Boulder is a University of Colorado college town set at the foot of the Rocky Mountains on the ancestral homelands of several Native American nations. Though widely cited as one of the least religious cities in the United States, the city is home to a diverse range of faith traditions and spiritual practices. In November 2023 CU-Boulder's College of Communication, Media, Design and Information hosted story gathering sessions for the American Pilgrimage Project, recording first-person accounts of matters of faith and the spirit by people from Boulder and its surroundings.
The interviews below were recorded by StoryCorps, a national nonprofit whose mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
November 14, 2023
More stories about: Christianity Social Justice
Colleagues Rev. Jackie Hibbard and Rev. Nicole Lamarche recall a moment in the wake of a mass shooting when their progressive church literally transformed unwanted firearms into garden tools, echoing the way transformation spreads from God to humanity.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 14, 2023
More stories about: Indigenous
Colleagues and friends Talia Aygun and Matau Setshase discuss building spiritual connections with others, whether via negotiation with one's ancestors that generates an attitude of surrender, or via the ecstatic experience of truly understanding another person.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 14, 2023
More stories about: Indigenous Race
Colleagues and friends Jerilyn DeCoteau (Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) and Rick Williams (Oglala Sioux Tribe and part Cheyenne) discuss the terms "indigenous" vis-a-vis "American Indian" and the implications regarding identity and tribal sovereignty when people self-identify as Native but are not formal members of a tribal community.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 14, 2023
More stories about: Buddhism Islam
New friends Nandi Pointer and Saleema Robinson reflect on their spiritual journeys through Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam as they seek liberation and truth through faith in a higher power.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 13, 2023
More stories about: Gender Christianity
Friends and peers Emma "Scout" Wood and Amanda Mullennix talk about their paths to their religious studies academic program, exploring their academic and personal interests in the moral frameworks built by religious traditions and the ways religious and community belonging can be complicated by queer identity.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 13, 2023
More stories about: Christianity Buddhism
Married couple Allie Marshall and Henry Schliff discuss how the unresolved longing of Henry's childhood eventually led him to find peace in Christianity, while Allie finds wholeness in Buddhist-inspired meditation that reveals her tiny role in an enormous, interconnected universe.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 13, 2023
More stories about: Hinduism
Jyotsna Raj speaks with her daughter Indra Raj about Hindu faith, which Jyotsna values for its freedom of thought and flexibility in individual practice, while Indra is skeptical about the existence of the divine, particularly as portrayed in Western Christianity, and aims to live a moral life outside organized religion.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
November 13, 2023
More stories about: Christianity
Married couple Kelly FitzSilva and Pedro Silva interweave the beautiful and difficult aspects of the ways they've dealt with change across the decades, pointing to their relationship as an expression of faith that embodies their distinct approaches to spirituality.
This story was produced by David Dault at Sandburg Media, LLC.
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