Contact CU Independent News Staff Writer Paola Fernandez at Paola.FernandezGrados@colorado.edu.
The second installment of CU on the Weekend, a free program offered to the Boulder community by the university, will take place on Saturday, Feb. 13. Associate Professor of Marketing Peter McGraw will lead the lecture “Cracking the Humor Code.” It will be held in the Butcher Auditorium starting at 2 p.m. with first-come, first-serve seating.
“This spring we’re featuring a variety of different topics and faculty members from different disciplines on campus. Hopefully there’s something for everyone,” said Jeanne McDonald, assistant director in the Office for Outreach and Engagement.
The program is set to have five more upcoming lectures including, McGraw’s. Topics will vary anywhere from “The Animal Self” by sociology professor Leslie Irvine to “The Beginnings of Beer in the Ancient World” by Travis Rupp.
CU on the Weekend was originally a part of the continuing education program on campus under the name Personal Enrichment. These were one-day classes where community members could register as students and pay a small fee to attend the lecture. Each class was around four to six hours and seated approximately 25 people.
Once the Personal Enrichment program ended, CU administration decided to redesign it. Now, it is open to everyone and no fee is required. Classes are an average of two hours long and seat 200 people.
“Everyone can attend, and now it is not limiting to anyone who maybe couldn’t afford to pay for the program,” said McDonald. “They are a little bit bigger, but people still enjoy the information presented. Also, they are very interactive and all the faculty give the audience an opportunity to ask questions.”
The program will finish off on April 30 with a talk from Fran Bagenal, a professor in the astrophysical and sciences department. Bagenal will speak about her role in the NASA New Horizons mission to Pluto. It will be held in the Fiske Planetarium.
“It’s a chance to hear from faculty members and learn more about what they’re teaching in their classrooms and what they’ve been researching,” said McDonald. “Maybe it will inspire people to go out and learn more about a particular subject.”
To learn more about CU on the Weekend, visit here.
