Videos

J.R.R. Tolkien, wildly popular for his authorship of the fantasy trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," was by profession an unprepossessing Medievalist and historical linguist.

Edward Vajda, a professor in the Modern and Classical Languages Department at Western, discusses Tolkien's imaginary languages and how the author and linguist's extensive knowledge of world languages both ancient and modern lent itself to his creation of languages that add so much realistic depth to his fictional writing.

Jake Shimabukuro, dubbed the "Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele," will play at 8 p.m. today, Friday, Feb. 8, in the Performing Arts Center on the  Western Washington University campus.

Tickets are $24 to $44 and are available at 360-650-6146 or tickets.wwu.edu.

Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education is presenting a talk by prominent education author Barnett Berry from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15 at the Rotunda Room of Whatcom Museum, 121 Prospect St., Bellingham.

The free talk is open to the public and educators are especially encouraged to attend.

Barnett Berry is the founder and president of the Center for Teaching Quality , Inc., based in Carrboro, N.C. Created in 1999, CTQ seeks to dramatically improve student learning by advancing teaching as a 21st century, results-oriented profession.

A former high school teacher, Barnett has worked as a social scientist at the RAND Corp., served as a senior executive with the South Carolina Department of Education, and directed an education policy center while he was a professor at the University of South Carolina. Barnett has authored numerous academic reports and many articles for the popular education press on the future of teaching and learning in 21st century schools and the importance of teacher leadership.

His new book, “TEACHING 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools … Now and in the Future,” penned with 12 expert teachers from CTQ’s Teacher Leaders Network, poses a provocative and hopeful future for the profession. His areas of expertise span the education pipeline from preparing effective teachers to evaluating and rewarding teaching effectiveness.

Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education is recognized throughout Washington, and beyond, as a leader in the development and implementation of programs that prepare outstanding teachers, from early childhood to adult education; educational administration leaders; human services professionals; and rehabilitation counselors. For more information please see Woodring College. 

Western's HANDS (Helping Admit New and Diverse Students) mentorship outreach program will hold a free showing of the film "First Generation" at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 12, in Academic Instructional Center West Room 204.

This event is free and open to the public.

The purpose of the showing is to bring awareness to the issues faced by first-generation high school students striving to attain a college education. A lack of resources and guidance often leads to a mindset in which college is just not an option for these students. This is where mentoring can really make a difference. After the film, HANDS mentors will provide all attendees with resources and information about mentoring programs (HANDS, Student Outreach Services, Compass 2 Campus) in which they can get involved and really emphasize the significance of a mentor in students' lives. 

Film Description: Narrated by Golden Globe nominee Blair Underwood, "First Generation" tells the story of four high school students -- an inner city athlete, a small town waitress, a Samoan warrior dancer and the daughter of migrant field workers -- who set out to break the cycle of poverty and bring hope to their families and communities by pursuing a college education.

Shot over the course of three years and featuring some of our nation's top educational experts (Richard Kahlenberg, The Century Foundation; J.B. Schramm, College Summit; Dr. Bill Tierney, University of Southern California), this 95 minute documentary explores the problem of college access faced by first generation and low-income students and how their success has major implications for the future of our nation.

If you have any questions about this event, please contact RobelPaguio at robel.paguio@wwu.edu or 360-650-7946.

Simon Blackwell, vice president of Technology and Digital Gaming at Wizards of the Coast LLC and an alumnus of Western Washington University, addressed graduates and their families at Western’s fall commencement Saturday, Dec. 15, at 10 a.m. in Carver Gym.

Seattle art patrons Virginia Wright and her husband, the late Bagley Wright, received the President’s Award for their significant contributions to public art in the Pacific Northwest, particularly to Western Washington University and the nationally renowned Outdoor Sculpture Collection.

Graduating senior Brandi Widenmeyer, an Environmental Conservation major from Bellingham, gave the student commencement address.

In addition to the full video above, highlights from the ceremony also are available.

Approximately 615 undergraduates and about 45 master’s candidates received degrees this quarter.

The ceremony’s main speaker, Simon Blackwell, is vice president of Technology and Digital Gaming at Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro and the home of Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and many other role-playing games. Blackwell graduated from Western in 1984 with a degree in Philosophy and in 2010 was named a Distinguished Alumnus from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The student commencement speaker, Brandi Widenmeyer, graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Conservation. Widenmeyer, of Bellingham, also holds an Associate in Technical Arts degree from Skagit Valley College and hopes to incorporate her love of botany into her conservation work.

Thirteen Western Washington University students spent the past summer in China looking in-depth at Chinese society for a Society 437 course titled "Changing China -- Culture, Community, and Citizenship."

While in country, each student conducted research on a topic of his or her interest, collecting audio, video and interview data. Among the topics were environmental awareness, sex education, consumption behaviors among youth and college communities.

