Thursday, February 23, 2023

Feature by Mary Raschko, Associate Dean for Faculty Development

Each semester, Abshire and Hubbard Scholar Awards fund student-faculty research teams across the college. In these collaborations, students take on intellectually engaging roles that further their own learning, while helping faculty develop projects for publication. 

During the spring 2023 semester, the following student-faculty teams are working on projects in the humanities:

Sueli Gwiazdowski ’24 is working with Lydia McDermott, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse, on a project examining how rhetorics of coloniality and rhetorics of disability intertwine in public and academic discourse. Their research focuses on colonizing and debilitating histories at Whitman specifically, looking through archival materials, and in higher education more broadly.

A team of three students are assisting Professor of English Chris Leise in the early phases of writing a public-facing book tentatively titled “1636: The Year that Made and Unmade American Puritanism.” Tatiana Villegas ’23, Olivia Banuelos ’25, and Nazaaha Penick ’25 will help Leise identify topics from Indigenous North America in the 1630s that deserve significant public attention and work with Leise as he begins the initial phase of writing. 

Wally Herbranson, Professor of Psychology and the Herbert & Pearl Ladley Endowed Chair of Cognitive Science, along with three 2017 Whitman graduates, Hunter Pluckebaum, Jaidyanne Podsobinski, and Zachary Hartzell, recently won the American Psychological Association’s 2022 Frank A. Beach Comparative Psychology Award for the best paper published in the Journal of Comparative Psychology. Their paper is titled “Don't let the pigeon chair the search committee: Pigeons (Columba livia) match humans’ (Homo sapiens) suboptimal approach to the secretary problem.”

Welcome to Power & Privilege Day! Today's schedule includes four blocks of presentations with three or four options to choose from in each block, complimentary lunch for Whitman students in Cleveland Commons and an end-of-day celebration this evening. Also, if you were unable to attend the keynote with Loretta J. Ross on Monday, it is now available for the Whitman community to watch (password: PP23Keynote)

Students: Enjoy a free beverage and learn about Human-Centered Design! Faculty advisors in Whitman's new Human-Centered Design concentration will hold a drop-in information session from 4–5:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 24 in the coffee area at Cleveland Commons. Learn which courses will be offered next year, what projects are currently happening in classes, how advising will work, how the program is structured and how this concentration can be paired with any major. Questions? Email Associate Professor of Computer Science Janet Davis or Associate Professor of Art Justin Lincoln.

Whitman College will host the 2023 Northwest Conference Basketball Championship this weekend. Please note that ticket sales and policies are set by the Conference. Several different ticket packages are available for staff, faculty and community members to purchase, and Whitman students may also reserve free tickets in advance. To accommodate the tournament, Sherwood Athletic Center will be closed for all other activity today through Saturday (except for Movement That Matters today).

Anthony Kwame Harrison, author and Virginia Tech professor, will talk about “Musical Inclusion and the Unheard Terms of DEI Work” at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 2 in Maxey Auditorium. In his lecture, Harrison will discuss various ways in which sound—most notably associations between types of music and distinct racial identities—contributes to people’s feelings of belonging and/or estrangement within social spaces.

In accordance with Washington State Labor & Industries employer requirements, we are notifying the campus community that since yesterday, one person with Whitman access was confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Please continue to follow all our campus COVID-19 protocols to help prevent transmission. If you have any symptoms that may be COVID-19 or know that you may have been exposed to coronavirus, please be tested. Additional masks and rapid test kits are available in the front entryway at the Welty Student Health Center during normal operating hours. 

9–9:50 a.m.

Power & Privilege Symposium: Session Block 1

Various Campus Locations

10:10–11 a.m.

Power & Privilege Symposium: Session Block 2

Various Campus Locations

11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Power & Privilege: Free Lunch for Students

Cleveland Commons

12:10–12:50 p.m.

Movement That Matters: Step, Weights & Aerobic

Multipurpose Gym

2–2:50 p.m.

Power & Privilege Symposium: Session Block 3

Various Campus Locations

3:10–4 p.m.

Power & Privilege Symposium: Session Block 4

Various Campus Locations

5 p.m.

Blue Mountain Action Council: Food Distribution

921 W. Cherry Street, Walla Walla

7–9 p.m.

Power & Privilege: End of Day Celebration

Reid Basement

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