Education Commons^™

Fierce Female Friendships: An Artistic Representation And Exploration Of The Benefits Of Gender-Based Inclusivity And Community In Stem, Maya Bachmeier-Evans

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Incorporating visual art, social research, women’s studies, and artificial intelligence, Fierce Female Friendships investigates the ramifications of gendered experience on the learning environment. By reflecting upon her work in a male-dominated discipline, the author transforms her sense of classroom isolation into two paintings that highlight the subtle yet significant differences that separate inclusivity from alienation. In addition to her personalized reflections, the author also creates a fourteen-question survey which invites her peers to consider gender in academia, to assess their experiences on a university campus, and to imagine how they might depict those experiences using visual art. Positing the idea …

Verb Strings And Other Weavings: An Exploration Of Grammatical Structures, Visual Arts, And Language Teaching, Mae Bash

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In language education, visual arts are sometimes used as a tool to inspire communication and convey cultural concepts. However, limited research has looked into the application of visual arts in the classroom for the exploration of linguistic patterns. Both languages and weavings are complex systems governed by distinct sets of rules, yet they still permit infinite unique productions. This project explores this relationship by presenting five bandweavings, each of which is designed based on the rules and structures of different languages. These weavings show that it is possible to connect art and language through practical, structural methods, not only abstract …

Honoring The Gift: An Epistolary Exploration Of An Alternative Approach To Learning Grounded In Reciprocity And Gratitude, Tegan Keyes

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

In this project, I explore what it means to honor knowledge as a gift. This document includes a selection of letters I wrote to my teachers to express my gratitude to them, along with a written narrative in which I describe my vision of an alternative approach to undergraduate education that centers gratitude, reciprocity, and self-determination. This narrative weaves together lessons from emergence theory, Indigenous systems of education, and gift economies to tell a story of a life-sustaining education system that is grounded in the understanding that knowledge is a gift.

On The Continuity Of Learning, Teaching, Schooling: Mead’S Educational Proposal, From The Perspective Of Decolonization And Land/Place-Based Education, Cary Campbell

Journal of Educational Controversy

In her 1943 article “Our Educational Emphases,” Margaret Mead inquired: What constitutes education in “the broadest sense” of the term, as a continuing human process. More specifically she asked, how and from what basis can we understand the educational processes of long-standing/Indigenous societies as continuous with the forms of education practiced in modern industrialized society? In short, Mead proposes that we recognize the essential continuity of learning, teaching, and schooling across all human societies. In this article, I explore the controversies that Mead’s proposal raises for contemporary, intersecting discourses on decolonization, Indigenous pedagogy, and place- and Land-based education. I argue …

Dear Future, Sarah Kerby

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Dear Future is a children’s book that gives the main character Lucy, and our younger readers, insight into life during the COVID-19 pandemic through the form of letters. In the story, Lucy decides to question her mother about the pandemic after vaguely hearing about it throughout her childhood. Lucy’s mother was also not alive during the pandemic, but shares letters written to Lucy’s namesake and grandmother Lucille. The letters throughout the story are real letters written by 17 anonymous individuals about their current Covid experiences. Through this book I hope to teach others in the future about the hardships we …

More Than Meets The Eye; Accessibility Of Scientific Information Through Art, Rachael Barrows

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Science is inaccessible to learn in a myriad of ways. Financially it can be difficult to get information. It can also be hard to look up information on your own without knowing what to look for. Teaching science also involves a lot of reading that can be difficult for some disabilities. Through art, however, science can become more accessible, both to share and to learn. Visual learning benefits understanding and retention of information as well as creates clearer holistic concepts. Through paintings, this project shares some scientific information, exploring a way to share and teach science that is more accessible.

