News

Recipients of the Spring 2025 Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Teaching Assistant Award

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:05:59 +0000

Recipients of the Spring 2025 Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Teaching Assistant Award Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/21/2025 - 08:05

Recipients of the Excellence in Graduate Teaching – Teaching Assistant Award: Hayes Hart-Thompson, Emma Loizeaux, and Fedor Popov.

To reward good teaching practice and encourage graduates to develop teaching skills.

The recipients are:

Hayes Hart-Thompson

Emma Loizeaux

Fedor Popov

To reward good teaching practice and encourage graduates to develop teaching skills.

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Recipients of the Spring 2025 Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award For MA Students

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 14:02:40 +0000

Recipients of the Spring 2025 Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award For MA Students Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/21/2025 - 08:02

Spring 2025 Recipients of the Adam Kolff Memorial Research Award For MA Students: Hayes Hart-Thompson and Theo Kuhn

The Adam Kolff Memorial Research Awards are meant to enhance research opportunities for MA students in Geography. This award is named after a former MA student.

The recipients are:

Hayes Hart-Thompson

Theo Kuhn

The Adam Kolff Memorial Research Awards are meant to enhance research opportunities for MA students in Geography. This award is named after a former MA student.

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Recipients of the Spring 2025 Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award For PhD Students

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 13:57:17 +0000

Recipients of the Spring 2025 Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award For PhD Students Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/21/2025 - 07:57

Spring 2025 Recipients of the Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Award For PhD Students: Drolma Gadou, Guiye Li, Zhe Lin, Lars Schwaebe, and Jiacheng Zhou.

The Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Awards are meant to enhance travel and research opportunities for PhD students in Geography. This award is named after a former PhD student.

The Spring 2025 Recipients are:

The Jennifer Dinaburg Memorial Research Awards are meant to enhance travel and research opportunities for PhD students in Geography. This award is named after a former PhD student.

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Recipients of the Spring 2025 James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Conference Travel Award

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 13:47:11 +0000

Recipients of the Spring 2025 James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Conference Travel Award Gabriela Rocha Sales Mon, 04/21/2025 - 07:47

Recipients of the Spring 2025 James A. and Jeanne B. DeSana Conference Travel Award: Alek Berg, Ethan Carr, Xiaoling Chen, Drolma Gadou, Fan Li, Sherrie Liu, Luca Palasti, Chris Picard, Holly Roth, Mallory Sagehorn, Nic Tarasewicz, Lauren Thomas, and Zhongying Wang

This award, made possible by an anonymous donor, is to be used to “support graduate student research.” To honor the donor’s wishes, the Department makes this award late in the Spring semester so that it can be used for conference travel through the end of Fall 2025.

Spring 2025 Recipients:

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Recipients of the Spring 2025 John Pitlick Field Research Award

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 21:37:13 +0000

Recipients of the Spring 2025 John Pitlick Field Research Award Gabriela Rocha Sales Fri, 04/18/2025 - 15:37

Spring 2025 Pitlick Award Recipients: Annika Hirmke, Prakriti Mukerjee, Esmee Mulder, Holly Roth, Anshul Sharma, Nic Tarasewicz, and Rahila Yilangai

This award will be used to provide support to graduate students for field research in the Geography Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Funds will be used to cover field research-related expenses, including, but not limited to travel to and from the field area, reimbursable living expenses while in the field, costs associated with workshops, or specialized training courses, field equipment, and other costs associated with carrying out the field research.

Spring 2025 Recipients:

This award will be used to provide support to graduate students for field research in the Geography Department at the University of Colorado, Boulder.

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Recipient of the Spring 2025 Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography Award

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 20:45:50 +0000

Recipient of the Spring 2025 Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography Award Gabriela Rocha Sales Fri, 04/18/2025 - 14:45

Shelby Ross is the recipient of the Spring 2025 Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography Award.

The Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography is for Doctoral students in their last year of dissertation writing.

Shelby Ross is the winner of the Spring 2025 Gilbert F. White Doctoral Fellowship in Geography Award.

