May 2021

Message from the Dean

We are halfway through the Spring Quarter in our first and hopefully only full academic year in a pandemic. I cannot thank you all enough for the hard work and difficulty you all have endured to continue our mission as a college and a university.

You'll see below that All College Day Awards are coming up. We're taking nominations below and will give out awards as usual (well "virtually" as usual), but I have to acknowledge that everyone deserves recognition this year. We're happy to begin integrating our newest program into the college, the MACFT program, joining us from the School of Theology and Ministry.

Finally, I have to acknowledge our newest Professor Emeritus, Dr. Kan Liang. His scholarship is in modern Chinese history, recently editing an English language two-volume series Human Memory: the Solid Evidence of the Nanjing Massacre. Kan has been a faculty member in the History Department for 26 years, serving as Founding Director of Asian Studies and Chair of the History Department before serving as Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities from 2010-2020.  Congratulations Kan and thank you for you many major contributions to our shared academic endeavor.

Shared Governance

David V. Powers, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Seattle University

Announcements

Welcome to the Master of Arts in Couples and Family Therapy

While the formal transfer to the College of Arts and Sciences is effective July 1, the transition has begun with the launch of the new MACFT website within the college. We look forward to working with our colleagues.

All College Day Awards

Nominations are now open for our annual awards, which will be announced at All College Day, June 4 at 3 p.m. (Watch for the Zoom link.)

  • Outstanding Teaching Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize the successful embodiment of the Jesuit and Catholic ideal of liberal education by a colleague whose courses are recognized by students and faculty alike as being particularly engaging, rigorous, and challenging, and whose delivery of these courses is again recognized by students and faculty members as having a major impact on the intellectual, spiritual, and/or personal development of the students. Innovative student-centered teaching methods deserve special recognition.
  • Outstanding Administrative Staff Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize a member of the administrative staff who has made an outstanding contribution to the staff, faculty, and students of the College.
  • Outstanding Scholarship Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize the publication of a book, the production of a creative work, or the publication of a series of articles by a colleague that scholars in their discipline judge as representing a significant contribution to the field.
  • Outstanding Service Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize a colleague who has given generously of their time and energy to the department, the College, the University, the community, or the profession, and whose service has had a significant positive impact on those to whom it has been given.
  • Outstanding Academic Advising Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize a colleague who has had a major impact on the intellectual, spiritual, and/or personal development of students through serving as their academic adviser.
  • Outstanding Contract Faculty Award provides the occasion for the College to recognize a colleague in a full-time non-tenure track position who has met the criteria for the Outstanding Teaching, Scholarship, or Service Award (or who has made an outstanding contribution in a combination of areas).
  • Outstanding Collegiality Award provides the occasion to recognize a member of the Arts & Sciences community who supports the effectiveness, well-being, advancement, and professional growth of their colleagues. This award recognizes an individual who has a significant positive professional and personal impact on the health and happiness of others in the college as we work together on our shared educational mission. All faculty and staff in the College of Arts & Sciences are eligible.

Please look at the criteria for each and nominate someone you believe should be honored for their contributions. Please send narrative nominations of up to one page to Sonora Jha, and cc: Kate Reynolds () by Friday, May 21, for review by a committee of last year’s awardees. See past recipients here.

Congratulations to:

  • Steen Halling, Professor Emeritus, and the Seattle University Department of Psychology, on receiving the 2020-21 Charlotte and Karl Bühler Award, from the Society for Humanistic Psychology, Division 32, which honors an institution, and an individual associated with an institution, that has made an outstanding and lasting contribution to humanistic psychology. Dr. Halling will receive the award at the Society’s June 6 virtual celebration. From the award nomination: “For many years, Seattle University Department of Psychology has been among a few leading institutions teaching clinical psychology from a humanistic perspective -- and in this case, with an emphasis on the relational existential-phenomenological foundations in the philosophies of Martin Buber and Emmanuel Levinas.”
  • Ken Liang, PhD, granted the honorary rank of Professor Emerita/Emeritus by President Sundborg upon his retirement from the university at the conclusion of this academic year.
  • Jamie Vo, MSW candidate on being selected to receive the 2020-2021 Provost's Award for Graduate Student Excellence. This award will be recognized at the Seattle University virtual Commencement Ceremony on June 13, 2021. It honors a graduate student who has maintained the highest grade point average throughout his or her program and also demonstrated outstanding leadership.

