Sept.-Dec. & Feb.-Jun.
Send your updates with faculty, staff, student, and alumni news at any time to Karen Bystrom
Early September for the next academic year. Watch your email!
Congratulations, we have made it to “Events Season” and graduation is just around the corner! The campus feels abuzz with activity in a way it hasn’t since the pandemic started, a purer joy and enthusiasm than we’ve all been able to express or take in over the past few years.
Remember that we’re planning a more widely celebratory college commencement event this Friday afternoon, replacing the awards ceremony in Pigott with a party around the fountain for all graduates, faculty and staff from 2 to 4:30.
Our All-College awards was a gorgeous afternoon of celebrating the contributions of outstanding faculty and staff, recognizing the promotion of the largest group of faculty promotions that we have ever seen at every rank in both the new and continuing faculty ranks.
I remain honored to serve as your dean and look forward to seeing you at the party, at commencement and at some of the many other celebrations going on around campus the next few weeks.
Best,
David
Shared Governance
David V. Powers, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Seattle University
Donna Teevan, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair of the Theology and Religious Studies Department, has been named as the Gaffney Endowed Chair for the next two-year appointment from Fall 2023 through Spring 2025.
Sharon Suh, PhD, Professor, Theology and Religious Studies, was named the 2023-2025 recipient of the Patricia Wismer Professorship for Gender and Diversity Studies.
Hilary Hawley, PhD, was named Director of First-Year Academic Engagement.
We received this information just after last month’s issue. Congratulations to our colleagues.
Promoted to Teaching Professor
Promoted to Clinical Professor
Promoted to Associate Teaching Professor
Promoted to Associate Clinical Professor
Jacqueline Helfgott, PhD, Professor, Criminal Justice and Director, Crime and Justice Research Center, received the award for Excellence in Scholarly Activity Tenured or Tenure-Track Faculty.
John H. Armstrong, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies. published a letter in the Los Angeles Times about legislation to support urban solar energy, relating findings from his study about the ecosystem implications of urban renewable energy development and opportunities to plan for biodiversity.
Serena Cosgrove, PhD, Associate Professor, International Studies, and Marissa Olivares Morales, International Studies faculty and visiting Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, participated in the panel, “Un país cerrado a la investigación social: Reflexiones sobre Libertad académica en Nicaragua” (Closed to research: Reflections about academic freedom in Nicaragua). Marissa presented a paper titled “The Challenges to teaching and researching in Nicaragua” and Serena served as the panel discussant at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) 2023 Congress in Vancouver, Canada. Additionally, Serena organized and facilitated a round table at LASA about higher education under threat in the Americas entitled, “Higher education and the authoritarian turn in the Americas: Academic freedom, university autonomy, and critical thinking under threat.”
Julie Homchick Crowe, PhD, Assistant Professor, Communication and Media, attended the Rhetoric Society of America’s summer institute on Graphic Medicine and Rhetorics of Health in May. In June, she is attending Yale University’s Foundations in Bioethics program through their Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics.
Amelia Seraphia Derr, MSW, PhD, Associate Professor, Social Work and Director, Bachelor of Social Work Program, presented her paper, “Educating for Resilience: Sustaining Social Workers for Career Longevity,” at the European Social Work Conference, held in Prague, Czech Republic, May 22-24, 2023.
Sonora Jha, PhD, Associate Dean for Academic Community and Professor, Department of Communication and Media, published an invited essay titled "#MeToo, Masculinity, and Sexual Agency: Emerging Conversations and Representations" in the journal South Asian Review. Dr. Jha was also the featured author at the King County Library System Foundation's Author Salon on May 17, where she was interviewed by Naomi Ishisaka, Assistant Managing Editor for Diversity and Inclusion and the Social Justice Columnist for The Seattle Times.
Hye-Kyung Kang, MSW, PhD, Associate Professor and Chair, Social Work and Director, Master of Social Work, presented a jury-selected paper, “Social justice-focused Mental Health Practice: an Integrative Model for Clinical Social Work” at the European Social Work Conference, held in Prague, Czech Republic, May 22-24, 2023.
Kira Mauseth, PhD, Senior Instructor, Psychology, is quoted extensively in the Bloomberg commentary by F. D. Flam, “Spike in childhood mortality needs nation’s attention,” which has since been published across the country. Read it in the Everett Herald (the original is behind the paywall on Bloomberg.)
