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Category: Academic resources

Posts that relate to programs in the academic resources menu.

Honors student Genevieve Gebhart selected for Luce Scholarship

Genevieve (Gennie) Gebhart
Genevieve (Gennie) Gebhart is the UW’s most recent Luce Scholar.

Genevieve (Gennie) Gebhart, a senior Honors student majoring in international studies and economics, was recently selected as a 2013-14 Luce Scholar. A graduate of Mercer Island High School, Gebhart is one of 18 students nationwide to receive this scholarship this year.

The University of Washington is one of two Pac-12 institutions with a Luce Scholar this year.

The Luce Scholars Program is a major national scholarship awarded to fewer than 20 students each year. More than 160 candidates were nominated by 75 colleges and universities this year. The program is designed to raise awareness of Asia among young American leaders and funds a stipend, language training, and places scholars in professional worksites in Asia. A unique element of the Luce Scholars Program is that the foundation seeks students with little to no experience in and of Asia. Students who have had broad experience in Asia or who are majoring in Asian studies, for example, are ineligible for the scholarship.

Though she isn’t new to international travel (and was in Rome when she learned about her selection), Gebhart wrote by email that “Asia is the area of the world about which I know the least. I hope to gain some insight into Asia in general and my country of placement in particular, and [I] feel lucky to be able to do it with the support of the Luce Foundation’s experience, expertise, and infrastructure.”

As an undergraduate, Gebhart’s accomplishments extend well beyond the classroom and include research projects and leadership accomplishments. She has been on the Dean’s list every quarter since entering the UW in 2009; earned a Mary Gates Research Scholarship to research eating disorders, family dynamics and film in southern Italy; received Mary Gates Leadership Scholarships for her work developing the women’s program of the Husky Cycling Club and then serving as the club’s president; was the youngest-ever recipient of the UW Libraries Research Award for Undergraduates; and was selected for several additional scholarships. As if that weren’t enough, Gebhart is also a vocalist on the Grammy-nominated recording of “The Shoe Bird” with the Seattle Symphony.

Gebhart’s interests have led her on a multidisciplinary path culminating in a plan to pursue international librarianship and address issues of information access. She wrote, “My multidisciplinary education has been one big string of surprises. I never could have predicted that I would be involved in economics, or film studies, or library sciences—and, I never could have predicted that I would be doing those things all at once! My education at UW has made me more open to different fields and ways of doing things, and it’s made me more perceptive of unexpected connections among all those fields. For something like information sciences, this is invaluable—what librarians do is so multidisciplinary and requires so much intellectual flexibility.

“Information access takes a different shape in every nation and every community,” writes Gebhart, “but in the end it comes down to a balance between literacy, distribution, and policy. I see my role as figuring out how to optimize these three elements, something that I think is impossible without public engagement and advocacy at every level. So, I think I can make the greatest contribution in clarifying and communicating the urgency of information issues to non-academic and non-professional audiences. We’ve got these buzz words like ‘open access,’ ‘information justice,’ and ‘information commons’ floating around, but the connections between them are new, counterintuitive, and not yet well understood.”

Gebhart’s interest in libraries was inspired in part and wholly supported by her work in UW’s library system. “It’s the people I get to work with that have really role-modeled for me the many ways in which a librarian can be a force for the greater good,” she notes.

After her term as a Luce Scholar, Gebhart is considering graduate school but also wants to be open to opportunities that may present themselves while in Asia. Ultimately, though, “I see myself following a path that sticks to what I think is at the heart of librarianship, regardless of how technology and resources change. It’s about how about how people express, record, and narrate their experiences, and how available information can shape communities and the people in them. I hope to look back one day and be able to say that everything I’ve done has been in service to those greater ideas, to using information for public good.”

In addition to her academic pursuits, Gebhart enjoys creative writing, swimming, hiking, and is studying Italian, French, and Latin.

Read a Q & A with Gebhart here.

Learn more about undergraduate opportunities to earn national scholarships.

Learn more about the Luce Scholars Program.

Q & A with Luce Scholar Genevieve Gebhart

Learn more about Gennie Gebhart’s experiences at the UW and what her future plans are in this Q&A, conducted over email while Gennie was on a study abroad experience in Rome.

Why did you apply for the Luce Scholarship?

I knew that I wanted to take time to travel after graduation, and I knew that I wanted to do something with libraries outside the US. I was especially drawn to the Luce because of the incredible amount of personal attention and support the program offers—the Luce Scholars Program works to find individual job placements for every scholar, and continues to support scholars with language training and periodic group meetings throughout the year.

What do you hope to learn through the Luce program? 

