MAGAZINE

Global Studies Initiative

Globalizing the liberal arts curriculum

ALSO INSIDE Commencement 2009 recap An historical perspective on economic crises Students reap prestigious awards July 2009

A Message from the President

As another remarkable academic year at Whitman ends and we reflect on the past months, one of the year’s accomplishments in which we take great pride is Whitman’s new Global Studies Initiative. Originating from the faculty, this important initiative offers students expanded opportunities to ex-plore the interconnectedness of the world’s most pressing issues and discover the influences of its diverse cultures and societies. Made possible by a $345,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation, the initiative will sponsor new interdisciplinary courses with global themes in addition to campus-wide fora and

symposia on subjects of international interest. In keeping with the mission of the college, global studies at Whitman will better prepare our students for living in and understanding an increasingly complex world. An enthusiastic advocate of the Global Studies Initiative is Ryan Crocker ’71, a recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Free-dom, this country’s highest honor given to a civilian. Now retired from the United States Foreign Service — most recently serving as U.S. ambassador to Iraq — he said, during a recent visit to Whit-man, that the college shaped much of his life and career. In noting that a liberal arts education “teaches you to think” and develops students’ abilities to deal with complex issues, Crocker believes that the initiative is a “tremendous” addition to Whitman’s already strong academic programs. An English major at Whitman, he stated that literature, for example, provides an effective tool for understanding and relating to the world and to foreign cultures, and is a “tremendous mental discipline … (that) expands your mind, requiring abstract formulat-ing of knowledge.” A very generous and visionary gift from alumni Ashton J. ’43 and Virginia Graham O’Donnell ’43 has proven critical in launching

the global studies program. The couple established an endowment in 2002 that has brought to campus speakers with expertise in international affairs. The Ashton J. and Virginia Graham O’Donnell Endowed Visiting Professorship in Global Studies has catalyzed interest in global and international issues across many academic disciplines. As our students embrace this new emphasis in global exploration and discovery, I reiterate my thanks to all of you for supporting Whitman. In an era of rapid international change and severe economic chal-lenges, your support has enabled our faculty and staff to continue the longstanding tradition of rigorous teaching and learning while also enriching our students’ education with life-changing experiences on campus and abroad.

Sincerely,

George S. Bridges

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President George Bridges at Commencement 2009.

On the COver An artistic expression of the emergence of Whitman’s Global Studies Initiative

Photo illustration by Greg Lehman

MAGAZINE

JULY 2009Published by Whitman College with free distribution to alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends.

eDItOrLana Brown

Art DIreCtIOnChris Bishop ’79travis Congleton

COntrIButIng WrIters gillian Frew ’11virginia grantierDave holdennancy MitchellLenel ParishKeith raether

PhOtOgrAPhy DIreCtIOngreg Lehman

PhOtOgrAPhyCody Clifton ’10Kathryn Farrell guizar ’95ellie Klein ’10greg Lehmantessa Matson ’12Andrew Propp ’10

WeB eDItOrPhilip silouan thompson

COMMunICAtIOns DIreCtOrruth s. Wardwellwardwers@whitman.edu

Letters AnD COMMentsWrite to Lana Brown, editor, Office of Communications, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362, or call (509) 527-5169. e-mail: brownll@whitman.edu

CLAss nOtessubmit class notes to the Alumni Office by using the online form at www.whitman.edu/alumni/classnotesform.htm or mail to the Whitman College Alumni Office, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362. For address changes only, see www.alumniconnections.com/whitmancollege/ or call (509) 527-5003.

nOnDIsCrIMInAtIOn POLICyWhitman College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, gender, religion, age, marital status, national origin, physical disability, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other basis prohibited by applicable federal, state or local laws.

WHITMAN MAGAZINE, Vol. 31, No. 2. Published four times a year — March, July, October and Decem-ber — by Whitman College, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362. Periodical postage paid at Walla Walla, WA, and addi-tional mailing offices (USPS 968-620). ISSN: 0164-6990

POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections to Whitman, Alumni House, Whitman College, 345 Boyer Ave., Walla Walla, WA 99362.

see the back cover for recycled content.

CAMPus neWs

2-19Commencement joy!

Students earn more Udalls than any college in nation

Professor composes jazz tribute to baseball

Men’s tennis coach, team net titles

International students write about host families, clubs

In Their Words: Historical perspective on financial crisis

FEATURE

20-29Global Studies InitiativeStudents and faculty benefit from enhanced opportunities in global studies

OnLIne MAgAZIne:www.whitman.edu/magazine

MAGAZINE

Global Studies

Initiative

Globalizing the liberal arts curriculum

ALSO INSIDE

Commencement 2009 recap

An historical perspective on

economic crises

Students reap prestigious

awards

July 2009

2 Whitman Magazine

CAMPUS NEWS

In a year of decreasing numbers of presti-gious awards and grants and increasing numbers of students vying for the extremely competitive honors, three Whitman students’ work and talent rose to the top of the applicant pool, earning Whitman more udall scholar-ships than any other college in the nation. Another outstanding student earned the only Watson Fellowship awarded in the northwest. “the economy has impacted foundations and other funding institutions just as it has colleges,” said Keith raether, Whitman’s director of post-baccalaureate fellowships, scholarships and grants. “the Watson Foun-dation reduced its awards by 20 percent.” At the same time, “applicant pools have increased considerably in response to unem-ployment. In 2007-08, humanity in Action received 300-plus American applications. this year 647 American students applied. the emerson hunger Fellowship jumped from fewer than 200 applicants to 316. “I’m happy for the successes of our students, and the fact that nearly 100 of them had the interest, initiative and courage to apply for these prestigious, highly competitive awards,” raether said.

