Rooted in sustained observation and engagement with place, my work examines how technological, institutional, and spatial systems shape perception, movement, and behavior. Through interruption, refusal, and close attention, I work within and against these structures, questioning prescribed ways of seeing, knowing, and moving through the world.
As a Teaching Assistant Professor of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, my courses and digital humanities work engage technology, ethics, and critical systems alongside my artistic practice. My work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, and is often situated between the gallery, classroom, and public sphere. I split my time between Boulder, Colorado and Vancouver, British Columbia.
APPOINTMENTS
2021 - Present: Teaching Assistant Professor, Information Science | CMDI, CU Boulder
2020*: Director of Digital Media Arts | Davis & Elkins College
2020*: Scholar in Residence, Design (APRD) | College of Communication, Media, Design and Information, CU Boulder
2015 - 2019: Instructor, Creative Technology and Design Program | ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
2013 - 2015: Lecturer, Technology, Arts, and Media Program | ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
*Note: Funding for positions was pulled due to COVID related budget constraints. Documentation available upon request.
Instructor of Record:
INFO 1101: Computation in Society / Introductory survey for INFO majors/minors
INFO 1201: Computational Reasoning 1 / Coding for non-majors
INFO 2001: Professional Portfolio Design + Development I
INFO 4001: Professional Portfolio Design + Development II
INFO 4601: Information Ethics & Policy
INFO 5601: Information Ethics & Policy / Graduate Seminar
INFO 4700: Information Science | Senior Capstone
FYSM 1000: Technology as a {Black} Mirror of Society / First Year Seminar
FYSM 1100: First Year Seminar Group / In partnership with INFO 1201
ATLS 2000: Meaning of Information Technology / Critical Perspectives for Digital Cultures
ATLS 2100: Image / Design Foundations & Visual Communication
ATLS 3915: Advanced Image / Studio in Image, Type, Form, Color, Space
ATLS 3925: Remix: Concept, Content, and Culture / Seminar + Studio
ATLS 4915: Photo Visualization / Project-based (Image Path Capstone)
ATLS 4925: Time / Experimental video and documentation
APRD 3001: Intermediate Design Concepts / Seminar + Studio
COEN 1830: Design your Education / First Year Seminar
ACADEMIC SERVICE
2026 - Present: Executive Committee | CMDI, Information Science
2025 - Present: CU Boulder AI Ambassador Program
2025 - Present: Faculty Affairs Committee | CMDI, Information Science
2025 - Present: Digital Humanities Graduate Certificate Advisory Council | CU Boulder
2024 - Present: Academic Culture and Diversity Committee | CMDI, CU Boulder
2024 - Present: Learning Assistant Program Department Coordinator | CU Boulder
2022 - 2025: Graduate Service Committee | CMDI, Information Science
2022 - 2025: CU Art Museum Community Council
2019 - 2020: Leonardo Abstract Services (LABS) Review Committee
2017 - 2019: Creative Technology and Design Curriculum Committee | ATLAS Institute
2016 - 2019: t9 Hacks | Educational Hack-A-Thon Organization Committee | ATLAS Institute
2015 - 2019: CU Boulder Academic Alliance Member, National Center for Women & Information Technology
2015 - 2018: Management of HelioLab (time-based media arts lab ) | ATLAS Institute
2013: Educational Technology Review Committee | ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
2011 - 2013: ATLAS Representative, United Government of Graduate Students | ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
2009: Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business's (AACSB) Accreditation Review Committee | UCCS
2008: Staff Council, College of Business Representative | University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
2007-2009: Educational Technology and Instructional Design Committee | UCCS
SUPERVISION
2025 - Present: BAM/MS INFO student Kaeden Stander
2022-2023: First year committee mentor: Ph.D student Kit Lewers