College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Promotions/Tenure

President Stephen J. Sundborg and Provost Shane P. Martin announced faculty promotion and/or tenure, effective Academic Year 2021-2022, including these faculty members in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Promoted to Professor

  • Angelique Davis, JD, Political Science; Associate Appointment, Global African Studies, Pre-Law Program, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
  • Mary-Antoinette Smith, PhD, English and Women and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Tenured and Promoted to Associate Professor

  • Elizabeth Dale, PhD, Nonprofit Leadership
  • Joseph DeFilippis, PhD, Social Work
  • Nova Robinson, PhD, International Studies; Associate Appointment, History; Affiliated with Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Promoted to Senior Instructor

  • Janice Moskalik, PhD, Philosophy
  • Patrick Schoettmer, PhD, Political Science
  • Eric Severson, PhD, Philosophy

Congratulations to all of our colleagues who received promotion and/or tenure across Seattle University.

Launching SUURJ Volume 5 (Seattle University Undergraduate Research Journal), May 26, 6 p.m.

This year, SUURJ received a record 60 submissions from 12 majors across the university. After a rigorous review and multi-phase editing process by student and faculty editors, the finished publication will comprise 11 essays from nine diverse majors and the Core. Join the event on Zoom. More information about SUURJ is available here.

Planning an intentional summer: Afternoon Workshop

May 19, 2:15–3:30 p.m.,  Zoom link provided upon registration

Facilitated by Holly Slay Ferraro (Center for Faculty Development). We often look forward to summer as a time for rest, rejuvenation, deep thinking, and writing. But how many times have you started the Fall tired and disappointed that your summer wasn't what you hoped? This active workshop provides an opportunity to be intentional about your summer. For example, do you have personal goals you want to achieve such as more rest or time with family and friends? Perhaps you want to finish an article, book, or have extended time for reading and writing. This workshop encourages you to identify goals that are important to you and create strategies to have the summer you desire in an encouraging and supportive community. Join us to craft an intentional summer! Co-sponsored by the Center for Faculty Development (CETL/CFD) and the Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP)

Call for submissions: Unmute the Voices

Unmute The Voices, a new project from Dr. Quinton Morris and Seattle’s Classical KING FM, seeks two kinds of classical music recordings ahead of its upcoming launch on June 19, 2021:

  • Recordings of any and all classical music performed by BIPOC artists
  • Recordings of classical music composed by BIPOC composers

Please visit the KING FM website to learn how to submit. Recordings will be accepted on an ongoing basis. Unmute The Voices celebrates BIPOC artistry in classical music by highlighting compositions and performances by BIPOC artists. This includes both music composed by BIPOC composers and all classical music recorded by BIPOC artists. Unmute The Voices is hosted by Dr. Quinton Morris, KING FM’s first Artist-Scholar in Residence. He also talked about the program on the Trilloquy Podcast.

Combating Racial Animus Against the AAPI Community: Solutions for Change

Watch the video of this event, hosted by SU Institute of Public Service and Asian Studies and Town Hall Seattle. A conversation with former U.S. ambassador to China and former Washington Governor Gary Locke, CEO of Treehouse Lisa Chin, and interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz, moderated by IPS Professional in Residence and journalist Joni Balter and Dr. Larry Hubbell, longtime previous IPS director.

The Women, Gender, and Sexuality Program Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the governing body of the WGST Program. It meets every three weeks throughout the academic year and works collaboratively with the Director to guide and maintain the WGST major/minor and LGBTQ minor. Contact Dr. Theresa Earenfight with questions. Three positions are available:

  • 1 one-year term (sabbatical replacement)
  • 2 three-year terms

Please consider nominating yourself or others. Nominations are due May 17, 2021, by 3 p.m.. Please send nominations to Kathleen Jones by email. 

