Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Farm Camp Fun, Rebecca Moore

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This piece is a personal narrative about the journey of a young woman in the constant process of becoming an educator. The wonder of children is what drives this individual, discussed here through the lenses of thought of adultism and with a focus on play. The fallacies of higher education and the systemic injustices the US is built on are touched upon, with specific reference to the industrialized standardized school system. The author promotes the notion that this nation needs educators who see the inherent wisdom in children, because kids are the ones who are the hope for bringing this …

Womxn: An Evolution Of Identity, Ash D. Kunz

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

Environmental Education is situated firmly in the hegemony of White, settler-colonial, capitalistic, able-bodied and –minded, heteronormative, patriarchal society. Individuals whose identity does not conform to this dominant metanarrative are excluded from and marginalized by “othering”. Trauma and violence are commonplace in society against Indigenous peoples, Black and Latinx folx and People of Color, womxn, people with disabilities, people in the LGBTQIA+ community, and all minoritized identities. That history of trauma, coupled with social and physical isolation can lead to mental and emotional struggles that negatively impact personal wellbeing. A lack of wellbeing, in turn can lead to or further depression. …

It’S Not All About Climbing Rocks: Reorienting Outdoor Educators Toward Social Justice, Sarah J. Clement

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

The field of outdoor adventure education was born in the Western world in the twentieth century because of several specific factors. These factors include, but are not limited to: changing Euro-American attitudes toward wilderness, Kurt Hahn’s character education schools and the pervasiveness of white supremacy. Today, outdoor adventure education is widely popular among the white middle class. According to current instructors in the field, outdoor education is for the purpose of individual development, learning in a wilderness setting and teaching students how to be environmental stewards for wild places. These purposes result from underlying, sometimes false, assumptions about the nature …

Stop, Collaborate, And Listen: The Importance Of Critical And Creative Thinking, Kalynne Gallagher

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

Creative thinking and critical thinking are necessary skills for equipping individuals to be the social change makers, leaders and innovators we need to make the world a better place. However, with our current education system focused on standardized testing and conformity, how can we foster these skills and be empowered to challenge assumptions and take risks? Kay ties in her own experience as well as the work from scholars in the field of education like bell hooks, David Orr and Sir Ken Robinson, to support her beliefs. Throughout this piece Kay examines where she believes that her critical thinking and …

White Guy Hiking: How I Learned To Think Critically About My Ecological Identity, Nick Engelfried

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

Our encounters with the “natural” world are made possible by a complex of historical, political, social, and economic forces that shape each person’s ecological identity, or the way in which we relate to nature. I grew up in a White, middle-class family with easy access to green spaces, and this contributed to my growing up to become an environmental activist and educator. I now realize the doors which opened to allow me to embark on this path did not do so by chance and that many other people are prevented from engaging with nature in the ways I did as …

Lessons & Landscapes: Lived Experience In The Outdoors, Rachael Grasso

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This personal narrative documents Rachael Grasso’s lived experience in the outdoors, focusing on mental health and female leadership. Originally written for a graduate capstone presentation, the narrative visits landscapes that Rachael associates with life lessons and pivotal moments in her career and personal life. She hopes to incorporate these experiences into her future work as an educator and outdoor instructor.

(W)Here Is Here?: Variations On Voice And Location In Environmental Education, Alexei Desmarais

Summit to Salish Sea: Inquiries and Essays

This paper revolves around the question “where is here?”, a question that has implications for the politics of self and politics of place. Implications for how we think about ourselves in place, in relationality to other perspectives and epistemic positions, and specifically in relationship to specific geographical, socio-political, and historical structures. Attending to place and emplacement can help us to uncover and celebrate the vitality of particular, incomplete knowledge(s). In working to unsettle universal and hegemonic conceptions of how and what we know, this paper employs a polyphonic and queer logic, which is to say that the many voices and …

Klipsun Magazine, 2019, Volume 50, Issue 01 - Fall, Questen Inghram

Klipsun Magazine

Dear reader, Klipsun Magazine has hit the stands for fifty volumes now—it transformed from student yearbook to a storytelling publication during a time of war, civil unrest, uncertainty and an ever-present sense of indignation. Our writers pursued ledes with that feeling at heart. In this issue you’ll read stories about the long fight to renew the college of ethnic studies, one student’s year-long struggle with homelessness, why one man put a dent in his savings to run for city council, how one person has persevered since her sexual assault and more. I would like to personally thank the Klipsun staff, …

