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A new festival named in honor of Ofelia Miramontes, the late associate vice chancellor who promoted diversity at the University of Colorado at Boulder, will pay tribute to the contributions women have made to music and art. The Miramontes Music and Arts Festival will take place April 2 through April 6 on the CU-Boulder campus. Activities will take place at various campus venues and will include panel discussions, a film screening, an interactive mural and a breakdancing workshop. The festival is planned to be held annually.

A new partnership between the University of Colorado at Boulder's BUENO Center and the Denver Hispanic Chamber of Commerce's Hispanic Chamber Education Foundation will help Denver residents without high school degrees earn general education diplomas, or GEDs.

Denver-area public school music teachers will be able to learn more about the social and psychological factors that can promote, inhibit or delay musical development among K-12 students during a special Saturday seminar in April at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Accompanied by an original score composed and performed by University of Colorado at Boulder music students, an innovative California-based troupe will stage a theater production on stilts in the campus's new black-box theater.

A growing interest in Asian languages, cultures and geopolitics - from the booming economies of China and India to troubled hot spots in North Korea and the Middle East - has prompted a University of Colorado at Boulder center to expand its course offerings to undergraduate and graduate students. Professor Laurel Rasplica Rodd, director of the CU-Boulder Center for Asian Studies, said students began taking Hindi classes this academic year and that Farsi and Indonesian classes would be offered starting next fall.

An innovative partnership between the University of Colorado at Boulder and Habitat for Humanity aims to give student leaders hands-on experience and teach them what it takes to run an effective nonprofit organization dedicated to creating stronger communities and helping people in need.

The University of Colorado at Boulder is joining with Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the business sector to establish a Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels. The center was announced Monday by Colorado political leaders including U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, Gov. Bill Ritter, Sen. Wayne Allard and U.S. Reps Mark Udall and Marilyn Musgrave.

Arctic sea ice that has been dwindling for several decades may have reached a tipping point that could trigger a cascade of climate change reaching into Earth's temperate regions, says a new University of Colorado at Boulder study.

Three German broadcast journalists will discuss European media coverage of the Iraq war and their continent's viewpoints of U.S. involvement in the conflict during a panel discussion at the University of Colorado at Boulder. CU-Boulder's School of Journalism and Mass Communication is sponsoring the talk, which will take place from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, March 19, in room 218 of the Armory Building, located at 1511 University Ave. The event is open to the general public, but journalism students and faculty will get first-priority seating.

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will visit the University of Colorado at Boulder next month to talk about cultural acceptance, the challenges he faced during his tenure and eight major goals set by the international body to meet the needs of the world's poorest people. CU-Boulder's Distinguished Speakers and Cultural Events boards are sponsoring the April 18 event, which will take place at 7:30 p.m. at the Coors Events/Conference Center. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m.