2020: Capstone Project: Abby Rinerson (Creative Technologies) | Photographic laser printing on 3D surfaces
2018: Independent Study: Zoey Johnston (Creative Technologies) | Participatory art as therapy + social engagement
2017: Committee Member: Ellen Reynerson (Dance, BFA) | Real-time visualizations in dance
2017: Independent Study: Claude Mason (Creative Technologies) | Participatory media w/ LGBTQIA+ communities
2016: Committee Member: Keke Samashita (Creative Technologies, MS) | Digital ethnography: principles and practices
RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS
2021: Afton Mine Public Art Walk, with Dr. Cameron Cartiere | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2011 - 2013: National Center for Women & Information Technology | Collegiate Male Advocacy + STEM engagement
TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS
2021: SOCS 411 + 412: Professional Practice | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2005: Foundations of Digital Productivity | University of Colorado at Colorado Springs
PARTICIPATORY DIGITAL LITERACY PROJECTS {THE VOX PROJECT}
In 2013, I founded The Vox Project, a nonprofit organization focused on leveraging participatory media methodologies to achieve agency-based digital + media literacy for underrepresented and marginalized populations. The following projects have been grant-funded or commissioned:
2025: Voicing Boulder, Experimental Arts & Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan | Boulder, CO
2020 - 2021: “About Face” | Identity based after-school program for international students | Boulder, CO
2014 - 2017: Multi-year participatory media project with Visionaria Peru (Rotary Int’l funded) | Cusco Province, Peru
2017: Developing Perspectives, working with LGTBQIA students at CU | Boulder, CO
2016: Inmate Reintegration, “Media & Digital Literacy” / Boulder County Jail | Boulder, CO
2015 - 2016: Nuestra Perspectiva, After-school program for Latinx high school students | Boulder, CO
2014: Attention Homes (Homeless Youth) | Boulder, CO
2012 - 2013: Participatory media workshop focused on S. Sudanese Diaspora members | Denver, CO
MEMBERSHIPS
2025 - Present: SIGCSE (Special Interest Group, Computer Science Education)
2024 - Present: Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group (Founding Member of Education Subgroup)
2022 - Present: ACM (Association for Computing Machinery)
2022 - 2025: CU Arts Museum Community Council
2022 - Present: New Media Caucus
2020 - 2022: Humanities, Arts, Science and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory {HASTAC} Scholars
2020 - 2021: Boulder Creative Catalyzers
2019 - Present: Association of Internet Researchers
2019 - Present: College Arts Association
2018 - 2020: Denver Digital Pedagogy
2018 - 2020: CSForAll
2018 - 2021: U. S. Society for Education through Art
2017 - 2021: Society of Photographic Educators
2016 - 2019: National Center for Women & Information Technology, Academic Alliance Member
2013 - 2018: Boulder Rotary | Next Generation Rotarians
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2020 - 2021: Instructional Designer | New Mexico Highlands University (Contractual)
2019 - 2020: Instructional Designer | College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, CU Boulder (Contractual)
2013 - 2014: Regional Assistant Manager, Aspirations in Computing | National Center for Women & IT
2006 - 2010: Director of Information Technology | College of Business, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
2006: English Language Instructor | Hansaem Foreign Language Institute, Masan, Republic of South Korea
2004 - 2005: Technical Support Lead | College of Business, University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
EDUCATION
EDUCATION (DEGREE GRANTING)
2022: MFA | Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
2013: MS Information and Communication Technology for Development + Education | University of Colorado, Boulder
2006: BS Information Systems | University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
EDUCATION (NON-DEGREE GRANTING)
2019: Certification: Design Thinking | Stanford D.School
2013: Certification: Participatory Methodologies | Photovoice U.K.
