Category Archives: Events

A Poetic Look at the Online Catalogue

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Andrew Reece, Evergreen Faculty Member, Author of The Online Catalogue

Editor’s Note: This poem was read by faculty member and academic dean Andrew Reece at the 2013 President’s Brunch, one of the events kicking off the academic year. It is composed from questions lifted directly from program descriptions. Hope it brings back happy memories.


 

 

 

 

 

2013-14 Undergraduate Index A-Z at Evergreen, or: The Online Catalogue, by Andrew Reece, Member of the Faculty

Yes or no?
Is a good life one full of pleasure and devoid of suffering?
A moral life? A long and healthy life?
Is there such a thing as a Caribbean culture,
or are identities complex amalgams
that defy easy categorizations
such as Caribbean,
Dominican American,
creole Martinican,
Afro-Cuban,
East-Indian Trinidadian?
Would you like
to really understand
“buzz terms”
the media uses
such as sustainability,
green materials,
climate change,
the water crisis,
the energy debate,
genetic engineering,
DNA fingerprinting and cloning?
Must quotidian always be associated with humdrum?
China: A Success Story?

What?
What kind of knowledge do we encounter
in fiction and poetry? What
are the psychological mechanisms involved
in the larger action of the human imagination,
urging us to explore new avenues, to see
what others have not seen, to create what
no one has yet created? What do you know
when you know a language?
Sustainability – what does it mean?
What can the study of play teach us
about the nature of power? What
are the limitations on the use of culture
when one has limited political
and economic self-determination?
Who’s Got What? What’s
been handed to you, and
what will you hand on?

Where?
Where did that Walmart come from?

How?
How does a group of indigenous people
from different countries create an activity
to reclaim ancient knowledge? How does imagination
respond to the emotional self, the physiology
of the body, and the psychology of the mind? How
does one’s understanding
of the physical environment shape
ways of writing and understanding the world?
How can we develop and nurture
the “civic intelligence” that will help ensure our actions
produce the best outcomes? How
can music and dance be used to transform lives?

Why?
Why do humans keep pets and
at the same time raise animals for food?
Why is it that humans can handle ambiguity,
but computers have such a difficult time?

 

Faculty Member Receives Journal of Public Affairs Education Best Article Award

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Member of the Faculty Cheryl Simrell King

Abstract:
This autobiographical essay addresses the question: How do the needs of students of working-class origins differ from those of their counterparts from more privileged backgrounds? As one of the invisible differences in the United States, class pervades everything we do, and we are mostly unaware of it. Readers are encouraged to examine their own presumptions about social class, including their suppositions about access to resources and how these can differ based on one’s family of origin. In addition to suggestions on how to address social class in the classroom, readers are encouraged to raise their own consciousness about class in order to reach out to students from working-class backgrounds.

The Situation
In preparing to write this essay, I sat with a student of working-class origins with whom I have a mentoring relationship and asked, “What do you want people to know about interacting with working-class students in our field?” Her answer came without hesitation: “presumptions of access.” She said folks who are not of working-class backgrounds presume everyone has access to whatever they need. Middle- and upper-class people do not think about these access presumptions, so deeply engrained are they in the consciousness of all Americans, even the working class. These access issues are like what Peggy McIntosh (1988) described regarding race in her work about White privilege. McIntosh said White folks, because of the privilege our culture affords us, carry an “invisible knapsack,” full of things always at the ready to smooth our path. We do not see, nor are we aware of, our knapsacks. Non-Whites do not have these invisible knapsacks, and they know it.  Read the full article.

Convocation Speaker Founded “StoryCorps,” Wrote this Year’s Common Read

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This year’s “common read” for new students and the Evergreen campus community.

Radio producer Dave Isay, founder of the “StoryCorps” oral history project and author of “Listening Is an Act of Love,” spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of new students at Evergreen’s 2013 convocation last Monday. The students who have only just arrived on campus gave strong evidence of having read the book by peppering Isay with questions. By all accounts, it was a great start to the 2013-14 academic year.

The book, a compilation of conversations that have aired over the years on public radio stations, was the assigned “common read” for all incoming students and all faculty members. Common read seminars will go on throughout the academic year, uniting the campus community around issues such as identity, agency, the power of voice, and the impact of stories as cultural and historical milestones.

