Prof. Katie Baird’s hot-off-the-press memoir chronicles her experiences in the Peace Corps during the mid-1980s, and her ongoing relationship with the West African village where she lived. Baird writes of her time in the country of Mauritania during a devastating 20-year drought where she was tasked with teaching the local farmers how to grow rice — despite having little agricultural knowledge or experience.

In her memoir, Prof. Baird recounts the lessons she learned about the economics of rice growing, reflects on the inadequate and uninformed ways that outsiders “help” citizens in places like Mauritania, and describes the deep relationships she formed with residents in the village of Cive.

Congratulations to Katie for the publication of this important work!

Listen to Katie discuss her memoir in  this UW Tacoma podcast, or learn more about Growing Mangos in the Desert: a memoir of life in a Mauritanian village here.

Prof. Matthew Harvey joined our faculty this past Autumn 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Economics. He comes to us after finishing his PhD in Economics at the University of South Carolina.

Here’s what Prof. Harvey had to say about his first year at UWT:

“Despite the challenges this year with covid and coming into a new situation, I am excited to announce my first publication as a member of the UWT faculty! This project looks a the impact law enforcement officers’ bill of rights (LEOBRs) have on police violence, in particular police killings of civilians. We find that LEOBRs do not have a discernible effect on police killings of civilians, though they may have an impact on non-lethal use of force. I am grateful to my colleagues for their support in during this trying year, their dedication to scholarship, and welcoming me to both a new institution and part of the country. I’m excited to see what the next few years hold.”

Thank you to Dr. Harvey for your words and for your important work with students and faculty at UWT!

Last year, Washington State legislators passed a capital gains tax on the profits wealthy state residents make when they trade stocks, bonds, and other assets.  In response, a group of individuals recently filed Initiative 1929, an initiative that seeks to repeal this new law.

PPPA faculty members Katie Baird, Anna Lovasz and Tim Sharks, joined by six others, weighed in on the appeal effort, arguing that:

“I-1929 would continue to ask those with the least to pay the most by giving a tax cut to only the very wealthy individuals who pay this tax. This tax cut for the super rich would cost our state over $500 million per year in funding for childcare, early learning, and other education services that children and families across Washington depend on.”

If passed, I-1929 would repeal SB 5096, a 7% tax on capital gains profits greater than $250,000. If the initiative gets enough signatures, Washington residents would vote on whether or not to repeal the state’s new capital gains tax.

Professor Mary Hanneman’s new book, Becoming Nisei: Japanese American Urban Lives in Prewar Tacoma (written with UWT Prof. Lisa Hoffman) is receiving significant attention in the local community.  Becoming Nisei explores Tacoma’s prewar Nihonmachi’s (Japan Town) vibrant and close-knit community, one consisting of first- generation Japanese immigrants and their second-generation American children. Prior to World War II, Tacoma was filled with Japanese businesses, homes, hotels and churches.  The Tacoma Japanese Language School, located in Tacoma’s current downtown core, was a central institution in the lives of Tacoma’s Japanese population.  Influenced both by the transnational connections to Japan and by the spatial components of the city itself, the book tells the story of the world they built, one destroyed then erased by incarceration and the passage of time.

On February 19th, the Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration During World War II, Prof. Hanneman and Prof. Hoffman gave a presentation on this history to the Washington State History Museum’s series Scholarly Selections. Their talk, entitled “Structural Erasure: Remembering Japanese Americans in Prewar Tacoma,” focused on the unique features of Tacoma’s prewar Japanese community, including its single, secular language school, prominent school leadership, and the size and spatial layout of the community.  The book is based on interviews with 42 Nisei who grew up in Tacoma as well as archival work in the University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. 

Thanks to Profs Hanneman and Hoffman for bringing this important period in our past to light, and highlighting the human stories behind the tragic treatment of the Japanese during World War II.

Congratulations to Prof. Anna Lovasz, whose article “Gender differences in the effect of subjective feedback in an online game,” was just published by the Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics.  

Congratulations to Assistant Professor of Public Law Dr. Sarah Cote Hampson, editor of the newly published Mothers, Military, and Society, out this year from Demeter Press. Dr. Hampson’s “Military Moms in the Spotlight: What Media Attention on Mothers in the U.S. Military Means for Public Policy” is included in the volume.

Mothers, Military, and Society takes an interdisciplinary and international approach to analyzing the relationship between motherhood (traditionally understood as feminine) and the military (traditionally understood as masculine), exploring the ways these interact and intersect. It includes case studies, theoretical perspectives, and personal narratives. Continue reading →

Congratulations to Dr. Compson and Dr. McGuire! Celebrate these newly tenured faculty by getting to know them a little better, including a preview of their current and upcoming projects.

Dr. Jane Compson, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Dr. Compson has taught at UW Tacoma since 2012. Her specialties are applied philosophy, environmental ethics, philosophy of religion and the environment, comparative religion, and Buddhist thought (phew!).

Developing new work with the community is a big priority Continue reading →