Frances Lee and Maisha Manson perform at Common AREA Maintenance

On October 6th, second year Master of Arts in Cultural Studies students Frances Lee and Maisha Manson, with Jordan Alam and Eli Steffen performed at Common AREA Maintenance in Belltown. The event was the first of a community experimental lecture series on “Embodied Utopias: Expansive Potentialities in the Here and Now.” Framing questions included: Can our bodies become sights of utopian expression today? How does our longing and desire for non-normative expressions of self and connection project possibilities into the future?

October 10, 2017

Aarshin Karande writes on the U.S. immigration and the politics of compassion

Alum Aarshin Karande (’14) published “The Politics of Compassion: U.S. Immigration Policy and the Conflicted American Archetype” in The Republic Journal. In the piece, he describes how U.S. immigration policy and the Obama-Trump divide reflects an American spiritual crisis. “The resolution of immigration policy demands reckoning with America’s virtues and vices; America’s long and complicated history of exclusion and inclusion, contradictions between cultural values and political actions; and listening to ...

October 9, 2017

micha cárdenas and Frances Lee screen #Stronger videos

IAS faculty member micha cárdenas and Master of Arts in Cultural Studies student Frances Lee screened their #Stronger videos at the contemptorary fundraiser in LA held on Sept 24. #Stronger is a project of the Poetic Operations Collaborative that aims to develop a decolonial vision of futures of health, fitness and strength for trans and gender non-conforming people. ...

October 9, 2017

Frances Lee appears on CBC’s The Sunday Edition and KUOW’s The Round

Continuing the conversation about dogmatic activist culture first raised in their essay, Kin Aesthetics: Excommunicate Me from the Church of Social Justice, 2nd year Master of Arts in Cultural Studies graduate student Frances Lee had two radio appearances this fall. Lee worked with a seasoned producer and voice coach to ...

October 6, 2017

Ray Corona discusses DACA with Seattle CityClub

Founder of the Washington Dream Coalition Ray Corona (’13, Society, Ethics & Human Behavior) sat down with Seattle CityClub to share his experience as a DACA recipient. On October 4, he’ll join a discussion on the future of DACA at Civic Cocktail, which can be viewed live on The Seattle Channel. “DACA provided me and many other dreamers with a sense of security and normalcy. Many of us have been in the US for over a decade but have always lived in fear of the authorities due to our immigration status.” DACA allowed Ray to ...

September 28, 2017

Alka Kurian publishes review of The Big Sick

IAS faculty member Alka Kurian published “The Big Sick is Bold, Pushes Boundaries" in the International Examiner (6 September 2017, p. 14). Kurian suggests that this Pakistani diasporic film that has every one talking represents a new turn in South Asian representation in mainstream Hollywood film.

September 25, 2017

Mona Halcomb celebrates win for native curriculum in Oregon public schools

M.A. in Cultural Studies alum Mona Halcomb (’11) was thrilled to witness Oregon Governor Kate Brown sign Senate Bill 13: Tribal History & Sovereignty Curriculum into law on September 18, 2017. SB 13 requires school districts statewide to implement American Indian/ Alaskan Native curricula covering tribal history and sovereignty. SB 13 fills a critical gap for Oregon’s K-12 children: by the 2019-2020 academic year, all districts must teach the Essential Understandings of Oregon Indians curriculum. As a member of the SB 13 coalition and Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Mona testified in support of the bill back in February. ...

September 22, 2017

Kristin Gustafson publishes “Teaching excellence builds on the ideas of teaching mentors”

IAS faculty member Kristin Gustafson published "Teaching excellence builds on the ideas of teaching mentors" in Clio: Among The Media (Fall 2017, p. 10). The column shares with readers two teaching strategies--one a grading scheme, and the other a choice of in-depth projects--to surface best practices that encourage pedagogies of diversity, collaboration, community, and justice. ...

September 22, 2017