Up Front

A Living Laboratory

Sometimes, it’s a good idea to get out of the classroom for a while—to get your hands dirty (sometimes literally) and to allow the physical world to be your instructor. That, in part, is the goal of Rio Mesa, the University’s multidisciplinary field institute located near Moab. Rio Mesa brings together students, faculty, and community […]


Putting Students Front and Center

Sometimes—particularly during an economic downturn—I think it becomes too easy for some individuals to trivialize higher education as simply “job training.” We’ve all read the news stories: Want a better life? Then go to college, and get a good job. Yes, it’s vitally important for students to graduate with the skills they need to become […]


Committing to the Community

I am often surprised by the number of letters I receive that begin with a phrase much like this:  “Your recent issue brought back so many memories—I grew up near the University of Utah, and before I was even enrolled as a student, my family frequently visited campus.”  Letters highlighting just such a sentiment are […]


Fresh to the U

Here’s a challenge: Think back to those days of your freshman year at the U. Maybe you were a little nervous, or maybe not—perhaps you were supremely confident. Whatever your state of mind, odds are that you had no clue what the next four or five (or more) years would bring. The freshman year of […]


Surviving and Thriving

This issue of Continuum marks the beginning of the magazine’s 20th year. In May 1991, the first edition of this magazine appeared, complete with a cover story about genetics research at the U.  What the editors and writers back then knew (and it’s no less true today) is that the University of Utah is at […]


A Stately Home, Inspiring Stories, and Pioneers

Everyone knows that the president of the United States lives in the White House. But how many in the University of Utah community are aware that the University president also lives in a publicly owned white house? It’s a bit smaller, less imposing, and there is no Oval Office, but it’s a handsome, stately building […]


Hurdling Cultural Barriers

I took two years of French language instruction at my alma mater. I was completely miserable for the first year.