At a college known for encouraging students to chart their own individual educational experiences, the common read program serves as a touchstone, something students will experience as a community as well as in their own, individual ways.

Alumni are encouraged to read “Listening is an Act of Love” this year and share comments in this web log, on Evergreen’s Facebook page or with each other in conversation circles wherever Greeners gather.

Let us hear from you about this book, the Common Read program, or other related issues. For information on how to form a reading circle in your area, contact R.J. Burt in the office of Alumni Programs.

Fotoland Galerie: a Look Back at Evergreen 2012-13

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Editor’s Note: See the full text and gallery at Inside Evergreen, and more great photography by our Photo Services colleagues.

A photographer’s job doesn’t end after the pictures are taken. You could say that’s the beginning.

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On stage at the 2013 performance of the Vagina Monologues presented by the TESC Womyn’s Resource Center. Photo by Shauna Bittle

From untold thousands of images, (as well as videos and audio recordings) brilliantly captured during the last academic year, staff Photographer Shauna Bittle and her intern Andrew Jeffers continue to work. Continue reading →

Sauerkraut and Social Justice: It’s Got to be Evergreen

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Just one month away, Return to Evergreen is ready to host alumni and community members with workshops, seminars, music, tours, and more.

No plans yet for October 19? Here’s a sneak preview of some of the things you will miss if you don’t attend this year’s Return to Evergreen:

The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized
ofA fermentation workshop with Sash Sunday ’09 of OlyKraut, Melissa Barker ’00, Organic Farm Instructional Technician and faculty member David Muehleisen. Come to the beautiful Organic Farmhouse to learn and practice the basics of making home-scale sauerkraut and hear the story of some of the trials, tribulations and tricks of starting and operating a small processed-food business.

Humor and Human Rights
Seriously? Is there a place for humor when we speak of human rights? Is there a place for lightheartedness in the face of atrocity? Jane Korman sparked controversy in 2010 when she posted on YouTube a video of her father, Adolek Kohn, dancing with his grandchildren at Auschwitz, Dachau, and the Lodz ghetto. Adolek Kohn survived the Holocaust; half a century later the family returned to Poland to dance to Gloria Gaynor’s disco hit “I Will Survive” (Some view the dance as a triumph, while others find it tasteless or worse.

This seminar will consider the conditions under which comedy and humor might have a role to play in the way we think about human rights. This counterintuitive approach should help us locate the limits of how “human rights” function as a legal concept, a moral language, and a cultural practice. We will watch a short film, discuss it, and explore how the language of human rights does or does not help us make sense of ethics, politics, and justice.

Evergreen Faculty Member Emerita Betty Kutter

Evergreen Faculty Member Emerita Betty Kutter

The (Phage) World Comes to Evergreen
Having just hosted the 20th Biennial Evergreen International Phage Meeting, with attendees from 37 countries, Evergreen Faculty Member Emerita Betty Kutter will highlight cutting-edge Phage applications in the areas of human health and food safety. The seemingly miraculous, bacteria-eating virus is sometimes called the “Tinker Toy” of biotechnology because it can be used in combination with other elements to effect seemingly impossible health benefits. Whether your are a former student of Betty’s or have never before heard of Phage, you’ll be amazed and inspired. Don’t miss this session.

Watch for program updates in the MIND or get the whole story right now on the website.

 

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Biophysicist Betty Kutter Invited the World to Evergreen – And It Came

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Question: Why did almost 200 scientists, researchers, physicians and educators from all over the world travel to Olympia,Washington this summer?

Evergreen Faculty Member Emerita Betty Kutter

Answer: Because Betty Kutter invited them.

Earlier this month, August 4th through 9th, many of the world’s foremost experts on Bacteriophage (Phage), a virus that eats harmful bacteria, converged on the Evergreen campus to talk, share research and think critically about Phage. At the center of this discussion, now and for the past 50 years, is Evergreen Faculty Member Emerita Betty Kutter. Betty has devoted her life to learning and evangelizing about Phage, ever since a scientific mentor said to her many years ago “when we understand phage, we will understand the essence of life.”

Here are highlights of 20th Biennial Evergreen International Phage Meeting:

“Today in the Phage World, this is the place to be. ”

one of the conference speakers.