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Recruitment and Retention

Upcoming Undergraduate Admissions Event Dates

Admitted Transfer Student Evening Reception, College of Arts and Sciences: Tuesday, June 2, 2021: These events are for admitted transfer students (and their families) to learn more about their college, and connect with advisors, faculty, and current students within their college. Participating programs should have already submitted the required information.

Summer Preview Day: August 18, 2021: This event is for rising high school juniors and seniors, and prospective transfer students to learn more about Seattle U as they launch their college search and prepare to apply.

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Leadership Committee on Intersectionality and Justice

Call for Student, Faculty, and Staff Representatives 

The mission of the A&S Leadership Committee on Intersectionality and Justice (LCIJ) is to a) improve the institutional culture and structure within Arts & Sciences for faculty, staff, and students around issues of race, gender, sexuality, religious bigotry, immigration status, income disparity, other historically and structurally marginalized groups and the intersections of those domains, b) support faculty integration of state-of-the-art knowledge in these domains into course curriculum, scholarship and creative works toward academic excellence and c) connect with and support university-level work on these issues, as outlined in the 2016 Final Report of the Task Force on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence. These goals are consistent with the Seattle University commitment to social justice as a central part of the Jesuit Catholic mission of the institution, defining justice as the elimination of systematic unfairness and oppression.

CALL for APPLICATIONS 

The Leadership Committee on Intersectionality and Justice [LCIJ] is recruiting the following A&S members to apply to serve on this committee: 

  • 1 Faculty Representative (one-year term for current member sabbatical replacement) 
  • 1 Faculty Representative (three-year term) 
  • 1-2 Staff Member Representative(s) (three-year term) 
  • 2 Student Member Representatives (graduate or undergraduate; one-to-two-year term) 

 Although there is no compensation for student or staff representatives currently, faculty representatives receive a one-course release per year as committee facilitators.  

The LCIJ was launched by Dean David Powers in the fall of 2017.  We, in short, have been working to develop, support and promote activities that (1) increase the College/University’s awareness and understanding of issues related to race, gender, sexuality, religious bigotry, immigration status, income disparity, and so forth; (2) improve the institutional culture of the College for everyone and, in particular, for historically and structurally marginalized groups; (3) support increased coverage of the aforementioned issues in all curricula across the College, (4) support scholarly and creative works that address these issues, and (5) advise the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences on issues of racial justice, inclusion and intersectionality.

The LCIJ generally meets two or three times an academic quarter. 

  • We are looking for staff, faculty, and students, to apply, who could help the LCIJ continue to further the work of the following strategic goals: 
  • Realize an organizational infrastructure that embeds inclusive excellence in all aspects of the Seattle University experience 
  • Integrate inclusive excellence across curricular and co-curricular offerings 
  • Build and sustain the capacity of students, staff, and faculty to engage, teach and lead through an inclusive excellence lens 
  • Meet the challenges and opportunities of recruiting and graduating a diverse student body 
  • Meet the challenges and opportunities of recruiting and retaining talented faculty and staff 
  • Maximize the university’s capacity for social change in the local community 
  • Contribute to the College of A&S’s Strategic Plan initiatives, particularly the commitment to centering the margins 

If you are interested in applying to be part of the LCIJ, please respond specifically to the following three questions in no more than 500 words total: 

  1. Why are you interested in being part of the LCIJ?  
  2. What are you excited to bring to the committee? 
  3. How would you help further the strategic goals of the LCIJ?  

Please email your application to Kate Reynolds  by Monday, May 24, 5 p.m.

If you have questions, please reach out to the respective staff, student, and faculty representatives currently serving:  

  • Olivia Gaughran (student) 
  • Samantha Cremer (student) 
  • Sarah Curtis-Tilton (staff) 
  • John Nettles (staff) 
  • Kate Reynolds (staff) 
  • Dr. Hye-Kyung Kang (faculty) 
  •  Roxy Hornbeck, MFA (faculty) 
  • Dr. Gary Kinte’ Perry (faculty) 
  • Dr. Sonora Jha (Dean's office/faculty/ex-officio)

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Funding Opportunities

NEH Summer Stipends Program – May 30internal notification deadline 

**Seattle University is allotted two nominations for the NEH Summer Stipends Program.  Please refer to the OSP webpage for the nomination process.**

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ Summer Stipends program aims to stimulate new research in the humanities and its publication. The program works to accomplish this goal by:

  • Providing small awards to individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to humanities scholars, general audiences, or both
  • Supporting projects at any stage of development, but especially early-stage research and late-stage writing in which small awards are most effective

The $6,000 NEH Summer Stipends support continuous full-time work on a humanities project for a period of two consecutive months. 