Raising Canes: Crafting Disability Narratives, Charlotta Abernathy

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Disability is a common part of life, but not a well understood part of our cultural conscience. Because of this, the oppression that disabled people face, ableism, is particularly pervasive and under addressed. In order to begin to chip away at the systemic ableism that is embedded in all parts of society, disabled people need better representation in the media. This means not just showing stories that involve disabled people or that are about disabled people, but actual stories by disabled people about disability. One area of particular interest to me is addressing ableist misconceptions about assistive technology. To take …

In-Site: A New Realism - Wwu Art Studio 2020 Catalog, Joel Aparicio, Ellie Bacchus, Shannon Delurio, Payton Dickerson, Madison Dowling, Amanda Kartes, Sarah Kindl, Suzie Marco, Ashly Mcbride, Jillian Roth

B.F.A. Catalogs

In-site: A New Realism is the 2020 Western Washington University Art Studio BFA Exhibition Catalog. It features the work of 10 artists, their artist statements, and responses by art historians.

Give Me A Mic And A Stage: A Case For Slam Poetry, Identity, And Socio-Emotional Learning In The High School Classroom, Cristina V. Ramirez

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Many research companies in the past decade have been interested in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). In particular, these companies often look at how a lack of SEL education in schooling affects the ability for students to learn and later develop essential skills such as identifying emotions, positive goal setting, decision-making, and many other crucial socio-emotional skills that are often taken for granted. This paper seeks to find and discuss how SEL intersects with teaching a slam poetry unit in a high school sophomore English classroom. Through looking at the connections between slam poetry and SEL, this paper argues that …

Occam's Razor Vol. 10 - Full (2020), Ally Remy

Occam's Razor

No abstract provided.

A Case For Unforgiveness As A Legitimate Moral Response To Historical Wrongs, Hollman Lozano

Journal of Educational Controversy

Abstract:

The emergence of forgiveness as the preferred mechanism through which historical wrongs are addressed within reconciliation discourses has meant that for the people who cannot forgive or will not forgive, there are no alternatives other than insisting on forgiveness until it hopefully one day arrives. As such, the point of unforgiveness is to constitute an agentic space where the people who cannot forgive can articulate their stance in ways that not only allow them to articulate their resistance to the injunction to forgive, but also constitute alternative spaces whereby they can articulate their stance in inclusive ways. If we …

Chalk Drawings: A Series, Sophia Marble

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Initially, over a year ago, I was talking to one of the Vital Climbing managers and expressing my curiosity about their artist space. Have there ever been writers who display here? At the time, I was a member of the climbing gym. Every month-or-so I stopped above the steps to view and appreciate the variety of visual artists and photographers who showcase at this location. The artist space is small, a section of brick wall at the entry of their gym. Lights above the posted art highlights the works as climbers walk up and down the stairs. It’s so fun …

Regendering Iraq: State Feminism, Imperial Feminism, And Women’S Rights Under Sanctions, Samia Saliba

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

From 1990-2003, the United Nations, largely at the direction of the United States., enforced a strict set of international sanctions against Iraq with the goal of eliminating chemical weapons in Iraq and weakening Saddam Hussein’s regime. While the impacts of these sanctions were widespread and devastating, this period also saw a specific loss of rights and worsening of social and economic conditions for most Iraqi women. In this paper, I examine these understudied gendered impacts of sanctions, particularly on women’s participation in the workforce, education, and political arena; as well as their impacts on family structures and marriage, gender-based violence …

Fever Dreams: Wwu Art Studio Bfa Exhibition Catalog, Emeline Agnew, Jesse Lee Alkire, Lindsey Hammerle, Ruby Rae Jones, Ramneet Kaur, Abigail March, Carly Mccartney, Keiko Scott, Casper Truong, Ellery Von Dassow

B.F.A. Catalogs

Fever Dreams is the 2019 Western Washington University Art Studio BFA Exhibition Catalog. It features the work of 10 artists, their artist statements, and responses by art historians. There is also a curatorial statement by Hafthor Yngvason, curator.

