News from the School of IAS
Category: Diversity
Marcus Johnson publishes on Black cultural studies
Marcus Johnson is an M.A. in Cultural Studies alum (’16) and Ph.D. candidate at the UW Department of Communication. He recently co-authored the article “Black Cultural Studies is Intersectionality” with Dr. Ralina Joseph, which was published in the International Journal of Cultural Studies. The article argues ...
October 15, 2020
Berette Macaulay and Black Cinema Collective extend programming and engagements virtually
Berette Macaulay (Cultural Studies, ’20) founded Black Cinema Collective (BCC) in 2019, developing and co-organizing all programming with classmates Mateó Ochoa (Cultural Studies, ’19) and Savita Krishnamoorthy (Cultural Studies, ’20), who joined in 2020. In February 2020, BCC facilitated public discussion of “Spirits of Rebellion: Black Cinema from UCLA” at the Henry Art Gallery with director and visiting filmmaker Zeinabu Irene Davis. Soon thereafter the COVID-19 pandemic closed public spaces for such gatherings ...
October 13, 2020
Margaret Redsteer cited regarding the Navajo Nation’s battle with climate change
IAS faculty member Margaret Redsteer was cited in a Reuters news story on drought and climate change “We Don’t Give up Really Easily: Navajo Ranchers Battle Climate Change.” Redsteer explains how drought is magnified by the long-term changes to water availability on the Navajo Nation, leaving its people increasingly vulnerable.
October 9, 2020
A major milestone for GWSS
The discipline now known as Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies (GWSS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary worldwide this year. At the University of Washington Bothell, Oct. 26, 2020 will mark the four-year anniversary of the GWSS major and minor. IAS faculty member and GWSS faculty coordinator Julie Shayne had a goal to develop the major on campus since joining UW Bothell in 2007. In 2014, she became one of the committee members charged with creating the degree program, which officially launched in 2016. Since then, 18 students have graduated with the major and 73 students with the minor.
October 2, 2020
Abigail Echo-Hawk fights for the inclusion of Indigenous people in COVID-19 data
IAS alum Abigail Echo-Hawk has been working for years with Indigenous people, mostly in cities, across the United States to collect data about their communities. Now, as the coronavirus pandemic takes a disproportionate toll on many Indigenous communities, Echo-Hawk’s work takes on more urgency. Science magazine recently featured Echo-Hawk’s ...
September 28, 2020
Shauna Carlisle, Ching-ln Chen, and S. Charusheela receive Diversity and Inclusion Seed Grant
IAS faculty members Shauna Carlisle, Ching-ln Chen, and S. Charusheela have received a Diversity and Inclusion Seed Grant from the UW Diversity Council to launch a diversity and inclusion graduate student questionnaire to be sent to alumni who graduated between 2015 and 2020. Survey will assess perceptions of ...
September 25, 2020
Meshell Sturgis reviews The Rachel Divide and Fearing the Black Body
M.A. in Cultural Studies alum Meshell Sturgis ('17) studies representations of difference and identity in the media using Black feminist critical-cultural communication theories and methods. A Ph.D. candidate in the UW Department of Communication, Sturgis recently published reviews of the documentary film, The Rachel Divide, with co-author Victoria Thomas, and the book, Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, by Sabrina Strings.
September 17, 2020
Alka Kurian: Covid-19, Black Lives Matter, and model minority discourse
IAS faculty member Alka Kurian had a busy summer! She gave virtual lectures in June and September on "Youth, Education, Gender, and Human Rights in India" to students of the Foreign Services Institute, and presented a virtual paper entitled “Growing Up South Asian in America Today” at the University of Lucknow, India. She also participated in virtual ...
September 16, 2020
Building Community: A Writing Group for Trans Scholars
IAS faculty members Ching-In Chen and Neil Simpkins have launched a UW-wide Imagining Trans Futures research group. Funded by the Simpson Center for the Humanities, the group support trans scholars in their research and writing and to bring trans studies scholars to the UW community through a speaker series open to the public. The aim of this group is ...
September 4, 2020
Becca Price: “Starting Conversations About Discrimination Against Women in STEM”
IAS faculty member Becca Price published an article about a workshop that helps end discrimination against women in university science. Attendees learn how to recognize discrimination against women—and how to intervene when they see it. The workshop focuses on four case studies about gendered microaggressions, intersectional ...
September 4, 2020