2002: Certification: Cisco Certified Network Associate
EXHIBITIONS
2025: Voicing Boulder | Penfield Tate III Building | Boulder, CO
2023: Why Wonder (Size Matters) | The Cinematheque | Vancouver, BC
2022-2023: english ivy | hedera helix | MPCAS Mount Pleasant Community Art Screen | Grunt Gallery | Vancouver, BC
2022: american made machines // (canción g.) | 27th Annual Int’l Symposium on Electronic Art | Barcelona, España
2021: Why Wonder (Size Matters) | Small File Media Festival, Simon Fraser University | Vancouver, BC
2021: English Ivy, New media | Revolve/Ramp Galler, Asheville, NC
2020: paint the stars | Emily Carr University, Vancouver, BC
2019: All the Pretty Horses | Specto Art Space (VA) + The Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO
2019: Goodbye Blue Skies | , Depot Gallery, Denver, CO
2019: Things to consider when considering things | Pahana Gallery, Estes Park, CO
2018: Marginalia + Religiosity + MALFunction Talk, Media Archeology Lab, Boulder, CO
2018: Apple Knows Best | There. Here. Near. (Group show), Museum of Boulder, Boulder, CO
2017: Las Visionarias | Photo exhibition at the Las Cruces Branigan Cultural Center, Las Cruces, NM
2017: The Visionaries | Print/Web feature | August Issue of The Rotarian + CU Arts and Sciences Magazine Quarterly
2016: Visionarias Essay | Photogs w/o Borders.com, Exposure.com, Amaray.com, Representation.com, Change.com
2016: Las Visionarias, Photo exhibition, ATLAS Institute + Boulder Digital Arts, Boulder, CO
GROUP
2026: Sometimes home exists beyond walls | The Dairy Center for the Arts | Boulder, CO
2025: Las Visionarias | Paris Photo Exhibition | Der Grief
2024: more a flame than a stone | COAI Art | Superior, CO
2024: Why Wonder (Size Matters) | SmallThingy 2024 | Salt Spring Island, BC
2022: dépaysant | Small File Media Festival 2022 | Simon Fraser University
2022: Glitch Art is Dead | Makers on the Minnesota Gallery | Granite Falls, MN
2022: affinities | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2022: (In)visible Cultures: Seeing the Unseen | SCA Symposium | School for Contemporary Art, Simon Fraser Uni
2022: S.T.E.A.M.Y. Cantina | Fiske Planetarium + Eboni Freeman Institute | Boulder, CO
2022: Boundaries, Belonging, Becoming | Nasher Gallery | Durham, NC
2021: Convivial Machines | Boulder Museum of Art | Boulder, CO
2021: Small File Media Festival 2021 | UC Berkeley (in partnership with Simon Fraser University)
2021: Co<here> | MFA State of Practice, Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Vancouver, BC
2020: I need to talk to you | Artist Collective, Emily Carr University of Art + Design | Vancouver, BC
2019: An Act of Selection | The Dairy Arts Center
RESIDENCIES
2018: Media Archeology Lab | MALFunction | University of Colorado, Boulder
WORKSHOPS
2025: Voicing Boulder: Participatory Community Mapping
2020 - 2021: Talk With Your Mouth Full | Innovative & Critical Pedagogy round-tables| Emily Carr Uni of Arts + Design
2018: Databending: Glitching and Giffing | ATLAS Institute
2018: Participatory Media for Marginalized Populations | ATLAS Institute
2017: Stop-motion Animation | ATLAS Institute
2017: Digital Poetics | ATLAS Institute
SCHOLARSHIPS + FELLOWSHIPS
2025 - 2026: AI Ambassador | CU, Boulder
2020-2022: HASTACS Scholarship
2020: SSHRC Graduate Scholarship | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2020*: Hemera Contemplative Fellow | Vallecitos Mountain Retreat
2019: Digital Pedagogy Conference | University of Colorado, Denver
*Note: Due to the impacts of COVID-19 this retreat was canceled. Documentation available upon request.
GRANTS
2025: Experiments in Art | Boulder Valley Comprehensive Project: Voicing Boulder Participatory Mapping
2025: Payden Teaching Excellence Grant | College of Communication, Media, Design and Information
2022: Climate Across the Curriculum Grant | CU Environmental Center, Office of the Provost
2020: About Face - Digital Literacy program | Boulder County Arts & Education Commission
2018: Micro Grant for Course Development | ATLAS Institute
2016: Nuestra Perspectiva: Digital literacy at Boulder High School | Rotary International
AWARDS
2026: Nomination | Payden Faculty Excellence Award | CMDI, CU, Boulder
2026: Nomination | Faculty Mentoring Award | CU, Boulder
2025: Outstanding Faculty Member | Information Science | College of Communication, Media, Design and Information
2024: Nomination | Teacher of the Year | College of Communication, Media, Design and Information
2018: CU’s Marinus Smith Award for Excellence in Teaching
2018: Top ranked Faculty in “CU Engineering’s Top 20 Teachers”
2016: Helping Hands Humanitarian Award | Rotary International
2015: Rotary International Humanitarian Award | Boulder Rotary Club
