Tag Archives: The Evergreen State College

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.

Meet Puppetmaster Madison J. Cripps ’04

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Madison J. Cripps ’04, Master Puppeteer

Madison J. Cripps ’04 sent us an email recently, an RSVP responding to a “Return to Evergreen” invitation. Sadly, Madison can’t make it to campus this October 19 but he enclosed an intriguing photo (seen here at left). A web search turned up a video. Take a look: here be all manner of wondrous oddities.

Madison is on his way to the  Puppet Slam in Portland, Oregon in November. If you’re planning to go, give Madison a big “hello” from Evergreen.

Lynda Weinman ’76 Takes Aim at Higher Ed Myths in Huffington Post

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Lynda Weinman ’76 speaks on Education in the Age of the Internet at Return to Evergreen (May 2012).  Photo by Shauna Bittle.

This week in the Huffington Post, Lynda Weinman ’76 takes aim at some of the myths she believes threaten the future of colleges and universities, erode equity and access, and harm U.S. competitiveness. Read the full story.

Adam Wicks-Arshack ’10: On the Spokane River for Social Justice

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Editor’s Note: Here is an inspirational example of “theory to practice.” Adam Wicks-Arshack ’10 runs a a river-based environmental education company that offers educational trips in 30 foot voyager canoes. The Spokane’s Spokesman Review covers his latest journey.

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Voyages of Rediscovery uses canoe holding 10- 12 students, with room for a teacher and a guide.

In the 1930’s, the construction of Grand Coulee Dam electrified to the a huge portion of the Northwest. As the lights were going on, members of the Spokane Tribe lost a staple of their diet: the bountiful salmon that each year returned to the upper third of the Columbia River and its tributaries.

Today, Adam Wicks-Arshack, Director of  Voyages of Rediscovery, is leading 25 students from the Wellpinit School District onto the river, in a canoe they built themselves to discover their river-going history and lobby for expanded treaty rights to the fish that shaped their culture. Read the full article.

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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Educator & Entrepreneur Lynda Weinman ’76: The lynda.com Success Story

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Lynda Weinman, Co-founder and Executive Chair of lynda.com

In a two-part interview, internet education pioneer Lynda Weinman ’76, co-founder of lynda.com, chats with television host Zhena Muzyka about success, entrepreneurship, outside investment, getting ‘unstuck’ and more.

 

 

 

 

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.


 

Animals, City Planning and Animal Psychology?

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Nick Wilde, a fast-talking fox from Disney’s next big hit, Zootopia, directed by Byron Howard ’90.

Animals, city planning and animal psychology? Are those the areas of emphases for a new program at Evergreen? No. It is what director Byron Howard ’90 had to study for his next Disney 3-D animated feature, Zootopia. How interdisciplinary!

Howard also directed such Disney hits as Bolt and Tangled. Watch this clip: Howard, along with producer Clark Spencer, and writer Jared Bush talk about “creating a world that no one has ever seen before.”

Byron mentions in the clip above that he grew up loving Robin Hood. Share your favorite childhood film in the comments below.

Greener Entrepreneurs Directory Deemed a Standout

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Here in the alumni office, we recently received this delightful email:

“My name is Laura and I work for NerdScholar, a financial literacy website for students. To celebrate small business month this May we featured our favorite entrepreneurship alumni networks and found that Evergreen’s is one of the best out there. Check out the piece…”

The Evergreen Alumni Entrepreneurs Directory

Well isn’t that nice!  If you go to NerdScholar, you may be as delighted as we are to see The Evergreen Alumni Entrepreneurs Directory listed along with those of Cornell, Emory, Georgetown and University of Washington. Gosh.

Laura also asked for three pieces of advice from three entrepeneurial Greeners.  Here’s what we sent:


From Craig Chance ’81, President, Columbia Bank
Entrepreneurs by nature are optimistic, however, do not be blinded by aggressive optimism.  Realistically assess risks, develop a strategy for mitigating them, and be prepared to implement alternative actions if things are not working  as anticipated in the first plan.

From David Shaw, Member of the Evergreen Faculty
Never launch a business or new venture without an existing customer.

From  Addie Wood ’09, Community Financial Resources, Columbia Bank
Regardless of where you are in your career or business venture, try not to lose sight of what inspired you to enter into that field and of the experiences you encountered along the way.  When times get tough, it will be those very inspirations and experiences that help you create innovative ways to, not only make it through, but be even more resilient once you get to the other side.

How about the rest of you entrepreneurial spirits ?  Give us your best piece of advice. We’ll pass them on to faculty members who are teaching in this area.