Students earn more Udall awards than any college in nation

Lisa Curtis Elena Gustafson

Morris K. Udall ScholarshipUp to $5,000 each for college sophomores and juniors who have demonstrated commitment to careers related to the environment. Lisa Curtis ’10, Alameda, Calif., wants to “expand the use of renewable, off-the-grid energy sources to improve lives in developing countries.” the politics and environmental studies major helped develop and build a low-cost version of a “biodigester” unit to help turn organic material into a cooking fuel source. she witnessed the hardship that women in western Kenya face, risking snakebite and rape while gathering firewood each day. she wrote grants and received funding to build 20 units for communities surrounding the rain-forest in the region where she interned. Elena Gustafson ’10, Los Alamos, n.M., earned her second udall scholarship. An envi-ronmental humanities major, her career goal is to expand urban and rural community-centered environmental education, something she has already accomplished in many ways through her work with Cool the schools (see Page 3). she also founded and coordinates the youth Adventure Program to lead youths on outdoor education trips, and co-founded and serves as community outreach leader for the Coalition for a green Community. Camila Thorndike ’10, Ashland, Ore., wants to “create just, ecologically sound solu-tions to water allocation problems” by working as an environmental conflict manager. the environmental humanities major is active in the Campus Climate Challenge, serves as newsletter editor and conference co-chair for the Cascade Climate network, and was co-leader of “the Injustice of Climate Change” symposium on campus.

Thomas J. Watson FellowshipOne-year grant; $28,000 for independent research and travel outside the United States. Aisha Fukushima ’09, Bellevue, Wash., will study the hip-hop cultures and world views of rap musicians through their lyrics in places such as Morocco, senegal and south Africa. “As a self-proclaimed ‘raptivist’ (rap + activist), I am continually learning ways to challenge and question injustices, especially in

situations where underrepresented voices are marginalized or silenced,” Fukushima said. “hip-hop is a rich cultural movement to explore not only because of its significant social and political influences, but also because it is an art form that merits risk-taking and the ability to challenge personal limitations,” the rhetoric and film studies major said. Fukushima was active in AsWC and designed Whitman’s Institute for summer enrichment (WIse) program, which intro-duces to college middle-school students who show academic promise but come from low-income families.

Public Policy and International Affairs Attendance at Junior Summer Institute at Carnegie-Mellon University this summer. PPIA prepares students for an advanced degree and careers serving the public good. Manuel Mora-Moreno ’10, Olympia, Wash., a philosophy/spanish major, is active in debate and rugby. he was a legislative liaison for the Washington state Commission on hispanic Affairs and served as a policy analyst for the Washington state Legislature.

Summer Undergraduate Research FellowshipSummer research at a National Institute of Standards and Technology laboratory.

Jackson Cahn ’10, Kenmore, Wash., will work in the Materials science and engi-neering Laboratory Center for neutron research at the national Institute of stan-dards and technology in gaithersburg, Md. Cahn is a biochemistry, biophysics and molec-ular biology (BBMB) major.

“I am continually learning ways to challenge and question injustices, especially in situations where underrepresented voices are marginalized or silenced.”

— Aisha Fukushima ’09Recipient of the only Watson

Fellowship awarded in the Northwest

July 2009 3

Musa Kpaka Tim Shadix

Monterey Institute Davis United World College FellowshipThis fellowship in international development includes a seminar in Washington, D.C., and a scholarship. Musa Kpaka ’09 is a Davis united World College scholar from sierra Leone. the economics and mathematics major founded the youth Development Initiative at Whitman to educate youths in sierra Leone about community service.

Bill Emerson National Hunger FellowshipLeadership development and work with local and national hunger organizations. Tim Shadix ’09, a politics major from Ashland, Ore., has been active in Whitman Direct Action projects to improve water condi-tions in India, and to initiate “a collaborative project with an Oregon immigrants rights organization to establish a formal network of Oaxacan migrant hometown associations in the Pacific northwest.”

Davis Projects for PeaceA $10,000 grant to design a grassroots project to be implemented in summer 2009. Jesse Phillips ’09, Davis, Calif., and Curt Bowen ’09, nampa, Idaho, will develop a sustainable biofuels project in honduras. In the first phase, they will work to establish a local market in honduras for pure jatropha oil by converting a bus to run on this fuel, then design and initiate a study of organic fertil-izers to advance the first phase of the project. Phillips is an environmental studies/humani-ties major and Bowen a philosophy major.

Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) ProgramA year of teaching to develop relationships through teaching and exchange activities in Japan. recipients are: Katrina Barlow ’09, an environmental humanities major from Lake Forest, Wash.; Thomas Bugert ’09, a philos-ophy major from Wenatchee, Wash; Kaston Griffin ’09, an english major from seattle;

Cool the Schools, a Whitman student-run program, took climate education into Walla Walla elementary and middle schools this spring. The project is a collaborative effort between three Whitman groups — Campus Climate Challenge, Environmental Educa-tion for Kids and the Youth Adventure Program — and several local groups. “We believe that climate education is extremely essential for youth, but there is usually not a space provided for the conversa-tion,” said Elena Gustafson ’10, a Cool the Schools organizer and recipient of a Udall Scholarship. “Studies show that kids have heard about the term, but have no connection to it to feel they are part of the solution.” Cool the Schools lesson plans deliv-ered basic scientific information about climate change, personal carbon footprints and tangible things students can do to make a difference, Gustafson said. At left, Megan McIntire ’11 and Matt Manley ’11 give a Cool the Schools lesson at Garrison Middle School. G

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Camila Thorndike Aisha Fukushima Jackson Cahn

Kyle Pereira ’09, an Asian studies major from north easton, Mass.; and Jason Shon ’09, an Asian studies major from honolulu.

Princeton in Asia FellowshipAn Asian experience to foster cross-cultural understanding between Asians and Americans. Greg Eiselt ’09, an Asian studies major from seattle, will work in China. Marty Skeels ’09, an english major from Alameda, Calif., will be stationed in vietnam.

WEB EXTRASVisit www.whitman.edu/web-extras for stories about:

A Fulbright English teaching •assistantship to Vietnam for Corrine Gibson ’06.

National Science Foundation fellowships for •Laura Sanchez ’07 and Chantal Stieber ’08.