Russell Sage Foundation   – May and August deadlines 

The Russell Sage Foundation is dedicated to programs of social science research.  Investigators are encouraged to submit an LOI after they have developed and pre-tested survey instruments, completed preliminary data analyses if the data are publicly available or conducted some preliminary interviews for qualitative studies.  Funding priorities include: Behavioral Economics, Future of Work, Race, Ethnicity and Immigration, Social, Political and Economic Inequality, Immigration and Immigrant Integration, Improving Education and Reducing Inequality in the US, and Decision Making and Human Behavior Context. 

Conference on College Composition and Communication Emergent Researcher Program – September deadline  

The Emergent Researcher Awards program invites proposals for projects that can contribute to or influence discussions about literacy and writing instruction in and out of formal education. The initiative also asks recipients to clearly address the impact their research might have on these conversations, conveying the implications of their work in at least two final products: one that is addressed to a scholarly audience of researchers and teachers in the field, and one that is addressed to a specifically identified more public audience. 

Public Welfare Foundation – rolling LOI deadline 

Public Welfare Foundation awards grants to projects which honor the Foundation’s core values of racial equity, economic well-being, and fundamental fairness for all. The Foundation looks for strategic points where its funds can make a significant difference and improve lives through policy and system reform that results in transformative change. Current funding priorities include:  Criminal Justice (Sentencing Reform, Community Reinvestment), Youth Justice (Closing Youth Prisons, Racial Disparities, Raising the Age), Legacy Initiatives (Civil Legal Aid, Workers’ Rights) and Special Opportunities (Race, Redemption, and Restoration).   

Upcoming Event

Celebration of Scholarship

Please join the OSP, the Office of the Provost and Lemieux Library and McGoldrick Learning Commons for a celebration of Seattle University faculty’s excellence in research, creative, and other scholarly activities! After opening words from Provost Martin, you will hear from six of your colleagues as they share their recent work in a lighting talk format, as well as learn about SU faculty’s wide-ranging intellectual and scholarly contributions – including sponsored projects, published books and manuscripts, conference presentations, and all other products. Please complete this brief form so that we may celebrate your important achievements!

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Partnerships

Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs, PhD, Professor, Departments of Modern Languages and Women Gender & Sexuality Studies, and illustrator Veronica Eldredge, BA, Humanities Leadership with minors in Studio Art and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, 2016, had their book accepted for publication by Chatwin books. The children’s book, "¡Iván, y van!" is a bilingual tale of a young Mexican Nahua man who travels up and down the West Coast as a migrant farm worker. As he journeys, he realizes many things: that the mountains in Washington State remind him of his homeland, and the indigenous people he encounters are also his relatives. Iván wonders why people in the U.S. are not generous to migrants like him, when they themselves have been to Mexico as tourists and enjoyed staying as guests in his own community. Realizing that his community has many gifts to offer the rest of the world, Iván and his companion Humberto are determined to uplift their indigenous knowledge of environmental sustainability to improve the lives of their community, and the world. From their proposal, “Readers of all ages are brought along on this adventure as Iván makes connections about the world we live in, how we are all related, and that our future is interdependent. Naturally our books are created with the intention of expanding notions of intersectionality (including gender, race, class, and migration). We envision our books to become staples within elementary school curricula, precisely because our educators are in such great need of images and stories like those of “Iván.””

