Society & Culture

Advancing peace, justice & comprehension

We're committed to social consciousness and public service, a commitment that carries over into our research efforts. Our faculty and students perform research funded by the Carnegie Corporation to explore nonviolent action in violent settings, with particular focus on non-state actors and non-violent strategies as drivers of security.

We also believe that when the most vulnerable members of a population are cared for and protected, society as a whole benefits. Through our partnership with Denver Public Schools for the Spotlight on Success program, we work to find methods to end the school-to-prison pipeline. Globally or locally, we strive to give our students the opportunity to better their world.

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    Creating Diverse Partnerships

    We have a long history of collaborating with an array of organizations, including the United Nations Development Program, the Social Wellness Advocacy Network, Biennial of the Americas, OxFam America and the World Wildlife Fund, among many others.

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    Helping Children Globally

    Our diverse slate of research programs improves conditions for children around the globe. Efforts include uncovering the ways marriage bans hurt children, research that was cited in the Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage.

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    Connecting Worldwide

    Through research institutes focused on China, the Middle East, the European Union and Latin America, you'll have the opportunity to influence policy and promote positive cultural exchange.

Learning by Doing

DU students in the Emergent Digital Practices program.
Arts & Tech Intersect

DU's Emergent Digital Practices program brings together art, design, media, culture, technology and music research, embracing everything from socially conscious video games to public art and scholarly critique.

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University of Denver PhD candidate Molly Sarubbi.
Foster Child Advocacy

PhD candidate Molly Sarubbi advocates for children in the foster system. Her focus is on analyzing the factors that impact their academic achievement and finding tactics to improve educational inclusiveness.

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Students discuss Emergent Digital Practices while working on their laptops in a classroom.

Scholarship in Creative Works

Societal and cultural change are often first led by creative endeavors. It's our ambition to expose our students to the value of the arts.

Our Emergent Digital Practices program, which brings together art, design, media, culture, technology and music research, practices in a hands-on, collaborative environment. One of many efforts our faculty, staff and students are undertaking in the program is a project focused on capturing the sounds of species that are going extinct and using them to create multimedia artworks.

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Centers & Institutes

Pardee Center for International Futures

The Pardee Center aims to explore, understand and shape our global society's many different possible paths into the future. They created International Futures, a freely available computer tool that models long-term development and interaction of human social and environmental systems for 186 countries. The system is being used by governments, businesses and international organizations.

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Human Trafficking Center

The Human Trafficking Center uses data to understand forced labor and human trafficking. By partnering with legislators, NGOs and international organizations, they encourage cooperation, influence policy and raise public awareness. Their approach allows development and practice of a wide variety of tactics in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery.

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Butler Institute

The Butler Institute for Families works to strengthen child and family well-being by improving the programs, systems and communities that serve them. Their efforts include developing training systems for child welfare workers and advancing programs for early-childhood literacy. A number of their initiatives center on protecting and benefiting Native American youth and families.

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Contact

Office of Research & Sponsored Programs

Corinne Lengsfeld

Senior Vice Provost for Research & Graduate Education