On March 10, 2014, United States Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor will visit Seattle to talk about My Beloved World, her memoir chronicling her journey from a housing project in the Bronx to her service as a federal judge in New York and ultimately as a Supreme Court Justice.
Category: Features
Typically longer in length and relevancy than content in the news category. Features content is more likely to be republished over time.
UW to send students to Citizen University 2014
Looking for a day of inspiration, civic skill-building, and connection with others committed to addressing the pressing social issues of our time? Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Foster School of Business are partnering with the Husky Leadership Initiative and the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center to help students attend Citizen University 2014 on Friday, March 21.
UW Students:
Apply for an exciting opportunity to attend Citizen University 2014 taking place in Seattle on Friday, March 21, 2014 – for FREE!
Citizen University’s annual national conference is a creative and vibrant gathering on the art of powerful citizenship. Hundreds of activists, innovators and educators from across the United States meet for a day of skill-building and inspiration. As Citizen University states, “Learn the elements of civic power. Practice social and political action. Connect with people from left and right so we can solve problems together. America today is in the midst of a revival of citizen spirit. Be part of it.” For more information about Citizen University and to see their agenda and list of 2014 speakers and presenters, please visit the Citizen University website.
Citizen University 2014, is taking place on Friday, March 21, from 12 p.m.-9:30 p.m. at Seattle Center. The University of Washington* is sponsoring and covering the cost for 25 UW undergraduates to attend this exciting conference. These 25 students will play an active and involved role at the conference as participants and potentially as facilitators of table conversations during sessions.
What is required of the 25 UW students selected to attend Citizen University 2014?
- Attend a pre-conference orientation on either Monday, 3/3, 12:30-1:30 p.m. or Wednesday, 3/5, 4-5:00 p.m. in Mary Gates Hall 258.
- Attend and participate in the entire conference on Friday, 3/21, 12 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
- Share learning and insight at the UW’s Spring Celebration of Service and Leadership on Tuesday, 5/20, 3-5:00 p.m. in the Husky Union Building.
If you are interested in applying for one of these 25 spots, please answer the questions in our online application.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Rachel Vaughn at rvaughn@uw.edu or Fran Lo at franlo@uw.edu.
*Student sponsorships have been made possible by UW’s Undergraduate Academic Affairs and the Foster School of Business. Other contributing departments include the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center and the Husky Leadership Initiative.
Goalkeeper, photographer and skateboarder awarded president’s medals
University of Washington president’s medalists were recently selected for their high scholastic standing and difficulty of coursework. They represent undergraduate scholarship of the highest caliber. The students’ academic pursuits show interdisciplinary interests and their co-curricular and extracurricular activities demonstrate their classroom energy and commitment to a host of other interests. They are truly interesting individuals.
Thousands from UW community and Seattle to volunteer for MLK Day of Service
On January 20, 2014, the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, thousands of volunteers will honor the civil rights leader’s legacy of service by volunteering in the community at more than 80 projects identified by local nonprofit organizations. The MLK Day of Service is an annual, national tradition. The University of Washington-coordinated event brings together University of Washington students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and neighbors to volunteer alongside others in the Seattle and King County community. The Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center is partnering with the United Way of King County to make the event happen.
In 2013, more than 1,800 people volunteered on campus and throughout the Puget Sound region for the MLK Day of Service. This year, organizers anticipate 2,000 volunteers donating their day to their community, the majority coming from the UW community. Volunteers can lead or participate in such wide-ranging projects as restoring habitat, greenspace and parks; painting a daycare; promoting tax help for low-income people; organizing a foodbank; and more.
To lead or volunteer for a service project, visit uw.edu/carlson.
Kick-Off Rally
A rousing Kick-Off rally at 8 a.m. at the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center will fortify volunteers’ spirits and stomachs for their day’s work. Will Berkovitz, CEO of Jewish Family Service, will inspire volunteers with his thoughts on service and social justice; Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Marisa Herrera, director of the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, and Blair Taylor, chief community officer from Starbucks and United Way of King County board member will also provide brief remarks. Pastries and coffee, provided by Starbucks, and commemorative t-shirts will be available for volunteers as well.
