News from the School of IAS

Category: Alumni

Malak Shalabi brings Syrian voices to the West

IAS alum Malak Shalabi (’18, Law, Economics & Public Policy) is featured on the University of Washington homepage today. The article, “Speaking Words of Justice,” looks at Shalabi’s work on sectarian violence in Syria and the voices of Syrian people in the United States. This work started as part of Shalabi’s undergraduate research with IAS faculty member Bruce Kochis, for which she won a Library Research Award.

May 1, 2018

New veterans center coming to UW Bothell

Chancellor Wolf Yeigh announced that a new veterans resource center will open on campus in fall 2018. A task force of students, faculty, staff and alumni recommended creation of a center to enhance veterans’ educational experience, and MA in Policy Studies student and IAS alum Ben Studley (’16), was critical to the process. Studley is a Navy veteran and ...

April 26, 2018

Kyra Laughlin to partner with Advocates for Youth and Trojan in #AskForIt campaign

IAS alumn and Sexual Assault & Violence Education (S.A.V.E.) president Kyra Laughlin was selected as one of a hundred student activists to partner with Advocates for Youth and Trojan in their #AskForIt campaign. The campaign seeks to normalize conversation about consent on college campuses and promote safe sex. As part of her work, Laughlin developed a survey for students, faculty, and staff to show support for ...

April 25, 2018

Megan Dunn advocates for pesticide alternatives and district elections

Megan Dunn (’13, Policy Studies) is Program Director for Healthier People and Communities with Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides where she leads efforts to advocate and educate for pesticide alternatives within Washington schools, public spaces, and low income housing. For example, Dunn has worked with Northshore School District to adopt an Integrated Pest Management policy that protects children, staff, and families from exposure to pesticides by stopping harmful pesticide approaches and advancing ecologically sound alternatives. Dunn has enjoyed partnering with UW Bothell Grounds Supervisor, Tyson Kemper, on this initiative. ...

April 24, 2018

Debbie Hopkins connects Our Coast Community Film Series to UW Bothell

As a member of the Snohomish County Marine Resource Committee (MRC), alum Debbie Hopkins (’17) brought the Our Coast Community Film Series to UW Bothell. The film series is the MRC’s annual outreach initiative, aimed at educating the community about local and global marine ecosystems. Hopkins saw UW Bothell as an ideal site for connecting both students and community members to contemporary issues. The final UW Bothell showing occurs on Sunday, April 22, with Chasing Coral, a film revealing climate change’s ...

April 19, 2018

Alexa Russo coordinates Earth Week at UW Bothell

Recent alum Alexa Russo (’17, Environmental Studies) was planning to be an elementary school teacher when she began her studies. While at Cascadia College, she fell in love with the North Creek Wetlands and started thinking about career options in the environmental field. After transferring to UW Bothell...

April 16, 2018

Priya Frank promotes SAM exhibit “Figuring History” on New Day Northwest

Alum Priya Frank (’11, Cultural Studies) discussed Seattle Art Museum’s (SAM) exhibit “Figuring History” on KING5 TV’s New Day Northwest. Figuring History features the works of Robert Colescott, Kerry James Marshall, and Mickalene Thomas, three contemporary American artists from different generations, who challenge the Western tradition of History Painting and its underrepresentation of people of color.

March 30, 2018

Evan Westenberger finds career success in digital media

Evan Westenberger (’09) was born and raised in Seattle and once made his living as a teenage magician, delivered balloons, and scooped ice cream. Westenberger has come a long way over the past decade, and his creative, entrepreneurial drive has only shifted in form. Currently, he runs the global social and digital engagement program for Microsoft Enterprise Services, a group that makes up about one fifth of Microsoft. ...

March 28, 2018