Always A Happy Day: 2013-14 Jackie Robinson Scholars Honored

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Left to right: Felix Braffith accepting “the big check” for Maxwell Hanckel, Doneesha Brown, President Les Purce and Mariners President Chuck Armstrong

Evergreen students Doneesha Brown and Maxwell Hanckel received public “congratulations” last Tuesday as this year’s Jackie Robinson Scholarship recipients. The ceremony took place, as is traditional, at Seattle’s Safeco Field just prior to a Mariners game.

Evergreen has awarded 48 Jackie Robinson scholarships, starting in 1987, thanks to the philanthropy of then-faculty member Patrick Hill. A much beloved teacher, philosopher, writer and story-teller, Patrick endowed the scholarship as a tribute to his parents, immigrants who valued education highly but never, themselves, went to college, and who were devoted Jackie Robinson/Brooklyn Dodgers fans.

Read the full story.

Just a bit about Patrick Hill:

Patrick died in 2008 just weeks after being awarded Faculty Emeritus status upon retirement. Here is one of many laudatory statements from former students listed on RateMyProfessor: Patrick Hill was the best teacher I ever had. He was a strong leader, yet had a gentle way, and was inspirational to the nines. He was encouraging and supportive, understanding and yet could light a fire under you. He is the reason I am a teacher. Often I ask myself “What would Patrick do?” An amazing mentor and man! Life changing absolutely!

Return to Evergreen Program Updates

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There will be something for everyone at Evergreen, October 19, 2013

Program Updates and Highlights:

Longhouse Education & Cultural Center
Join this tour to the Longhouse’s new carving studio where a drum making workshop will be in progress.

Annual Alumni Meeting
Alumni and Students (future alumni), come hear about “Alumni Circles” and join the discussion about staying engaged with your alma mater.

Athletics – Go Geoducks!
Head to the soccer field at 1 pm for women’s soccer. Later in the afternoon, Greeners who are alumni of the men’s and women’s basketball team take the court for the Annual Alumni Basketball games to be played on the new Art Costantino gymnasium floor. Were you a team member? Sign up to play: Female athletes contact Monica Heuer. Male athletes contact Arvin Mosley.

See the full schedule: Return to Evergreen.
Register Today.
Special Rate for Students and Recently Graduated (2008-2013) Alumni.

Stay tuned for more updates.


 

Bagpipes on Red Square: Martin Brendecke ’14

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Martin Brendecke ’14 busking on Red Square.

Editor’s note: The sound of bagpipes, even from considerable distance, penetrates all other sounds and brings one straight to attention. This is what happened recently when the moaning drones and piercing chanter notes got us out on Red Square within seconds. There we met Martin Brendecke ’14, current student and an accomplished piper.

Martin was born in Tucson, Arizona but grew up in Kirkland, Washington. The son of a performing folk musician, Martin’s world was filled with music, at home and wherever there was a folk festival or traditional music gathering around the Northwest.

When he was eight years old, the Brendecke family went to the Enumclaw Highland Games where Martin’s mother was performing with her band “The Hot Lattes.”  That was when Martin’s fascination with all things Scottish began. On the way home, he asked for a practice chanter and a kilt. Continue reading →

The Return of Return To Evergreen, October 19, 2013

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Here’s the date we’ve been waiting for:
October 19, 2013, the return of Return to Evergreen.

You may remember that last May, Return to Evergreen (R2E), our alumni day on campus, was postponed. Just this week, we’ve been cleared for Saturday, October 19, one full day to forget the chores, and treat yourself to a beautiful autumn day on campus.

To feed your Evergreen mind, a rich menu of faculty-facilitated, small-group conversations. Of course there will be workshops and tours: Art Gallery, Longhouse, Organic Farm just to name a few. For the athletically inclined, sign up for the Annual Alumni Basketball game. View the full schedule and keep tabs as sessions are added and updated.

To refresh your Evergreen spirit, live music starts early evening and the always-popular Greener Beer Garden will provide a warm, cozy place for old friends and new acquaintances to gather.

Don’t miss Return to Evergreen, on campus this October 19. Register today. Only $25 for the full day, two on campus meals, and evening festivities.  Admission for current students and alumni classes of 2008-2013 is $15.

Admission to the Greener Beer Garden is free but please bring picture I.D. and cash for your beverages.

Register Today.