2013: Media at the Summit | Rich Clarkson Photography
2007: Staff Member of the Year UCCS
PANELS
2021: Why Size Matters: Tackling the Carbon Footprint of Streaming Media | Simon Fraser University
2021: The Nature of Place | Six Feet Photography | Asheville, North Carolina
2020: Moving Pedagogies of Care Online | Digital Pedagogy Conference | University of Colorado, Denver
2019: Bridging the Digital Divide w/ Creativity | Exploring Engineering Series @ CU
2018: The Combinatorial Nature of Creativity | ATLAS Institute
2017: Miss Representation” & The Mask You Live In | ATLAS Institute
CURATORIAL
2016-2018: Annual EXPO | ATLAS Institute
2015-2018: TAM Image Showcase | ATLAS Institute
TALKS + PRESS
ARTIST TALKS
2022: desire lines | READ Bookstore | Vancouver, BC
2022: docile / effaced / ineffable | (In)visible Cultures Symposium | School for Contemporary Art, Simon Fraser Uni
2021: Why Wonder? | Small File Media Festival, Simon Fraser University
2021: English Ivy | Six Feet Under Photography
2021: Intervention + Contemplation: Pausing the Internet | MFA Talks, Emily Carr
2020: Decoloniality & Participatory Media | Emily Carr, In/Touch Symposium
2020: Remix: Concept and Content | Emily Carr, In/Touch Symposium
2018: AI, Ethics, & New Media | ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado, Boulder
PRESENTATIONS
2024: Face It: AI in Education | Rocky Mountain AI Interest Group, Education Special Interest Group | Boulder, CU
2022: The joy of the unknown | Creative Santa Fe, Pecha Kucha Series VOL 15: Perspective | Santa Fe, NM
2022: up up down down left right left right B A | HASTACS Scholars Digital Friday
2022: Arrhythmias: The body as a site of resistance in the age of the algorithm | Information Science Colloquium | CU
2022: The virtue in embracing all you do not know | Career Dev, FNCE 350, UCCS, Senior Instructor Gordon Stringer
2021: Pathways: The intersection of tech & arts-based education | CSEdWeek, The Nat’l Center for Women & Info Tech
2021: 1000 true fans and the long-tail theory | Guest Lecture for SOCS 411 w/ Dr. Cameron Cartiere, Emily Carr Uni
2021: Limits + Possibilities: Creative Pedagogy | Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2020: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Art + Design (w/ Dr. Kristina Stamatis) | College Art Association Podcast
2020: Moving Pedagogies of Care Online | University of Colorado, Denver
2019: Bridging the Digital Divide | University of Colorado, Boulder, Engineering Exploration Series
2019: Participatory Methodologies with Rural Populations | Engineers without Borders, CU Boulder Chapter
2018: On Male Advocacy I National Center for Women & Information Technology Summit, Nashville, TN
2017 - 2018: The Singularity, The Inevitable (Automation) | Guest Lecture for ATLS 2000 w/ Dr. Annie Bruns, CU
2016: Why Your Lecture Slides Suck...Ways to Engage Students | COLTT Conference, University of Colorado, Boulder
2015-2016: New Media Writing | Guest Lecture for ENG 2665 w/ Dr. Arne Anderrson, University of Colorado, Boulder
2015: Agency-based empowered via photography: Quechuan Visionarias | Boulder Rotary
2014: Remix Culture | Guest Lecture for CMDI 2030 w/ Dr. Samira Rajabi, University of Colorado, Boulder
2008: Maquiladoras and the making of American Manufacturing | Students in Free Enterprise Regional Conference
WRITINGS
2022: philodendrons | pandemic stories | Zinester
2022: american made machines | Comparative Media Arts Journal, Issue 12 | Simon Fraser University
2022: desire lines | Occasional Press | Emily Carr University
2022: Design Pedagogies: “Something’s Wrong with This System!” | Design Justice Chapter Review | HASTAC Scholars
2021: Arrhythmias, I Need to Talk to You | Co-editor and contributor | Emily Carr University
2020: Digital Literacy through Arts-Based Learning | United States Society for Arts Education
2019: Insights & Reflections into post-graduate arts-based education | ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
2019: D.Thinking impacts on first year students | College of Engineering, CU, Boulder
2014: Collegiate Male Allies in STEM: A Summative Assessment I The National Center for Women & Info Tech
2013: Developing Perspectives: S. Sudanese Diaspora Participatory | MS Thesis, ATLAS Institute, CU Boulder
PRESS
2025: If you generate it… | CMDI Now | CU Boulder
2025: Voicing Boulder | NPR’s Morning Edition + Interview with KUNC (Colorado Public Radio)
2021: B.E.A.T. | Boulder Experiments In Art And Technology: Convivial Machines | Museum of Boulder
2021: State of the Festival: Bite Size Methodologies—The 2nd Small File Media Festival | MUBI.com
2016: Las Visionarias | The Rotarian
2015: Peruvian Hearts | CU Boulder’s Arts & Sciences Quarterly
