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 senio
r 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.
Tag Archives: Faculty
Andreas Neiderberger speaks at Philosophy Roundtable events
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 profile–Mary Hanneman
Students often think of professors as people with no life outside of the classroom, living only to teach—or possibly to compose scores of journal articles. However, for Mary Hanneman, Associate Professor in PPPA and Acting Director of the Asia Pacific Center, there are other scores that hold her interest.
Hanneman’s interest in East Asia began during her childhood experiences as the daughter of a Lutheran missionary in Tokyo where she lived for 3 ½ years, attending grades K-2. Even after returning to the States, she continued to pu
rsue her interest in Asia; during her high school, she studied Japanese — an unusual language to study in those days. She continued to study Japanese while earning her BA in East Asian Studies at WWU. After receiving her MA (also in East Asian Studies) from Yale, she returned home to Washington to pursue her PhD in Japanese History at UW Seattle, before finally settling here at UW Tacoma where she taught Asian History.
It was while living in Tokyo, though, that she discovered her second passion in life: music. Hanneman began playing the violin at age six before moving to the viola a few years later. While at WWU, she minored in music; while working on her Masters degree she joined the orchestra at Yale, and during Ph.D. work at the UW, she played in a string quartet. After that, she gave up music until about 10 years ago; when both of her parents died, she found that music gave her a way to deal with grief. “Playing got me into a different mental and emotional space,” she remembered. Hanneman currently is a member of the Olympia Symphony. The last concert of the 2013-14 season included a presentation of Brahms Symphony #2—a piece that she played years ago. Remarking on the idea of music and muscle memory, she commented, “It’s amazing how much of it was just under my fingers.”
This summer Hanneman will be taking a group of 16 students on a study abroad trip to China. Hanneman can’t wait – but she’ll miss her viola while she’s away.
Faculty research China’s wine industry
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.
Summer course on Elections and Campaigns engages students
This summer w
e’re providing a unique opportunity for students to gain credit while also working on election-related activities such as working on a campaign, working on campaign coverage in the news, or investigating particular issues that arise during the campaign season. In the course TPOLS 405 Advanced Elections and Campaigns taught by Prof. Ben Gonzalez, you’ll learn about the rules and organization of political campaigns, and examine the role of media and campaign finance in the outcome of elections. PPE and Law and Policy students can also use this class to meet capstone requirements! For more information, email Ben Gonzalez at bfg@uw.edu.
Professors Compson and McGuire’s projects serve community
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.”
Prof. Kayaoglu advises United Nations
This fall the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) invited Professor Turan Kayaoğlu to advise its officials during the United Nations Security Council meeting, held in New York City. In addition to playing the role of advisor, Turan met with high-ranking diplomats and UN bureaucrats. Prof. Kayaoğlu is currently writing a book about the OIC; after the session, he also wrote an opinion piece for the Turkish daily Today’s Zaman.
Two faculty members to join PPPA
IAS recently hired two new faculty members who will join PPPA faculty next year. Sarah Hampson will be joining us to teach courses in public law. She is currently finishing up her PhD. in Political Science at the University of Connecticut, and her specialty is in Law and Society, with a special interest in policies around a work/life balance. She is interested in connecting big questions in law and society with practical public policies. She is also interested in politics, women in the military, and race and ethnicity in American Politics. “I am very excited to be joining UW Tacoma this fall, and I look forward to teaching courses in public law, including Law in Society, Constitutional Law, and Law and Public Policy.”
Elizabeth Bruch is our new expert in human rights. She earned a law degree from the University
of Wisconsin, has a PhD in sociology from the University of British Columbia, and will be teaching courses primarily in the area of human rights. Her research focuses on international law and policy, human rights, and humanitarian intervention. Having worked as a human rights lawyer before she began teaching, Elizabeth brings this perspective to her classes and scholarship. “I am looking forward to joining the PPPA Division of IAS this coming fall. My family and I will be moving to the Tacoma area from Vancouver, BC, Canada, and we are excited to explore another part of the beautiful Pacific Northwest.” Next year she will be teaching International Human Rights, Humanitarian Law, International Law and International Organizations.
Three faculty gain new positions
Our loss is so
meone else’s gain. Three of our faculty members will be leaving at the end of the year to pursue other opportunities. Prof. Michael Zbaraschuck (left), a lecturer in Religious Studies, has been teaching for us for three years. He has just been awarded a tenure track position down the road at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU). “Although I’m excited to pursue new professional opportunities at PLU
, I’ll miss my students and colleagues here at UW Tacoma.” Prof. Daniel Bennett (right) also gained a tenure track position in Political Science at Eastern Kentucky University. Dan is teaching public law classes for us this year, and commented: “I have relished the opportunity to teach at UW Tacoma, mainly because of the students — the diversity of backgrounds, 
experiences, and perspectives I have encountered in the classroom is incredible.” Finally, Brad McHose (left) recently accepted a Visiting Scholar position at the Center for Ethics in Society at Stanford University, and will be heading south this summer. Brad has taught courses in ethics and philosophy for us over the last two years. We will miss all three of them, but wish them well with their new positions.
Faculty writes oped on Turkish politics
This month Professor Turan Kayaoğlu published an oped in The News Tribune where he analyzes an array of current political developments in Turkey. In “The Rise and Fall of Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan, in Three Acts,” Prof. Kayaoğlu criticizes the Turkish government for its abuse of power and turn toward authoritarianism.