Alumni Stories

Students recall lifelong inspiration from the Discovery Core course Music and Philosophy taught by IAS faculty member David Nixon since 2008. Over the 13 years, Nixon’s course has undergone many changes, but it has always been about assisting students in personal growth by teaching skills rather than facts. Alumni Sarah Park and Kyle Piper discuss the course’s impact on their lives...

Graduates of the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies (MACS) program lead cultural change — a skill more organizations are seeking after witnessing widespread protests against racial injustice. Many employers are now looking for diversity officers to lead that change, and hiring for such positions increased more than 90% since 2019, LinkedIn reported.

“What’s strong about the Cultural Studies preparation is that it understands this is long term social and cultural change — changing the way people work and do things,” Bartha said. “The curriculum of the Cultural Studies program thinks about the dynamics of organizational change as well as community accountability and helps people know that ground.”

Along with the position of diversity officer, MACS graduates carry out similar work as artists, educators and activists.

IAS alum Mary Houston (Society, Ethics & Human Behavior ’08, M.A. in Policy Studies ‘10) found education, confidence and career credentials at UW Bothell where she maintains ties as a member of the Community Engagement Council.

Houston has had a meaningful relationship with UW Bothell since she returned to college in her 40s. Not only did it help her jump start a new career, it has also put her in the position to help others do the same in her role as director of service delivery at Workforce Snohomish. 

Jason Hampton is passionate about transportation efficiency and access. Since graduating from UW Bothell in 2014, he has built his career in transportation management, first working with the Bellevue Downtown Association as their transportation Program Manager, and now at Sound Transit as a High Capacity Transit Development Manager where he oversees planning and stakeholder engagement for a light rail link extension between West Seattle and Ballard. Hampton says ...

MFA alum Stephanie Segura was awarded a 2020-21 Hugo Fellowship, which supports emerging writers by providing space and resources to complete a proposed project. Segura is utilizing the fellowship to work on her multi-media poetry manuscript, Open Door Behind You, a genealogy of generational trauma, memory, and dysfunctionality. Segura’s manuscript examines what it means to inherit trauma and the ways in which it affects memory and the histories we pass down.