Aisha Fukushima ’09 • and her “raptivism” research

4 Whitman Magazine

CAMPUS NEWS

Ben Kegan ’09 received an early gradua-tion gift when New York Magazine ranked his film, “team taliban,” as one of the top five short films at this spring’s tribeca Film Festival. Bilge ebiri, a filmmaker and film critic for the magazine, referring to the five short films, wrote, “this is some of the most exciting film-making you’ll see this year.” “team taliban” screened at tribeca after recent showings at two of the nation’s most prestigious film festivals — American Film Institute Dallas, which featured films created by producers steven soderbergh and george Clooney, director gillermo Arriaga and actor Charlize theron; and the Ann Arbor Film Festival, the nation’s oldest independent film festival, which launched the careers of direc-tors Ken Burns and Michael Moore. Kegan, a rhetoric and film studies major, filmed at locations throughout the east Coast

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Ben Kegan ’09, right, actor Robert De Niro, center, and filmmaker Tony Wei at the Tribeca Film Festival.

and Midwest last summer. the resulting docu-mentary focuses on real-life Adeel Alam, a Muslim-American wrestler on the “B” circuit who plays the role of a terrorist in the ring. Alam is a devout Muslim who is conflicted between his faith and his love of wrestling — between the image his terrorist character projects to the crowd and the image Alam wants the world to have of him. “In Kegan’s hands, what might have been an exercise in snark becomes, instead, an inci-sive look at how Alam navigates his character through the weird make-believe world of pro wrestling in a post-9/11 America,” ebiri wrote. reaction to the film has been “pretty posi-tive,” Kegan reports. But he said the best part of the festivals has been the opportunity to

Film student’s “Team Taliban” screens at prestigious film festivals

connect with other filmmakers who are just as passionate as he is about this art form. Kegan, from the Chicago area, said he decided to attend Whitman because it offered the opportunity for him to work on his craft, but also because it was so much more than a film school. he could take other courses that would influence his films. he gives the example of “Critical race theory,” a course that influenced the making of “team taliban.” “the film is visually arresting, timely… And it’s an extremely, consistently well-told story,” said robert sickels, associate professor of rhetoric and film studies. “Kegan’s talent matches his drive, and he’s got a lot of drive,” sickels said. typically only about 5 percent of films submitted to a film festival are accepted, sickels said. even so, this isn’t the first time Kegan has received a film festival invitation. he and Kim Wetter ’08 — who is now a writer for Buddytv.com — created a television pilot that was selected and shown at the 2008 Independent television Festival in Los Angeles.

— Virginia Grantier

Robert Sickels, associate professor of rhetoric and film studies, right, and Kegan work in the RFS Hawks’ Film Lab on campus.

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July 2009 5

Kaufman-Osborn named provost, dean of the faculty timothy Kaufman-Osborn, Baker Ferguson chair of politics and leadership, assumed the office of provost and dean of the faculty of Whitman College, effective July 1. Kaufman-Osborn fills the position vacated by Lori Bettison-varga, who accepted the presidency of scripps College in California. Kaufman-Osborn foresees a smooth transition, relying on the experience he gained during his service as interim dean of the faculty during the 2006-07 academic year. his first priority is building on the new initiatives brought to Whitman by Presi-dent george Bridges and by Bettison-varga in a way that is “consistent with our character and reputa-tion as one of the best small liberal arts and sciences colleges in the nation.” “I have great confidence in tim’s ability to serve successfully as Whitman’s chief academic officer,” said Bridges. “his appointment ensures a smooth transition in leadership in the provost and dean’s office.” Kaufman-Osborn, former president of the Western Political science Association as well as of the American Civil Liberties union of Washington, recently served on the executive council of the American Polit-ical science Association. he joined the Whitman faculty in 1982. Bettison-varga, who came to Whitman in 2007, said she had no intention of leaving Whitman so soon, but the call to scripps, her mother’s alma mater, was strong. “I have the deepest respect for Whitman’s talented and dedicated faculty, staff, students and alumni,” she said. “It has been my privilege to work on your behalf.”

Tim Kaufman-Osborn

students called her Wei laoshi. Laoshi is the Mandarin Chinese word for teacher. shu-chu Wei-Peng, John and Jean henkels endowed chair of Chinese languages and literatures, taught classes in Chinese language, literature and theater, and was instru-mental in developing the Whitman summer studies in China program. Fondly known for her enthu-siasm and sense of humor, as well as her knack for explaining Chinese characters, Wei-Peng ends her teaching career with 24 years of service to the Whitman community. When she first came to Whitman in 1985, Wei-Peng recalled, it was long before most current students had been born. each year since that time, she has seen the college improve and expand, and values her role in its collective achievement. “I enjoyed my time, almost a quarter of a century, and cherish my experience. I am thankful that my son (Meng-Huai Peng ’98) and I have been and will always be members of this great — and, more impor-tantly, lovely — college.” Wei-Peng also praised the open-minded-ness and dedication of Whitman students, whose ability to interpret Chinese classical texts “proved that cultural gaps can be crossed.” Wei-Peng earned her bachelor’s degree in english from the tunghai university in taiwan, her master’s degree in english from the university of hawaii, and a master’s degree and doctorate in compara-tive literature from the university of Massa-chusetts, Amherst. A member of Whit-man’s department of foreign languages and literatures, she served as its chair as well as director of the Asian studies program, and participated on the President’s Council on Diversity and the Whitman in China Committee. Wei-Peng was “largely responsible for designing the Whitman summer studies in China program,” said susan holme Brick,

director of international programs. In fact, Wei-Peng co-authored the textbook used during the six-week summer class. “the conversational Chinese textbook is custom-

designed for Whitman students,” Brick said. It incorporates what students learn in the Chinese language program at Whitman with local vocabulary in Kunming, China. “shu-chu has truly been a model colleague and teacher,” said Celia Weller, professor of spanish. “she has mentored many, many students, and has seen them carry on their

interests in graduate school.” “shu-chu was always generous to me, to her other colleagues and, especially, to her students,” noted Dana Burgess, professor of classics. Lydia Ngai ’11, who took courses in Chinese language and poetry from Wei-Peng, commended her teaching style and ability to connect with students. “she’s quite light-hearted and jokes around, which is really nice. I love how she taught Chinese characters because she wouldn’t just teach us how to pronounce the words or how to write the characters, but she’d also help us memorize them by explaining the different parts within the character,” said ngai. Thu Tran ’11, an international student from vietnam, found Wei-Peng easily approachable and enjoyed speaking with her outside of class about her home and family. “she is a small woman but she has a great energy,” tran said. “she can wake you up in the early morning when all of her classes are held. Chinese lessons with Wei laoshi are so much fun because of her great sense of humor. she also knows a lot about Chinese culture, and she knows how to explain it in the simplest way … I’ll remember the characters she taught forever.”