Gutiérrez y Muhs will be a keynote speaker for the second annual conference for Hispanic / Latinx / Chicanx studies hosted by Spanish Association for U.S-Hispanic Studies (HCNA). The conference is May 26 through 28, 2021 with the Universidad de León, León, Spain. She will also join Aldo Reséndiz (BA, Sociology and BA, Humanities in Teaching, with minors in Latin American Studies and WGST, 2011) and Carlos Sibaja (BA, English, 2011 and MA, Education, 2013), on a panel about their 600+ bilingual Chicanx/Latinx anthology forthcoming in May with Polibea Press in Spain. The recent Washington poet laureate Claudia Castro Luna, who has also taught at Seattle University, and several other Seattle Poets who have presented at events and work in the schools like poet laureate for Burien Raul Sanchez, will also be included, as well as renowned Chicana poet Lorna Dee Cervantes, Jim Cantú and Catalina Cantú.

Audrey Hudgins, EdD, Associate Clinical Professor, Matteo Ricci Institute, and her students in 21SQ INST 3910/UCOR 3600 Perspectives on Im/migration completed a five-week Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) experience with Guillermo Yrizar Barbosa, Ibero Puebla, and his students in 2021 Spring semester Migraciones Internacionales. The combined group of 45 students formed eight bi-national groups, investigated a migration research question in a particular region of the world, and shared their findings with each other.

Jacqueline Helfgott, PhD, Professor, Criminal Justice and Director, Crime & Justice Research Center, and Will Parkin, PhD, Associate Professor, Criminal Justice, have two recent research publications.

  • Peer-Reviewed Article: Surette, R., Helfgott, J.B., Parkin, W., & O’Toole, M.E. The Social Construction of Copycat Crime in Open Access Media. Journal of Criminal Justice and Popular Culture, 20 (1). This article reports the results from the “Copycat Crime Research-a-thon” conducted at Seattle University in June 2018 that involved students engaged in live open-source data collection event sponsored by the Seattle University Department of Criminal Justice Crime & Justice Research Center.
  • Report: Helfgott, J.B. & Parkin, W. (January, 2021). Seattle Police Department’s Citywide 2020 Seattle Public Safety Survey Results (151p.). (Report results were publicly released April 12, 2021)

Arts Leadership faculty, students and alumni are well represented at the Association of Arts Administration Educators virtual conference in May.

  • May 18, 11 a.m. - noon PT: AAAE Consulting Affinity Group Roundtable “An Arts Recovery Roadmap” - Kevin Maifeld, Seattle University and Diane Claussen, DePaul University.
  • May 20 from 11-11:30 a.m. PT: Arts and Equitable Community: How Arts Leaders Can Better Engage Local Community - Alexandra Mielcarek, MFA '22
  • May 21 from 9-10:30 a.m. PT: Rehearsing Racial Equity: A Critical Anthology on Anti-Racism and Repair in the Arts - Roxy Hornbeck, Seattle University; Dr. Jasmine Mahmoud, Seattle University; Linnea Ingalls, MFA '20; Dr. Adetola Abatan, MFA '22; Jackson Cooper, MFA '22; Trés McMichael, MFA '22; Leah St. Lawrence, MFA '22.
  • May 28 at 10 a.m. PT: 2020-2021 Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Research Fellow, Trés McMichael, MFA '22, will present a culmination of his fellowship work during the Member Meeting.

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Of Gifts and Gratitude

Department Mail Request: A gentle reminder to faculty and staff to please develop a regular routine for checking hard copy mail. Any donations to the university – whether current or old, should be forwarded to Advancement Services, Attn: Ann Schiffer, Gift Processing, ADMN 305B, via campus mail as soon as possible. Thank you!

Our Moment for Mission: President’s Challenge to Alumni Continues – Are you in touch with alumni? Help SU recognize their involvement by letting us know about alumni who are staying in touch with you, or your departments/programs. If you are featuring alumni guest speakers in classes, connect alumni as mentors or internship hosts, or hear employment or life updates with alumni please email Katie Chapman or Kathleen Jones with a note and we will take it from there. We are trying to reach 10,000 alumni this year. To learn more and to see how we are doing visit the website.

SU Alumni Owned Business Directory: Check out the new map and directory. This effort is just beginning; if you know of an alumni-owned business, please let Katie Chapman know and we will add it to the directory with the Office of Alumni Engagement.

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Faculty

Elizabeth J. Dale, PhD, Assistant Professor, Nonprofit Leadership, about the potential effects on their charitable giving on the announcement of Melinda and Bill Gates’ decision to divorce:

She recently published Charitable Giving in Married Couples: Untangling the Effects of Education and Income on Spouses’ GivingNonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. Mesch, D. J., Osili, U. O., Dale, E. J., Ackerman, J., Bergdoll, J., & O’Connor, H. A. (2021).