Chinese Roots, Foreign Branches: Forestry As Self-Strengthening In The Late Qing, Emily Bunker

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

Previous examinations of Self-Strengthening in Late Qing China have focused on the movement's military and educational dimensions. Moreover, there exists a general conception of Late Qing China as being a period of decline. This paper, based on articles and official Chinese government memorials appearing in The Chinese Times, an English language newspaper that ran from 1886-1891, examines forestry efforts in the Late Qing as an example of Self-Strengthening. Looking at the movement from this angle, several newfound dimensions of Self-Strengthening emerge, including a link to Chinese cosmology and the ruler-subject relationship, examples of localized benefits, and a reexamination of the …

Negotiating The Boundaries Of Solarpunk Literature In Environmental Justice, Kenneth Farver

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Imagine a world where climate change issues are solved. Societies have begun a green reformation, and postponed other endeavors to focus solely on creating a sustainable planet. Different nations make use of green technology and alternative energies, while still allowing citizens to live a relatively similar lifestyle to people today. Global green quotas are met by major nations, and the climate catastrophe is pushed far ahead into the future. Now imagine a world where climate justice issues are also solved. Along with achieving sustainable restructuring of environmental ecosystems, societies have undertaken a serious upheaval in their social ecosystems as well. …

Diamonds And Toads: An Adaptation Of Charles Perrault’S Les Fées, Jessi Pitts

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

An American Southwest full length adaptation of Charles Perrault’s Les Fées for the stage. The lives of Fanny, Rose, and their mother are changed when Rose is given a blessing by a fairy: whenever she speaks, diamonds fall from her lips. But the softness of a throat stands no choice against the sharp edges of a diamond. Diamonds and Toads explores a dysfunctional family, what it means to be a good person, and the obsession a child has to gain the approval of their parents.

Museums In A Shifting Paradigm: Defining A New “Traditional”, Cejay Johnson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Increased interaction with museums, correlated with tourism, prompts changes in practice and new approaches to community engagement, leading to a redefinition of the term “traditional” within a museum context. In exploration of museum structures, both physical and conceptual, I argue for continued redefinition rather than deconstruction of museum practices through the lens of reflexivity and audience engagement. To exemplify these themes, I also highlight the museum exhibition floor, where patrons encounter the work of curators and exhibition designers. Analysis of exhibit arrangement and content can facilitate awareness about how museums attempt to engage with their audiences. To demonstrate this, I …

Against The Grain: A Philosophical Case For Requiring Service-Learning, Not Volunteer Hours, Among College Students, Daniel Gallegos

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Policymakers and educators throughout the United States and abroad have long considered whether students should be required to participate in community service. Here, I provide a philosophical analysis of the issue, referring to the literature on the topic as well as the social crises which must be addressed, whether by students or otherwise. I conclude that while students should voluntarily participate in community service, they should not be required to engage merely by way of fulfilling a certain number of service hours. However, schools should require their students to participate in a service-learning curriculum with an accompanying community engagement project, …

The Reason: A Young Adult Novel Exploring Efficiency And Artificial Intelligence, Kira Stussy

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The project presented was a novel written over the course of a year. It is a young adult science fiction book that takes place in a future ruled by an AI that separates everything (even people) into efficient and inefficient. The actual novel discussed in this presentation is in the process of being queried to agents for publication. Therefore, the actual content of the novel is not included. Instead, provided is the process and next steps for the book to give a general idea of the thought and work that went into this project and what hopefully awaits it in …

The Best Medicine: An Exploration Of Laughter And Dark Comedy, Helen Anderson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

A brief and personal exploration of laughter and dark comedy: what laughter is, what it means, and why it matters, with specific emphasis on the contributions of laughter, humor, and dark comedy to modern society. Personal anecdotes and some short fiction writing alternate roughly with sections of more research-based writing to lend an “easy read” style to the piece.

Robodoc: Ethics Of Ai In Medicine, Halley Egnew

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

What do we do when the doctor of the future may not be human? In order to assess the full effect of trying to replace human caregivers with AI machines, we must investigate the types of ethics that these machines would work under—implicit, explicit, and full. The type of AI that movies present us with are fully ethical AI; they have a sense of self. The possible implementation of AI in medicine forces us to confront not just new technology, but also the definition of consciousness and free will, so I advise that for now we just stick to implicit …

Women In The First Crusade And The Kingdom Of Jerusalem, Maria Carriere

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

An overview of the actions of women in the first crusade.