— Gillian Frew ’11

Professor who played key roles in Asian studies, China summer programs closes teaching career

Shu-chu Wei-Peng

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essayist and educator gerald early once noted: “the three most beautiful things Amer-icans have ever created are the Constitution, baseball and jazz.” In his latest recording project, Professor of Music David glenn has married two of those graces. In May, the composer and trombonist released his own paean to baseball, a compact-disk of original jazz compositions aptly titled “national Pastime.” the union was preordained, glenn said. Modern baseball is America’s national game; jazz is our indigenous art form. Both have shaped glenn since he was a kid growing up in Kansas City, Mo. there he lived and died with the fortunes of the Kansas City Athletics, the team with a white elephant for a mascot, the club that traded roger Maris to the yankees. there he listened to his father play jazz piano when he wasn’t working as an exec-utive for yellow transit Freight Lines. “My dad was self-taught, but he knew hundreds of tunes,” glenn said. “he kept lists of all the songs he expected me to play. he must have been trying to dissuade me.” the strategy failed. Armed with a bachelor of music degree in trombone performance at north texas state university, glenn proclaimed that he was “put on the planet to create music.” his announcement came after his father had joked that glenn ought to go into plumbing, that he was already handy with pipes. “When I put my plan to him that way, he was fine with it,” glenn recalled. “he just

wanted me to be aware that there was a down-side — making a living at music.” these days — fields of dreams mid-summer, baseball in full flower,glenn’s CD circulating around the country — the Whitman educator sees only an upside. “national Pastime,” in fact, was only a side project that he hatched while working on a major symphonic work, “valley of streams,” commissioned by the Walla Walla symphony. It was the spring of 2006, a sabbatical leave for glenn. Before sequestering himself in his studio at Whitman, he took a month off to “clear the deck.” Instead of visiting Alaska, which he’d done to start a previous sabbatical, he decided to book a bushel of baseball games — 19 of them in 20 days in six different ball-parks. the odyssey began at Coors Field in Denver and ended at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. glenn kept score of every game, never realizing that another score — a kind of jazz suite — was blooming in his imagination. “My first thought was to keep a journal of the trip. I started one, but it was too onerous,” glenn allowed. “I just wanted to watch and record the games.” he did, but other thoughts floated to the surface like answers in a Magic 8-ball. Back in Walla Walla, glenn wrote two tunes at his first opportunity and tested them at summer jazz camps that typically occupy his summers. A recording — in new york with first-call players with whom he worked in the 11 years that he lived there — was always in the back of his mind. But other responsibilities,

“To be able to combine teaching and my own creative work is rare and wonderful.”

— David Glennprofessor of music

Professor composes, performs tribute to baseball in “National Pastime” CD

David Glenn, professor of music, directs Jazz Ensemble I at the 2009 Whitman Undergraduate Conference.

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shared history

For more than a century, the Pioneer weekly student newspaper has informed and entertained Whitman students during the academic year. the current crop of students is taking this communication source to a new level with a nationally acclaimed Web site redesign that features blogs, a podcast, student forums, videos, links to social networking pages, polls and photo galleries. the Pio Web site earned “Best of show” honors at the annual conven-tion of the Asso-ciated Collegiate Press. A panel of professionals judged Web site entries on general design, navigation, writing/editing, content, graphics and interactivity. Whitman’s site edged out the university of California, Berkeley, and the university of Miami, among other larger schools. the Pio’s new weekly podcast — through a partnership with Whitman’s student-run radio station KWCW (K-Dub) — earned second-place at the national convention. the Web site redesign and several Pio staffers’ attendance at the 2009 ACP conven-tion in san Diego, Calif., were made possible by a gift from Megan Salzman Medica ’81 and John Medica. Pio editors-in-chief for the 2008-09 year were Kim Sommers ’11 and Jamie Soukup ’10. sommers will continue in that role this fall.

The Pio staff is on hiatus during the summer but check out the site in the fall at www.whitmanpioneer.edu.

Pio earns national “Best in Show” for redesigned Web site

including “valley of streams,” stymied him. then, in January 2008, his close friend and new york roommate, bassist Dennis Irwin, suddenly passed away. glenn’s wake-up call had arrived. “I screwed up by procrastinating,” glenn said, his voice knotting up. “It took his death for me to realize that you can’t put things off that are closest to your heart.” “national Pastime” is dedicated to Irwin, an impec-cable soloist and gentle man who in all the years that glenn shared an apartment with him “couldn’t even kill a cockroach in our kitchen.” the CD ranges from the bright, jaunty title tune with its Latin bridge to the tender, balladic “roberto Clemente Bridge” to “Blues for Buck O’neil,” a loping blues dedi-cated to John Jordan “Buck” O’neil, who dominated the negro Leagues and managed the Kansas City Monarchs. Between Whitman and his cocurricular world of composing and performing, glenn considers himself blessed. “to be able to combine teaching and my own creative work is rare and wonderful,” he said. “As a jazz trombone player, even with a degree in theory and composition, the chance to write for an orchestra would be rare in a big city.” the list of jazz musicians who’ve doubled as jazz educators is long: Max roach at the university of Massachusetts at Amherst, Jackie McLean at Wesleyan university, stan getz at stanford university.

For his part, glenn has enjoyed a double-life at Whitman since 1989, shortly after he received his master’s degree in music theory and composition from the university of northern Colorado. roach, McLean, getz and their cohorts all faced a particular challenge, as glenn does

now. their charge is to teach an art as ineffable as the imagination: improvisa-tion, the sound of surprise. “how do you teach creativity?” glenn said. “you can’t really. What you can do is give students the tools to work with, language to speak with — musical language. Learning scales and phrases is like acquiring vocabulary.” glenn wouldn’t trade the challenge for anything — not even george Brett’s pine-tar bat.

“Being a jazz trombone player only is a difficult, narrow niche,” he said. “Whitman allowed me to reinvent myself. I’ve rediscov-ered parts of my nature that got lost when I was operating with a one-track mind.” For glenn, the awakening was a lot like baseball, jazz and the Constitution: a thing of beauty.

