Challenge. Change.

While there are national "get out the vote" campaigns for general elections in the U.S., primary elections don't see any of that same energy. In fact, only about 20% of the American electorate votes in primaries.

"From the perspective of political parties, there is a belief that competition in primaries is bad. Parties tend to want to choose their nominees without the fuss of having a primary at all, so you'll see parties trying to clear the field before the primary happens, or parties taking other steps to try to ensure that there's a lack of competition," says Political Science Professor Robert Boatright. "In a way, you can't blame people for not voting, because they're often not encouraged to vote at all in their primaries."

Primaries are the subject of Boatright's latest book, "The Problem with Primary Voters," co-authored with Caroline Tolbert and Nathan K. Micatka. On this episode of Challenge. Change., Boatright explains primary trends and offers a case for establishing a national primary day.

Being a first-year college student comes with a lot of questions: What clubs should I join? What's the best way to make friends? How do I find my way around campus and Worcester? On this episode of Challenge. Change., Assistant Provost of Student Success and Dean of Students Danielle Morgan Acosta ’05, MAT ’06, and Hannah Oh '27, CDP '28, offer their best advice for navigating the transition to college.

"When I first came to campus, because I was so homesick, I kept pushing myself into that hole of, 'I just want to do what's comfortable for myself.' But the shift that I experienced of actually feeling like Clark is another home for me was when I started trying more difficult things and going outside of my comfort zone," recalls Oh, who majors in biochemistry and molecular biology, minors in health, science and society, has a concentration in ethics and public policy, and is part of the Prehealth Advising Program.

Acosta encourages students to routinely expand their horizons as they get acclimated to life at Clark.

"Transition is a psychological process, and it takes time," she says. "Absorb feeling okay in the uncomfortability, because that is growth and learning, and there are good things that come from it ... I challenge every student to do one thing that's different or outside of their comfort zone every week if they can."

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., relive the highlights of Commencement 2026, held on Monday, May 18, at the DCU Center in Worcester.

Commencement speakers — including renowned astrophysicist and University of Chicago Professor Wendy L. Freedman; Sir Andrew Steer, one of the world’s foremost climate experts; Board of Trustees chair Roy DiNicola '90; William Stafford '26; and Nourhan Beshir Attia, M.S. '26 — noted the challenges that graduates, and the rest of the world, will face in the coming years, climate change chief among them. But they also underscored the importance of determination and confidence.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Mia Davis '01, M.A. '03, remembers riding her bike to CVS as a kid to glance through the shampoos and conditioners available in the beauty aisles. Back then, she wondered why there were so many items and so much packaging — questions that remain relevant today.

Davis has been working in the beauty industry as a sustainability leader for more than 15 years. She's currently the chief impact officer at Atmosphera, a climate-curated beauty brand that launched in the U.S. last month. Some of the biggest problems within the beauty industry are a lack of regulations around product safety and an overabundance of plastic packaging.

"We really need to rethink the way that we're making this stuff, which is mostly plastic, and will be here on the planet long after we're gone. When you ask customers if they would like more sustainable packaging, they say yes," says Davis. "It really comes down to where company values are and if they're being made to do it because of policy or because of consumer demand and market regulation."

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Davis speaks about enacting holistic sustainability practices and what it may take to make the beauty industry safer for people and the planet.

"My blame here squarely lies with a chemical industry that's been really enjoying not having to test or disclose hazard data, sustainability information, worker rights information," she says. "I don't think that you, as a consumer, should have to have a Ph.D. in chemistry or be chasing down the supply chain to figure out if your shampoo is up to par. But I do think that the more educated we are, and the more questions we ask of companies, retailers, and policy-makers, that is how change happens.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Clark University Professor Asha Best and Stanford University Professor Emma Shaw Crane discuss detention and migration in the United States and why the government chooses remote locations for detention centers.

"We can understand migrant detention alongside things like prisons and jails as fundamentally projects that are about breaking relationships and removing people from their families and communities as a form of punishment and as a form of torture," says Crane. "The placement of migrant detention centers in remote places is a part of this project of breaking relationships."

Best believes that creative thinking about how to repair relationships without imprisoning people is necessary.

"We have to become more imaginative in our solutions to problems," says Best. "This is about having a greater political imagination for how we think about problems, whether or not you think that's a problem of resource distribution or a problem of harm."

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Michael Butler, chair of Clark's Political Science Department and professor of international relations, analyzes the war in Iran through the lens of international security and conflict resolution.