Unpaid Arts Internships: A Personal Account On Gaining Experience With Arts Organizations, And Observations Of Systemic Inequalities Within The Structure Of Unpaid Internships, Grace Heller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

A personal essay detailing six months spent as an unpaid intern at a nationally recognized theatre company. This paper explores the exploitative nature of unpaid internships, and takes into consideration the growing number of unpaid interns across the United States in the last decade. Also included is an analysis of which members of our society are able to financially afford to participate in unpaid internships, and the implications that has for who is entering the job market with possible advantages. Throughout the personal narrative of this paper, social and financial privilege are examined as factors that help young individuals afford …

How To Make An Orchestra Alone: A Critical, Experiential Performance Of Ben’S Year In The Mountains, Ben Kusserow

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This paper shares the hour-performance traveled from the boat house to the middle of the dam on Diablo Lake, WA. There were two distinct activities in each of the four sections. In each section, Ben shared a story from his year in the NCI Graduate Residency program. He then engaged the audience in some critical thought leading into an activity.

Faith And Environmentalism: A Personal Reflection, Jessica T. Davis

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This paper was presented as a culminating capstone project at North Cascades Institute as required by Western Washington University’s M.Ed. program in Environmental Education. Guided by seven themes, this paper seeks to demonstrate the connection between Faith and the environment. The seven connections explored include the following: prayer and meditation, peace, food consumption, seasons, material consumption, taking care, and fellowship. While environmentally responsible decisions may not necessarily be a top priority for all people of Faith, religious beliefs and Spirituality may influence some to develop a deeper connection to the environment. Although this paper is a personal reflection, focused on …

Runaway Slave Advertisements From Loyalist Newspapers Of The Maritime Colonies, Sarah Elizabeth Chute

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The end of the American War of Independence prompted thousands of Loyalist refugees to flee the United States. 30,000 went to the Maritime colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, bringing with them roughly 1,200 enslaved people. The newspapers founded by these Loyalists include advertisements for runaway slaves. These advertisements reveal the presence of slavery Maritime colonies and explain the nature of slavery there. Comparisons between these advertisements and those from other British North American colonies complicate the traditional understanding of Canada as a land of freedom for many black people. Significantly, these advertisements also bear witness …

Conceptual Metaphor And Its Role In The Composition, Performance, And Consumption Of Music, Loren Natario

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

An analysis of conceptual metaphor (as described by George Lakoff) within the field of music discourse. I examined specific instances of conceptual metaphor and extrapolated to draw conclusions regarding patterns of reasoning and conceptualizations of music as a whole. Despite my observations of conceptual metaphor being limited to the English language, I argue that there is a degree of universality of these conceptualizations (at least within the domain of Western music) and provided evidence of similar conceptualizations outside of the English language. I also argue that significant changes in musical aesthetics in the 19^th and 20^th century can …

On The Outskirts Of Europe: Mikhail Glinka And His Spanish Overtures, Natalie Olivia Maeda

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This paper explores the circumstances in which Mikhail Glinka wrote his two Spanish overtures, discussing how and why Glinka's overtures differ from other Spanish-based pieces by non-Spanish composers of this time.

"Does The Common Core Further Democracy? A Response To ‘The Common Core And Democratic Education: Examining Potential Costs And Benefits To Public And Private Autonomy’,", Johann N. Neem

History Faculty and Staff Publications

The Common Core does not advance democratic education. Far from it, the opening section of the language standards argues that the goal of public K–12 education is “college and career readiness.” Only at the end of their introductory section do the Common Core’s authors suggest that K–12 education has any goals beyond the economic: learning to read and write well has “wide applicability outside the classroom and work place,” including preparing people for “private deliberation and responsible citizenship in a republic.” The democratic purposes of K–12 education are not goals but, in the Common Core’s words, a “natural outgrowth” of …