Amelia Seraphia Derr, PhD, Associate Professor, Social Work, was cited in the letter to the editor, Stigma deters sound treatment.

Anne Farina, PhD, Assistant Professor, Social Work, published an article, "You’re So Exotic Looking': An Intersectional Analysis of Asian American and Pacific Islander Stereotypes" which was cited in the Washington Post article "There’s a long, global history to today’s anti-Asian bias and violence".

Jacqueline Helfgott, PhD,

Molly Clark Hillard, PhD, Associate Professor, English, has received an advance contract with Bloomsbury Press for her book project, Literary Subjects: the Contemporary Novel and the Return to Victorian Form. The book examines contemporary and Victorian literature side by ide to determine what is at stake in our narrative practices. It takes Zadie Smith’s White Teeth, Ian McEwan’s Saturday, and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go as examples of books that are in some sense still Victorian; that is, persistently affiliated with Victorian genres, plots, and characters, as well as Victorian questions of community, authority, and artistic ideology.

Audrey Hudgins, EdD, Associate Clinical Professor, Matteo Ricci Institute,  collaborated with Guillermo Yrizar Barbosa, and Ibero Puebla on a review of the book, The deportation machine: America’s long history of expelling immigrants by Adam Goodman. The review has been accepted for the June-July edition of Mitologías hoy: Revista de pensamiento, crítica y estudios literarios latinoamericanos, a bi-annual, bi-lingual interdisciplinary journal of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona that seeks to inform the current debate on the Latin American experience by drawing on literary, theoretical, and cultural perspectives.

Nalini Iyer, PhD, Professor, English and Associate Appointment, Asian Studies Program and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies moderated a conversation with Thrity Umrigar, bestselling author of The Secrets Between Us, and many other novels for the King County Library System. Free.

Sonora Jha, PhD, Professor, Communication and Media and Associate Dean for Academic Community, College of Arts and Sciences, has continued her virtual tour for her new book, “How to Raise a Feminist Son: Motherhood, Masculinity and the Making of My Family.” Several events have been recorded and are available here:

Additional press coverage:

Hye-Kyung Kang, PhD, Chair, Social Work and Program Director, MSW Program, was spotlighted in 12 Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Social Workers by the New Social Worker magazine. She also was part of a panel conversation about anti-Asian racism at UW, Anti-AAPI Racism and Violence: Past, Present, and a Brighter Future” on May 4.

Paul Kidder, PhD, Professor, Philosophy, was a panelist on April 21 for a Folio Seattle forum on “Truth, Social Media and Conspiracy Theories: Is Truth Dead?” Moderated by Mort Kondracke, the panel also featured Jevin West, Director of University of Washington Center for an Informed Public; Brier Dudley, editor of the Seattle Times' Save the Free Media project; Republican State Sen. Doug Ericksen; and Chicago Sun-Times DC correspondent Lynn Sweet. Dr. Kidder focused on philosophical theories of truth and their status in contemporary academic debates.

Jasmine Mahmoud, PhD, Assistant Professor, Arts Leadership published “Sensing Out of Numbness: A Conversation with Shin Yu Pai” in the South Seattle Emerald.

Christina Roberts, PhD, Nakoda and Aaniiih Nations, Director, Indigenous Peoples Institute; Associate Director, Matteo Ricci Institute; and Associate Professor, English and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, moderated a Q&A with Robin Wall Kimmerer for Seattle Arts and Lectures.

Byron Schenkman, Adjunct Faculty, Performing Arts and Arts Leadership, was featured in the Seattle Times article, “Future looks bright for Byron Schenkman & Friends as season ends with ‘Beethoven & the Schumanns’.”

Sharon A. Suh, PhD, Professor, Theology and Religious Studies, and colleagues from UC Riverside and University of Detroit-Mercy received a Wabash Digital Salons grant to create an “Asian American Feminist Guidebook to Teaching Buddhisms in America.” The Guidebook will outline the mechanics and racialized politics of teaching Buddhism in the United States and offer a “how to” guide with information and scholarship about the Asian American Buddhist presence (i.e., practitioners, communities, notable teachers/chaplains, sociopolitical and theological contributions) in America.  