2015: Making your grade: How Chris Carruth is breaking the traditional grading structure | CU Independent
2015: Las Visionarias | CU Engineering
2015: Las Visionarias | The Coloradan
2014: Interview on Participatory Methodologies | Representation.com
2014: Participatory Methodologies | Amaray Magazine
MISCELLANY
Digital Culture &
Radical Compassion &
Media Ecology &
Perfecting Chile Relleno &
Practicing Loving Kindness (Tonglen) &
New Mexico as a State of Mind &
Finding Silence in an Age of Noise &
New Media Theory &
Aurora + Australis Borealis&
Photography as a Meditation on Life &
Empathy &
Consideration &
Evolutionary Biology &
Performance Art &
Love in the Digital Age &
Making Friends with Animals at Parties &
Ancestral Puebloan Culture &
Origami &
Baking Dark Chocolate + Pistachio Cookies &
Creative Writing &
Flower Pressing &
Cognitive Psychology &
Educational Theory &
Gardening at Midnight &
Rhizomes &
Cosmologies &
Linguistic Determinism &
Motorcycle Maintenance &
Existential Questions &
DONUTS &
Travel &
Trail Running &
& of course, Ampersands.
Chris is a stellar instructor, mentor, boss, and creative inspiration. His articulate instruction and the efficiency and care with which he taught large lecture halls of students has influenced how I communicate with people as my career progresses. Working for him was just as valuable of an experience, Chris is a people-first leader. Understanding and empathetic while still maintaining accountability. The world needs more Chris Carruths.
Chris is an INCREDIBLE professor. This is genuinely the best class I have ever taken! Lectures are engaging and always involve participation and discussion. Projects are relevant, while requiring critical and creative thinking. Chris also gives incredible feedback and points out the positives and making you feel proud of the work! Best Prof ever!!
Thank you… from the bottom of my heart, thank you. You are arguably the best teacher I’ve ever had, and your passion and enthusiasm are infectious. Thank you for taking a lost, lonely transfer student under your wing and making her believe that she could start anew and be worth something, even when life had kicked her to the curb.
I had a really difficult time this semester and thought about giving up on school as a whole. I hope you know having a teacher as engaged and supportive as you made all the difference in the world. Thank you for the wonderful semester Chris, you really care about who you teach.
To be honest, I originally enrolled in this class only because it fulfilled a requirement. Now, I wish I could take more courses with Chris. His passion and compassion (as well as humility and reliability) shine through very clearly at all times. I loved learning not only about technology, but the amazing applications it has in the real world, especially as it stands to effect social change. Chris is excellent.
I learned a lot more in this class than I ever imagined. I really thank you for your innovative class style and approach to teaching. It was so much more real than the structured, systematic classes I'm used to.
You actually seem to care about your students as human beings, which is refreshing. I’ve had maybe 3-4 other instructors who have as well, not to discount them, but never in an intro lecture class.
I just wanted to thank you for being such a great professor. Each Tuesday and Thursday I would get excited in the morning because I had your lecture to look forward to. Then coming back home from class I would sit my roommates down and tell them all the cool things you showed us in class
I really enjoyed this class but I think I really enjoyed your teaching style most, you are always open for feedback whether it is positive or critical and it felt good to have a teacher who was so willing to adapt the class to make things better for us. Thank you for everything!!
I have never felt like I have known a professor so well without even meeting them. This online course was AWESOME! The professor did a great job allowing us to talk to other students through discussions and the content was just amazing. I have no advice because this was the best class I took this semester. KEEP IT UP!
I am so grateful for this class and the information that you are teaching. I have really enjoyed reading all your feedback, comments, and perspectives on the subjects we've covered. You are very accepting of all opinions, I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the issues we've covered; you're a well-educated and knowledgeable professor and I respect your perspective.
Chris is the kind of prof that challenges us to see the world from a new perspective. the things I have learned in this class, I feel I can apply them to wherever I decide to take my life.