Quinton Morris, DMA, Associate Professor, Violin, was selected as “Outstanding Studio Teacher of the Year” by the Washington chapter of the American String Teachers Association. He was honored with an Alumni Achievement Award from Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music. He has also been featured in numerous media interviews, including:
Jeannette Rodriguez, PhD, Professor: Theology and Religious Studies and Couple and Family Therapy, and Director, Institute for Catholic Thought and Culture, presented “Cultural Memory, Resistance, and a Return to ‘Original Instruction’” at the Canadian Theological Society, organized by their Dignity, Equity, and Justice Committee.
Patrick Schoettmer, PhD, Associate Teaching Professor, Political Science, was interviewed for “Filing period ends for Seattle City Council candidacy, 4 empty seats will be filled” for US Times Post. He was also interviewed about the race by KING 5 News.
Benjamin Schultz-Figueroa, PhD, Assistant Professor, Film and Media Studies, received one of the 2023 Distinguished Graduate Alumni Awards from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Kirsten Moana Thompson, PhD, Professor and Director, Film Studies, and Theiline Pigott-McCone Endowed Chair (2022-24), is serving on the Color in Motion Advisory Board, Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, Los Angeles, 2021-2024 which is preparing a major color in film exhibition called “Color in Motion” which opens at the Academy Museum, Fall 2024. She published “Report on the 6th International Conference: Color in Film,” held at Kinemathek Lichtspiel, Sep 25-28, 2022, Bern, Switzerland, Color and Film: British Association of Film, Television, and Screen Studies: Special Interest Group(BAFTSS) Oct 2022. Other recent publications include “'Drawn to Life’: Intermedial Promotion in Disney and Cirque du Soleil,” The Animated Environment, Society for Animation Studies Conference, Rowan University, NJ, June 2-16, 2023 and “Hallucinogenic Color in Disney’s Dumbo, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros,” Colour and Film Research Seminar, British Academy of Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) 15th June 2023.
Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, BA Criminal Justice and Spanish, '10 and MACJ ’19, a member of the Port of Seattle commission and vice president with The Northwest Seaport Alliance, co-authored the Seattle Times op-ed, “Protect the viability of Puget Sound’s working waterfronts.”
Kiyon Ross, BA, Arts Leadership '15, recently named Associate Artistic Director at Pacific Northwest Ballet, choreographed “…throes of increasing wonder” in honor of the company’s 50th anniversary. It was performed as part of PNB’s final repertory program June 2 through 11. Read the Seattle Times story.
Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal VII
The seventh issue of the student research journal has been published. Read about how students and faculty work together to produce the annual publication.
2023 College of Arts and Sciences Student Awards
We will present their awards and medals at the CAS Commencement Celebration on Friday, June 9. Cullin and Abigail will be recognized at approximately 2:45 p.m. and Ava, Adana, and Brandon's awards will be presented at approximately 3:30 p.m. These student awards will also be recognized in the 2023 commencement program and at commencement on Monday, June 12.
Audrey Herold, MFA Arts Leadership student, produced a play called “The Forlornness,” June 2-4 at Bannan Auditorium. Based on primary source diary accounts of a haunting in 1923, “The Forlornness” was workshopped by Dacha Theatre in 2020. Part spooky ghost-story and part poignant & sentimental, ‘The Forlornness' feels like ‘The Woman in Black' by Stephen Mallatratt meets “Mary’s Wedding” by Stephen Massicote. This historical-fiction thriller explores grief, hope and saying “goodbye” before you’re ready,
Seattle University Debate Team
Debate coach Jim Hanson reports that the team finished the year on several high notes.
We also hosted four very large tournaments for elementary, middle school, and high school students in March and in May. Schools from throughout the Puget Sound plus Canada and China joined in for great competition. In total, we hosted more than 600 participants at our tournaments.
The team has grown tremendously this year as we fully came out of the Covid era, and we are looking forward to a great 2023-24 season. Please encourage your students to consider joining the team.
Congratulations to all of our colleagues.