— Keith Raether

WEB EXTRAListen to tracks from the CD at www.whitman.edu/web-extras. The CD is available at the Whitman

Bookstore (509) 527-5274.

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Host families, student club welcome international studentsKarlis Rokpelnis ’09 from Latvia and Neda Ansaari ’10 from India write about the support they have found in friendship (host) families and the International Students and Friends Club.

way through setting up outings and excur-sions to fit everybody’s fancy, M’Lisse and Charlie hit it off with my folks despite the language barrier. I have a long history of friendship and host families. I started off with two at the same time, when at age 15, I attended a theater and music boarding school in western Denmark. the weekends alternated between the homes of a never-enough-time-to-do-all-the-exciting-Medieval-history/third-World-development-documentary/post-modern-art host mom, and another family, where we seemed to spend most of our time drinking coffee late at night and talking about politics, books and libraries. In high school, at the united World College of the Adriatic in Italy, I “adopted” grandparents. Once a week I walked uphill through a forest to visit an elderly slovenian couple, who always had something good to say about the world. After those two great experiences and a couple of years in the company of Charlie and M’Lisse, I didn’t have to think twice when a host family was an option during my semester abroad in Beijing. graduation brings a lot of unknowns, and leaving behind friends is not easy, even if great and exciting things lie ahead. Luckily friendships last even over distance and time. It has been possible to stay in touch with all my friendship families, and I don’t expect it to change in any way. there are a lot of fun things to do after graduation — traveling, work, further studies — one could call it “life.” I am very excited about graduating except for one gnawing fear — something tells me that adults don’t get friendship families. Perhaps growing up is not such a smart idea after all. In memory of Susanne Kløvgaard Rasmussen, a loving host-mother, deep thinker and the kind of librarian we all deserve to have.

— Karlis Rokpelnis ’09

Karlis Rokpelnis ’09 enjoys a tour of the corn maze last fall with his host father Charlie Moerks.

ou can never get too much of a good thing. At least, not when it comes to having a family away from home, wherever in the world you might be.

unlike with parents and siblings, both sides have some say in what they will get. I knew my friendship family was going to be great the minute I saw M’Lisse and Charlie Moerks. Charlie had a plastic bag in his hand with sweet cherry tomatoes from the four gigantic plants in the back of their immaculate yard, which dovetailed with my interest in food and gardening. similar to me, at the time they were fairly new to the town. Charlie maintains large computer systems over the Internet, so he can work from just about anywhere. After M’Lisse retired from a career in communications and event organizing in seattle, Walla Walla, her birthplace, was only one of the possible places to settle down. Over the four years at Whitman, we have become quite familiar, and we have had our share of family drama. Like the time freshman year when, having been invited to stay for the break at the Moerks, I insisted on getting a live Christmas tree from the Blue Mountains. I was puzzled as to why M’Lisse was skeptical about me sticking a few wax candles on the branches. But it worked out, and after a while she agreed to put the fire extinguisher aside, and we could get down to the business of opening the presents. not to leave the impression that it’s been holidays and fun alone. I spent a spring break laying patio stones in the back yard with Charlie: It is the best-laid patio in town. you have my word on it. the learning and support in the friend-ship-family relationship goes both ways. I have learned apple-pie baking from M’Lisse and fine masonry from Charlie, but I dare to say that the learning was mutual when together we expanded M’Lisse’s repertoire to her now famous sumptuous vegan carrot cake. A high point in our relationship was when my parents and brother and sister from Latvia came to visit last spring. While I struggled my

Read more about Rokpelnis’ work this past year as the campus sustainability coordinator at www.whitman.magazine.com.

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tepping from the international orientation camp to Whitman campus in the fall of 2007 was a little chaotic and overwhelming. there was so much going on during orientation week. Before

I even realized it, I was surrounded by a lot of sophomores and juniors asking me to sign up for some or the other club. International students and Friends Club (IsFC) became my comfort zone during that time. I knew almost everyone who was involved, and the best part was the fact that I could easily associate myself with this club and its interests. It has introduced me to some great people and has given me some amazing friends. I have not only gotten closer to other interna-tional students, but I also have made some great friends with different perspectives on the interests we share. IsFC and its activities are strongly associated with my identity and things that I strongly believe in. It provided me with a perfect segue into college. IsFC has been my passion because there is so much that I have been able to do through this club. IsFC has given me an amazing leadership experience. One of the things I wanted to pursue here was promoting diversity and making people more culturally aware. IsFC has given me a platform for that because this club works toward the goal of bringing the “entire world” to the Whitman campus. the club members are united in sharing their cultures as well as introducing various cultures to the campus and the Walla Walla community through song and dance,

speakers, and various entertainment and academic-based events. the International Banquet, one of the annual events organized by IsFC, has always attracted a good part of the Whitman commu-nity. I would not have believed how big this event is until I saw it with my own eyes. It made me realize that the club has a lot of support. the club has served as a support system for me. It reminds me from time to time that people believe in me and support me in the things I am trying to pursue; not only the club members but also the Whitman community, friendship family and other students. One of the important elements of my identity, being an international student, has been repre-sented through this club, its goals and activities. IsFC has provided me the means and space to accomplish one of my many goals:to add a new dimension to the assumptions and beliefs expressed by u.s. (domestic) students and faculty members. It reminds me of my presence as an international student on this campus. the club encourages the campus community to think beyond its borders. the experiences that I have had because of my involvement in IsFC have made me more tolerant, organized, competent, patient and understanding. My experiences have made me think outside of the box, placed me out of my comfort zone, and challenged my assump-tions and beliefs. It has contributed a lot toward my personal growth. It has been three years since I first joined IsFC. I have moved from being a member to

the co-president. And even today I am enthusi-astic about the club and its activities just the way I was when I first joined. the entity of a club comes from its members. the only reason for the success of IsFC is the people who have been involved. And all these people are part of the Whitman community. In other words, IsFC reflects Whitman and its community; it reflects the amazing support system that we all have here. Leading a diversity club is rigorous and time-consuming, but it is worth it!

— Neda Ansaari ’10 Editor’s note: After Neda’s arrival at Whitman her parents moved to Saudi Arabia.

