News from School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences

Category: Engagement

Activist Kelsen Caldwell enacts social justice in communities and on buses

Alum Kelsen Caldwell (’13, Cultural Studies) continues to expand their horizons and recently became a Housing Justice Organizer with LGBTQ Allyship. In this role, they are helping launch and facilitate the LGBTQ Housing Leadership Institute. Of this endeavor, Kelsen writes, “Housing costs are on the rise, which puts LGBTQ communities at increased risk of homelessness, displacement, and general economic insecurity. The institute is an awesome opportunity to be part of a cohort of emerging housing justice leaders who can build fierce and grounded solutions through organizing with the communities that matter the most.”

May 22, 2017

David Goldstein named to the Seattle Public Schools’ Ethnic Studies Task Force

IAS faculty member David Goldstein (along with UW Bothell School of Educational Studies faculty member Wayne Au) has been named to the Seattle Public Schools’ Ethnic Studies Task Force, whose goal is “to develop specific, multi-year recommendations for the Superintendent to ensure that all Seattle Public School students learn the perspectives of the different ethnicities that constitute our community and nation.” ...

May 5, 2017

David Goldstein named to the Seattle Public Schools’ Ethnic Studies Task Force

IAS faculty member David Goldstein (along with UW Bothell School of Educational Studies faculty member Wayne Au) has been named to the Seattle Public Schools’ Ethnic Studies Task Force, whose goal is “to develop specific, multi-year recommendations for the Superintendent to ensure that all Seattle Public School students learn the perspectives of the different ethnicities that constitute our community and nation.” ...

May 5, 2017

IAS student Kyra Laughlin wins Chancellor’s Medalist Award!

Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) major Kyra Laughlin received the UW Bothell 2017 Chancellor’s Medalist Award. The award is an honor that recognizes graduating seniors who have achieved academic excellence and served as a consistent source of inspiration for faculty and students alike. In winter 2017 Kyra founded the campus group Sexual Assault and Violence Education (S.A.V.E.), which works from a grassroots empowerment model of social support and awareness raising. With Kyra at the helm, the group applied for and won the T-Mobile Equity and Inclusion Grant, and collaborated with IAS faculty member Lauren Lichty and Campus Safety director Cham Kao to revise the UW Bothell website's Sexual Assault Support pages. Kyra continues to build new awareness initiatives and programming for Sexual Assault Awareness Month (April), and delivers class presentations and trainings in our residence halls.

April 26, 2017

Julie Shayne and IAS alums Teresa Polendo and Liam McGivern speak about supporting immigrants

On Sunday April 23, 2017, IAS faculty member Julie Shayne, and IAS alums Teresa Polendo and Liam McGivern spoke to a group of activists at the Indivisible Edmonds townhall meeting. Attendees came to learn more about the present realities for local immigrants. Shayne provided background to the situation, discussed and countered myths about immigrants, and shared additional educational resources. Liam McGivern ...

April 24, 2017

IAS students advocate for the Parent Union at UW Bothell

On March 6, 2017, students from IAS faculty member Charlie Collins’ Community Organizing class (BIS 483) marched through campus to advocate for the Parent Union, which is currently seeking support for a child care center and other resources on campus. One group of students placed flyers on cars, including a candy incentive to check out the Parent Union. The Parent Union at UW Bothell was established in 2015 in response to ...

March 8, 2017

Dan Berger joins the blogging team at Black Perspectives

IAS faculty member Dan Berger joins the blogging team at Black Perspectives, a project of the African American Intellectual History Society. Berger was one of 13 scholars from around the country to join the blog. He will be writing monthly pieces for Black Perspectives. His current article, "Black Genealogies of Power," looks at ...

February 28, 2017

IAS students Kyra Laughlin and Cecilee Fernadez win T-Mobile Equity and Inclusion grant!

Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) Student Representative Kyra Laughlin and Cecilee Fernadez presented their proposal at the UWB Equity and Inclusion conference on behalf of their new student-led organization Sexual Assault and Violence Education (S.A.V.E). S.A.V.E, along with four other student groups, competed to win a $5,000 grant provided by T-Mobile. The conference concluded with the announcement that S.A.V.E and Indigenous Summit were co-recipients of the grant and ...

February 27, 2017

Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) faculty, staff, and students participate in the Womxn’s March on Seattle

On Saturday January 21, 2017, Seattle was one of at least 670 cities around the world where folks turned out en masse to denounce the Trump administration’s misogyny, xenophobia, racism, queer phobia, ableism, and general disregard for marginalized communities. GWSS faculty and students marched with friends, family, and allies, declaring intersectional resistance to the Trump administration’s anti-women, anti-queer, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, and anti-people of color policies. Check out this ...

January 30, 2017

VIDEO: Don’t Look Away Yet – Final Project on Climate Justice for IAS Global Agitation Course

Artist-in-Residence Anida Yoeu Ali posed the final project for BISIA 383 Interdisciplinary Arts Workshop: Global Agitation Art & Activism as a simple challenge: Consider an important issue in your world and create an artistic work of art or an action that addresses, responds and/or challenges that issue. At the heart of the work you should consider the role of agitation as a tool to creating the final project. Use your resources, your passion, your campus and your peers. See the video here:

December 20, 2016