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Denver Syllabus

We welcome you to our 50th annual ASHE Conference hosted in Denver, Colorado. This year’s semicentennial theme, “The Bend in the Arc: Activist Praxis & Justice Through Scholarly Creative Expression,” comes at a time when higher education is under continued attack from hostile government interference. The threats to academic freedom and accreditation, international students and faculty, and efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education are daunting. Now more than ever our creative work as scholars, policy makers, administrators, graduate students, and anyone who is invested in the promise of higher education is critical to the future of higher education as both a field of study and a social institution.  

This year’s syllabus is divided into two sections. The first section, “Higher Education in Local Context—Denver, Colorado,” is intended to support attendees to make deliberate theory-to-practice connections in your work in higher education, whether as administrators, faculty, or graduate students. For faculty and students, we have particularly considered what resources could support coursework that is often offered during the Fall Term. The resources in this first section of the syllabus cover five different foci connecting Denver and Colorado-specific events, ideas, and initiatives with key issues and discussions in the field of higher education. 

The second section of the syllabus, “Denver Communities and Cultures,” is designed to highlight the past, present, and futures of various communities in the Denver region. While they are grouped as though they were monolithic communities, it is important to keep in mind that individuals identify and live their lives within and across multiple identity and cultural spaces. We tried to capture that by offering resources that highlighted the various intersections of identity and oppression that exist within otherwise seemingly singular spaces. Through reflection on these communities and cultures, we hope to provoke and support ASHE conference attendees to come to Denver with a deliberate consciousness of and informed commitment to this land and its peoples. Optimally, this section of the syllabus will be top of mind as you prepare to leave for the conference. 

Reflection questions are peppered throughout the syllabus, not necessarily section by section or for every topic. Considering our colleagues as hikers heading to a summit, these reflection prompts are meant to serve as resting points along the way. Use them to stop, gather yourself, and lean into how what you are reading, watching, or listening to was put there intentionally to elicit consideration of new insights or offer an affirmation of you, your experiences, and of communities with which you are connected. Although set within the context of Denver and Colorado, as you move through this syllabus, take a moment to explore how the small is replicated or represented in the whole.

We do not offer this set of resources as though they are comprehensive and complete. Rather, please consider them as a starting point to understand the various issues, tensions, and opportunities in higher education across Denver. For example, how does one video introduction about Denver’s Five Points neighborhood and its place as the “Harlem of the West” lead you to learn more about how music ties together communities despite geographic distance? What insights does that off-trail venture offer to support building community on campuses that have lost their cultural centers? Taking several of the readings in section two together might provoke one to examine how endurance as a practice (dis)connects to constructs of resilience, authenticity, and grit that are often incorporated in discussions about college student learning and success.

Finally, we hope you will see this year’s syllabus as a resource, a tool, and a guide for you leading up to, during, and after the conference. 

Higher Education in Local Context—Denver, Colorado

This first section, “Higher Education in Local Context—Denver, Colorado,” is intended to support attendees to make deliberate theory-to-practice connections in your work in higher education, whether as administrators, faculty, or graduate students. For faculty and students, we have particularly considered what resources could support coursework that is often offered during the Fall Term. The resources in this first section of the syllabus cover five different foci connecting Denver and Colorado-specific events, ideas, and initiatives with key issues and discussions in the field of higher education. 

College Student Experiences

Foundations of Higher Education

Higher Education Policy

Organizational Theory & Governance

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

    • Resources

    • Reflection Questions

      • How might these pedagogical approaches be liberating for our work in higher education? For our journeys as educators?

      • How does the use of alternative pedagogical or andragogical approaches help clarify the distinction one might make between schooling and education?

Denver Communities and Cultures

This second section of the syllabus, “Denver Communities and Cultures,” is designed to highlight the past, present, and futures of various communities in the Denver region. While they are grouped as though they were monolithic communities, it is important to keep in mind that individuals identify and live their lives within and across multiple identity and cultural spaces. We tried to capture that by offering resources that highlighted the various intersections of identity and oppression that exist within otherwise seemingly singular spaces. Through reflection on these communities and cultures, we hope to provoke and support ASHE conference attendees to come to Denver with a deliberate consciousness of and informed commitment to this land and its peoples. Optimally, this section of the syllabus will be top of mind as you prepare to leave for the conference. 

2SLGBTQIA+ Community

AANHPI/APIDA Community

Black Denver

Indigenous Community

Latino/a/e/x Community 

Arts, Culture, & Gentrification

    • Resources

    • Reflection Questions

      • How does art/work function as a tool of power and privilege by, and resistance to, gentrifiers?

      • What are the connections between the aestheticization of art through digital media continuing to marginalize communities in Denver?

      • What might the power of art as resistance mean for your scholarly practice?

Food Insecurity

Newcomers & Im/migrant Communities

Unhoused Communities

    • Resources

      • Flood, J., & Morrison, L. (Hosts). (2025, February 19). From crisis to connection: A community-designed solution to prevent homelessness (Audio podcast episode). In Elevated Denver. https://elevateddenver.co/podcast/ 

      • Flood, J., & Morrison, L. (Hosts). (2023, July 12). S2: Episode 7 – hidden populations part 1 (Audio podcast episode). In Elevated Denver. https://elevateddenver.co/podcast/  

      • Van Loon, C., Oudshoorn, A., Mantler, T., Gittings, L., Kerman, N., & Ariba, O. (2025). Rethinking homelessness: A scoping review of social constructions and meanings. Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2025.2506841

    • Reflection Questions

      • What do these stories of college students experiencing housing insecurity hold for our praxis as educators, administrators, and researchers in higher education?

      • In what ways do our (mis)understandings about housing insecurity contribute to our biases and assumptions of the unhoused community in Denver?

A Selection of Higher Education Institutions in the Denver City/County