Videos
Students in Dipu Gupta's set design class at Western Washington University have been using a 3D printer to help them conceptualize various aspects of design without having to physically build a large-scale model.
"It's one of a series of things we're doing to increase the kind of technology we use," Gupta said. "Not just for the sake of technology, but also targeting in a way that will actually be useful in the careers of the future."
"In ways like this, we're at the forefront," he added. "No other department I know about is doing this."
Forty images from the Western Gallery Collection, telling stories and offering narratives of historical and fictional events, will be on display in Wilson Library from May 30 to July 30 in a show titled “Superposition: Merging Narratives Past and Present.”
The show is free and open to the public.
The term superposition, from the field of quantum mechanics, refers to a system existing in all possible states when unobserved; similarly, a work of art can exist in any number of interpretations until it is viewed, when the viewer narrows it down to a personal reflection. It is hoped that the images in this exhibition, covering topics as various as mythology, daily life, and identity, will stimulate multiple interpretations.
Students in Art History 490, Exhibition: Theory and Practice, did all of the research on the images, wrote the wall text relating the narratives specific to the works, and participated in the works’ installation in the library.
The opening of the exhibition involved performances, as seen in the video, that revolved around selected images from the exhibition.
The exhibition is being installed with the help of Sarah Clark-Langager, director of the Western Gallery, and Paul Brower, Preservation and Museum Specialist 2, and in consultation with library staff Leslie Hall, Michelle Becker, Clarissa Mansfield, and Shevell Thibou.
For more information about the exhibition or for disability accommodation, please contact Julia Sapin at (360) 650-3670, julia.sapin@wwu.edu.
Western Washington University held its annual student robot competition May 30, in conjunction with the Northwest Robot Festival in the Communications Facility on campus.
The yearly event is sponsored by the WWU College of Sciences and Technology, the WWU Department of Computer Science, the WWU Department of Engineering Technology and the Bellingham AI and Robot Society.
Jeff Augustin, a quickly rising star in theatre, is in residence at Western Washington University writing and rehearsing a new play about the decline and rebirth of Detroit.
The play, commissioned by Western, is called "Corktown," and includes live music, gospel songs, poetic text, eccentric characters, mature language, humor, performer and audience shared space, with the city of Detroit as its protagonist.
Corktown is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Detroit. The play follows the gentrification of a fallen city through its past, present, and future, from 2007 to 2034.
"Corktown" is written as environmental theatre in which the audience moves with the performers from space to space on Western's campus. "Part I -- Detroit past" takes place in a parking garage underneath Nash Hall. "Part II -- Detroit present" occurs behind the College of Fine and Performing Arts. "Part III -- Detroit future" is performed in the Douglas UnderGround Theatre. Parts I and II are outside, but are in covered areas to protect the standing audience from any potential rain.
Augustin is rapidly gaining national recognition for his work. He premiered "Cry, Old Kingdom" at the Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Theatre Festival in March 2013. Humana is the largest new works festival in the United States. He also won the Lorraine Hansberry Award at the National Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, a very prestigious award. Western's commission is Augustin's first.
"Corktown" is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Rich Brown. Brown is a pioneer in the field of Devised Theatre, a form of theatre where a collaborative ensemble collectively generates new plays.
"Corktown" will runs at Western May 22 to 31, with daily performances at 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $4-12 and are available at the Western Box Office, by calling (360) 650-6146, or online at tickets.wwu.edu.
Please note that "Corktown" contains mature subject matter and language and may not be suitable for all audiences. Due to the locations of the performances, standing and moving from place to place is required. Audience members will meet in the lobby of the Performing Arts Center. Audience members with impaired mobility should provide advance notice to the Box Office; an usher will be provided to anyone needing special assistance moving between the locations.
Every five months, students from Asia University in Tokyo put on a special Japan Night event for Western Washington University students.
Sophomores at Asia University in Japan spend five months studying at Western through the Asia University America Program. While at Western, the students take 20 hours of intensive English and are immersed in American culture and activities, living with WWU student roommates and exploring the Bellingham and Whatcom County communities.