The Planet, 2019, Fall, Emily Dietzel, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Friday Night Lights: A Photo Gallery Normalizing The Psychological Struggles Faced By Student Athletes, Sam J. Reardon

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

This photography-based project aimed to capture moments that encapsulated various psychological conditions student-athletes may be facing in universities. These bold photographs would serve to be eye catching and draw viewers if they were to be hung up in a gallery for students to see. Under the images there would be captions on which students could read statistics regarding the amount of student -athletes that experience these conditions and an avenue for them to find help if they were struggling with the condition. Studies show that collegiate athletes underreport their struggles with psychological conditions though they occur with greater frequency in …

Klipsun Magazine, 2019, Volume 49, Issue 04 - Summer, Angela Wissmar

Klipsun Magazine

Dear Reader, I invite you to savor these pages and indulge on the flavors of life within these stories. I invite you to have a large appetite, to bite off more than you can chew, but to finish anyway. I invite you to always leave room for vulnerability, resilience and change, but with joy as the main course. Maybe you’re like me, finally graduating after a victory lap, stumbling on the pressure cooker of, “what’s next”. “Next” is taking risks. Welcoming failure. Knowing when to ask for help. Never settling. Having the courage to try new things. And not ever …

Klipsun Magazine, 2019, Volume 49, Issue 03 - Spring, Kristina Rivera

Klipsun Magazine

Being ourselves takes courage. Courage to be honest and courage to be vulnerable. I chose authenticity as the theme for this issue of Klipsun because I wanted genuine and honest stories. What I received were stories about fighting for identity, what we can learn about ourselves through the lens of cross-cultural psychology, confronting the past to better understand who we are now and more. When we muster up the courage to tell honest, authentic stories like these, it can remind us we’re not alone. Sometimes that’s all we can ask for. When we’re honest with who we are with each …

American Political Culture And Sarah Palin: Motherhood, Femininity, And Masculinity In The 2008 Presidential Election, Maggie Newhouse

Western Libraries Undergraduate Research Award

Sarah Palin’s Vice-Presidential run can be characterized by displays of motherhood, femininity, and masculinity, themes that reflect changes in American political culture as well as stationary expectations. Palin was praised and criticized for her role as a mother, indicating a shift in political culture that allows women to hold both public and private roles but not without being acceptably successful in both areas. Palin’s performance of traditional femininity and masculinity signifies that women’s political success is contingent on the confirmation and operation of traditional gender expectations such as motherhood and deference to husbands. She both reaffirmed and challenged gender stereotypes, …

The Planet, 2019, Spring, Emily Dietzel, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

A More Sustainable Future: Energy Efficiency Policies In Buildings, Campbell Miller

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Energy efficiency is often times the most cost effective solution towards reducing energy demand. Energy usage in buildings accounts for upwards of 40% of the total energy consumption in the United States, as well as the vast majority of the growth in energy demand. Despite this buildings are often not built to be energy efficient, causing the residential and commercial sector to paying for hundreds of millions dollars on unnecessary energy use. The reason for this is the many market failures including: risk, lack of information, and access to capital. Looking at policies by the United States and China attempting …

Seeking Asylum: Immigration Law In The Context Of Human Rights, Hannah Blank

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The purpose of this paper is to understand the dynamic between Latin American countries and the United States in relation to asylum, mass migration and the process of legally entering the country. This explores the implications of the United States’ current legislature in place and how this caters to the U.S.’s interests. Furthermore, the theoretical implementation of asylum and its political origins are evaluated in the context of organized crime and social issues that impact migration trends. While the movement of goods is acceptable the movement of people is heavily scrutinized and politically charged. My proposed argument is that the …

Public Meetings: Barriers And Solutions, Pauline Mogilevsky

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Public meetings and hearings are some of the most common avenues of interaction between government officials and the public. In many circumstances, they are a legally required element of the public involvement process. However, elected officials, government staff, and residents often find public meetings to be frustrating, unrepresentative, and ineffective (Hajnal and Trounstine, 2016; McComas et al, 2007; Walters et al, 2000). This has prompted many planners to employ other, more nontraditional methods of public participation in order to gain meaningful feedback and build relationships with residents. Though these newer methods, which include workshops, tours, and charrettes, are often more …

Women's Agency In Movements Of Collective Violence, Juliet Knowles

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Though not common in literature, women have frequently taken it upon themselves to form collective movements to address their grievances with society and their discontent within it. To demand change, and when the motivation of the group are strong enough, the methods through which women will achieve political representation will not stop short of violence.

