be singing, “Mama Werewolf,” by Brandi Carlile:

“I chose that song because it's about a fierce mama who is overly protective of her child. She asks her child to be the "silver bullet in the gun" if she gets out of control. I didn't get the chance to be a mom and it's always been a dream of mine. This past year, I've had the honor of being a bonus mom to my partner's daughter and it's meant the world to me. I like to think that my maternal love could be as strong at the song I'm singing.”

Brooke performs January 27th, along with the release of her first single!

Can’t get enough? Check out Brooke’s YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/brookedelgadosings

WATCH BROOKE’S FULL PERFORMANCE IN RIVIERA MAYA WITH BRANDI HERE!

Brooke’s new single, “Duplex Love,” is streaming now on all platforms!

As well as on her YouTube here!

Faculty Focus:

Noteworthy News

Dr. Swartz invited to prepare talk for journal, Communication Education, after presenting his paper: “Navigating the Legal Landscape Surrounding State Anti-Inclusivity Legislation: A Voice from the Trenches”

Professor Swartz presented his paper, “Navigating the Legal Landscape Surrounding State Anti-Inclusivity Legislation: A Voice from the Trenches,” at the National Communication Annual Convention, Washington, D.C., November 2023. As a result of his presentation, he was invited by the premier education journal, Communication Education, to prepare the talk for a stimulus essay describing the legal landscape surrounding the anti-inclusivity legislation. Swartz’s paper discusses how anti-DEI state restrictions are both new and old. They are part of a long history of attempts by conservative legislatures to control education at all levels to promote a limited vison of identity and citizenship. These nativistic and anti-intellectual attempts to suppress efforts to build a better informed multi-cultural and inter-ethnic society committed to social progress have been repudiated in the past by the Supreme Court. He argues that they will likewise be defeated now. The modern alt-right, to the contrary, America has outgrown its normative white supremacy, it’s concerning strains of Christian Nationalism, and its misogynistic and homophobic habits. People realize that the U.S. belongs to all of us who make it our home. Without full equality and integrity to live our lives on our own terms, the promise of American freedom will remain stunted.

Dr. Hutchison pursues food studies research in Italy & Hungary, interviewing family through oral history narrations

Last summer 2023, I travelled to Italy and Hungary for my food studies research. My family hosted us in Northern Italy, where my mom grew up. Conducting oral history interviews with family members and hearing their fascinating stories was a moving experience. In speaking of culinary practices, relatives—and the women in particular—recounted how they navigate the clash of the old ways with the new. There was layer upon layer of things to witness and hear, like some of the “meta-interactions” that occurred during the oral history narrations as different family members listened to one another’s views and experiences. I visited a cultivator of carnaroli, a type of rice grain from which the dish risotto is made. It’s sometimes unexpected to see rice paddies in Italy, but that’s what you’ll find in the north. One of the buildings on the carnaroli producer’s farm dates to the 15th century. Highlights of the trip included my kids hearing their Nonna speak the Veneto dialect, eating the Veneto region’s most famous dish, baccalà–a salted codfish you have to soak for 3 days while repeatedly changing the water in which it sits, a personal tour of a Hungarian city market by the architect who built it, and Venice, Venice, Venice!

Dr. Woodhull presenting at the WoArch Conference

Dr. Woodhull presents paper on ancient Roman women's power as patrons of public buildings & as businesswomen in the ancient brick production trade

Professor Margaret Woodhull kicked off the new year with a paper presented on January 27, 2024, at the conference, "WoArch: Women as Builders, Designers, and Critics." The paper examined ancient Roman women's power as patrons of public buildings and as businesswomen in the ancient brick production trade and forms the foundation of a chapter in a forthcoming book from Routledge. The conference was held at the University of Arkansas's Rome Center, housed in the beautiful 14th-century Palazzo Taverna in the center of the Eternal City. More information about the conference can be found: HERE!

In Their Own Words...

