We need community now more than ever...but what does that look like? As we navigate connecting with others and learning from other ways of knowing, we’re likely not going to learn them from people who look or live like us, and certainly we’re not going to learn them from people we agree with on everything. We are likely going to disagree and argue; we will have conflict. But is there a way to do that doesn’t cause harm? Can conflict be productive, or generative even? Can conflict pull us closer to care, closer to solutions, closer together? Emily Taylor, an expert conflict mediator and an ombudsman at Utah Valley University, joins us as we discuss how to have conversations that matter, and how we can use them to build the connections we need to survive and thrive.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions and views expressed within this podcast do not necessarily reflect Utah Valley University, UVU's Ombuds Office, or UVU's Center for Social Impact.

References:

brown, a.m. (2017). Emergent Strategy. (pp. 3). AK Press.

Needelman, J. (2023, March 14). Forget Utopia. Ignore Dystopia. Embrace Protopia! The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/special-series/protopia-movement.html

Limón, A. (2022). The End of Poetry. The Hurting Kind. Milkweed Editions.

Taylor, E. (2021). Conflict Fluent.

BONUS EPISODE: Listen to the full interview with Dezi Lynn, and get new insights into how the Diné worldview inspires an approach of balance and harmony known as Hózhǫ. Dezi also shares upcoming events and opportunities for UVU students and the local Orem community to get involved.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this podcast do not necessarily reflect Utah Valley University or UVU's Center for Social Impact.

The Critical Mass Podcast returns for it's third season with a reinvigorated focus, and a new name; Critical Connections. We're going to talk about the new name, what it means, and honor the name we came from. We also turn our eyes to the future, to confront what can feel like an apocalyptic time in our history. We're joined by Dezi Lynn, a Diné educator whose expertise in pattern-recognition and empowering ways of knowing and learning will help us consider potential pathways to surviving, and maybe thriving, through the future.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions and views expressed within this podcast do not necessarily reflect Utah Valley University or UVU's Center for Social Impact.

References:

brown, a.m. (2017). Emergent Strategy. (pp. 3). AK Press.

Kimmerer, R.W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. (pp. 207). Milkweed Editions.

Dani wants to know what goes on in STEM departments at UVU. She talks to students of all walks of life to understand how narratives about STEM--who belongs, and who doesn't--affect those who study the 'hard' sciences.

Due to the nature of this episode, the interviews are sprinkled throughout rather than sectioned off as in previous episodes. While our intention was to have every interviewer introduce themselves once at the beginning and then rely on listeners to recognize their voice later in the episode, about half of the introductins were lost, and listeners reported difficulty knowing who was talking when. I've provide timecodes below for the interviewees, and I apologize to them--especially those who provided me with beautiful introductions which were not used in the final cut--and to listeners who have a difficult time following the narrative. Thank you all for a wonderful year, and I hope you enjoy the final episode.

Timecodes:

Diana Molina 6:20, 18:50, 32:31

Pedro Del Valle 12:55, 30:30, 35:55

Abigail Gutierrez Carmona 16:38

Tayler Fearn 17:39, 29:28

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the podcast participants alone, and do not necessarily represent Utah Valley University or the UVU Center for Social Impact.

Dani and Kyle talk about art

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the podcast participants alone, and do not necessarily represent Utah Valley University or the UVU Center for Social Impact.

Dani and Hula talk about art and its role in social and personal change.

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the podcast participants alone, and do not necessarily represent Utah Valley University or the UVU Center for Social Impact.

Other Note: Due to an audio issue, this has been reuploaded.

Dani chats with Dr. Hilary Hungerford, a UVU Earth Science professor who specializes in sustainability issues. She and Dani chat about the Great Salt Lake climate crisis, Utah Lake, and other environmental issues.

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the podcast participants alone, and do not necessarily represent Utah Valley University or the UVU Center for Social Impact.

Link to Dr. Hilary Hungerford's instagram, where she posts about her research project in Mongolia:

https://www.instagram.com/a_geographer_in_mongolia/

Would you like fries with that English degree? Dani pits the Humanities and STEM against each other in this double feature to settle once and for all which arm of education ought to be amputated in the name of cost-effective efficient synergetic return on investment DBA incentive.

Dani interviews UVU Doctor-professors Zan Cammack, an English Literature professor and host of "The Thing About Austen," Ezgi Sertler, and Leslie Simon to figure out why someone would devote their entire life to studying the humanities.

The Thing About Austen:

https://open.spotify.com/show/7iqMz2b039yva3AQXjRH3O?si=8408b64dbf734b61

SOURCES:

1. https://www.britannica.com/topic/humanities
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanities
3. https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/humanism-renaissance/v-1#:~:text=Renaissance%20humanists%20understood%20by%20studia,The%20dominant%20discipline%20was%20rhetoric.
4. https://www.uvu.edu/visitors/history.html
5. https://www.uvu.edu/chss/#departments *includes sub-pages (i.e., “English & Literature” page, etc.) for the specific departments. These sub-pages can be accessed through this page.
6. Personal experience. Trust me on this. Also https://www.uvu.edu/undergrad-research/uvu-journals.html
7. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/03/us/liberal-arts-college-degree-humanities.html
8. https://www.forbes.com/sites/willarddix/2018/03/28/eliminating-the-humanities-decimates-every-students-education/?sh=79741075803e
9. https://president.mla.hcommons.org/2022/08/10/the-humanities-crisis-is-a-funding-crisis/
10. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jun/29/the-guardian-view-on-arts-and-humanities-under-threat-on-campus
11. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-decline-of-liberal-arts-and-humanities-western-philosophy-college-students-major-degrees-progressive-conservative-odysseus-6f327963
12. https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/12/the-real-reason-the-humanities-are-in-crisis/282441/ *First two paragraphs in the free preview of the article.
13. https://corriganliteraryreview.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/want-a-job-with-that-english-degree/
14. https://time.com/3964415/ceo-degree-liberal-arts/
15. https://www.businessinsider.com/successful-liberal-arts-majors-2012-12#jerry-brown-governor-of-california-and-classics-major-at-uc-berkeley-27
16. https://www.uvualumni.org/s/1045/bp21/interior.aspx?sid=1045&gid=1&pgid=320

NOTE: The opinions expressed are those of the podcast participants alone, and do not necessarily represent Utah Valley University or the UVU Center for Social Impact.