As the Research Associate Dean (you’ll sometimes hear me called the “RAD”) for the College of Liberal Arts, I am proud to support and advocate for the faculty, students and staff who engage in scholarship as it is uniquely defined here in CLA. Across 19 academic departments and programs, we conduct research in labs and in the field, working with data sets and study participants. We also engage with primary source texts, with global languages and cultures, and with works of music, theatre, and visual art. And we create works of art as well, from fiction and poetry to sculptures and symphonies.

I believe that the unique work we do will help CSU achieve its educational and research mission, enrich our nation, and connect people and communities around the world as we grapple with wicked problems like climate change, inequity, and political polarization. And I take it as my charge to elevate that work and provide all of you with the resources you need to keep doing it.

My own background is as a social scientist, specifically as a professor in the Department of Economics and the editor of the journal Feminist Economics. Because my research focuses on the interactions between macroeconomic policy and gender equality, I have been consulted with numerous international development institutions, including UN Women, the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, and the United Nations Research Institute on Social Development. So I know first-hand just how much work like ours is needed and valued around the world.

Have a question or suggestion about scholarship in CLA? Please feel free to reach out to me any time: elissa.braunstein@colostate.edu.