Study abroad programs, scholarships shaped grad’s Husky Experience

English literature major Shangé Purnell was chosen for the honor of carrying the Arts & Sciences college banner at this weekend’s graduation. Study abroad played an important part her Husky Experience and helped develop her exciting future goals.

GO! and Fritz Scholar Shangé Purnell Photo: University of Washington

Shangé plans to earn a doctorate in English literature and teach at the college level. Through this work, she wants to help increase diversity in published literary works. She says, “the highbrow elite have set what is highbrow literature – Shakespeare and other mostly white European authors. We’re starting to get more diversity, but it’s still very narrow, it’s still a Eurocentric perspective. I realize that being a U.S. citizen I have been conditioned to have a Eurocentric view, but I’d like to give view to the people of color in this world.”

Beyond serving as an officer in the Black Student Union and as a member of the Students for Diversity Coalition, Shangé also sought new perspectives and leadership experience through international learning. Her experiences studying abroad in the United Kingdom and Ghana with UW faculty-led programs were important in developing her goals and provided new insight into diversity issues. Particularly while in Ghana, where she tutored school-aged children, Shangé tried to see world through fresh eyes. “We tried to look at it from not just a Western perspective,” she says.

Scholarships from UW Global Opportunities supported Shangé’s study abroad experiences. She received the GO! Scholarship for her trip to the United Kingdom, and the Fritz Scholarship for the next summer’s program in Ghana.

Forensic research at UW helping to end illegal ivory trade in Togo

The government of Togo, a small West African country with a dwindling population of elephants, recently sought assistance from Samuel Wasser, Research Professor and Director of the UW Center for Conservation Biology. The Togolese government sought information about ivory thought to be illegal, and Wasser provided a report demonstrating that the ivory samples provided indeed came from illegal sources.

International experts predict that new forensic technologies like the ones used by Wasser will help illuminate origins and pathways of illegal ivory and eventually end the trade altogether.

New Burke Museum curator an advocate for indigenous cultures

The Burke Museum of Natural History’s new Curator of Native American Anthropology is passionate about preserving indigenous culture. A native of Kodiak, Alaska, Dr. Sven Haakanson has conducted research and lived in Siberia. He received the MacArthur Foundation’s “genius” grant in 2007 for his work advocating for Native cultures, and plans to conduct further research in Russia.

US, Japanese leaders celebrate longstanding relations

Ceremonial drummers at the tree dedication ceremony Photo: Todd Gardiner for Team Photogenic

UW President Michael K. Young and Japanese Consul General Masahiro Omura Photo: Todd Gardiner for Team Photogenic

Japanese General Consul Masahiro Omura spoke today near Drumheiller Fountain today to celebrate a recent gift of cherry trees to the UW American Ethnic Studies department from the people of Japan.

Also speaking at the ceremony were former congressman and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta and UW President Michael K. Young.

The new cherry trees, installed on central campus overlooking Drumheiller Fountain, were presented in honor of longstanding relations between the U.S. and Japan. They also honor the many Japanese and Japanese American students who have attended UW since 1894.

Launch party celebrates book by study abroad students

A May 12 launch party will celebrate the publication of TIPS to Study Abroad: Simple Letters for Complex Engagement, a book by students from Professor Anu Taranath’s 2013 study abroad to Bangalore, India.

Through the unique medium of students’ letters to Things, Ideas and People (TIPS), the book “offers a simple method to help travelers- students and tourists alike- reflect on how moving from one culture to another sparks questions about identity, society and the meaning of travel itself.”

Professor Taranath’s unique approach to teaching abroad integrates on-campus classroom learning with international immersion. Students participate in quarter-long seminars on campus before and after the study abroad to allow time for in-depth preparation for and reflection on the experience. TIPS to Study Abroad is the culmination of the group’s experience and learning.

Community members are welcome at the book launch party at 7pm on Monday, May 12. The event will be held at University Temple.

Study shows gains in maternal and child health globally

New data collected by the UW Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) demonstrate sharp declines in maternal and child deaths across the world. Study author Haidong Wang cites education, health innovations and rising income as drivers of improved outcomes for women and children.

International researchers document Clean Air Act’s success

Funded by the National Science Foundation, UW researchers partnered with colleagues from the US and France to document changes in the Greenlandic Ice Sheet since the 1970 passage of the US Clean Air Act.

Graduate students partner with Peruvian community to build gardens

In poor communities outside Lima, Peru, green space is limited and fresh food is scarce. An interdisciplinary group of UW professors and graduate students aimed to bring change to one community by supporting residents in constructing and cultivating household gardens.

Study abroad students connect with Roma communities

During winter quarter, Comparative History of Ideas’ (CHID) Legacies of Empires study abroad program took students on a journey to Rome, Budapest and Istanbul to connect with Roma communities through experiential learning.

UW Bothell hosts Middle East expert Lawrence Pintak

UW Bothell’s American Muslim Research Institute is hosting a lecture by Middle East expert Lawrence Pintak on March 31. Karem Dana, director of the American Muslim Research Institute and a UW Bothell professor, will moderate. The talk will provide insight into “how Islam inside and outside of the U.S. affects the lives of American Muslims, and vice versa, with specific attention paid to U.S. foreign policy potential implications,” says Dana.