Will Berkovitz is chief executive officer of Jewish Family Service. The 122-year-old agency delivers essential human services—from refugee resettlement to a food bank. Berkovitz’s prior service work includes roles as senior vice president & rabbi in residence at Repair the World, as well as rabbi and executive director of Hillel at the University of Washington/Jconnect Seattle.
The Day of Service is nationwide tradition spanning more than 20 years. The UW and United Way have partnered on local Day of Service opportunities for more than ten years. The organizations’ efforts have culminated into the largest Day of Service in Washington state.
Event Details
Who: You + 1,800 UW family, friends, and community members
What: MLK Day of Service Kick-Off Event and Service Projects
When: Monday, January 20, 2014. Kick-Off Event 8:00 a.m. sharp! Projects happen throughout the day
Where: Kick-Off at the Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center, 3931 Brooklyn Avenue NE. Service projects at various locations
How: Sign up to lead or participate in a project here: uw.edu/carlson
Share: Participants are encouraged to share their experiences via social media using the hashtags #HuskiesServe and #MLKsea.
The MLK Day of Service is coordinated and supported by the UW Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center and the United Way of King County. Event sponsors include Union Bank, Starbucks, Titan 360, UW’s First Year Programs, and the UW Alumni Association.
There’s no one way to be a Husky
Nearly 30,000 undergraduates at the UW means 30,000 individual ways to be a Husky. The UW offers students countless opportunities to bring their academics beyond the classroom, grow as leaders, contribute to research, become global citizens, and serve our communities near and far. Learn about some particularly meaningful student experiences.
Novel gift inspired by books
Lists of the year’s best books are prolific this time of year and go from very general to very specific. Best books of 2013. The year’s most notable books. Best novels for the year. Best history books. Young adult, cookbooks, science, humor, art, and more all have a list. NPR alone has 26 different subject areas into which it’s compiled “great reads” for 2013. Readers can derive satisfaction simply by reading the lists, remembering their favorites of the year and adding to their own “must read” lists. And Seattle has no shortage of readers. In the rankings of America’s Most Literate Cities, Seattle has placed in one of the top three spots since 2005, including landing at number one several times.
So, if you were a college student with a love of reading and some unexpected cash in your pocket, what would you buy?
Fall/Winter 2013-14 Alumni e-Newsletter
Table of Contents
Roman Camarda, ’13, had $75 to put toward whatever books he wanted. As he considered what he wanted to read, he realized that never before had he been able to spend money on multiple books that weren’t textbooks for a class. This $75 enabled him to simply buy books through which he could intellectually wander. The Honors Program grad bought “two books by [Jean Baudrillard] a French philosopher I’m currently digging who has interesting things to say about nothingness, disappearance, and photography, a book by Roland Barthes that’s a classical critical consideration of photography, and a book by Jean-Luc Nancy about drawing as a concept.”
Camarda graduated with degrees in the seemingly disparate fields of biochemistry and photomedia. The interdisciplinary nature of the Honors Program facilitated Camarda’s ability to connect the dots of his majors and inspired an unusual donation to support other Honors students and encourage broad reading.
After his book-buying experience, Camarda devised a novel scholarship—novel as in new, not fiction. Camarda started a scholarship program for students pursuing the College Honors track to buy books that further inspire their interdisciplinary interests. He has committed to giving $250 to one student each year to buy books that are not textbooks. To apply for the funding, students create a thoughtful wish list of interdisciplinary reading and a short statement describing how their book choices reflect their interdisciplinary interests.
Now a graduate student in biomedical science at UC San Francisco, Camarda hopes to grow the gift amount over the years. He started at $250 because “that’s an amount I can happily provide as a grad student, and then in a couple years when I hopefully become a post-doc and get a raise we can re-evaluate the amount.”
That sounds like a “happily ever after” ending for a lot of Honors students in the coming years!
