Western Washington University has just launched its new minor in Salish Sea Studies, with a multidisciplinary curriculum spanning all seven of the university’s colleges.

The Salish Sea Studies program develops students’ sense of place by deepening knowledge about the complex ecologies and human experiences of our shared ecoregion. Students will learn how the international Salish Sea is governed by the US, Canada, and over 60 sovereign Tribes and First Nations. 

The Western Gallery at Western Washington University will present two simultaneous exhibitions from Oct. 21 through Dec. 7.

Robert Yerachmiel Sniderman’s “Lost in Jüdischer Friedhof Weißensee” and former faculty member Sebastian Mendes’ “There is a Mirror in My Heart: Reflections on a Righteous Grandfather” both exhibit what Sniderman calls “durational contemplation” - which he defines as “an extended physical-intellectual devotion to a site of excessive meaning.”

Western Washington University will host its annual Children’s and Young Adult Book Sale from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 in College Hall rooms 135 and 137.

The pinto abalone once ranged in large numbers from Alaska to Baja California, but overfishing, poaching and other factors have caused them to become functionally extinct in the Salish Sea; according to figures from the Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, the species has experienced a 98 percent drop in numbers since 1998 in local waters alone.