The Subject(S) Of Feminism: Gender Identity, Emotion, And Deconstruction In Contemporary Feminist Politics, Gwen Frost

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The way we think, understand, and speak about gender is changing . In 2019, more people than ever are identifying as nonbinary or gender fluid. Feminism as theory and as political practice has long assumed the subject of ‘women’ as its primary and essential subject, but the issues and subjects that feminism speaks for are not necessarily self-identified or even perceived as ‘women.’ Through analyzing influential feminist works and thinkers, I aim to elucidate the identitarian commitment of canonical feminism, and to offer an alternative to the politics of feminism as always grounded in the subject of ‘women.’ My thesis …

Framing Feminism: How U.S. And French Media Frame #Metoo And #Balancetonporc From A Feminist Perspective, Kira Erickson

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The purpose of this website is to provide a cross-cultural analysis of the .. Me Too" movement in the U.S. and France. These feminist movements are absolutely critical to the ongoing fight against sexual harassment and assault. The creation of this research website explores cultural differences in framing of the subjects in news stories from The New York Times and Le Monde. The #MeToo movement is compared and contrasted with France's counterpart, #BalanceTonPorc.

Website Link:

https://ericks663.wixsite.com/framingfeminism

Regional Textile Production: Mapping The Pacific Northwest Fiber Network, Caroline Vogl

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Inspired by the slow food movement, more people have started to question the source of their clothing and textiles due to the environmental and human rights abuses in the current global fashion industry. The Pacific Northwest in particular is a place where questions about textile production and sourcing have been raised and where many textile farmers, retailers and makers already exist. Currently there are many gaps in production and a lack of connection between the various players in this regional economy. The first step in creating a stronger regionally-based fiber economy is to connect the participants in this economy. To …

Wildfire Education In Washington School Districts, Jessica Martin

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

Wildfire education is an important and often overlooked unit of a comprehensive public school education. Ecology, earth science, and disaster preparedness for events like earthquakes and house fires are examples of subjects already taught to students in schools throughout Washington; however, given the effects of climate change, wildfire education warrants much greater integration into school district curricula. To assess the general extent of wildfire education in Washington state, Washington state public school districts were contacted and asked if they provided their students with wildfire education. A majority of the school districts contacted reported that they either do not formally include …

Finance In The Fifth Dimension: Lessons In Logic For The Social Sciences, Dawson J. Sanders

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

The purpose of this paper is to highlight lessons from various areas of academia that I feel would benefit all social science. I will discuss physics, biology, sociology, and more, doing my best to explicitly state their relationships to economics throughout the paper. I hope that the lessons learned here will together serve as a means for prescribing and evaluating solutions to social problems and assist in the development of models through a new level of methodological dimensionality where applicable. The fifth dimension will serve to metaphorically illustrate this new way of thinking, through which we will construct a theoretical …

Creating Learning Experiences For Anti-Oppression, Pippa Hemsley, Shayna Woods, Tian Qing Yen

Undergraduate Studio Assistant Research

This interactive workshop guides participants through some of the foundational skills and concepts needed for setting up a successful learning experience to build skills related to anti-oppression, involves participants in a demonstration of an actual professional development experience that took place in the Hacherl Research & Writing Studio, and offers a planning template and guidance for creating and successfully implementing a custom learning experience to suit one’s own academic or professional context. Online viewers are encouraged to use this resource as if they were taking part in-person. This workshop was originally held at the Pacific Northwest Writing Centers Association conference …

Klipsun Magazine, 2019, Volume 49, Issue 02 - Winter, Mckenna Cardwell

Klipsun Magazine

As winter extends its icy hold, I often think about life and the journey that lies ahead. There’s something about the frosty mornings and endless grey light that lends itself to self-reflection. If you, like me, find yourself diving into an internal dialogue, you may discover you have an idea of where you want to go, but are caught without a roadmap. Along this path of life, there will be times of uncertainty. Of narrow alleyways you have to pass through in order to get where you’re wanting to go – of passage. But it’s the choices we make during …

The Planet, 2019, Winter, Emily Stout, Huxley College Of The Environment, Western Washington University

The Planet

No abstract provided.

Library Strategic Planning: Impacting Change On A Local Level, Elizabeth Yarbrough

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

How are public libraries responding to the changing needs of today? This project outlines the theory behind Libraries Transforming Communities and Turning Outward, an ALA initiative developed to aid libraries in connecting with the broader communities, and how the Bellingham Public Library in Bellingham, WA is incorporating those theories into their strategic plan.