News from the School of IAS
Category: Cultural Studies
Savita Krishnamoorthy receives Alpha Kappa Alpha Foundation Scholarship
Savita Krishnamoorthy, second-year student in the MA in Cultural Studies program, has received a competitively-awarded merit scholarship from the Alpha Kappa Alpha Foundation. Krishnamoorthy is currently researching her capstone project on the use of storytelling for social activism among women of the South Asian diaspora, with a focus on the South Asian adaptation of ...
November 22, 2019
Mary Jane Topash educates the public on the thrivance of Native communities in the Pacific Northwest
Mary Jane Topash (Tulalip and Potawatomi) was working full-time at the Hibulb Cultural Center in Tulalip when she was completing her M.A. in Cultural Studies (‘17) at the University of Washington Bothell. It was during this time when Mary Jane gained interest in addressing issues of (mis)representation and the commodification of Indigenous people in museums. She explained ...
November 14, 2019
Lauren Berliner: “When it all Clicks: Writing about Participatory Media”
IAS faculty member Lauren Berliner published "When it all Clicks: Writing about Participatory Media" in the edited volume Writing About Screen Media. Berliner's contribution draws on her experience researching and writing Producing Queer Youth: The Paradox of Digital Media Empowerment, providing advice for ...
September 20, 2019
Jayne Swift earns Ph.D. in Feminist Studies
Jayne Swift (’10), a member of the Master of Arts in Cultural Studies’ inaugural cohort, graduated with her Ph.D. in Feminist Studies from the University of Minnesota’s Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies in August 2019. Swift’s dissertation, Lusty Ladies: Sex Work and Sex-Positive Politics, 1970-2013, analyzes the history and politics of sex-positivity through a cultural history of sex ...
September 10, 2019
Dan Berger on criminal justice reform plans proposed by Sanders and Warren
IAS faculty member Dan Berger coauthored an op-ed for In These Times on the criminal justice reform plans proposed by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. Berger and his coauthor, independent scholar and abolitionist Kay Whitlock, described the plans as "exciting steps forward" but also limited--particularly since most incarceration happens at the state rather than federal level. "Discussing their strengths and weaknesses ...
September 5, 2019
Priya Frank named to Puget Sound Business Journal’s 40 Under 40
The Puget Sound Business Journal recently unveiled the 2019 40 Under 40 honorees, putting a spotlight on individuals who are among the business community's brightest and most innovative leaders under the age of 40. Among them is M.A. in Cultural Studies alum Priya Frank (’11), Associate Director for Community Programs at Seattle Art Museum (SAM), where she focuses on partnerships, programming, and equity-related initiatives. Frank is also ...
August 15, 2019
Dan Berger on recent activism in Puerto Rico
IAS faculty member Dan Berger published two op-eds on the recent demonstrations that forced Puerto Rico's governor to resign. In the Washington Post Berger and historian Carly Goodman write that the protests build upon a long history of activism that might inspire people in the US as well. "For years, Puerto Ricans have been organizing in opposition to U.S.-backed austerity policies supported by ...
August 5, 2019
Cultural Studies Graduate Student Berette Macaulay Recognized for Research on Embodied Memory & Identity in Black Diaspora
Multidisciplinary artist, writer, and Cultural Studies graduate student Berette Macaulay has received a number of honors recognizing her scholarship recently. She was selected to present her capstone research titled “Embodied Witness” at the Tilting Axis conference on “Beyond Trend: Decolonisation and Art Criticism.” The conference was held at the Memorial ACTe Museum in Guadeloupe in June 2019. Her participation was supported by travel grants from the School of IAS and the Graduate School. Macaulay also ...
July 18, 2019
Dan Berger on the critical, overlooked history of WA’s prison abolition movement
In Crosscut, IAS faculty member Dan Berger published an op-ed about the history of prison abolitionist organizing in Washington state. Berger highlighted the state's role as a national leader in thinking about prison policy, prison reform, and alternatives to prison. The article focuses on efforts by incarcerated people, including the prisoner newspapers archived in the Washington Prison History Project, as well as ...
July 16, 2019
Frances Lee discusses the power of citation in activist writing
In their article “It Is Just Me, Or Does Activist Writing Need A Citational Practice?,” Cultural Studies alum Frances Lee discusses citing as an exercise of power. Says Lee, “When we fail to give credit to the authors of the ideas we are building upon, we are preventing people from being acknowledged for their gifts, and even robbing them of the ability to get paid.”
June 11, 2019