Kirsten Moana Thompson, PhD, Professor and Director, Film Studies received Honorable Mention for Best Edited Collection from the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies, April 2021, for her coedited book, “Animation and Advertising,: editors Malcolm Cook and Kirsten Moana Thompson (Palgrave 2019).

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Alumni

Lena Beck, BA Humanities for Leadership 2017, published “‘Ghost’ Forest Expansion Rate Alarming: Study.”

Melissa Chittenden, MNPL, 2002, is the new Executive Director at Cascadia Art Museum.

Sena Crow, BA English, 2019, was accepted to the University of Washington's Master of Library and Information Science and received the MLIS Dean's Fellowship.

Jen Doak, BA History, 2002, is the owner of Brimmer & Heeltap in Ballard, and has continued to adapt the business during the pandemic.

Veratta Pegram-Floyd, BSW and Sociology, 2007 and MEd, 2013, has been named director of undergraduate student advising at Central Washington University. She currently serves as the academic and career coordinator of the Tykeson College at the University of Oregon. She also has academic and student affairs experience at Western Carolina University.

Eddie Lincoln, BA Communications Studies, 2005, was appointed Interim Chief Executive Office of Equal Opportunity Schools.

Sofia Locklear, BA Sociology, 2014, accepted a faculty position as an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario.

Claire Lucas, BA Theology and Religious Studies and Psychology 2019, recently published two articles:

Joe Nguyen, BA, Humanities and Finance, 2006, who currently represents the 34th Legislative District in the Washington Senate, announced he will run for King County Executive. He also published an op-ed in the South Seattle Emerald, “Why an economic recovery agenda shaped by those who have relied on government programs prioritizes investing in people.”

Anna Pickett, BA Spanish and Humanities for Leadership, 2017, has been awarded the William H. Gates Public Service Scholarship to attend law school starting this fall at the University of Washington. This is more than a full-ride scholarship; it speaks to the depth of Anna’s commitment to public service and means that she will be able to dedicate herself fully to her studies and associated opportunities while in law school.  Only five incoming UW law students receive this fellowship each year.

Talisa Rhea, BA Sport and Exercise, 2012, was promoted to general manager of the Seattle Storm.

David Rue, MFA in Arts Leadership, 2017, Public Engagement Associate, Seattle Art Museum, cohosted The Art of Empathy, Session 3: Social Awareness for the museum.

Chelsea Schiller, BA Humanities in Leadership, 2016, (also a Naef Scholar and Ignatian Fellow) joined Health Commons Project, a non-profit organization committed to accelerating health equity in Washington state. Health Commons Project operates a Public Health Service Accelerator Program that supports communities in the design and launch health care products and services. Currently, they are applying their Public Health Service Accelerator Program to support communities in pandemic response. Her role has been focused on the design and launch of a statewide vaccine service delivery program that engages city government, local fire departments, and community-based organizations to deliver vaccinations to eligible and vulnerable community members.

Bob Smith, BA Journalism, 1978, regional editor of the Port Orchard Independent and Central Kitsap Reporter, has been promoted to executive editor of the Kitsap News Group’s three weekly newspapers and two monthly publications. He will continue his role as editor of the Port Orchard weekly newspaper and the monthly CKR. In his new position, Smith will work to expand Kitsap News Group’s coverage of regional news in the Kitsap County communities of Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard and Poulsbo.

Cheryl Strange, MPA, 2020, was named secretary of Washington’s Department of Corrections (DOC) by Governor Jay Inslee. She will be the department’s first female secretary. She is currently secretary of the state’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the state’s largest human service agency.

Teresa Wippel, BA in Journalism, 1979, the publisher at My Edmonds News, spoke to the Edmonds Rotary on “The Changing Face of the News.” She founded the My Neighborhood News Network, which includes online community news websites in the South Snohomish County cities of Edmonds, Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace.

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Students

Anson Frederick, Kinesiology, senior, received the Undergraduate Scholar Award from the American Kinesiology Association.