The Japan Night celebration of Japanese language and culture is a way for the AUAP students to give back and to share their experiences with Western students and the Bellingham community.
"They pour themselves into this," said Dean Hagin, director of AUAP at Western. "It's to our benefit, and it's a way for them to share their talents."
Harvard professor Eric Mazur, whose innovative educational approach is credited with helping to transform college physics classes, is the first winner of the $500,000 Minerva Prize for Advancements in Higher Education, the Minerva Academy announced.
Mazur, the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics and Area Dean for Applied Physics at Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a member of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, spoke at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, last week about Peer Instruction methodology and how assessment methods are crucial to what and how students learn.
The highest level of learning occurs when students are faced with questions that reflect how the world really works, and have the chance to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate what they have learned, Mazur told his audience of faculty and students at WWU.
When students are assessed only on their ability to regurgitate memorized knowledge, they are working at a lower level and over time retain less of what they were taught.
Mazur pointed out that teachers get the results they test for, and study habits are determined by what is assessed, whether that is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate, or simply knowledge and comprehension. At present, he said, "assessment is mostly focused on ranking and classifying. We must rethink assessment because if we fail to do so we will continue to educate the followers of yesterday."
As an example of lower-level learning, Mazur noted that flashcards are designed to transfer information, but studies show that only 35% of information from flashcards is retained after one week. And the lecture is outmoded, because it focuses on information transfer, he said.
While traditional textbook problems ask students to apply known procedures to derive unknown outcomes or answers, real-world problems work the other way: the desired outcome is known, but the procedure is up to the student to figure out.
He gave the example of someone needing to travel to another city to present at a conference the next morning but whose flight is cancelled. The problem is known: the flight has been cancelled. And the desired outcome is known: getting to the conference in time to present. What is unknown is the necessary procedure to achieve that outcome: how to find an alternative way to make it to the conference.
Computers do well at applying known procedures to find unknown answers, Mazur said. Just as robots have replaced assembly jobs, computers will make jobs involving memorization or rote procedures unnecessary. For humans, he said, "We should focus on authentic problems."
In Peer Instruction, assessment offers the opportunity for feedback, not ranking, and helps students develop the ability to assess their own learning. That's important, Mazur noted, because much "real" learning begins after graduation, and students need to know how to assess whether they are learning in real life.
The Minerva Prize, which opened for global nominations in April 2013, recognizes a faculty member from any institution worldwide who has made a significant impact on student learning experiences through extraordinary innovation in higher education.
"Mazur's development of the Peer Instruction teaching methodology, now broadly adopted, embodies the innovation in teaching excellence that the Minerva Prize was conceived to recognize and promote," said Roger Kornberg, Nobel Laureate and Governor of the Minerva Academy.
Nearly 1,500 papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals and numerous books have been written on Peer Instruction, including guides for educators to incorporate Peer Instruction into their classrooms. Mazur's 1997 book, Peer Instruction: A User's Manual, has been translated into four languages. He presents frequently on STEM education and Peer Instruction.
Mazur has authored approximately 30 research publications on optical physics for SPIE, and is on the program committee for the conference on Frontiers in Ultrafast Optics: Biomedical, Scientific, and Industrial Applications at SPIE Photonics West. He has received numerous awards, held several appointments as visiting professor or distinguished lecturer, and is a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences of the Netherlands and the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities.
SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics, a not-for-profit organization founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The Society serves nearly 256,000 constituents from approximately 155 countries, offering conferences, continuing education, books, journals, and a digital library in support of interdisciplinary information exchange, professional networking, and patent precedent. SPIE provided more than $3.2 million in support of education and outreach programs in 2013.
Western Washington University held its fifth annual Back2Bellingham reunion weekend for alumni, families, students, faculty/staff and community May 16 to 18.
Back2Bellingham offers an opportunity for all WWU colleges, departments, clubs and organizations to bring potential and current students, parents and staff together to network with alumni and faculty.