Message from Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor
What have we learned in the last year that will help our communities in the coming year? I am thinking about our students, past and present and how their UW experiences lay a foundation for their future, indeed, but also for the futures of so many others.
Innovative Robinson Center alumni inspire students
Students crowded together for the third-annual Robinson Center Alumni Speaker Series. The event’s topic—Startups & Entrepreneurs—energized students to appreciate that today’s studying can blossom into tomorrow’s business opportunity.
Helping the home team from the dugout
Four hours in and the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels remain tied at 2-2, a full 18 innings into the game. The Mariners are at bat with the bases loaded and two outs. They send their hitter to the plate, the batter surely feeling the fate of the game push down on his knuckles as he prepares for a swing. Everybody, including Mariners batboy and University of Washington alumnus Oscar Castro, is anxious.
Winter 2014 lineup for Collegium Seminars
Winters in Seattle are an ideal time to stretch your academic interests. Here, freshmen can find a number of interesting classes to fill our their schedules. Take a class that’s a little different from what you normally take. Collegium Seminars are low-risk (they’re 1 credit, credit/no credit); they’re taught by some of the UW’s best faculty; and they’re limited to 20 students. Plus, taking a Collegium Seminar will add a little intellectual sunshine to the gray winter days.
Quick Links
Winter Quarter 2014
Note: For more specific information about a particular seminar, please contact the instructor listed for the course.
The History of Innovation
Margaret O’Mara, History
- GEN ST 197 A, SLN 14486
- W 11:00-12:50
Where do good ideas come from? How do ideas become world-changing innovations? How and why does innovation thrive in certain places, at certain times? How can history help us understand what might come next? This seminar will address these questions by exploring historical cases of people, groups, and places that have sparked innovative thinking. We will consider innovation in business, society, politics, and art – from ancient Athens to modern Seattle, from Gutenberg to Gates. Curriculum will include a visit to the newly opened Bezos Center for Innovation at Seattle’s Museum of History and Industry. Students will be expected to read 20-50 pages per week, actively engage in class discussion, write three one-page reflective essays, and serve once as a discussion co-leader.
Introduction to the Digital Humanities
Tyler Fox & John Vallier, UW Libraries
- GEN ST 197 L, SLN 14497
- TH 2:30-4:20
The Digital Humanities Freshman Seminar will introduce students to the emergent field of digital humanities. The term Digital Humanities means different things, but broadly speaking it can be considered to lie at the nexus of critical thinking about digital culture, integrating technology into traditional humanities practice, and incorporating research methodologies from social sciences or other disciplines. It can also be a combination there in. Students can expect to participate in hands-on workshops in digital imaging, maps, text analysis, design research and more! We will also incorporate recent digital scholarship and guest presenters from digital scholars on campus.
Seminar in Animal Communication
Joseph Sisneros, Psychology
- GEN ST 197 B, SLN 14487
- M 1:30-2:20
Have you ever wondered how complex animal communication signals may have evolved? The objective of this weekly freshman seminar is to provide a general understanding of the principles and mechanisms that govern the evolution of animal communication systems and the related processes of perception, thinking, and social behavior. The emphasis will be on integrating information from areas of animal behavior and communication sciences to make this understanding as general as possible. The seminar will primarily consist of group discussions of research topics and papers related to the field of animal communication.
Marketing in the 21st Century
Leta Beard, Marketing and International Business
- GEN ST 197 C, SLN 14488
- M 11:30-12:20
This course is intended to expose the students to the world of marketing and to examine how marketing is changing in the 21st century. We will look at various companies and assess what they are doing correctly and what could be done differently. We will have a guest speaker and go on a field trip. Students will participate in a tradeshow at the end of the quarter.
Genetically Modified Foods: Menace or Magic?
Linda Martin-Morris, Biology
- GEN ST 197 D, SLN 14489
- W 3:30-4:20
Are genetically modified foods a miracle or a menace? Do they offer real promise to improve food production and nutrition or do they represent poorly-conceived, aggressive science that fails to consider long-term ramifications? Who stands to benefit the most from GM foods – individuals or corporations? In addition to considering these issues, we will investigate the biology behind how GM foods are made and how they are tested in order to properly label foods for wary consumers.