Augustine Herman, first year Kinesiology Masters student, presented original research, "Using Sports Science Data in Collegiate Athletics: Coaches’ Perspectives,” a collaborative effort from the Kinesiology Department titled " at the Northwest Student Sport and Exercise Psychology Symposium, a regional conference for the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

The Blume Criminal Justice Scholars awards go to an undergraduate and graduate student whose academic work, research, and/or service advances scholarship and practice at the intersection of criminal justice and mental health.  The award is named after Ann and Bruce Blume. The Blume Scholars receive a $2,500 Award for the 2021-22 academic year, are included on a list of Blume Scholars, and listed as a student leaders on the department’s advisory committee.

Sedona Naifeh, Undergraduate Blume Scholar 2021-22, is a junior in Criminal Justice with Specialization in Forensic Psychology with double major in Psychology. She is a member of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society and the local Pi Delta Chapter. Sedona is interested in the intersection between psychology and criminal justice and in how different countries (such as the US and Canada) address the intersection between criminal justice and mental health. She is planning to pursue graduate research at the doctoral level in the intersection of criminal justice and mental health. Sedona has volunteered with the Gospel Rescue Mission and Mary’s Place Seattle and other community organizations. She recently completed case study research on the case of serial murderer Israel Keyes.

Joslyn Wallenborn, Graduate Blume Scholar 2021-22, is a student in the Master of Arts in Criminal Justice program. She earned both her BA in Sociology with a minor in Law, Societies, & Justice and her Paralegal Certificate from the University of Washington. She is a member of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society and the local Pi Delta Chapter. Joslyn has worked in state service for over a decade and currently works full-time in the Criminal Justice Division at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office where she provides legal support to attorneys and investigators, as well as hires, mentors, and supervises legal staff providing support to the Sexually Violent Predator Unit, the Criminal Litigation Unit, the Statewide Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Unit, and the Homicide Investigation Tracking System (HITS) Unit, and provides assistance on human trafficking and wrongful conviction cases within these units. Joslyn organized the annual Commercially and Sexually Exploited Children Statewide Coordinating Committee meeting from 2017-2019, coordinated the first Truckers Against Trafficking coalition build in Washington State in 2018, assists with planning and volunteering at the annual Medal of Honor Ceremony honoring fallen officers in our state, and has coordinated regular tours of the Special Commitment Center (SCC) on McNeil Island for attorneys and staff since 2014. Prior to the Attorney General’s Office, Joslyn was a judicial assistant at the Office of Administrative Hearings for four years. She has served as TA for CRJS 4500-5500 The Psychopath, recently published a co-authored chapter on the history of forensic psychology in a forthcoming text Clinical Forensic Psychology (Garofalo & Sijtsema, Palgrave Publishers), and is currently working on an article

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Events

(Pacific time, unless otherwise noted)

College and Academic Calendar

Racial Equity Summit

May 18, 10:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Learn more here.

CAS All College Day

June 4, 3 p.m.

Watch for the Zoom link.

Commencement 2021: Virtual

June 13, 1 p.m. (PDT)

The ceremony will be prerecorded and will broadcast online. After the university section (convocation, invocation, Fr. Steve remarks, keynote, student speakers, etc.) there will be a college commencement ceremony. All CAS GR and UG students will have their name called and will have the opportunity to provide a picture and quote that appears when their name is called. Faculty and staff are encouraged to watch the broadcast on June 13 and provide encouragement and congratulations through a social media tab (more details to come) when their students' names are called.

Departments and programs can host their own smaller virtual celebrations as well. If you are planning a virtual celebration specific to your department/program, make sure to check the commencement website to ensure that your event does not conflict with other university-wide commencement related events. Given the ongoing pandemic, there are to be no in-person graduation celebrations this year; there is no way to ensure equitable or safe access to any such gatherings.

Academic Calendar

Find the most recent Academic Calendar dates here.

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Graduate Program Information Sessions and Open Houses

The next deadline is June 2 for distribution the week of June 7.

The Dean’s Monthly Memo is published the second full week of the month, September through December and February through June. Send your updates at any time to Karen Bystrom.