News from the School of IAS
Category: Alumni
Book group provides space to engage with human rights issues
This fall, IAS Professor Emeritus Diane Gillespie will facilitate a discussion of the book, However Long the Night, by Aimee Molloy. However Long the Night chronicles the work of Gillespie’s sister, Molly Melching, founder of the Senegal-based community development organization, Tostan. Molloy’s account details Melching's beginnings at the University of Dakar and follows her journey of 40 years in Africa, where she became a social entrepreneur and voice for the rights of girls and women. All are invited to attend ...
May 30, 2017
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
Baba Badru paves career in environmental health and real estate
Baba Badru (’08, Science, Technology & the Environment) has spent the past two years as an Environmental Investigator for Public Health – Seattle & King County. He works on a wide range of projects, including developing and implementing strategies to prevent and mitigate unlawful dumping of waste across King County. More recently, Baba has conducted public health and environmental monitoring of solid waste facilities across King County, ranging from small scale recyclers, to private and public solid waste transfer stations and material recovery facilities. Baba also ...
May 22, 2017
Chris Covey speaks on victory for Bothell’s North Creek Forest
Alum Chris Covey ('03, Policy Studies; '01, Society, Ethics & Human Behavior) and other supporters recently celebrated the acquisition of the final parcel of North Creek Forest. UW Bothell has a long history with saving the forest, a 63.4 acre reserve in the heart of Bothell. A primary champion has been Friends of North Creek Forest, of which IAS faculty members Warren Gold and Amy Lambert are board members and alum Alice Tsoodle (’13, Environmental Studies) serves as Education Manager. Countless UW Bothell students and alumni have toured, studied, and restored the forest, many though UW’s Restoration Ecology Network program. As co-president of Friends of North Creek Forest ...
May 10, 2017
Gabriella Ibanez-Dacruz and Alejandra Pérez named 2017 Imagine Us awardees by 21 Progress
On April 13, 21 Progress honored its 2017 “Imagine Us” awardees, young leaders who have fought for justice and strengthened their communities in powerful ways. Awardees included IAS alumni Gabriella (Gabby) Ibanez-Dacruz (’16, Community Psychology) and Alejandra Pérez (’16, Society, Ethics & Human Behavior; American & Ethnic Studies). 21 Progress provides engaging, youth-focused social justice leadership development programs and campaigns that advance progressive issues in our society.
May 3, 2017
Liam McGivern finds his calling in public interest law
IAS Alum Liam McGivern (’09) met with students to share his path to a career in public interest law. Once a biology major, Liam turned his focus to human rights after a class on resistance movements in the Americas with Julie Shayne. Liam majored in Global Studies, pursued a minor in human rights, and set his sights on law school. Currently, Liam is a Civil Rights Analyst with the City of Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR), where he
May 2, 2017
Helen K. Thomas commentary on African American cultural practices featured in the Seattle Times
For a front-page Easter-edition feature on black women and Sunday hats, the Seattle Times drew on the expertise of IAS alum Helen K. Thomas (16, Cultural Studies). “It’s important to acknowledge,” says Thomas, “that we did not always have authority over our own selves and our own bodies, clothes, hair or looks. We were not, as black women, always afforded the luxury of adorning ourselves. So for us, there is something about wearing a hat that is deep."
April 28, 2017
Maximilian Dixon shares his career journey in emergency management
IAS alum Maximilian Dixon ('11, Environmental Studies) visited with Jennifer Atkinson’s students to share his career path in disaster preparedness and mitigation. Maximilian is the Earthquake Program Manager for the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division (WA EMD). He manages the Earthquake, Tsunami and Volcano Programs and is responsible for coordinating the seismic and associated hazard risk reduction efforts between federal, state, tribal, and local partners with a goal of increasing community resilience. He staffs the ...
April 28, 2017
Policy Studies alumni discuss their career paths with students
Alums Nate Brown (’13), Natasha Hundley (’07), and Brandon Mayfield (’10) recently visited campus to discuss their career trajectories, how they’ve applied policy studies to their professional roles, and resources they maximized as students. Nate Brown is a Research Coordinator at the Center for Education Data and Research (CEDR). Nate entered education research following ...
April 28, 2017
Joshua Heim calls for rethinking the suburbs as a site for the arts
Joshua Heim ('10, Cultural Studies) has recently published a call to rethink the suburbs as a space for arts engagement and development. The article, posted on the Americans for the Arts Artsblog, poses a challenge in its very title: “Over 50 percent of American live and work in suburbs. Are 50% of them arts leaders?” Since graduating from the MA in Cultural Studies, Heim has worked as ...
April 25, 2017