The International Students and Friends Club organizes the popular annual International Banquet.

Neda Ansaari ’10, center, is shown with her host family, Margarita “Maggi” Banderas ’05, events assistant in the president’s office, and Matt Zimmerman ’04.

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northam, who shared in three nWC titles as a Whitman tennis player, served as part-time coach at his alma mater in the early 1990s and then returned to campus on a full-time basis in 1997. Late this season, his career victory total jumped past 200. In recent years, with his roster size dwarfing the nWC average, northam has kept his players happy and their tennis skills sharp by scheduling two matches on the same day, many times in different cities. his talent pool, even divided by two, has kept on winning. In March, his two “teams” won seven nWC road matches in seven days, outscoring the opposition by a combined score of 61-2. there was no stopping Whitman this spring as it pursued the second of its back-to-back titles. Despite losing its top two players from a year ago and having its third-best player miss half this season because of injury,

Scoreboard

Jeff Northam ’88 racks up fourth “Coach of the Year” title; tennis team earns second NWC championship

the history of Whitman athletics glitters with memories of coaching legends,starting with r.v. Borleske, who won a total of 17 northwest Conference titles in football, baseball and basketball in the decades prior to World War II, and track and field coach Bill Martin, who beginning in 1937 won the first of seven straight nWC championships and added three more in the 1950s. Against the backdrop of those lofty accom-plishments, men’s tennis coach Jeff Northam ’88 has spent the past decade quietly laying the foundation for an impressive legacy all his own. With the team winning its second consecu-tive nWC title this spring, northam pocketed “Coach of the year” honors for the second time in as many years. that gives northam four titles — and four coaching awards — since the spring of 2000. It’s not what his competitors want to hear, but from all indications, northam and his program are just now hitting full stride. Whitman teams have thoroughly dominated nWC opponents over the past four years, winning 68 of 71 dual-match decisions. Most of his 2008-09 roster returns next fall.

BORLESKE TROPHIES The R.V. Borleske (top male) and Mignon Borleske (top female) awards recognize athletic achievement, sportsmanship and leadership. Brett Axelrod ’09, winner of the men’s trophy, was named Northwest Conference Defensive Player for men’s soccer last fall. Axelrod, a team captain and four-year starter at goalkeeper, led the NWC in shutouts with 10 and was among the national leaders in save percentage and goals against average.

Lindsay Records ’09, the women’s trophy winner, captained the women’s Nordic ski team. She placed second in the freestyle sprint, leading herteamtoafirst-placeshowingattheU.S.Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association’s championships. The women were second in the overall week-long scoring.

MEN’S TENNIS Etienne Moshevich ’12, Chris Bailey ’11 and Dan Wilson ’11 earned All-NWC First Team honors in leading Whitman to a second straight conference title. Whitman completed its third straight undefeated NWC regular season, advancing for a third straight spring into the NCAA DIII national championship tournament. TheteamlostatregionalstoUC-SantaCruz,ranked No. 3 nationally.

Justin Hayashi ’09 and Christoph Fuchs ’10 earned spots on ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District At-Large First Team, and Fuchs was named to the magazine’s All American At-Large Third Team.

WOMEN’S TENNIS Elise Otto ’12 was named to the All-NWC First Team this spring for a second straight season. Hadley DeBree ’11 was picked for the Second Team.

BASEBALL Pete Stadmeyer ’10, the ace of Whitman’s pitching staff for three seasons, and Erik Korsmo ’12, who led the Missionaries in hitting this spring with a .360 batting average, earned All-NWC Honorable Mention.

Jeff Northam ’88 coached Whitman men’s tennis “teams” to seven Northwest Conference wins on the road in seven days.

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Whitman rolled to a 24-5 record, the best won-loss mark in northam’s 15 seasons. In addition to their spring exploits, northam’s players have dominated the Inter-collegiate tennis Association’s recent Pacific northwest fall tournaments. Whitman players have won the singles and doubles titles in each of the past three years, advancing to the national small-college championships and earning ItA All-American honors. In one of the ItA regional tournaments, Whitman ran the table in the first two rounds of singles, winning all 24 of its matches, before advancing 12 players into the round of 16 and filling seven of eight quarterfinal and all four semifinal slots. there is nothing accidental or coincidental about such widespread success. It sprouts from soil that northam has cultivated with great care.

Chris Bailey ’11 earned All-Northwest Conference First Team honors.

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Whitman Athletic Director Dean snider said the combination of northam’s tremen-dous tennis skills and his ability to recruit outstanding students and tennis players make him someone “who could be Coach of the year every season.” snider also lauds northam as a “wonderful person with a generous heart and tremendous depth of character. he is an excellent role model for our students.” Justin Hayashi ’09, a captain on this year’s team, also speaks in glowing terms about northam. “Jeff never hesitates to go the extra mile for his players, regardless of how high or low they might be on the team ladder,” hayashi said. northam offers everyone free private lessons on any day of the week, strings rackets for free if the team maintains a high grade-point average, and actively changes the

practice routine to keep things interesting, hayashi said. hayashi, who was named this season to ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-District At-Large First team, said northam also is a great life coach. “Jeff understands that Whitman students are scholars with diverse interests,” hayashi said. “Due to Jeff’s understanding, I’ve been able to stay active throughout my collegiate years and achieve a successful academic track record. Jeff also understands that life has its trials and tribulations, and he actively ensures that all of his players get through those tough times. he checks on his players by taking individuals out to dinner or calling them just to see how things are going.” Whitman’s success on the courts is due in part to northam’s ongoing efforts to create a “team in the truest sense of the word,” hayashi said. “he organizes team nights for board games or movies, just to keep the team bonded and morale high.” Finally, hayashi said, “I wouldn’t be the same person I am today without Jeff’s guid-ance and leadership. through Jeff, I learned to be both a team player and a leader, and I learned the true value of what it means to be a student athlete.”