2023 Arts and Sciences Student Executive Council Awards
College Awards
Practice. Practice. Practice. Or.... simply register to sing with Dr. Leann Conley-Holcom, SU Director of Choral Activities, in a 5-day choral residency next year! Dr. Conley-Holcom has been invited by MidAmerica Productions to appear as guest conductor on the historic Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage at Carnegie Hall on Memorial Day 2024, leading the New England Symphonic Ensemble and singers from across the country in Taylor Scott Davis’ Magnificat. This piece was recently premiered and recorded by the acclaimed Voces8. It's a stunning and very accessible piece of music. Preview all five movements here. Passionate choral singers are invited to participate, including SU faculty, staff, alumni, and students. You will need to be able to learn the music on your own (practice tracks will be provided!) and pay for the residency and travel. Participants will stay in a beautiful hotel within walking distance of Central Park and Times Square, enjoy social time together including a post-concert cruise around New York Harbor, and have a truly unforgettable musical experience on a historic stage. Interested? Contact Dr. Conley-Holcom by email about the October 1 registration deadline and more information.
Having recently recognized Memorial Day, the Seattle University Outreach Center, Veterans Community and Army ROTC are compiling names of alumni, staff and faculty who are Fallen Heroes. Fallen Heroes are those who have served in the military and sacrificed their lives in combat. We are asking for your help to submit names if you know anyone who falls into this category. Once we gather names, we will be honoring them on the Seattle University Fallen Heroes website and in a future on campus monument.
Please send information (including name and graduation year or employment years) or ask questions by email.
The LCIJ would like to thank all members of the CAS community for their participation in the inaugural 2022-23 Inclusive Conversation Series. We'd like to note that changing the culture in our college to make it inclusive for all students, faculty, and staff is an ongoing process. As noted in this year's text by bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress:
. . . In all cultural revolutions there are periods of chaos and confusion, times when grave mistakes are made. If we fear mistakes, doing things wrongly, constantly evaluating ourselves, we will never make the academy a culturally diverse place where scholars and the curricula address every dimension of that difference.
As backlash swells, as budgets are cut, as jobs become even more scarce, many of the few progressive interventions that were made to change the academy, to create an open climate for cultural diversity are in danger of being undermined or eliminated. These threats should not be ignored. Nor should our collective commitment to cultural diversity change because we have not yet devised and implemented perfect strategies for them. To create a culturally diverse academy we must commit ourselves fully. Learning from other movements for social change, from civil rights and feminist liberation efforts, we must accept the protracted nature of our struggle and be willing to remain both patient and vigilant. To commit ourselves to the work of transforming the academy so that it will be a place where cultural diversity informs every aspect of our learning, we must embrace struggle and sacrifice. We cannot be easily discouraged. We cannot despair when there is conflict. Our solidarity must be affirmed by shared belief in a spirit of intellectual openness that celebrates diversity, welcomes dissent, and rejoices in collective dedication to truth” (hooks, 1994, p. 33)
Thank you for joining us in the perfectly imperfect pursuit of creating a culturally diverse academy. Here is a link to the slides from our opening event that shares the grounding principles for this series: LCIJ Inclusive Conversation Series Opening Session Slides.pdf.
We look forward to continuing to grow with you.
LCIJ Co-Chair
Angelique M. Davis, Professor and Faculty Co-Chair
Julius Moss, Program Coordinator, Kinesiology, and Staff Co-Chair
Darozyl Touch, Assistant Dean for Diversity, Equity, Inclusive & Justice
Like last year, we will be working with Admissions to send hand-written notes to our admitted undergraduate students welcoming them to the program/department/university and to help stave off some of the summer melt. Admissions will provide the notecards and cover the postage. They plan to mail the notes to students in mid-June as a ramp up to the advising and registration sessions that Advising will run in late June/July.
Kate Elias has the notecards and addresses available for all incoming CAS FTIC and TR students in Casey 110, Please return your completed note cards to Casey 110 by Wednesday, June 14. Questions? Email Kate Elias.
Please encourage your graduating students to complete the Final Destination Survey (FDS).
FDS gathers information about what our students are doing post-graduation (employment, military, grad school, etc.) and their satisfaction with the preparation they received from Seattle University for those activities. With this information, we can collect data about our students' successes and determine areas that need more of our attention.
