\n Published: February 19, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAround campus, UW Bothell professor Leslie Ashbaugh is known for leading an annual study abroad trip to Zambia where students explore issues of global economic development. But her point of pride is her ongoing relationships with all of her students. \u201cWhat I love about working at UW Bothell is the opportunity to be creative in my teaching and the connections I make with students on campus who share similar interests,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe feelings are mutual. Ashbaugh won the 2012 Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award and has been named as director of the Center for University Studies and Programs (CUSP) for a five-year term. \u201cIt is a privilege to dedicate my leadership capacities and my commitment to undergraduate teaching to further the work that has been ongoing for the past seven years in our first-year and pre-major programming at UW Bothell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tAshbaugh joined UW Bothell as a lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences in 1998. She came with a social sciences background in political and economic anthropology and development in Zambia and the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tFour years ago, Vice Chancellor Susan Jeffords advocated for increased study abroad experiences for UW Bothell students. That was when Ashbaugh jumped at the chance to organize her annual student trip to Zambia. \u201cWe finally made it in 2010 and now I do that every summer with a group of sixteen students for a month,\u201d she says. \u201cWe spend ten days in the capitol city of Lusaka, ten days in a small town, and ten days in a rural village.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThe curriculum follows the USAID priorities for development in Zambia, which are health, education, the environment, and democracy. \u201cI always take four students who are there to research each of those topics,\u201d she says. Students not only complete a research project in their topic area while they are in Zambia, they also interact with global relief organizations in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThe students I take with me are interested in going into nonprofit work,\u201d she says. Her students investigate the missions and strategies of donor agencies and how well those match the needs and experiences of Zambians. \u201cI am exposing them to what it means to be a respectful traveler and researcher,\u201d she says. \u201cI am doing a lot of that modeling for them, and then they see for themselves the disconnect sometimes between goals and strategies and then reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tOn campus, Ashbaugh teaches classes relating to race, gender, and family systems. \u201cI have been here a long time and my courses have developed along with my interests and have often been driven by student interests as well,\u201d she says. She describes her teaching style as an organic one, where she provides the theoretical background in which a topic has been pursued and then her students conduct research based on their own interests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\u201cThere is always a component in every class I teach of experiential learning that is based on a research topic that students have chosen for themselves\u201d she says. \u201cI provide a shared language for us to communicate with each other around the topic and then somewhere around the middle of the quarter they take off with their research, and I guide them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tStudents in her classes learn how to reflect on their lives and relate broader issues to their own experiences. \u201cWe are talking about very relevant, timely topics that relate to their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\tThis personal connection with students is her great joy as a teacher. She says when she won the Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award, she received numerous emails from former students congratulating her and letting her know how much her classes meant to them. \u201cFor a teacher you couldn\u2019t want anything more from a job,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Published: February 19, 2013 Around campus, UW Bothell professor Leslie Ashbaugh is known for leading an annual study abroad trip to Zambia where students explore issues of global economic development. But her point of pride is her ongoing relationships with all of her students. \u201cWhat I love about working at UW Bothell is the opportunity…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":5757,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-9251","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":null,"link_2":null,"link_3":null,"link_4":null,"link_5":null},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":null,"button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"","email":"uwbnews@uw.edu","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\n