I’ve been fortunate to do a lot of international travel, and Asia is the area of the world about which I know the least. I hope to gain some insight into Asia in general and my country of placement in particular, and feel lucky to be able to do it with the support of the Luce Foundation’s experience, expertise, and infrastructure.

Do you know where you’ll be going? Where do you hope to go and why?

I’m still in the middle of the placement process, so I can’t say for sure yet. This is a great chance, however, to give the Luce Scholars Program huge thanks and praise for their placement process—their support has been remarkable.

Your bio for the Luce scholarship says, “Gennie hopes to enter the global open access debate armed with international experience, a multidisciplinary education, and constant mindfulness of the vital human side of digital information technology.” What do you imagine you’ll do in the “global access debate”?

Information access takes a different shape in every nation and every community, but in the end it comes down to a balance between literacy, distribution, and policy. I see my role as figuring out how to optimize these three elements, something that I think is impossible without public engagement and advocacy at every level. So, I think I can make the greatest contribution in clarifying and communicating the urgency of information issues to non-academic and non-professional audiences. We’ve got these buzz words like “open access,” “information justice,” and “information commons” floating around, but the connections between them are new, counterintuitive, and not yet well understood.

What is it about a multidisciplinary education that you’ve found valuable? How have your academic experiences shaped who you are as a thinker and doer?

My multidisciplinary education has been one big string of surprises. I never could have predicted that I would be involved in economics, or film studies, or library sciences – and, I never could have predicted that I would be doing those things all at once! My education at UW has made me more open to different fields and ways of doing things, and it’s made me more perceptive of unexpected connections among all those fields. For something like information sciences, this is invaluable – what librarians do is so multidisciplinary and requires so much intellectual flexibility.

You have a long and varied list of accomplishments and interests. How do you see them relating to one another, and what are you most proud of and why?

Looking back, I can see that the each of the things I have been drawn to do has held the seeds of this interest in information sciences. For example, in journalism and publishing, I got to explore free speech and a professional’s ethical responsibility to making information available to the public; in environmental economics, I have discovered models for the management and distribution of public resources, whether they be tangible ecological resources or digital information resources; and in international studies, I have been pushed to pursue lines of cross-cultural inquiry to surprising conclusions. Somehow, they have all connected to and informed the work I want to do in international librarianship.

How have you grown as a leader in your time at the UW?

I have been a member of the Husky Cycling Club since my first day at UW, and the club has defined my undergraduate experience. After having the opportunity to lead the club as president, I have learned that you don’t need to be the most skilled member of the group to be a leader. I am definitely not the fastest bike rider in the bunch, but Husky Cycling has been so special because you don’t need to be a fast or talented or exceptional cyclist in any way to be a valuable part of the group. Instead it is all about initiative and community and creative opportunities for one another. Elite athletes and curious beginners come together on Husky Cycling because we just like riding bikes, and the profound results of that simple feeling–from group cohesion to competitive success to community service–continue to amaze me.

What kind of leadership do you think the world needs and how of you hope to develop as a leader as a result of this scholarship?

We can never have enough of the kind of leaders who thrive in helping others discover and understand what they’re capable of. This scholarship is giving me a chance to get involved in projects that come down to that same leadership principle: using information, and access to information, to enhance people’s and communities’ capacity for self-realization and self-determination.

What was it about your work in Odegaard that led to these interests? Was there a particular experience whereby that experienced transformed from work to passion?

I can’t say enough about how my mentors at Odegaard – as well as in other parts of the UW Libraries like the Media Center, Suzzallo, and administration – have inspired and supported me. Work and projects in different parts of the UW Libraries have stimulated me and allowed me to learn more about day-to-day operations in such a massive library system, but it’s the people I get to work with that have really role-modeled for me the many ways in which a librarian can be a force for the greater good.

What do you see yourself doing after graduation and after your Luce experience?

Different travel/research fellowships are on my mind, as is grad school – but anything could happen during this next year, so I want to stay open to that, too. Right now, though, all my efforts right now are on selecting where I’m going to go as a Luce Scholar and preparing for that experience.

Project ahead—way ahead—and imagine you’re at your retirement party. From what are you retiring and what do you hope people will say about your life’s work? Is there anything else you’d like to add?

The technology and methods and goals are all changing so fast that it’s hard to predict what my job description will be in 40, 20, or even 5 years. That’s one of the things I like most about this field – how dynamic it is. I see myself following a path, though, that sticks to what I think is at the heart of librarianship, regardless of how technology and resources change. It’s about how people express, record, and narrate their experiences, and how available information can shape communities and the people in them. I hope to look back one day and be able to say that everything I’ve done has been in service to those greater ideas, to using information for public good

Honors Colloquium showcases student experiential learning experiences

At this year’s Honors Colloquium, presentations included students’ research, leadership, travel and service learning experiences. This new premise was designed to align with the alterations to the Honors curriculum, which incorporates each of these four elements (research, service, leadership and travel) into the new set of Honors requirements.