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The transformative possibilities of Latinx feminist geographies: A testimonio

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 16:15:55 +0000

The transformative possibilities of Latinx feminist geographies: A testimonio Gabriela Rocha Sales Thu, 04/03/2025 - 10:15

Madelaine Cahuas
Assistant Professor of Geography, Environment and Society
University of Minnesota

Abstract:

What would happen to our geographic analyses if we wholeheartedly approached Latinx women and non-binary people as significant, multifaceted spatial thinkers and actors who form Latinx feminist geographies? And how may these Latinx feminist geographies hold lessons for working towards more socially just and liberatory futures? In this talk, I grapple with these questions by thinking with the creative contributions of Latinx women and non-binary people in Tkaronto using a testimonio approach grounded in Chicana/Latina, Black and Indigenous feminisms. I argue that Latinx feminist geographies reveal how Latinx women and non-binary people articulate an anti-colonial feminist sense of place and praxis as they challenge systems of domination and create spaces of community care, solidarity, art, activism and healing. If we are to build more ethically expansive geographies it is urgent and necessary for us to meaningfully engage with Latinx feminist geographies and their transformative possibilities.

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2025 Mapathon Winners

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:13:08 +0000

2025 Mapathon Winners Gabriela Rocha Sales Wed, 03/19/2025 - 08:13

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Mapathon! Thank you to all who submitted their maps. We had 27 submissions this year.

The categories were:

Sustainability & Environmental Justice
Relationality & Community Engagement
Inclusivity & Diversity
Personal Exploration & Storytelling
Social Justice
Innovation

With one Overall Best Map, one People's Choice, and a few Honorable Mentions.

Click here to see more submissions on our Mapathon website

Honorable Mentions

Winner of the Sustainability & Environmental Justice Category

Winner of the Relationality & Community Engagement Category

Winner of the Inclusivity & Diversity Category

Winner of the Personal Exploration & Storytelling Category

Winners of the Social Justice Category

Winner of the Innovation Category

Grand Prize Winner and the Best Overall Map

Winner of the People's Choice Map

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Mapathon! Thank you to all who submitted their maps. We had 27 submissions this year. The categories were: Sustainability & Environmental Justice, Relationality & Community Engagement, Inclusivity & Diversity, Personal Exploration & Storytelling, Social Justice, and Innovation. With one Overall Best Map, one People's Choice, and a few Honorable Mentions.

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John O'Loughlin: Are Ukrainians ready for ceasefire and concessions? Here’s what the polls say

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 14:16:56 +0000

John O'Loughlin: Are Ukrainians ready for ceasefire and concessions? Here’s what the polls say Gabriela Rocha Sales Thu, 03/13/2025 - 08:16

Redirect: https://theconversation.com/are-ukrainians-ready-for-ceasefire-and-concessions-heres-what-the-polls-say-252025

Authors:

Gerard Toal (Professor of Government and International Affairs, Virginia Tech)

John O'Loughlin (Professor of Geography, ��)

Kristin M Bakke (Professor in Political Science and International Relations, UCL)

For historical purposes, a copy of the article:

A U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire proposal has put the notion of a negotiated end to the three-year war on the agenda, and in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But even before Moscow responds, it’s pretty clear where the parties stand. Breaking a prior taboo against negotiations involving territorial concessions, the U.S. has suggested Ukraine must cede land in any permanent deal, whereas President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has stated repeatedly that he will never yield sovereignty over Ukraine’s territory.

Meanwhile, Russia has demanded that Ukraine renounce its aspiration to join NATO and accept restrictions on its military. But at present, Kyiv looks unlikely to gain the security guarantees it seeks from the U.S. before contemplating such terms.

What is talked about less is what the Ukrainian people are willing to accept for peace. And while any armistice will likely be dictated by guns, territorial gains and great power geopolitics, it will be in large part down to ordinary Ukrainians to shape what happens afterward. An ugly peace may be accepted by a war-weary population. But if it has little local legitimacy and acceptance, peace is likely to be unsustainable in the long run.

We have tracked public opinion in Ukraine from before the war and during the course of the conflict.

It is an imperfect exercise; most polling in wartime Ukraine is by mobile phone and depends upon those with service who are willing to participate. Many people, especially in the country’s south and east, do not want to answer sensitive questions out of concern for themselves and relatives, some in occupied territories and Russia.

