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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

WSU WORD! Fellows inspire faculty to teach writing in their disciplines

Eleven Washington State University faculty members are at work on special plans for the coming year: assigning and evaluating their students’ writing assignments in new ways.

As invited participants in the inaugural WORD! Faculty Fellowship Program—called “Word! Fellows”—the professors spent 12 weeks as learners themselves. In weekly workshop sessions, the experienced educators from several disciplines—most of whom teach large classes—were challenged to think about how to help students write as members in their disciplines.

Paul Buckley.
Buckley

Now that the workshops have ended, WORD! members like Paul Buckley, associate professor of chemistry, are crafting new student writing assignments for fall.

“Before WORD!, I thought writing lab reports was a pretty straightforward task for students, but now I’m more aware that I can phrase writing assignments to be more understandable to STEM and non-STEM students and encourage them all to experiment a little more with how they express things,” he said. He said it will be important for him to explain the changes to his teaching assistants who help with grading.

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Historian researching secret investigation of radioactive fallout

After years of polluting Earth’s atmosphere and ecosystems with nuclear material from atomic bomb tests, the U.S. government in 1953 launched “Project Sunshine,” a secret, international program to study the amount of radioactive fallout in the environment. The cheery-sounding program sought particularly to understand the impact of strontium 90, an unstable, radioactive version of a naturally occurring element which threatened to riddle people and animals with cancer.

Jeffrey Sanders.
Sanders

Now, novel research by Jeffrey Sanders, associate professor of history at Washington State University, is shedding new light on Project Sunshine and the intersection of environmental history, Cold War culture and the production of scientific knowledge.

“Just as radioactive strontium moved through ecological systems, this project follows the twists and turns of strontium 90 through different atomic cultures between 1945 and 2000,” Sanders said.

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Trevor Bond, Keri McCarthy assume leadership of Center for Arts and Humanities

Keri McCarthy.
McCarthy

Trevor Bond has been named director of Washington State University’s Center for Arts and Humanities, taking over from founding director Todd Butler, now dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Bond is joined by the School of Music’s Keri McCarthy, who will serve as the center’s associate director.

“Together they envision a center that is increasingly visible and accessible to communities across the state and that deepens its support to not only faculty but also graduate and undergraduate students,” Butler said. “That vision is precisely what a land-grant center such as WSU’s is designed to pursue.”

“We are excited to build upon the solid foundation established by Dean Butler,” Bond said. “Our vision is to expand the impact of the center by supporting and highlighting the creative and performing arts, research, and public engagement of WSU faculty. We plan to increase opportunities for WSU students and alumni to engage with the center and are looking forward to collaborating with partners across campus, the community, and beyond.”

McCarthy is professor of oboe and music history at WSU and has cultivated an international reputation as a chamber musician, soloist, teacher, and clinician. Active as a performer and researcher throughout Southeast Asia, she is a co-founder of the Pan Pacific Ensemble, a chamber ensemble committed to performing and commissioning music of contemporary composers from Asia and the United States.

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Center for Arts and Humanities announces fellowship and catalyst award recipients

The Center for Arts and Humanities (CAH) has selected nine faculty to receive the 2021 CAH Fellowships and Catalyst Award.

Faculty receiving the CAH Fellowship for 2021:

  • Avantika Bawa.
    Bawa

    AVANTICA BAWA, Department of Fine Arts

    Bawa will continue an ongoing series of installations reflecting the artist’s interest in responding to the built and natural environment through the language of drawing and construction.

  • Troy Bennefield.
    Bennefield

    TROY BENNEFIELD, School of Music

    Bennefield will explore and publish information on the life and works of Dutch composer Julius Hijman, whose career was interrupted by the Nazi regime. Bennefield will produce the first-ever recordings of Hijman’s compositions.

  • Dennis Dehart.
    Dehart

    DENNIS DeHART, Department of Fine Arts

    DeHart will create a lens-based series of works focused on the Columbia River drainage basin and the Snake River. The exhibition will be in collaboration with the WSU Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections.

  • Martin King.
    King

    MARTIN KING, School of Music

    King will commission a new horn, tuba and piano trio, record an album of music for this ensemble, and give performing tours of this music to expand and diversify the repertoire and promote this ensemble.

  • Laurie Mercier.
    Mercier

    LAURIE MERCIER, Department of History

    Mercier will conduct research for a book project about gendered occupational segregation in the U.S. and Canadian Wests from 1930-2020.

  • Melissa Nicolas.
    Nicolas

    MELISSA NICOLAS, Department of English

    Nicolas will create an open-access digital archive of personal narratives about living through the COVID‑19 pandemic.

  • Jeffrey Sanders.
    Sanders

    JEFF SANDERS, Department of History

    Sanders will develop a book proposal for a cultural and environmental history of strontium 90.

Jacqueline Wilson.
Wilson
  • JACQUELINE WILSON, School of Music

Wilson will create an album of classical works by Indigenous composers for solo bassoon utilizing a decolonized approach.

Faculty receiving the CAH Catalyst Award for 2021:

  • Ruth Gregory.
    Gregory

    RUTH GREGORY, Digital Technology and Culture Program

    Gregory will pursue multiple grant proposals to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Spencer Foundation, and provide paid internships for community engaged humanities students.

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Outstanding College of Arts and Sciences seniors excel in academics, leadership, service

Writers, researchers, scientists, musicians, athletes, activists, adventurers… the 23 students who received this year’s Outstanding Senior honors from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) excelled in academic performance and in service to their department or school and to the broader Washington State University community.

Sean Swalling.
Swalling

Outstanding Senior in mathematics and statistics, Sean Swalling is passionate about sharing knowledge with others and is already experienced in his chosen field of teaching. In addition to serving as a summer tutor and camp counselor, he has proven himself a leader in the classroom.

Samantha King-Shaw.
King-Shaw

Samantha King-Shaw, Outstanding Senior in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies (WGSS), is an accomplished student–athlete of color whose performance in the classroom, on the track, and in service to the community won great praise from WGSS faculty. “King-Shaw’s academic success and record of community service demonstrate an extraordinary ability apply what she learned as a women’s studies major,” they said.

Megan Wong.
Wong

Described by one of her professors as “bright, talented, motivated, collaborative and kind,” Megan Wong, Outstanding Senior for the School of Biological Sciences, packed into her college career not only stellar achievements in academics but also a host of extracurricular activities.

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