News from the School of IAS

Jed Murr: Teaching ethnic studies here and in Slovenia

During a sabbatical originally planned as a teaching Fulbright in Slovenia, IAS faculty member Jed Murr is working on a project funded with a UW Bothell Scholarship, Research and Creative Practice Seed Grant. As part of a larger Black Arts Northwest collaboration with scholars, librarians and archivists, Murr is creating a digital history platform. Part of the platform will be a website about a Black Power mural in Seattle that was created in the early 1970s and destroyed in the 1990s. Another project would digitize Black periodicals published in Seattle and make them publicly accessible.

February 9, 2021

Linda Watts: Historical detectives on the Nat Turner case

IAS faculty member Linda Watts teaches the Nat Turner slave rebellion as a case study in history and a way for Discovery Core students to learn through the different stories told about the event. Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in 1831 in Southampton County, Virginia where many people were killed, including Turner who was hanged. “We have almost nothing that comes directly from Nat Turner. We see him refracted through other people’s accounts,” said Watts, who challenges her challenges her students to become historical detectives. They not only investigate the historic situation, they also analyze its implications in artists’ imaginations.

February 9, 2021

Min Tang: Creating critical media literacy workshops

Students in IAS faculty member Min Tang’s Critical Media Literacy course developed educational workshops to share with the Northshore School District’s teachers and students. “I encourage my students to think about how power structures in a society shape the media systems and processes,” Tang said. “I want them to understand the kind of power media has in shaping our social discourses, perceptions and opinions.”

February 9, 2021

Rob Turner advances sustainability in teaching and scholarship

IAS faculty member Rob Turner helped run an hour-long discussion session at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Colleges & Universities in January. The session was titled Fostering Sustainability Out of a Pandemic: Pathways for Higher Education to Create a More Resilient Institution and Society. In November, he received ...

February 9, 2021

Melissa Schutten discusses DEI in the Salish Sea on KPTZ

On February 3, IAS alum Melissa (Watkinson) Schutten and colleague Michael Chang, of Cascadia Consulting Group, were interviewed on KPTZ 91.9 FM’s Coastal Café about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the Salish Sea. Schutten and Chang are ...

February 8, 2021

Ching-In Chen’s hybrid poetry published in Blue Cactus Press online journal

IAS faculty member Ching-In Chen’s hybrid poetry -- “Still Green,” “Pilgrimage,” “Flood Fathers,” “Overnight Holiday,” and “Emperor” -- was published in Blue Cactus Press’ online journal, edited by Christina Butcher. Blue Cactus Press crafts books that inspire dialogue about ...

February 5, 2021

Jennifer Atkinson’s course on climate grief and eco-anxiety featured in New York Times

IAS faculty member Jennifer Atkinson’s seminar on climate grief and eco-anxiety was featured in a New York Times story on efforts to support people experiencing distress over the global climate crisis. The article, Got Climate Anxiety? These People Are Doing Something About It, noted that the number of Americans who are “very worried” about climate change has more than doubled over the past five years to its current rate of ...

February 5, 2021

Speech and Debate Team wins Division II Silver Program

Under the leadership of IAS faculty member Denise Vaughan, the UW Bothell Speech and Debate Program won the Northwest Forensics Conference’s Division II Silver Program for 2020-2021. The 2020-2021 season for Speech and Debate has been a challenge with Covid and distance competition. UW Bothell students have turned this distance challenge into an amazing opportunity. Students have competed ...

February 1, 2021

Karam Dana on the Biden Administration’s reversal of the Muslim Ban (KUOW)

IAS faculty member Karam Dana was interviewed by KUOW’s Kim Malcolm for “All Things Considered” on the Biden Administration’s reversal of the Muslim Ban. Dana reflected on what this reversal means to the local Muslim American community, and its impact globally, situating the issue of discrimination towards Muslims as a central problem with how American society has operated ...

January 27, 2021