PPPA faculty members leading interfaith conversation on Israel-Palestine

Posted on February 5, 2015 by pppauwt

by Dr. Turan Kayaoglu

On January 25, 2015 about 100 people, many of whom are associated with a religious tradition, gathered at the University of Puget Sound (UPS) for an “Interfaith Conversation on Israel-Palestine.” This conversation–sponsored by UPS, and facilitated by Dave Wright, Director for Spiritual Life and Civic Engagement and UPS chaplain–was initiated by Associated Ministries in collaboration with the Temple Beth El, Mountain View Lutheran Church, and the Muslim Student Association of the University of Washington Tacoma. PPPA faculty member Turan Kayaoglu was a member of the organizing committee. Continue reading →

… and more scholarships

Posted on February 5, 2015 by pppauwt

Tillman Military Scholars Program*
*Application opens Feb. 3, with a March 3 due date
The mission of the Pat Tillman Foundation is to invest in military veterans and
their spouses through academic scholarships – building a diverse community of
leaders committed to service to others. Continue reading →

UW Tacoma joins the 1st SHARP Summit

Posted on January 16, 2015 by pppauwt

On Friday, Jan 9th 2015, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Tacoma, WA. held a Sexual Harassment/Assault Response & Prevention (SHARP) Summit directed specifically at including non-commissioned officers (NCOs) in a community discussion of sexual harassment and assault in the Army. Members of the UW Tacoma community were also invited to attend as part of an ongoing partnership between JBLM and the University of Washington. Shelby Edwards, the Program Assistant for Community Engagement in the Office of the Chancellor, and PPPA Assistant Professor Dr. Sarah Cote Hampson were among those in attendance. Hampson conducts research on women and workplace cultures, and one of her areas of specialty is women in the U.S. military. Continue reading →

More alumni news:

Posted on December 12, 2014 by pppauwt

Passing an Initiative – As a communications staff member of the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, Tallman Trask worked to pass Initiative 594, one of the few progressive success stories of the 2014 election cycle. Primarily responsible for being the eyes and ears of the communications department, as well as various media and press work, Trask played an important role in taking steps to reduce gun violence in Washington through the passage of common-sense background checks for all gun sales. Trask was a member of the class of 2013, graduating with a degree in Politics, Philosophy & Economics.

Applying for a Fulbright Scholarship – Lizeth Garcia recently submitted her application for the 2015-2016 Fulbright ETA program. As an advocate for education, Garcia decided to apply to the Fulbright ETA program to empower students in Mexico with the ability to speak English. As a tutor with a local Hispanic organization, she has gained valuable skills that will prepare her for a Fulbright ETA assignment. She is currently working as a legislative aide for King County Councilmember Pete von Reichbauer. Garcia believes the skills she is developing through her employment with KCC and community involvement stand to be useful tools as she pursues a graduate program upon her return from a Fulbright assignment.

Garcia states, “I encourage students who are considering applying for Fulbright to start early. The application process can be quite rigorous and demands a lot of time. It’s a daunting task, but is very rewarding. It’s important to develop strong relationships with professors and gain experience in extracurricular activities. These will be vital parts of your application. Additionally, don’t be discouraged if you don’t have an ideal GPA. Fulbright is interested in students who are passionate about making a change. Lastly, have fun. It was neat to see how much I learned about myself through this process.”

We wish her all the best as she awaits the results of her application. (The above photo was taken in Trinidad, Cuba at the Manaca Izuaga Watch Tower.)

Congratulations to our 2014 graduates!

Posted on June 4, 2014 by pppauwt

Congratulations to all our 2014 graduates! We’re proud of this year’s UW Tacoma graduates who have majored in Politics, Philosophy & Economics or Law & Policy.

Politics, Philosophy & Economics graduates:
Jaime Ray Dalit Arreola, Imanjit Singh Bains, Miguel Angel Balderamma, David Allen Barnes, Nicholas Bradford, Brynn J. Brooks, Raymond Brooks, Jacob Alan Bush,
Fu-Yen Chan, Annie Songyie Choi, April A. Coberly, Lauren Catherine Conley, Patrick Courtney, Brant Robert Delarme, Yahye Y. Dineh, Semone Dover, Kevin James Drugge, Nicolas J. Dunning, Alex-Jon Earl, Kaycie Elwess, Thomas Gregory Farrow, Erin Barbara Gaede, Uuriintuya Erika Ganjargal, Brandon Green, Cristina M. Hakansson, Shane Gregory Hall, Janessa India Harris, Thomas L. Harris, Katrina Ann Honrade, Tzu Yang Hsu, James D. Jagger, Aaron Robert Jones,
Michael A. Jordan, Sheetal Kavita, Elliot J. Klavuhn, Aaron C. Knapp, James Koo,
Feipang Lam, Wei Li, Arely Lopez, Colin W. McCann, Jason Frederik McCausland,
Carley N. Metcalf, Jason M. Michaud, Dominique Andrew Miles, Chantell Munoz,
Megan Kimberly Nation, Martin Nderi, Jason Michael O’Neill, Madeleine Broxton Park,
Alycia Lorraine Patterson, Yessica M. Perez, Jeremy Scott Peterson, Stacilynn Mae Rambow, Julian Lavar Richards, Laura C. Richardson, Jeremy Bradon Rothschild,
Michelle Santos, Janaia Marie Seacrest-Holden, Arianna Elizabeth Shorey,
Ronald Smith, Liliya A. Stakhovich, Jesse Jameson Strege, Madhav Subedi,
Milena Summers, Tallman Harlow Trask IV, Thanhhong Thi Vu-Smith,
Perrin J. Walker, Nicole Nadean Wilcox, Tremicka Nicole Williams, Rees T. Yaden, and
Dennis E. Zuleta-Dupleich

