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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Sometimes, what counts for a boy is just hanging out with a guy who cares

Sometimes, it’s about two guys putting together a gingerbread house kit. At age 11, a boy like Heaven Lowe is soaking up all those new experiences.

A gingerbread house needs frosting, and to make frosting, a guy needs to know how to separate the egg white from the yolk, his “big brother” says.

Big Brothers Big Sisters sets up matches like this all around the region, working with 1,200 children — almost evenly divided between boys and girls — who have mentors.

Heaven’s mom, Miranda Cady, 31, has three sons in the mentoring program. The boys’ father provides child support, but isn’t very involved in their daily lives, she says. She receives financial aid while taking online classes at Washington State University’s Global Campus, studying psychology and human resources management.

“A lot of my family never went to college,” she says. Cady’s goal is to open up a group home for foster children. With her background, she says about being a foster child, “I know how bad it can be.”

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Omaha World-Herald

Michael Holloman selected to lead promotion of Native arts partnerships

Michael Holloman.
Holloman

Michael Holloman, associate professor of fine arts, recently was named coordinator of Native Arts Outreach and Education in the College of Arts and Sciences, with the goal of expanding arts-based experiences and learning among native and indigenous communities.

A member of the Colville/Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Holloman will work directly with the CAS Department of Fine Arts and School of Music, WSU’s Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art and Office of Tribal Relations, as well as a number of student organizations and the tribal signatories to WSU’s memorandum of understanding with native nations. With these groups, he will develop ongoing and future arts-based relationships and programming specifically focused on engaging a wide range of communities and individuals located in Washington, Idaho and beyond.

“The arts and culture for Native American communities are so intricately linked,” Holloman said. “How this finds its way into our contemporary world of the arts, particularly in the field of digital arts and design, is fluid and natural,” he said.

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WSU Insider

When Booker T. Washington packed College Auditorium

Washington State College was a collection of a dozen buildings on a hillside in Pullman, home to less than 900 students. But for one night in 1913, the campus was buzzing with activity.

Booker T. Washington, an innovator in education, was in town. What was then known as College Hall or College Auditorium and later renamed Bryan Hall was packed to the brim, with folks outside clamoring to get in.

James Bledsoe.
Bledsoe

In a building not far from where Washington addressed the Pullman crowds more than a century ago, James Bledsoe is working toward a doctorate in educational leadership. A career development coordinator in the College of Arts and Sciences, Bledsoe has researched WSU’s history extensively, and said WSC had some unique connections to the African American community.

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WSU Insider

15 CAS undergraduates win 10 SURCA research awards

More than a quarter of Washington State University students who delivered virtual presentations won monetary awards at the annual Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) on March 29 in Pullman.

SURCA is the unique WSU-wide venue for students from all majors, years in college, and from all WSU campuses. Nearly 150 students from the Pullman, Vancouver, Spokane, and Global campuses delivered presentations detailing their research, scholarship, and creative activities conducted with a mentor.

Faculty, postdoctoral students, and community experts used a common rubric to judge and score all presentations in nine SURCA categories that are designed to cover all disciplines at the university.

Fifteen CAS students won 10 different awards across seven categories at the 2021 event held online.

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WSU Insider

TCI makes major strides

After five years working on the Transformational Change Initiative, principal investigator Laura Hill has a tough time coming up with any shortcomings of the grant-funded project.

Samantha Swindell.
Swindell

“The intention is to help the students connect with opportunities that align with their values, play to their strengths, and move them toward their goals,” said Sam Swindell, professor of psychology, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and co-principal investigator for TCI. “We recruited a group of ambassadors and they really deliver the program.”

“The experiential and co-curricular opportunities are not just preparing them for jobs, but increasing their breadth of knowledge and helping them to develop a flexible skillset,” Swindell said. “We’re trying to get students engaged as soon as possible. Starting early not only gives them more time to develop their skills and knowledge – and build important relationships – but each opportunity may lead to more opportunities and students are likely be better able to step into those new opportunities because of the experience they have already acquired.”

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WSU Insider