Notification Deadline Approaching for National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Summer Stipend Program
All tenure-track or tenured faculty in humanistic fields are eligible to be nominated by SU for the NEH Summer Stipend Program, which provides $6,000 stipends to support faculty in developing scholarly products over the summer. Only two nominees are allowed per institution. Prospective nominees must notify the Office of Sponsored Projects of their intent to apply by June 15, 2023. More details about SU’s nomination process for the NEH summer stipends is available on the Limited Submission Opportunities webpage. Note that non-tenure track faculty are also eligible to submit to the NEH Summer Stipend program as independent scholars outside of SU’s limited submission process. See the NEH webpage for more details or reach out to Sarah Bricknell with any questions.
A reminder that your Office of Sponsored Projects is open all summer. Want to learn more about grant opportunities? Get a head start on a grant application? Sarah Bricknell, the CAS OSP contact, is available during the summer to work with you. Please reach out via email to schedule a time to meet in person or virtually.
End of Fiscal Year and Dean’s Leadership Council
We want to thank you for your great partnership throughout the year. Your work is at the core of what inspires our donors and volunteers. We could not do our work without your efforts supporting the student experience. As a reminder, any gifts that come in between now and the end of the fiscal year need to get to Advancement Services 305B in Admin.
Additionally, if you know any alumni that you think would be a strong member of Dean’s Leadership Council, please email Josh Marron. Dean’s Leadership Council members serve: 1) as advisors to Dean Powers; 2) as knowledgeable arts and sciences ambassadors in their community and within the college and university; 3) as partners in advancing the college through philanthropic participation in support of SU. Please let Josh know if you have questions.
Do you own a local business? Or know an alum who does?
We often turn to faculty and staff partners who help identify potential for engaged volunteers and philanthropic priorities that support the college. Your partnership with SU Gives is invaluable!
In our conversations with friends of the college, we continue to learn the importance of cultivating strong relationships with local business owners that have ties to SU. If you own a local business, or have connections with local alumni business owners, please email Josh Marron.
Thank you in advance for your continued help. As always, if your department receives a donation and you are unsure how to move forward, please contact Katie Chapman and Josh Marron. Please include any additional information you have regarding uses for the donation. We will handle processing the gift and sending the donors their acknowledgement and receipt.
We hope you and your loved ones are staying healthy. Thank you!
Chloe Rollens: Honors Exhibit
Through June 8, Fine Arts Lobby Gallery
BFA Photo Exhibition
Through June 8, Vachon Gallery. Opening Reception: May 18, 4-30-7:30 p.m. Featuring: Adolfo Bravo, Kira Daley, Michael Elizabeth, Eva Gugsa, Brian LaMar, Jake Nelson, Annie Reierson, and Nat Silva. Mentored by Claire Garoutte.
Brady Battalion’s Commissioning and End of Year Awards Ceremony
June 10 , Pigott Auditorium. 7-8 a.m.: Awards Ceremony, 9-10 a.m.: Commissioning Ceremony. RSVP here.
Arts Leadership MFA Summary Projects
June 10, 9 a.m. - 4 p.m., Pigott 102
The MFA Class of 2023 will offer Summary Project Presentations in person on campus and virtually over Zoom. Through applied research methods, each Summary Project was a culmination of a student's inquiry into an arts field of practice. Projects serve as a representation of students' pursuit of arts leadership through an intersectional lens towards equity, empathy, and value. Full schedule and registration link here.
June 9, 2-4:30 p.m., A&S Undergraduate and Graduate Graduating Student Celebration. Please note that we are moving away from an Awards Ceremony format and towards a bigger celebration of all graduating seniors in Arts and Sciences. We hope faculty and staff will join in celebrating with our graduating students and their families – watch for more details by email.
June 11, 2 p.m., Baccalaureate Mass. Note that this year’s mass is on a Sunday instead of the traditional Saturday mass.
June 12, Undergraduate (11 a.m.) and Graduate (5 p.m.) Graduation Ceremonies, Climate Pledge Arena. Note that this year commencement is on a Monday instead of the traditional Sunday ceremonies as in years past.
Monday, May 6 at 9:00 AM
Wednesday, May 8 at 12:30 PM
Monday, May 13 at 5:00 PM
Tuesday, May 14 at 12:00 PM