— Dave Holden

MEN’S LACROSSE CLUB Whitman came within a single goal of advancing to its national championship tournament in May. The Missionaries beat Willamette17-4inthePacificNorthwestCollegiate Lacrosse League (PNCLL) Division II

CYCLING CLUB The Whitman women’s and men’s club cycling team capped a great spring by winning theUSACyclingCollegiateRoadDivisionIInational championship in Fort Collins, Colo. Whitman was a decisive winner with 500 points, beating the runner-up (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) by more than 100 points. Earlier this spring, Whitman captured its Northwest league title by an even greater margin. Kendi Thomas ’11, who won the criterium at nationals, led a women’s contingent that included Mia Huth ’11, Emily Rodriguez ’11 and Roxy Pierson ’12. Ben Chaddock ’11 placed fourth in the men’s criterium. Others racing at nationals were Nick Littman ’10, Colin Gibson ’11 and Duncan McGovern ’11.

quarterfinals,knockedofftop-seededSouthernOregonUniversity11-8inthesemifinals,andlosta10-9double-overtimeheart-breakertoWesternOregonUniversityin the Final Four’s title game. Goalie Kevin Wilson ’10 was named the Final Four’s Most Valuable Player (MVP). Sunn Kim ’12, who led the PNCLL in scoring, won MVP honors for the regular season and Division II Second-Team All-American honors. David Ogle ’10 and Michael Anderson ’10 were named to the All-PNCLL First Team while Bidnam Lee ’11 received Second-Team honors. Chris Duncan ’11 netted Honorable Mention recognition.

For more sports news, visit www.whitman.edu/athletics.

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National Institutes of Health awards professors $225,000 grant ginger Withers and Chris Wallace, Dr. robert F. Welty associate professors of biology, have received a $225,000 Academic research enhancement Award (AreA) grant from the national Institutes of health (nIh) Division of Child health and Development. the grant enables them to continue their cutting-edge research on dendrite growth in brain cells. this is only the second time that Whitman has been awarded funding from the AreA program. the grant will provide money for Withers and Wallace to continue their

research into how brain cells interact to promote the formation of synaptic connections between neurons. Because these connections are important for brain function, under-standing their development is a significant human health issue. the impact of this grant on their research, said Withers, is tremendous. “the kind of research that we do takes money, but funding from the nIh brings Whitman much more than just dollars to run a lab.” the grant will enable Wallace and Withers to perform technically sophisticated analyses

Former ambassador, poet laureate and Holocaust survivor speak on campus When a towering figure in world diplo-macy and foreign relations comes to Whitman College to give a talk, that’s a very special event in the academic year. When he is an alumnus who also spends a full day on campus, sharing his expertise in classrooms and fora, that’s extraordinary.

Whitman experienced such a momentous day in April when Ryan Crocker ’71, recently retired u.s. ambassador to Iraq and Presidential Medal of honor winner, returned home to campus, to the place he said develops critical and creative thinkers and “did so much to shape my life and my career.”

Ryan Crocker ’71, former ambassador to Iraq, spent a day on campus in April talking to history students, above, having lunch with students and visiting his fraternity brothers at Tau Kappa Epsilon. That evening he teamed with Professor David Schmitz to hold a public conversation at Cordiner Hall.

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Crocker teamed with Professor David schmitz, robert Allen skotheim chair of history, to hold a public conversation in Cordiner hall titled “the events for which the Iraq war will be remembered have not yet happened.” Other significant speakers this spring included Fred taucher, a holocaust survivor saved by a high-ranking nazi party member. he came to campus on holocaust remembrance Day, brought by hillel-shalom, the campus Jewish student organization. Classical Liberalism visiting speaker Lynn scarlett, a former deputy secretary and chief operating officer for the u.s. Depart-ment of the Interior, now an environmental consultant, gave an April talk, “Choices, Consequences and Cooperative Conservation — A new environmentalism?” thomas ricks, Pulitzer Prize-winning jour-nalist and no. 1 New York Times bestselling author of “Fiasco: the American Military Adventure in Iraq,” reflected on “the 3 things Americans Don’t understand About the War in Iraq right now.” Former u.s. Poet Laureate Charles simic delivered the 2009 Walt Whitman Lecture, part of the visiting Writers reading series. Ayaan hirsi Ali, author of “Infidel” and “the Caged virgin” and a prominent critic of Islam, lectured at Cordiner hall.

as well as to create new opportunities to involve students though thesis projects and summer internships. “that balance between advancing our indi-vidual scholarship and training students is important to us,” said Wallace, noting the proposal submitted to nIh included prelimi-nary data generated by former students. Both professors noted the momentum at Whitman to integrate teaching and scholar-ship. the success of this grant reflects an exciting synergistic effort on campus by faculty, staff and students, they said.

Fred Taucher

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July 2009 13

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WHITMAN COLLEGE BOOKSTOREPictured in the Baker Ferguson Fitness Center (left to right) - Megan McIntire ’11, Andrew Matschiner ’11 and Beth Waite ’11

Nancy Mitchell, associate director of alumni relations

she has brought “quiet grace, nerves of steel, a spontaneous smile and an outstanding work ethic to a highly demanding position” in her 24 years of service to the college, colleagues said in nomi-nating Mitchell. “her positive interactions with alumni are evidence of her strength.”

Oscar Waggoner, painter

A member of the staff for 25 years, “he is extremely efficient in his work, always cheerful and posi-tive with whomever he interacts, be they faculty, staff or colleagues from the physical plant, and can always be counted on to do his job well,” a staff member said.

Dona LaFran, administrative assistant, Penrose Library

In her 10 years at Whitman, she has been “caring, meticulous, and always ready to help,” col-leagues said. great at training student employees, she “naturally creates an environment where students feel comfortable and nurtured.”

2009 JaniceAbrahamAward

Other spring lectures included: the rempel Lecture by harry greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell university, who discussed “Pleistocene rewil-ding,” the theory that suggests that the loss of most of north America’s large vertebrate species needs to be reversed. he believes the restocking needs to happen on the continent to avoid the extinction of other species, changes in ecosystems and an altered evolu-tionary course. Andrew schotter, new york university, presented the annual genevieve Perry Lecture in economics, “the neuroeconomics of Fear and Bidding in Auctions.” “Love Canal 30 years later: What have we learned and where do we go from here?” was presented by Lois gibbs, executive director, Center for health, environment and Justice. And Jamillah Karim, author of “American Muslim Women: negotiating race, Class and gender within the ummah,” gave a lecture titled “Behind the veil: A Muslim Feminist.”