Law & Policy graduates:
Mohamed Hassan Ahmed, Sharon-An B. Athey, Grady Heins, Jordan Emma Katherine Jones, Ramon Ralph Maddox, and Michael Wotherspoon

Annual PPPA student-faculty softball game

Posted on May 26, 2014 by pppauwt

In what has become an annual ritual, students and faculty engaged in a hotly contested game of softball at Tacoma’s Vassault Park this May. We all enjoyed the sun and warm breezes blowing in from left field, and a fine game of softball followed by a BBQ. After four successive years of defeat, the students this year came out determined to win. And win they did! It was a close game, but graduating Law and Policy senior Grady Heins squashed the faculty’s early celebrations by socking a second home run, this one a three-run blast in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, allowing students to eke out a hard-fought but well-earned victory against us. Since alumni play for the faculty team, we look forward to having Grady on our side next year.

Andreas Neiderberger speaks at Philosophy Roundtable events

Posted on May 25, 2014 by pppauwt

As part of this year’s Philosophy Roundtable, Andreas Neiderberger, Professor of Political and Social Philosophy at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany spoke at UW Tacoma and Seattle in April. AT UW Tacoma he spoke of the theme of “Human Rights & Global Constitutionalism,” and at UW Seattle he discussed “Are Human Rights Moral Rights?” While in the Puget Sound area, he also attended a music recital at the University of Puget Sound, and spoke to the Research Group on Human Rights in the Suzzallo Library at UW Seattle. His talks were part of the Interdisciplinary Research Cluster Human Interactions and Normative Innovation (HI-NORM). His talks were made possible by support from PPPA as well as the Simpson Center for the Humanities, and the UW Seattle Department of Philosophy.

Faculty research China’s wine industry

Posted on May 23, 2014 by pppauwt

Faculty members Jeff Begun and Cynthia Howson (below) recently published an article in the magazine Alternative Emerging Investor focusing on China’s rapidly growing (and improving) wine industry. This issue also includes contributions from Nobel Prize winner Michael Spence and American economist Nouriel Roubini–who among other things, predicted the collapse of the United States housing market and the worldwide recession which began in 2008. On May 30th the two presented their research in the Carwein Auditorium as part of the PPPA China Seminar. The talk was followed by a lively reception and complimentary wine tasting at Anthem Beverage and Bistro, where those present were introduced to a sampling of wines from China’s top vineyards.

Professors Compson and McGuire’s projects serve community

Posted on March 13, 2014 by pppauwt

Since arriving here two years ago, Professors Jane Compson and Will McGuire have had a keen eye out for ways to apply their scholarly interests to local issues. Both have just submitted proposals to the University of Washington’s Royalty Research Fund, a fund designed to help junior faculty get their research projects off the ground. Prof. Compson is currently part of a team developing a training program to protect nurses in the MultiCare health system from burnout while increasing their well-being. “Nurses have intensely stressful jobs and are at high-risk for burnout,” Prof. Compson explains. “It is great to have the opportunity to serve those who serve us. If I get this grant my team will use it to create mobile phone apps to deliver exercises for stress.”Meanwhile, Prof. McGuire is working on a project to measure Tacoma city residents’ willingness to pay for improvements to Lake Wapato, part of the Tacoma Metro Parks system. Remarks Prof. McGuire: “I am interested in finding the right level of funding to protect our natural environment, as well as identifying the easiest and ‘fairest’ way for us to share that fiscal burden.”

From Tacoma to Bishkek: PPPA students experience internships

Posted on March 10, 2014 by pppauwt

Lester Burkes, intern for Sen. Sheldon

This winter was a busy time for student internships. Eleven of our students won spots in the prestigious Washington State Legislative Internship program in Olympia – which meant once again UW Tacoma sent more students to participate in this program than did any other school in the state. Students interned with senators and representatives during the past legislative session. In addition to their office work, interns participated in weekly academic seminars and workshops, met with state officials, took part in a budget exercises, and participated in mock hearings and mock floor debates. Many also had opportunities to shadow an elected official or administrator of a state agency, and take a trip to Victoria, B.C. to compare law making in Canada with law making in the US. Seven other PPPA students interned for members of the US Congress here in Tacoma (Rep. Derek Kilmer) and Seattle (Sen. Patty Murray), while three went to Washington, DC to work for Rep. Kilmer, Rep. Adam Smith, and Sen. Maria Cantwell. One other intern worked at Joint Base Ft. Lewis-McChord, and a final was the ASUWT representative in Olympia.

Brandon Bannister debating on the Senate fl

Michael in Bishkek

: Global Studies major Kristie Weisert interned for Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles. While sitting at the Senator’s desk, she remarked that “my Senator makes me feel like I could actually be a Senator one day!”

My-Le Tang with Gov. Inslee

This quarter also saw one of our students, Michael Wotherspoon (a senior, majoring in Law and Policy) intern in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He is still there studying Russian and writing for Spektator Magazine, a publication that reports on Central Asian affairs. Our man in Bishkek is writing articles about democratic reform and freedom of religion in the Kyrgyz Republic — a topic he’ll share with us during a May 29th seminar.