UWT FavoritesINSIDE OUT: Ways UWT People Address Equity Globally
This is a new feature that spotlights the work of UWT faculty and staff members whose efforts on behalf of equity link local and global concerns in research and practice. The information presented is based on a series of interviews with the staff member, so any misrepresentations are likely the result of our editing and not the information conveyed. Our purpose is to bring awareness to their work and inspire others to consider similar efforts. From time to time the spotlight will shift to new faces and new works. For now we hope you find affirmation for your equity efforts and inspiration for new ways to approach social justice issues. -S. Parker
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Interview with Dr. Annette Henry
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Dr. Annette Henry |
For Dr. Annette Henry, a valued member of the UW Tacoma Education Faculty since 2005, education is an extremely political act. It is about equity,
access, and social justice. In the summer of 2006, she brought her teaching abilities and experience to Project Teach/Konbit Pwof, an effort to
rebuild Haitian education due to decades upon decades of international exploitation and manipulation, as well as internal political instability
and violence in which many intellectuals and leaders fled, were exiled or killed. Haiti has a rich legacy as the "first Black republic in the modern
world" and, according to Noam Chomsky, the "New World's second oldest republic."
Started in 1998 by Haitian-born educator, Pierre Joanis, who now lives in Canada, Konbit Pwof is designed to improve education and foster children's
rights through specialized training for teachers and administrators. It is held in different Haitian cities each summer. Haitian schools suffer from
severe shortages of everything: from physical facilities (doors, walls, benches, desks, blackboards), to basic supplies (books, paper, chalk,
scissors, pens, pencils, rulers), to teachers (some city schools have 150 students in a classroom). However, the obstacles extend beyond basic
resources to intellectual resources: teachers "lack both sufficient education for themselves and training in how to convey what they do know to
students."
Dr. Henry helped organize and teach seminars that focused on lesson planning, classroom management, and, above all, children's rights to dignity
and respectful interactions. "It is the simple things that matter," stated Dr. Henry. Bringing her experience in Haiti back to UW Tacoma,
Dr. Henry speaks to students about drawing connections between the two communities. She feels that in all educational contexts, "the same issues
exist but [the difference] is about the degree that they happen." In the future she plans to foster similar educational projects that would
involve UW Tacoma students.
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Interview with Dr. Emily Noelle Ignacio
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Dr. Emily Ignacio |
Dr. Emily Noelle Ignacio believes that education takes place in the classroom and beyond. An Associate Professor in Sociology at University of Washington Tacoma and author of Building Diaspora (Rutgers University Press), Dr. Ignacio is actively involved in multiple non-profit organizations in Tacoma and Chicago, including the Peace Corner Youth Center (Chicago), Washington State Jobs with Justice, and the Social Justice Commission at St. Leo's Church. Professionally, she serves as chair of the Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities at the American Sociological Association and is on the Executive Board for the Association for Asian American Studies, the flagship organizations for sociologists and Asian Americanists in North America.
Dr. Ignacio's recent work focuses on race, racial imagery, and simplistic ideas of "diversity" in promoting inequalities. "Pro(fits) of a Future Not Our Own: Neoliberal reframings of public discourse on social justice" analyzes the misuse of Archbishop Oscar Romero and Martin Luther King, Jr's speeches to promote polices or laws that further racial and social class inequality in the United States and in El Salvador. Another article examines the unease of Balkan immigrants with U.S. racial and religious discourse. She also continues her research on Bisayan Filipino's articulation of race, ethnicity, and national identity. She chose to research these communities because they are both somewhat overlooked ethnic communities with unique experiences (especially, that of Muslim whites and non-Tagalog speaking Filipinos) to "analyze, deconstruct, and destabilize hegemonic racial, ethnic, and/or religious meanings and images." While it is important to research specific histories of each racial and ethnic group, she explained that it is equally necessary to place these communities side-by-side and see how each community has been and is differently affected by common policies and laws.
By bringing all her experiences back into the classroom, Dr. Ignacio sparks new interests and topics. For example, talking with her students about immigration led several students to work with various immigrant communities in the Tacoma area. In the future Dr. Ignacio hopes to further her students' education by offering service learning opportunities in her classes.
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Interview with Dr. Deirdre Raynor and Dr. Luther Adams
The Summer Bridge to Success Program was launched last year to bridge the gap between freshmen students and their ability to navigate a new academic environment. Professors Deirdre Raynor and Luther Adams teamed up to offer freshmen students an opportunity to gain a first-hand glimpse of college life and to take their first university course. An intensive program, Summer Bridge not only earned the students university credits, it also prepared them to engage in UWT life as peer mentors and UWT scholars.
Professor Raynor, the Director of the UWT's Summer Bridge Program and former UW Seattle Summer Bridge Program collaborator, took a lead role in providing a solid foundation for the participating students. A UWT professor of fifteen years and the second African-American to earn a Ph.D. in English from the University of Washington, Dr. Raynor never lost sight of the impact of mentoring. Inspired by her mentors to "Never forget where you come from and always give something back," she offered ample experience in teaching and mentoring to the up-and-coming future scholars.
Dr. Raynor originally had her sights set on law school as an undergraduate, however, as she explains, she fell in love with African-American literature with her first course and ever since then it has been her passion. Her specialties in the field include the history of lynching, multicultural education, and race in the classroom. She is a published author whose works include "Navigating the Front Line of Academia," "Teaching While Black," "Morris and the Critical Community," and "Transforming the Curriculum Teaching about Women of Color."
Professor Luther Adams, the lead Professor of the Summer Bridge Program, was motivated to teach in the program by a similar experience at the University of Pennsylvania. As a student, he saw first-hand how the summer bridge experience shaped the approach taken by freshmen to their college experience. As a faculty member, Dr. Adams finds inspiration in the eyes of freshmen students as they became acclimated to the college campus.
Like Dr. Raynor, Dr. Adams is uniquely suited to serve as a faculty member of the UWT Summer Bridge Program. His research and teaching emphasizes the place of race, gender, class, and religion in our understanding of the social, political and cultural movements of the twentieth century. During the academic year 2006-2007, Dr. Adams was a Research Fellow at the Center for African American Urban Studies and the Economy at Carnegie Mellon University where he studied African-American migration to Louisville, Kentucky between the years of the Great Depression and the 1970's.
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