The China trip was led by sociology assistant professor Baozhen Luo and political science associate professor Kristen Parris. The course started in Beijing on Aug. 19, where the group visited famous sites such as the Great Wall, Forbidden City and 2008 Olympic sites Bird Nest and Water Cube.
The group then spent 10 days in Gansu province at Lanzhou University and in the city of Hangzhou at Zhejiang University. In those places, numerous field trips included a six-day road trip on ancient “Silk Road.” The group also visited various middle schools, communities, peasants’ homes and farms, and rural clinics. The traveling portion of the course ended in Shanghai on Sept. 16.

Registered Pet Partner Teams (dogs and handlers) will be visiting the Western Washington University campus this week and next to provide some "doggie therapy" for those who may be stressed out by finals or who just want to relax a bit.

Dogs and their handlers will be in the alcove near the Wilson Library end of the skybridge on these days. Additional dogs and times may be added.

• Monday, Dec. 3: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 4: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 5: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 6: noon to 4 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 7: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m.

Finals Week:

• Monday, Dec. 10: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Dec. 11: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 12: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 13: 10 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 4 p.m.

Pet Partner teams have met certain standards of skills and aptitude and are considered safe, healthy and well behaved by various agencies. The dogs represent registration in Delta Society of WA, Therapy Dogs International, Love on a Leash, and Dogs on Call. While Dogs on Call does not certify dogs themselves, they act as a "placement agency" that accepts only registered dogs on their roles, verifies their suitability and attempts to connect them with organizations in the community.

A team of Western Washington University students in Kevin Carey’s Communications 224 service-learning course created a video promoting the Bellingham Jingle Bell Run for their community partner, The Arthritis Foundation’s Great Northwest Region.

This year's 25th annual event will feature the "$25 for 25 Years" challenge, which urges participants to raise at least an additional $25 above and beyond the registration fee to help those with arthritis.

The 5K event begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at Bellingham High School. The course ends where it started after taking runners and walkers on Girard and Broadway streets and then down Cornwall Avenue.

J.R.R. Tolkien, wildly popular for his authorship of the fantasy trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," was by profession an unprepossessing Medievalist and historical linguist.

In this lecture, delivered at Western Washington University Nov. 14, 2012, Edward Vajda, a professor in the Modern and Classical Languages Department at Western, discusses "Tolkien's Imaginary Languages."

Tolkien's extensive knowledge of world languages both ancient and modern lent itself to his creation of the artificial languages that add so much realistic depth to his fictional writing. Vajda's presentation will describe the languages Tolkien created for his Middle Earth by revealing their connection with the actual spoken languages he studied during his academic career.

Watch this lecture to explore the ingenious sound symbolism and etymological connotations employed by this master storyteller—and learn a great many things about the real languages of Eurasia along the way.

Sponsored by the WWU Linguistics Club.

Four young men sleep on a dirt floor of an adobe shed in a small Guatemalan village. No access to clean water and the constant itch of fleas is a pressing reminder of their situation. But they are not alone.

Of the children and adolescents living in rural areas, 76 percent live in poverty. This high number is one reason that Western Washington University graduate Sean Leonard and current Western student Ryan Christoffersen lived in Guatemala for eight weeks.

Two of Leonard’s friends from Claremont McKenna College in California asked Leonard and Christoffersen to join them in Guatemala during the summer of 2010. The goal was to document four friends living on one dollar a day in Guatemala, and the reality of the situation.

Never having learned Spanish or visiting a third-world country, Leonard didn’t know what to expect when he arrived in Central America.

“I was completely shocked at the struggles and pure hardship of what someone like that has to go through,” Leonard said.

Leonard graduated in spring 2012 with a creative writing major from the English department. He used his experience as an English major to tell and craft the stories of the people who lived in the village.

Leonard said he owes a lot to the English department, because it gave him the skills to think critically about how to develop a story.

“It is really about the stories down there, the day in and day out struggles, and how they survive,” Leonard said about the documentary. “Their dreams, aspirations, and how they achieve their goals.”

Leonard encourages everyone to step into someone else’s shoes and have empathy for someone else.

“How can you help without understanding what they go through?” Leonard asks.

The basis of the documentary isn’t to build a guilt-based media. Instead, Leonard advises students not to feel guilty but rather to feel empowered with a college education. He said that students should use all of the resources on campus and make changes with what is available.

Leonard is the creative director and co-founder of “Living On One.” He said it was an incredible journey to work on the project, which took two years to complete. The “Living One One” movement has been on tour, showing their documentary, since early September, and has visited 13 states.

The documentary will be screened at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 26, at the Pickford Film Center on Bay Street. Entrance to the film is free.

The film is being screened in partnership with AS Films, KVIK and the Econ Club, which will be introducing the filmmakers.