Growing Up with Fiction
Mark Patterson, English
- GEN ST 197 E, SLN 14490
- W 2:30-3:20
Literature is about change, and it also changes us as we experience it. In this course we will read a short story a week and through this process we will trace the complex transformations from childhood, to adolescence, to emerging adulthood, to adulthood, and finally to old age (and beyond?). The stories will come from different cultures, different historical periods, and they will be written by a variety of men and women. Despite these many variations, as the works tell stories about older and older people, I hope we can begin to see some patterns in them and experience some change in our understanding of literature and ourselves. Requirements will include short writing responses to the readings.
Leadership: Up, Down, and Sideways
Dorothy Bullitt, Evans School of Public Affairs
- GEN ST 197 F, SLN 14491
- M 11:30-12:50
Leadership: Up, Down, and Sideways will help students cultivate the skills required to lead in any context and thrive at the University of Washington. Not everyone is endowed with naturally high emotional intelligence but certain habits, if developed deliberately and practiced, can achieve similar results. Successful students and leaders must also write clearly, speak publicly, negotiate persuasively, and appreciate the differing communication styles of those with whom they work. This course will help students focus upon and progress in each of these areas. Recently Dr. Bullitt spoke about managing life’s transitions to young adults, view the UW talk title “Learning to Surf” online.
Public Controversies and the Law: Major Recent Cases in the U.S. Supreme Court
Steven Herbert, Law, Societies and Justice
- GEN ST 197 G, SLN 14492
- W 9:30-10:20
Many controversial public issues ultimately find their way into the legal arena, and some are addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court. This course will involve analysis of several recent cases to address the following questions: What roles do courts play in resolving public controversies? How are such controversies defined as matters of law? What types of arguments do judges make in justifying particular stances on controversial issues? How should we assess those arguments? Does the Court possess the proper amount of influence? Why or why not? Classes will involve discussions of particular cases and the opinions issued by the Justices. The issues addressed by the cases will include: potential limits on political campaign contributions; the ability of cities to regulate gun ownership; the role of race in assigning students to public schools; the Constitutionality of sentencing juvenile offenders to life without parole; and other hot-button issues.
The Violence of the Small: Looking into Global Complexity
Clarke Speed, University Honors Program
- GEN ST 197 H, SLN 14493
- W 1:30-2:20
I have always been interested in the rest of the world—off the global path but tied to all things global. Here one finds the power of the small—people and societies that resist globalization and in a few cases those that remain un-captured by larger global flows. In some cases, the power of the small upsets the rule of law and the Nation State, as ethnic groups and factions in various regions fight both cultural and technological wars for survival. I want to talk about these small wars at very basic levels to get the big and small pictures of the power of the small.
Sustainable Energy Solutions for the 21st Century: Science, Technology, and Policy
Payman Arabshahi, Electrical Engineering
- GEN ST 197 J, SLN 14495
- T 9:30-10:20
Become an informed citizen of a new generation and prepare to contribute meaningfully to the energy debate. We will cover regional and global energy demand, sources, policy, current and future technologies, costs of sustainable energy production and its impacts on climate and the environment, and solutions to our energy problems. The class text will be “Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air” (download at http://withouthotair.com). Class will be structured around field trips and group projects.
Imagining Latin America
Jose Antonio Lucero, Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- GEN ST 197 K, SLN 14496
- M 10:30-11:20
What do you think of when you think of “Latin America”? Since 1492, the continent has been fertile ground for the imaginations of conquistadores dreaming of cities of gold, colonialists building new states, and Native peoples who had their own counter-imagingings of their lands and the foreigners who were colonizing them. This seminar looks at the long history of cultural representations, from Columbus to Disney, Hernan Cortez to Breaking Bad, to understand how the dreams and nightmares of conquest, revolution, drug wars and development shape the present and future of the Americas. Through short readings, videos and films, students will understand how culture shapes politics and politics shapes culture.