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Those who do respond may give guarded responses. Some are mindful of wartime censorship, while others are patriotic or wish to present themselves as such to the stranger calling them. Meanwhile, many other Ukrainians are overseas and excluded. Similarly, those in Russian-occupied territories are left out of surveys.

Nonetheless, the responses still give insights into how opinions in Ukraine have evolved since the Russian invasion of February 2022. Here are five important findings from relatively recent public opinion polls that are relevant to any forthcoming peace negotiations.

1. Nearly all Ukrainians are stressed and tired of war

Unsurprisingly, three years of a brutal war of aggression has created tremendous stress among a population increasingly weary of war.

A December 2024 poll from the respected Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, or KIIS found that nearly 9 in 10 Ukrainians experienced at least one stressful situation in the previous year. Large shares reported stressful experiences related to bombing and shelling (39%), separation from family members (30%), surviving the death of loves ones (26%) and the illness of loved ones (23%). Only 10% said they’d experienced no stressful situations.

In a related vein, surveys we have conducted showed that by summer 2024, 84% of the population had experienced violence in some form – be that physical injury at the hands of Russian forces, displacement, loss of family member and friends, or witnessing attacks.

And consistent with a growing number of news reports, we found that Ukrainians were deeply worried about war weariness among their fellow Ukrainians – just 10% reported that they did not worry about war fatigue at all.

2. More Ukrainians want negotiations, but there are red lines

As the war has gone on, several polls show that Ukrainians increasingly support negotiations. The share of the population in favor of negotiations varies depending on how the question is posed.

When given the choice between two options, a Gallup Poll from late 2024 showed that 52% preferred that “Ukraine should seek to negotiate an ending to the war as soon as possible,” whereas 38% preferred that “Ukraine should continue fighting until it wins the war.”

Our earlier surveys from 2022 and 2024 similarly show a growing preference for negotiations, though at a lower level – from 11% in 2022 to 31% in 2024. In contrast to the binary Gallup question, our surveys presented respondents with different territorial compromises for a ceasefire. While about one-third wanted an immediate ceasefire, half wanted to continue fighting until all territories, including the predominately Russian-speaking Donbas region and Crimea, are brought back under Kyiv’s control.

But survey responses make clear that the country’s political independence is a red line for the public – even if defending it comes at a very high cost.

3. Ukrainians are more open to territorial concessions

In tandem with growing support for negotiations, our surveys – in line with KIIS’s own polls – show growing willingness to cede territory. And among those most worried about war fatigue and more pessimistic about continued Western support, the willingness to cede territory is higher.

That said, most Ukrainians still want Ukraine to continue fighting until the country’s territorial integrity is restored and under Kyiv’s control, including Crimea. But that majority has diminished since the beginning of the war – from 71% in 2022 to 51% in 2024.

When we asked in July 2024 whether people agreed with the statement: “Russia should be allowed to control the territory it has occupied since 2022,” 90% disagreed. As such, there is very little evidence that Russia’s territorial annexations – or an agreement recognizing these, which is what Russia wants – will have any legitimacy among Ukraine’s population.

4. Ukrainians see Russia’s war goals in existential terms

Neither Zelenskyy nor most Ukrainians trust Putin – hence there’s a strong preference for any agreement being accompanied by security guarantees from NATO states.

Many Ukrainians share their leader’s distrust of Vladimir Putin. Vladimir Novikov/AFP via Getty Images

Poll findings in the past month from KIIS reveal that 66% of Ukrainians interpret Russia’s war aims as an existential threat, comprising genocide against Ukrainians and destruction of its independent statehood. And 87% believe Russia will not stop at the territories it already occupies. Negotiating with an enemy bent on Ukraine’s destruction appears delusional to many Ukrainians.

5. Zelenskyy remains popular; his endorsement matters

As a defiant wartime leader, President Zelenskyy’s popularity was very high in the immediate months after the invasion. Indeed, KIIS polls from May 2022 show that 90% of the population expressed trust in him.