This I believe: Being open to connection

Katie McCorkell Photo
Katie McCorkell is an undergraduate Honors student majoring in psychology at the University of Washington. She received a Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship for her involvement with Active Minds, a student organization that works to change the conversation about mental health.

In my first moment of leadership, I wasn’t trying to be a leader. I didn’t know if anyone would really get what I was saying, but I said it anyway. “My brother has paranoid schizophrenia.” It was part of a poem I performed at a poetry slam in Seattle, a poem that upon finishing, left me in tears. That night I discovered that there was someone who needed to hear what I was saying. That someone was me.

This is the foundation of all leadership work I do. I believe that leadership is about opening yourself to connection, and if you’ve been closed off for a while, you’ll find the first person you need to connect with is yourself. When I stood up for my beliefs in front of other people, I was most amazed by the things I learned about myself. Previously I wanted to speak out about mental illness, but I had never seen anyone else do it before. Not at school, not at poetry events, not in church. I didn’t know the impact speaking out could have until I did it. When I spoke openly about my brother’s struggle with a mental illness, I figured out what his struggle meant to me. I admitted it was a part of me, even though I wanted to ignore it. When I really connected with the experience, and discovered the grief and pain and hope that I held, I gave others the courage to make their own connections.

Last fall I helped start a poetry community at the University of Washington. When we planned our first open-mic, we weren’t sure many people would come. I said, “Even if it is just the five of us, I want to get together and share poems with you.” I wanted to speak out and I needed to be heard. It turns out, so did a lot of other students. Our first open-mic was packed, and I was amazed at the number of people who gave poetry, applause, or simply their presence. Each open-mic, I learned a new name and encouraged a new poet to the stage. It was a joy to watch other people perform for the first time, because I got to see them discover the same thing I discovered: that other people find their stories important. I saw them hear themselves in a way that they never imagined possible.

Once I invited someone to go with me to the youth slam where I first got my start. I called her directly, and I said, “Hey, Want to go with me? Oh, and you’re eligible to compete. You should give it a try.” She wasn’t sure. “But they’re so good…but what if I suck?” “So what,” I said, “We’re going together, why not compete? Meet me at the bus stop at 6:15.”

My friend won the slam that night, but I got the biggest prize of all. Bringing her to the slam was far different than simply performing myself. She had a new found confidence in the importance of her voice, and she got much more involved in the Seattle poetry scene. She is a leading officer in our club this year, committed to giving other people the same opportunity I gave her. Recently, she thanked me for taking her to the slam, “I never would’ve performed if you hadn’t told me to.”

This goes to show that leadership can sustain and grow itself. It can be energizing, not exhausting. The first step is simply saying, “I think you’re the right person for the job,” and the next step is following through to communicate the job’s skills and responsibilities. When these steps grow from genuine connections, the process is smooth. That’s why I believe that leadership is about opening myself to connection. Because leaders stand up for their beliefs in a way that connects and good leaders inspire others to join them. Great leaders give others the tools to take their own stand.

This essay is part of an occasional series inspired by the “This I Believe” series on the Bob Edwards Show. For more information on it, visit www.thisibelieve.org.

This I believe: Being open to connection

Mary Gates Leadership Scholar Katie McCorkell wasn’t trying to become a leader when she started to read her poetry out loud. But by reading her work to others and helping establish a poetry group on campus, she gained personal insight that led to deeper connections with her peers and leadership opportunities. These experiences helped her form her ideas about what leadership means to her.

Alumni spotlight: Penelope (Molander) Ellis (’68, ’69, ’80) exemplifies lifelong learning

Honors alumna and current Access student Penelope Ellis has taken an interesting educational path across disciplines. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the University Honors Program, current Honors student Crystal Zhu spoke with Penelope about her educational experiences in the early days of the Honors Program and how they compare with her classroom experiences today.

Freshman, sophomore, and junior medalists named

University of Washington freshman, sophomore, and junior medalists were recently selected for their high scholastic standing and difficulty of coursework. They all entered the university through the Robinson Center for Young Scholars, a program that helps students from 7th through 10th grades enter the university. This is the first time that the freshman, sophomore, and junior medalists all came to the UW through early entrance programs.

Exploring Seattle’s criminal justice system with the UW Honors Program: A reflection

In the Honors Program course “In Your Name: A Service-Learning Experience in Seattle’s Criminal Justice System,” Honors students and Post-Prison Education Program students learned alongside one another, taking intellectual risks and better understanding the criminal justice system and how it impacts individuals.