The Crown Center For Teaching

Crown Team

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Ryan Raul Bañagale, PhD

Banagale

Associate Dean of the Faculty; Director of the Crown Center for Teaching; Associate Professor and Chair, Music

Phone: (719) 389-6558 
Email: rbanagale@coloradocollege.edu

Ryan Raul Bañagale is Associate Professor and Chair of Music at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. He received his Ph.D. at Harvard University and his research explores the realm of Arrangement Studies, having applied such approaches to a variety of American music subjects and genres. He is on the editorial board of the Gershwin Critical Edition, "Open Access Musicology," and serves as Digital and Multimedia Editor for the "Journal of the American Musicological Society." Ryan is the former Director of Performing Arts at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. In this faculty administrator role he amplified the role of the arts in the academic mission of the college, supporting the collaborative and creative impulses of the campus and community. Between the endeavors of the academic arts departments, the innovative co-curricular student groups, and the expansive programming of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ, he facilitated the cross-disciplinary connections that remain an essential component of the liberal arts experience.

Jessica Hunter, PhD

Jessica Hunter
Associate Director of the Crown Center for Teaching
Phone: (719) 352-1586
1990 BA. Art History, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ
1995 MA, University of Colorado – Boulder
2022 Ph.D., Creativity, University of the Arts - Philadelphia
Jessica Hunter (She/Her) is an educator and curator with over twenty years of experience working within academic and museum contexts. Since 2006 she has worked with faculty across disciplines at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ to design experiences and assignments that weave creative problem-solving and visual literacy activities into classroom contexts. As a curator, she has developed and presented over thirty exhibitions for academic and public museums, and has written catalog essays for numerous exhibitions. She holds a BA in Art History from Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ and a MA, also in Art History, from the University of Colorado. She completed a Ph.D. in Creativity from the University of the Arts in 2022 where she explored the intersections of art, perception, and creativity. She has extensive training in visual literacy pedagogies, including Visual Thinking Strategies and Artful Thinking, and has adapted these methodologies to support interdisciplinary learning and creative development in educational and museum contexts.

Kris Stanec, MAT

kris-stanec
Director of Creativity & Innovation
Phone: (719) 389-7084
Kris Stanec has been exploring creativity, creative thinking, the arts, and education for most of her life. Kris first started teaching an arts integration course at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ in 1996. As a faculty member in the Education Department, Director of the Partnership for Civic Engagement, and most recently, Director of Museum Education at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Kris has developed courses and programs that inspire people to embrace the creative process for deeper reflection and learning. As a reflective practitioner who crafts meaningful praxis, she uses inclusive pedagogies to bring theory into action. Kris has brought creativity and critical pedagogies to all levels, from faculty to pre-service teachers, led professional development workshops, and presented at conferences across the globe. Kris is known as a leader who creates community and engages many voices to build successful, dynamic, and impactful programs.

Evelina Fisher

evelina_fisher
Program Coordinator of the Crown Center for Teaching and Creativity & Innovation
Phone: (719) 389-7082 

Evelina Fisher (née Börjesson) is a health development professional who brings global perspectives to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ. As Technical Advisor for youth work at Ipas, an international non-governmental reproductive justice organization, Evelina developed and coordinated multisectoral programs across the Global South, building community and health systems capacity to advance young people’s health and wellbeing. She ushered in youth participation in programming through values clarification, attitude transformation, and stigma reduction, and had the privilege of mentoring a youth delegation that advocated for Sexual and Reproductive Rights at the United Nations General Assembly. Evelina has presented research on rights-based youth-centered abortion care at conferences and consultative meetings convened by governmental and non-governmental entities alike, and led educational initiatives with student groups, including the International Federation of Medical Students' Associations, globally.

After moving to Colorado, she joined the Children's Hospital of Colorado where she worked on a youth suicide prevention research pilot program, providing mental health coaching and Social and Emotional Learning services to K-12 populations. Evelina is known as someone who believes in the changemaking power of hearing and elevating people’s stories creating connection through our shared humanity. A first-generation student, she holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations, First Class Honours, from the University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom, and she has completed postgraduate training in Public Health and Health Psychology at Mid-Sweden University in her home country of Sweden.

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