"Back2Bellingham is not only for alums; we invite anyone with a connection to Western to come experience campus, classes without quizzes and a variety of events available to create an entertaining weekend," Chris Roselli, director of young alumni and student programs at the Western Alumni Association, said. "The list of activities extends to the entire Bellingham community and Whatcom County, including local businesses that will sponsor events and offer special discounts for that weekend."
Back2Bellingham's fifth year featured more than 100 reunions, tours, educational discussions, athletic events, recreational and entertainment opportunities, with live music on four stages. Guest speakers for 2014 included environmentalist and founder of 350.org, Bill McKibben, as well as YouTube sensation and inspirational speaker "Dancing Matt" Harding.
Registration included a BBQ lunch on Old Main Lawn with live music by the Prime Time Band, the Red Square Carnival with a 250-foot zip line through campus, Party in the Library, Classes without Quizzes, Junior Viking Blast Pass and kids athletic camps, Downtown Bellingham Bash at Boundary Bay Brewery and campus tours.
Also occurring were the 15th Annual Scholars Week Showcase and the "Spring into Western" event for high school students.
For more information, visit www.back2bellingham.com.
Students from the Omega Beta chapter of the Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity at Western Washington University took pies in the face Tuesday, May 12, in Red Square.
"Midterms, they keep you inside, they make you study," said Kim Schiller, a WWU sophomore and AKPsi member. "But this is kind of a fun way to take a break and have some fun and meet new people."
Michael Jaross, a board member with the Mount Baker Beekeepers Association, works with Western Washington University students such as Roby Ventres-Pake to maintain an apiary to help with pollenation at the student-run Outback Farm on the Western campus.
The farm, situated between Fairhaven College and Buchanan Towers on south campus, includes an orchard, vegetable gardens, several chickens and more.
The beekeepers hope to expand the number of hives to six by the end of the summer.
Brent Carbajal has been named as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Western Washington University, President Bruce Shepard announced.
“I am absolutely delighted that our campus will be able to draw upon the talents of such a proven academic leader as Dr. Carbajal,” Shepard said. “Brent deeply understands what Western is foremost about: he knows our values and lives them.”
In June 2013, Carbajal was appointed to a two-year fixed term as provost. Effective today, he will serve permanently as provost.
“I was honored last summer to accept a fixed-term appointment to serve as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, and this academic year has taught me much about the position,” Carbajal said. “I'm now excited to accept an ongoing commitment to work in this capacity, an acceptance informed in part by a fuller understanding of the responsibilities of the position, but also by the fact that I've enjoyed collaborating with President Shepard and colleagues across campus. I look forward to my role in Western's exciting future and I'm humbled by the opportunity.”
Last year, when Carbajal was appointed to serve as provost for two years, Shepard promised that after a year he would consult widely to determine whether to conduct a national search or to make the appointment of Carbajal permanent.
Recently, Shepard engaged in extensive dialogue with campus leaders, including members of the Board of Trustees, student, faculty and staff leadership, and the chairs of the Foundation and Alumni boards. The support for Carbajal was overwhelming.
“The consensus was that we could search the nation and not find someone better suited than Dr. Carbajal,” Shepard said.
Prior to serving as provost Carbajal was dean of Western’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the university’s largest college with 13 academic departments.
Carbajal has master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Washington. He has been at Western since 1997, serving as a professor of Spanish and for eight years as chair of the University’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages.
Prior to Western, he was an assistant and associate professor of Spanish at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. He has published widely in the areas of Latin American literature and culture and Hispanic-American literature and culture.
The provost and vice president for Academic Affairs is the chief academic officer of Western Washington University and has senior leadership responsibility, particularly having policy and decision responsibility for academic programs, faculty, academic relations with other organizations, academic budgets and academic facilities planning. The provost serves as a member of the senior management team and fulfills an important role in university wide matters. He also represents the university to appropriate external people and organizations and serves as president when the president is unavailable.