Article by Orion Capela (’25)

As an R2 institution, the UCCS Faculty are always busy researching and even finding ways to inspire students to start their own research journeys. During Fall 2023, Dr. Tre taught WEST 3090 Peep Show: Sexuality in Popular Culture, which was the second time that enrolled students collaborated on The Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Oral History Project. Of the 23 students who co-produced The Project's Fifth Season, four decided to go beyond the course requirements and participate in the fall 2023 Mountain Lion Research Day (MLRD), a one-day conference highlighting research at UCCS.  

Featured Students

Left to Right: Teresa Miller (she/her), senior Sociology major; Amanda Espinel (she/her); senior double major in Women’s & Ethnic Studies (WEST) and history; Michelle Wilke (she/her), senior Psychology major. Anahi Aken (she/her); senior double major in Sociology and WEST.

Collaborators of Oral History

Students sign up for Peep Show for different reasons. Michelle and Teresa, for example, enrolled to fulfill general graduation requirements. Anahi had a previous interest in sex, sexuality, and gender and wanted to explore those topics in media. Amanda had previously taken WEST 4838: Queering the State and Citizenship with Dr. Tre and jumped at the opportunity to take another class with him. None had prior knowledge that they would contribute to the Colorado Springs LGBT+ Oral History Project, nor had previous experience with such a project. However, Michelle has previous interview experience from her psychology background, while Amanda has recorded a podcast for another class.

While students were exposed to the same content, each was challenged and grew differently. For Michelle, the hardest part was time management and ensuring everything for the project was done by the end of the semester. For Amanda, it was the division of labor between group members and quality control of the project’s multiple parts. Anahi found keeping the interview under the two-hour limit the most difficult part of the class.

In the end, it all paid off. Amanda’s favorite part of being a co-producer was creating drafts of the interview script and watching how each iteration evolved as she learned more about the interviewing process. Teresa has lived in the Springs for close to 30 years and enjoyed learning more about Colorado Springs’s history and its queer community through the interviewees’ stories by the end of the class. Growing up in Colorado Springs without access to such history, Anahi also loved learning more about the town’s transformation. Ultimately, Michelle thought the best part of the class was learning more about underrepresented communities.

Like their reasons for enrolling in Peep Show, each student decided to participate in Mountain Lion Research Day for different reasons—regardless of never having presented at a research conference. Anahi wanted to bring queer theory to the MLRD audience, and the oral history archive became a passion project for Amanda. Teresa felt connected to the material, and like Michelle, she enjoyed working with the other researchers.

Mountain Lion Research Day

The team worked together to brainstorm content for the poster and how to present The Project, given that it was not based on an experiment. Additionally, Michelle made a video that contained clips from select season five narrators’ voices, and Anahi finalized the poster design and created a postcard with a QR code on the back that featured all of the Project’s narrators to date. This way, attendees walked away with a reminder of their conversation and an easy way to access and listen to the archive.

Left to Right: Michelle, Amanda, and Anahi engage attendees.

Although Amanda and Anahi were initially apprehensive about presenting a humanities project while surrounded by STEM majors, they were determined and empowered through the experience. Teresa and Michelle were nervous about engaging with MLRD attendees but witnessing their teammates and participating in MLRD more generally helped build their confidence. At the end of the day, Amanda is confident that humanities not only belong at MLDR but that its attendees are also interested in and willing to learn about humanities-based projects.

Lessons Learned

Students reflected on their experience in Peep Show and collaboration with The Project. Michelle believes that Peep Show and collaborating on The Project helped her become more open-minded and objective, something she knows will help her with future research. Similarly, Amanda thinks she gained valuable research skills that she will continue to utilize when she pursues her graduate degree in history. Amanda also loved reading Vibrator Nation by Lynn Comella and thought it was amazing that the course applied academic theory to concrete examples through popular culture. Teresa believes she gained valuable skills in interviewing, presenting, and connecting with people. She noted that Dr. Tre has a unique skill of connecting with students to make them feel valued. Anahi’s experience in Peep Show and working with The Oral History Project was an eye-opening experience that led to discovering a new passion. She will continue working with the Colorado Springs LGBT+ Oral History Project as part of her WEST capstone project.

Dr. Tre and UCCS students will co-produce one more season this fall in WEST 4030: Bodies, Genders, Sexualities. Fall course registration opens April 1, 2024. Contact Dr. Tre (twentlin@uccs.edu) for more information.

Postcard credit: Anahi Aken

Listen to Season Five interviews now via multiple platforms: the Tutt Library Digital Archive, Spotifyand Apple Podcasts.