PACES Sparks Engagement in 2026 Conference on World Affairs
Malala Yousafzai joins Colorado Mesa University students and faculty for a photo before her keynote presentation at the 2026 Conference on World Affairs
Gregor MacGregor, David Meens, Patty Limerick and Benny Shendo, Jr. at the opening Conference on World Affairs panel, Mon. April 13, 2026
At the 78th Conference on World Affairs (CWA), David Meens, assistant vice chancellor for public and community-engaged scholarship, opened a session with a question that gets to the heart of Ҵýƽ public mission: Can a major research university be both world-class and deeply rooted in its home state?
Meens explored his question with the audience and fellow panelists, Associate Vice Chancellor for Native American Affairs Benny Shendo, Jr. and Professor of History Patty Limerick. Their session, “The University of Colorado’s Forgotten Land-Grant Origins and the Future of Public Impact,” introduced manyaudience members to something new: The university was established through Colorado’s Constitution—with funds provided from the dispossession of Indigenous lands. Likewise, Colorado's high school network, many business and municipal systems and all four CU campuses originated from University Extension’s efforts during the first half of the 20th century. It was after World War II that the university began establishing large-scale research and funding relationships with the federal government. Community-engaged scholarship in and around Colorado continued, but the focus on service that predominated in earlier years faded. Meens, Shendo, Jr. and Limerick challenged the audience to hold the university accountable to its origins—both how it was established and how it can be of critical and deep service to the residents of Colorado.
In addition to the panel, Meens and other members of Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship(PACES) found ways to invite their community partners to participate in CWA.
Holly Oberle, assistant professor of political science at Colorado Mesa University, and Ruth Alminas, associate professor of political science at Fort Lewis College, each traveled to CWA, bringing eight undergraduate students with them. The students attended panels throughout the week, met CWA organizers and speakers and toured Colorado Law. Alminas was a panelist for “Flags, Borders and Belonging: The Politics of Nationalism” and moderated “From Rubble to Reconstruction: What Comes Next?” Oberle moderated “Pretty, Palatable or Political?” and is a new fellow with the PACES Higher Education and Democracy Initiative—a program that, in part, expands access to events like CWA for students and faculty at regional institutions across Colorado.
Students and faculty from Colorado Mesa University and Fort Lewis College join PACES team members for dinner at Mister Oso, Tues. April 13, 2026
"The Conference on World Affairs is an extremely unique event that brings together scholars, activists, practitioners, community members and students from high school to college to have tough conversations about the most pressing issues the world faces today,” said Oberle. “This was an especially unique opportunity for Colorado Mesa University students, as rural institutions don't always have the access or the resources to attend such events. I have never seen undergraduates come back from a conference with such enthusiasm and energy! The icing on the cake was meeting Malala."
Front Range teens from the Caminos Project also attended the conference finale featuring Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai. The Caminos Project receives grant funding from PACES and helps bi/multilingual youth develop research and advocacy skills about policy and programming to support their peers within school districts and to encourage civic engagement. Ҵýƽ Research Assistant Laura Meinzen described the experience as incredibly meaningful for the Caminos students.
“Seeing Malala speak with a student from Pakistan was powerful,” said Meinzen. “In the middle of the talk, that student turned to me suddenly to remind me, full of pride: ‘I’m from her country. I speak her language.’ When Malala was asked at the end of the interview what gives you hope, and she responded about all the brave girls still fighting for an education, our student turned to me and said, ‘like me.’”
Seeing the local in the national or global and vice versa is a significant aspect of what attending CWA offers—exactly the kind of experience that becomes transformative when it includes people who wouldn’t otherwise have a seat at the table.
CWA 2026 saw an increase in faculty-sponsored speakers and a fruitful partnership between the Department of Cinema Studies and Moving-Image Arts. That partnership resulted in multiple panels, including one featuring Lulu Wang, director of the critically-acclaimed film “The Farewell.” Wang was joined by leaders from Sundance and an undergraduate film major, with moderation by Colorado Public Radio’s Ryan Warner. Ben Teitelbaum, faculty director for strategic events and public discourse, sees such rich and diversepanels as a model to build on.
“These are the types of community-campus partnerships I would like to see more of,” said Teitelbaum.
“CWA bringspeople of different places, ages, cultures and interests to listen and learn together. That is a precious and expansive experience, and one that becomes even richer when the people in the room reflect the full range of communities Ҵýƽ is here to serve,” said Meens.