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To read the Center for Humanities & the Arts (CHA) November 2025 Month Newsletter, see below.

Director's Letter of the Month:

November 2025

Dear ��ɫ��Ƶ Community & Supporters of the CHA,

I’ve��had many homes in the 5 plus decades that��I’ve��been on this planet. And I don’t just mean places where I happened to live—I mean I have felt a sense of belonging in various��cities and states��whether it was��in the place where I grew up and where my parents still live (Hayward, CA) or the summers I’ve spent in Salamanca, Spain, which inexplicably in the first days I ever spent there automatically made me feel like I was home.��I am not “from” Colorado – but Colorado is now home. Many of us have these stories—of leaving the place of our birth, of our��upbringing, and traveling��to other locales and making a home for ourselves��and finding others that provide us with a sense of belonging.

You can��likely see��where��I’m��going with this.

People��leave the places where they were born and raised for a variety of reasons, but��.��And the lives of people living in new locales, while often figured as tragic and traumatic, need not be—or rather,��that’s��not the only way to understand their stories.��People’s lives are multifaceted—there is��pain��and there is joy.

I was reminded of this when��attending the public��portion��of a PhD dissertation “Blissful Displacement” by newly minted Dr. Toma��Peiu��in��.��Part of Dr.��Peiu’s��research��provides��an intimate glimpse into the��Russian-speaking ethnic-Korean Central Asian diaspora of Brooklyn, NY—you can take a����I was so moved by Dr.��Peiu’s��closing remarks that I asked him if I could share��a��portion��of��them in this newsletter:

“The news may say otherwise, but the world we live in is the result of the collective work of people who fix the subway, serve the food, run the shops, peel the carrots, drive the trucks and cabs, plumb the pipes, sing the hymns, trim the beards, do the make-up, clean the sewer, care for the children and elderly, bake the bread, teach the Math, deliver the mail, run your children’s gym routines, do the scientific research and make the dialectic art that recognizes the imaginaries and dilemmas of their peers. And yet the imaginaries, thoughts and dreams that animate the everyday lives of these people often��remain��obscure in the public sphere,��including in��academic research and policy priorities. We may live in the same city and ride the subway together every night, we often know less about our neighbors than about friends and family members living across the Ocean.”

Arts and humanities allow us to imagine alongside��the people who��prepare��our food, drive��busses,��clean our buildings,��teach our children, and care for us in hospitals and clinics—people who, in many cases, are not “from” here but who live complex and rich lives, just like us—and in some cases they are us. Dr.��Peiu’s��research and art practice illuminates those lives��and reminds us that knowing who our neighbors are should be as easy as simply asking questions and genuinely wanting to hear the answers.��

I should also add that Dr.��Peiu’s��research was funded, in part, through����eligible��to graduate��students working in arts and humanities. There’s a new graduate fellowship we are offering this year,��the��, open to MA and PhD students who are interested in learning more about��the work of arts and humanities to perhaps prepare for a career outside of a traditional tenure ladder academic position (Deadline, Monday, November 17).��

Dr.��Peiu’s��research and art is inspiring—it��reminded me that the work of imagination is so vital in the times we are living in, as is finding community and creating it where you can. To that end, I hope you will consider joining the����where��we’ll��be reading��David Owen’s��Where the Water Goes: Life and Death along the Colorado River��(Riverhead Books 2017)��or��please��join us for a����Conversation with our Colorado Chautauqua partners.��

Sincerely,

Jennifer Ho

Director, Center for Humanities & the Arts

PS. I have been thinking about what real reparations��looks��like—for a variety of issues but especially��giving land back to native nations. I have wondered under what conditions I could or would hand over my own home and land. Then I came across����of Franciscan Sisters in Wisconsin��giving back land to the Lac du Flambeau��band of��Lake��Superior Chippewa��.��Giving land back is possible—we just��have to��have the will and imagination to meet the moment.��

CHA Upcoming Opportunities

Graduate Student Survey- Deadline: November 14

Take 5 minutes to share your thoughts on future careers and how the state of the world shapes your outlook. Your feedback helps us better support grad students like you.

👉��Take the Survey

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🚨 New Fellowship Opportunity! 🚨

The CHA Eaton Humanities Fellow is now open to MA and PhD students interested in exploring careers in the arts and humanities beyond the traditional academic tenure track.

Gain hands-on experience, expand your skills, and discover new opportunities!

🗓 Deadline: Monday, November 17

Apply now and take the next step in your humanities journey!

📝 Apply Here

Difficult Dialogues: Community Conversations

Israel. Gaza. Boulder. A very difficult dialogue.
📅 Thursday, November 13
🕕 6:00–7:30 PM
📍 Colorado Chautauqua’s Community House

The Israel–Gaza conflict has become a deeply sensitive issue here in Boulder. Join us for an open conversation that seeks to lower the temperature while ensuring all voices are heard.

This event is part of the Difficult Dialogues series in partnership with Colorado Chautauqua’s Voices at Chautauqua.

✅

The CHA will host a series of meetings (in person and on zoom) to discuss��Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River��by David Owen. Water issues seem simple—ban golf, stop selling hay to China—but Owen’s story reveals a complex, man-made ecosystem shaped by engineering, law, and cooperation. This book explores how life thrives in the desert and what happens when the system breaks down. How to Join To��join��the��discussion��in��Spring��2026,����, which has links to interviews with Owens—first 150��people��will get��a��free��copy.��People can pick up books whenever the CHA Office is open, 10:00 am–3:00 pm, Tuesday through Thursday. Please see the CHA Office����for any updates to office hours.