Alumni Reflections

I graduated from the MHMSS program in 2019 with a Certificate in Women’s and Gender Studies. I am now a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the CU Boulder, where I study how feminist activists interact with material spaces. In many ways, the people I met and the skills I learned in the MHMSS program helped prepare me for this next phase of my academic career. I chose the MHMSS program for two reasons, the first logistical and the second academic. Logistically, the MHMSS program allows for students to take classes at their own pace and offers many of their graduate seminars in the evenings. These structural elements make the degree a viable option for those who need to work full time while in school, as I and many of my classmates did during our years in the program. Academically, the program’s interdisciplinary nature offers a balance of structure and freedom. The required courses provide a theoretical and methodological foundation, a sort of common academic language for the MHMSS community. At the same time, each student has a lot of freedom to build a targeted plan of study from their own interests. For example, I came into the MHMSS program interested in feminist theory and quickly became intrigued by questions about space. I took classes addressing women’s issues, as well as courses in geography, urban planning, and architecture. Taking courses in these different disciplines taught me how to approach the questions I had from a variety of angles, pushed me to read interesting texts I may not otherwise have encountered, and helped me to build a diverse set of research skills.

The most valuable part of the MHMSS program for me was the intellectual community. Through group projects, study groups, and writing partnerships, I built meaningful and lasting friendships with my classmates in the MHMSS program. These relationships are special and unique because they are rooted in the ideas we explored together, the questions we asked, and the support we offered one another in pursuit of answers to these questions. Equally important are the opportunities to find mentors within the program. I found that professors and thesis advisors offered a lot of helpful feedback and always found time to meet with students about their work. For me, this has been ongoing. Though I graduated some time ago, I regularly see my thesis advisor and value his advice, reading suggestions, and offers to read drafts of my work. The people I met in the MHMSS program continue to enrich my life in more ways than I could ever write here.

When I entered CU Denver’s MSS program, I knew I wanted to concentrate on Women and Gender studies. Choosing an interdisciplinary Master’s program meant, to my surprise and delight, that I would study critical theory through a variety of lenses. I took classes and seminars on power, violence, and space, international women’s rights, case law, philosophy, and more. My professors were challenging, brilliant and my mentors. Coupling the mentorship with a yearlong internship helped steer my new career into storytelling and writing. I value my education, the connections I made, and the opportunities this degree opened me up to.

I always promised myself I’d get a Masters degree, but other things kept interfering (work, kids, etc.). When I saw how flexible CU Denver’s MH/MSS program was, I decided to take the leap and go back to school. The faculty and staff have been amazing! They’ve supported me every step of the way and made learning fun and worthwhile. I’m so glad to finally be keeping the promise I made to myself 30 years ago.

I am so grateful I chose an interdisciplinary program. The ability to take courses from a variety of disciplines exposed me to views I likely would not have otherwise encountered. I studied the seemingly infinite ways gender, sexuality, race, law, and art intersect, but the greatest part of the MHMSS is that I became a more critical, kaleidoscopic thinker about everything. Moreover, some of the people I met in the program remain my closest friends to this day.

The MSS program at CU Denver was an incredible asset in launching my career as a social entrepreneur. When I came to the program, I had an idea about what I wanted to do upon graduation - which was to start a social enterprise in Malawi. All of the program staff supported my vision and goals by helping me network with certain professors and faculties that could enhance and tailor my academic experience. From the beginning they made it clear they wanted to help me succeed, not just as an academic in their program, but in life after grad school, as well. None of my time in the program felt wasted because of the interdisciplinary approach. Every course I took added substantial value to my endeavor. Transferring from a different grad school that was very siloed, I really appreciated being able to integrate knowledge across various disciplines. This approach mimics how I feel problems in the real world must be addressed. Complex issues often require solutions that incorporate many different ways of thinking. The MSS program really taught me how to utilize and be comfortable with taking a interdisciplinary approach to solving problems. And this has brought me so much success already in my social venture. Another thing I really valued about the program was how they set up their thesis requirements. Having to network with professors from different disciplines to form a committee seemed daunting at first. But I soon realized that every faculty member I met with was used to this system and all seemed to be genuinely interested in my work, which as a student was incredibly validating. Their focus on student engagement really gave me the confidence to take some bigger risks in designing my research. And it paid off because I was able to learn a whole new set of skills from professors I would have likely not engaged with had it not been for this program. And lastly, I can't say enough about the encouragement the staff of the MSS program gave me. Coming into the program with this little idea that turned into a big idea and then a big leap, I was hesitant and terrified. But the MSS team was there for me every step of the way. They always showed excitement about my ideas and came to me with course suggestions that would contribute to my academic interests. They really helped shape my ability to be able to jump right into my venture as soon as I graduated. And I am forever grateful for that! I'm not sure I would have had the courage to take that leap if it hadn't been for my time at UC Denver.