Forums & Fireside Chats

Fireside Chats

Fireside Chats is a new, four-part series from DU Grand Challenges and Fireside at Five centering on "What Is Community?". This series aims to discuss topics that affect each of us in our community through engaging panels of academic experts, students, alumni, and community leaders. Each Fireside Chat focuses on a different topic with a goal of creating an environment where we listen to each other and share resources, allies, and connections. 

Fireside Chats are made possible by a generous grant from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations.

Upcoming Fireside Chats

There are currently no Fireside Chats planned for the 2022-2023 academic year.

 

Previous 2021-2022 Fireside Chats

• Making Moves: Migration in The Mile High City - Jan. 20th 2022

  Our first Fireside Chat explored migration in Denver and interconnections for creating more inclusive communities. It focused on the immigrant, refugee, and first-generation experience, from the policies affecting immigration to what it means to truly support the entrepreneurial spirit of refugee communities - our panelists had lived, professional and academic experiences to share with us on the intersectional topic of migration.

  Amongst our panelists were Rep. Iman Jodeh, Slavica Park, Tracy Harper, Hava Gordon, and Marissa Martinez Suarez. Watch the livestream below and view key takeaways on Fireside at Five's blog "Five Takeaways: Making Moves - Migration in the Mile High City — Fireside at Five.

• A Safer Place in Denver - March 3, 2022

  Our second chat focused on exploring housing and food insecurity in Denver and interconnections for creating a safer community for us all. We discussed questions like - how do homelessness and racism intersect? In what ways does this lead to deeper inequity? Why are housing and food becoming more and more expensive? How can we create systems that support autonomy and sustainable outcomes for those struggling with rent and food security?

  Our panelists were Rep. Leslie Herod, Eli Zain, Heather Martin, Rebecca Arno, and Andres Pulido. Watch the livestream below and read key takeaways at "Five Takeaways Blog - A Safer Place in Denver — Fireside at Five."

   

• Green Justice in Denver - April 21, 2022

  Our third Fireside Chat focused on the three dimensions of sustainability: social, economic, and environmental. We heard from individuals on the frontlines of Denver’s eco-efforts & learned how we can work with communities to make urban greenspaces & eco-resources more accessible.

  Our panelists were Kayla Fatemi, Evon Lopez, Monique 'Mo' Fair, Jorge Figueroa, and Lisa Reyes Mason. Watch the livestream below and read key takeaways at "Five Takeaways: Green Justice in Denver — Fireside at Five"

   

• Healing Past Incarceration - May 12, 2022

  Our final Fireside Chat centered on discussions around how can we work together to better support community members who were previously incarcerated. 

  Our panelists were Carol Peeples & Roohallah Mobarez from Remerg, Linda Agripino & Paul Galloway from Red Rocks Gateway Program, Jeffrey Lin a DU Associate Professor in Sociology & Criminology, Maddie Heiken a DU undergraduate student, and JoyBelle Phelan & Eric Davis from DU Prison Arts Initiative. Watch the livestream below and read key takeaways at "Five Takeaways: Healing Past Incarceration — Fireside at Five"

   

 

2021-2022 Fireside Chat Recordings

Forums

Campus and community experts share bold and provocative ideas that spark discussion among attendees on how the topic impacts our communities, providing fuel and inspiration for bold actions that help our communities thrive.

Upcoming Forums

• Education Equity Forum - Oct 12, 2022

  Join us for our first Forum of the year - description to come. No registration Required. 

   

  4:00PM - 5:30PM

  Community Commons 1600

 

2021-2022 Forums

• DU Prison Arts Initiative: Chained Voices - Aug 20, 2021

  The Chained Voices visual art show was produced with DU PAI and supported by the DUGC Crime and Safety Cohort and featured art by artists incarcerated across the Colorado Department of Corrections. Colorado Newsline article featured this event: A push to change Colorado’s prison culture and perceptions — one art piece at a time - Colorado Newsline

• Sustainability Conference - Feb 18, 2022

  Conference Schedule

  How can DU students, faculty, and staff collaborate effectively with diverse community members to advance equitable and ecologically sustainable outcomes in the Denver Region? On February 18th, representatives from the DU Grand Challenges (DUGC) Urban Sustainability Cohort explored this question and shared insights drawn from their leadership of key prototype initiatives, each intended to cultivate reciprocal community-university, multi-sector partnerships that contribute to one unifying result: “The Denver region supports just, inclusive and thriving communities where people and nature flourish.”

  Featured projects included:

  • Campus-City Partnerships: Amplifying Community Voices in Public Policy and Planning
  • The Valverde Movement Project
  • Metro Denver Nature Alliance (Metro DNA)
  • Beyond GDP: Measuring Human & Ecological Wellbeing

  Participants engaged in facilitated dialogue about essential ingredients and practices for building effective community-university partnerships that cultivate the collective understanding and relational power required to address complex problems in the living systems we call home.

  The Sustainability Cohort is one of DUGC’s four collective impact cohorts in which faculty, staff and students partner with community leaders from the public, private, and civic sectors to improve daily life, now and in the future through interdisciplinary, community-based scholarship and learning. 

• Climate Justice Day - April 12, 2022

  This spring, IRISE hosted a series of speakers and university-wide classes related to climate justice. DUGC contributed to the April 12th Climate Justice lunchtime roundtable that welcomed community and government stakeholders and Dr. Nadia Kim of Loyola Marymount University, author of Refusing Death: Immigrant Women and the Fight for Environmental Justice in LA. 

• DUGC Celebration - May 18, 2022

  A celebratory Forum that highlighted the amazing work done by individuals and teams through the DU Grand Challenges initiative over the years. 

2020-2021 Forum Recordings