This project combines empirical research and capacity-building workshops to advance understanding about countering political extremism on Colorado’s Western Slope.

Empirical Research

First, we will analyze letters to the editor and locally written op-eds in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Western Slope’s primary newspaper, to understand how community members contend with political extremism. We will then interview letter writers to better understand their motivations and writing process. Through those interviews, we will learn what writers keep out of their letters, the dilemmas they face while writing and how they imagine audiences.

Workshops

We will then offer a writers’ workshop that will bring together a politically diverse group of previous letter-to-the-editor and op-ed writers to learn about our findings and discuss some of the dilemmas revealed through our analysis. We will also offer a youth workshop to Western Colorado Alliance’s Western Slope Youth Voice participants as part of their training for civic engagement.

• Writers' Workshops

  Additional Info

  We will offer two workshops--one to community members and one specifically for youth--in the spring of 2025.

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  Location

  in colorado

  Grand Junction

  Dates

  Ongoing

  Public or Private

  Private Program (by request only or for a specific audience or group)

  Program Fee

  Not Applicable