University of Washington Provost Mark Richards announced that Michael S. Spencer has been appointed the Ballmer Endowed Dean of the School of Social Work beginning July 1, pending approval by the UW Board of Regents.
Tag: Indigenous Wellness Research Institute
The UW School of Social Work’s Project Connect supports 15 different research and outreach endeavors, all oriented specifically around community needs during COVID-19.
When scientists have conducted research in Native American communities, the process and the results have sometimes been controversial. There have been a few well-known cases, such as the 1979 Barrow Alcohol Study, in which researchers examined substance use in the tiny Arctic Circle town and issued findings to the press, before briefing the local community. Media coverage interpreting the findings described an “alcoholic” society of Iñupiats “facing extinction,” while the people of Barrow (now known as Utqiaġvik) felt…
As a girl growing up in Alaska, Elizabeth Fleagle learned life lessons and hands-on skills from her grandmother, from cooking to making fish nets and moccasins. “Our grandma taught us how to make everything we had to make,” said Fleagle, who lives in Fairbanks and is Inupiat Eskimo. “In my culture, that’s how we learn.” Fleagle, 79, recently shared that way of learning at the University of Washington as one of 12 Elders participating in a new pilot program launched…