This has declined as the war has endured, but it has always remained above 50%. Recent polling measuring his approval puts it at 63%, an increase from 2024. Indeed, the very latest KIIS polls, from February through March of this year, show a 10-point jump in his trust rating to 67%, a finding widely viewed as rallying in the face of U.S. criticism.

Thus Zelenskyy’s endorsement of any ceasefire and settlement will matter, though ceding territory is likely to be hazardous for him politically.

National security adviser Mike Waltz, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan and U.S. and Ukrainian delegates meet in Saudi Arabia on March 11, 2025. Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Conditions for a lasting peace

While the U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire has “put the ball” in Russia’s court, it is unclear whether it will be enough to bring Putin to the table. And even if it does, given past precedent it is difficult to see him arriving as a compromiser rather than a conqueror.

What does appear clear is that whatever “peace” emerges looks set to hang more on Ukraine making concessions and accepting losses.

Such a peace can be negotiated behind closed doors. But without public support in Ukraine, whether it endures on the ground is another matter.

A U.S.-Ukraine accord on a ceasefire proposal has put the notion of a negotiated end to the three-year war on the agenda, and in the hands of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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Geography Mapathon

Gabriela Rocha Sales — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 16:46:33 +0000

Geography Mapathon Gabriela Rocha Sales Fri, 03/07/2025 - 09:46

��'s Geography Department is calling for maps that capture life affirming geographies - following Cindi Katz’s invitation for imagining Topographies of Hope (2001) and Sarah Elwood’s (2021) invitation for reading how social movements enact thriving otherwise, this Mapathon is an exercise in the active enactment of hope.

Link to the event website: (https://sites.google.com/view/cu-geography-mapathon/home?authuser=0)

Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQ pulled directly from the event website)

What are the events associated with the Mapathon?

Cindi Katz Colloquium Lecture, March 7, 2025, Benson Earth Sciences Building, Room 180.
Mapathon Contest, submissions close March 12.
Colorado Geographies Panel, March 14, 2025, Benson Earth Sciences, Room 180.

What maps are accepted?

Conventional, creative, drawn, digital, and abstract representations of geographic spaces or places are all acceptable. See this link for examples. Both digital and analog maps are accepted. For analog or drawn maps, please take a picture of your map and submit the picture to the online submission portal.

What will happen after I submit my map?

Winning and honorable mention maps in the below categories will be displayed in the Maps Library on March 14, 2025. At a reception following the Colorado Geographies Panel on March 14, attendees can vote on their favorite Map (People’s Choice Award). Two winners (Best Overall Map and People's Choice Map) will recieve a cash prize, given out during that reception!

Categories:

Grand Prize: Best Overall Map
People’s Choice: Voted on by attendees
Thematic Awards:
- Sustainability & Environmental Justice
- Innovation
- Social Justice
- Inclusivity & Diversity
- Relationality & Community Engagement
- Personal Exploration & Storytelling

Honorable mentions will be acknowledge for Creativity, Design, and Cartographic Expertise.

How will my map be judged?

Once you submit your map it will be reviewed by a panel of CU Geography Faculty and Graduate Students based on the following criteria:

Evident engagement with the Mapathon theme
1. Does the map clearly relate to the theme of geographies of hope and the making of life affirming geographies?
2. Does the map answer the question: what does hope look like to you?
Creativity and Originality
1. Is the theme presented in a unique way? Is it original?
2. Is the result distinctive? Does it leave an impression?
Educational and learning potential
1. The basic functionality of a map is to convey information. Does this map offer a way of understanding the topic?
Mapping Proficiency
1. Does the map show evidence of a mastery of the tools and techniques utilized, as appropriate for the student’s level?
2. Are the use of tools and techniques well executed?
Overall Quality
1. What is the effect of the map in general and as a whole?
2. Overall, does the map stand on its own as a complete and outstanding work of mapping?

I'm not a CU Boulder Student, can I still submit?

Yes! Those outside of CU Boulder are welcome to submit to the Mapathon and will be evaluated with their academic background in mind. For example, if you are a K-12 Educator, we encourage you to submit your students' maps and they will not be judged against PhD-level submissions.

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