"There's no real incentive or need for Iran to seek an exit strategy here," says Butler. "The Strait of Hormuz is a particularly good example of that. It’s a highly defensible waterway. It's a hugely significant one, but it's so narrow — with a few mines and with a relatively short distance, cruise missiles, and drones, they can turn that into a strategic nightmare. And there's not much that the U.S. can do about it, at least not without a more extensive escalation."

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Note: This episode was recorded on March 16. Details about the war in Iran have evolved since then.

Katie Stebbins ’10 of course became familiar with the name Robert Goddard during her time as a Clarkie — the University’s library is named after the physicist and alum who launched the world’s first liquid fuel rocket on March 16, 1926, an accomplishment that allowed man to reach the moon just 43 years later.

But Stebbins, Clark’s digital projects librarian, did not have a deep knowledge of Goddard’s life, or of the influence of his wife, Esther Goddard, until she began organizing a special digital exhibit of Goddard artifacts to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the rocket launch.

“I look at Goddard as a gateway figure to a lot of 20th-century history, culture, and technology,” says Stebbins.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Stebbins offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse into what it takes to organize a digital archive and shares more about the life of Esther Goddard, and how she supported Robert’s rocket experiments.

“They were a team,” says Stebbins. “People have spent way too long talking about Robert without talking about Esther. She was his typist and his business manager. She photographed all the equipment. She had a movie camera, and she filmed all his tests. She transcribed and copied all his materials. She gave speeches, she did outreach. You can also only get to know him through her in a certain way.”

To learn more about Robert and Esther Goddard, view

1. The digital exhibit from Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Library
2. Clark’s Robert H. Goddard Collection
3. Clark’s Goddard Centennial Website

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Laurie Ross '91, M.A. '95, dean of the college and professor of sustainability and social justice, remembers how important her study abroad experience in Costa Rica was in finding her passion and career.

Experiential learning can look like study abroad, an internship, serving as president of a campus club, or building a video game with teammates. The path from college to career looks different for each Clarkie, and The Clark Experience helps students harness their creativity and critical thinking skills to graduate with confidence and find success.

"I think it's really important for students to remember who they are, what they value, and feel confident that the liberal arts education they're getting at Clark, coupled with experiential learning, is a beautiful recipe for not just getting the first job, but also getting the jobs after that."

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

Clark's Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise aims to create a world where all young people are supported in developing the social and emotional skills they need to be successful in school and in life. To help reach that goal, the Institute has embarked on the Southbridge CARES project, an innovative, equity-focused initiative supporting students’ mental health in partnership with the Southbridge Public Schools in Southbridge, Massachusetts.

Part of the project is the MAAX (Maximizing Adolescent Academic eXcellence) social development curriculum, in which Clark students like Ariel Rodriguez '26 — known as MAAX mentors — lead lessons in ninth-grade wellness classes. On this episode of Challenge. Change., Rodriguez and Mosakowski Institute Director Nadia Ward discuss the complexities of youth mental health and the impact of having college role models working hands-on in high school classrooms.

"The students at Southbridge are really amazing, and all of the mentors connect with them in different ways," says Rodriguez, a political science major. "We try to be open with them and use our lived experiences to leverage what we talk about in class, especially for those students who might be stressed about their life after high school or just the day-to-day stresses that come with being a high schooler."

"I think the MAAX mentors are actually the secret sauce that makes the program really work," says Ward. "It's those exposure experiences that encourage young people to kind of dream about the possibility of college beyond high school."

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.

When Matt Goldman '83, MBA '84, LHD '15, was a Clarkie, he had no idea that in a few years he'd co-found Blue Man Group with Chris Wink and Phil Stanton. Surrounding himself with good people, like Wink and Stanton, was one of the keys to taking an idea, making it real, and making it great.

Goldman shared that lesson and more during a visit to campus in November with Laura Camien, former vice president of marketing and communications for Blue Man Group and co-founder of The Spark File. Goldman and Camien are co-authoring a book, tentatively titled "Making Ideas Real."

"The book is largely about fostering the conditions where creativity and innovation in teams and individuals can thrive, and shifting those breakthroughs, those a-ha moments, epiphanies, whatever you wanna call them, from being random and occasional to intentional and frequent," says Goldman.

"Both of us are people who could take an idea and bring it to fruition. But neither of us considered that to be a creative act, and through our own routes learned that it is potentially the greatest creative act there is," says Camien.

On this episode of Challenge. Change., Goldman and Camien discuss building creative communities and share some of the innovative ideas that made Blue Man Group a success.

Challenge. Change. is produced by Melissa Hanson for Clark University. Listen and subscribe on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Find other episodes wherever you listen to podcasts.