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Left to right: Nancy Mitchell, Oscar Waggoner and Dona LaFran

Honoring a former treasurer and CFO, this award is for significantcontribu-tions and outstanding service to Whitman.

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Commencement joy About 4,000 family and friends, faculty and staff gathered on the front lawn of Memorial Building on a hot sunday in May to congratulate 350 graduating seniors. Ryan Crocker ’71, longtime Foreign service officer and ambassador, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, urged graduates “to seek causes larger and greater than yourselves.” senior speaker Elliott Okantey ’09 told his “accomplished, motivated” classmates that knowing them, he’s not worried about the future. “Out of tough times we will find good, as long as we use our smarts for good and show respect for the world and its people.”

There’s more:Stories about honorary doctorate recipients • Othal Hawthorne Lakey ’57 and

William “Bill” Priedhorsky ’73 on Pages 34-35.

Photos by Greg Lehman

Soon-to-be graduates enjoy cheers from the crowd during the Commencement processional. Senior speaker Elliott Okantey ’09 is pictured below.

Photos, video and complete texts of speeches from Commencement and • Baccalaureate at www.whitman.edu/content/commencement.

YEAR-IN-REVIEW photo gallery at www.whitman.edu/magazine.•

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Class musician Todd Hawes ’09, above, performed Bruce Springsteen’s “The Promised Land” to repre-sent what he believes he found at Whitman. (At left) Graduates, friends and families celebrate in high style.

Alexander Abrams ’09, left, carries the Class of 2009 banner designed by Kevin Sigley ’09. (Below) Left to right, Bishop Othal Hawthorne Lakey ’57 (back to camera), President George Bridges and Ryan Crocker ’71 walk past faculty during the Commencement processional.

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Thomas D. Howells Award for Distinguished Teaching in Humanities and Arts

Rebecca Hanrahan, assistant professor of philosophy

In nominating hanrahan, a colleague said: “rebecca engages her students in vigorous and challenging discussions of complex material with ease and grace. the classroom is electric when rebecca is leading a discussion, because students are on the edges of their seats, working with her to develop arguments and to understand the material at hand. she so well embodies the values represented by thomas howells: humanity, honest personal engagement with challenging intellectual matters and a respect for the student as the center of the academic enterprise.” hanrahan joined the faculty in 2003.

2009 FACULTY AWARDS

A.E. Lange Award for Distinguished Science Teaching

Kurt Hoffman, professor of physics

About hoffman’s teaching, one colleague said: “Kurt is an excellent teacher. he’s good because he keeps his eye on the prize — nearly everything he does is geared toward increasing student understanding. he engages students in the classroom and forces them to think instead of allowing them to sit passively.” Another colleague said: “Kurt spends time thinking about the big picture of physics education. he forces us to question our assumptions and comes up with good ideas for change.” hoffman joined the faculty in 1992.

Robert Y. Fluno Award for Distinguished Teaching in Social Sciences

Lynn Sharp, associate professor of history

In nominating sharp, a student said: “After four years of courses at Whitman, I can say that Lynn sharp is hands-down the best professor I have had at leading class discussion. ... she both provides the class with excellent discussion questions and makes sure that everyone participates.” Another student said: “Dr. sharp is one of the most animated lecturers I have ever witnessed. I do not know how she was able to keep that level of energy and intensity class after class, but it really made a difference.” sharp joined the faculty in 1999.

Rebecca Hanrahan

Kurt Hoffman

Lynn Sharp

David Carey

George Ball Award for Excellence in Advising

David Carey, professor of philosophy

In a letter of support for Carey’s nomination, a student said: “As a student, it is refreshing to find such a studied scholar engaging earnestly with students, without pretense or ego. Professor Carey teaches in the true socratic spirit, posing critical questions to students, not fearing those ‘awkward’ silences, for the most important questions take time and sober introspection. he is patient, logical, receptive and thoughtful, and as an advisee, I have benefited from his guidance greatly.” Carey joined the faculty in 1989.

(Above) Lori Bettison-Varga, then provost and dean of the faculty, calls the names of graduates during Commencement. (Top center) Faculty gather for the annual photograph on the steps of Memorial Building before the ceremony.

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2009 FACULTY AWARDSG. Thomas Edwards Award for Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship

Zahi Zalloua, assistant professor of foreign languages and literatures, French

In nominating Zalloua for this award, a colleague said he “brings his philosophical sensibility and expertise as a literary critic into every aspect of his teaching, from his lower-level language courses to the world literature course on literary theory he recently taught. his Core students recognize and appreciate both his intellectual rigor and his ability to make difficult concepts accessible without watering them down.” he joined the faculty in 2003.

Suzanne L. Martin Award for Excellence in Mentoring

Amy Molitor, adjunct assistant professor of environmental studies and sport studies and academic assistant for environmental studies

In nominating Molitor for this award, a colleague said, “envi-ronmental studies would be a weaker program without Amy Molitor’s mentoring of our many students. I can sum up her contri-butions and attitude in a few words: constant availability, patient listening and invalu-able guidance. Amy spends time learning about the students’ strengths, weaknesses, dreams, academic background and past expe-riences, and assists students as they plan their academic coursework, study abroad and plans for the future.” Molitor joined the Whitman environmental studies program in 1999.

Baccalaureate reflectionsUlysses “U.J.” Sofia, William K. and Diana R. Deshler chair of astronomy, compared his preparation to end his more than 20-year career at Whitman to take a new position at American University to seniors entering a new phase of their lives. “We should recognize that change is good,” he told them at Baccalaureate, “and feel secure that we are well prepared to navigate the unknown ahead.” Also speaking at the traditional ceremony were Adam Kirtley, Stuart coordinator of religious and spiritual life; Varga Fox, director of financial aid services (who is retiring after 29 years at Whitman); and Aisha Fukushima ’09 and Justin Hayashi ’09. Pianists Katie Moyer ’09 and Justin Greenberg ’09 performed. For photos, a video and complete texts of speeches, see www.whitman.edu/commencement.

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Scholarly perspectives from the classroom and beyond

IN THEIR WORDS

David F. SchmitzRobert Allen Skotheim Chair of History

During the 1920s, then secretary of Commerce herbert hoover remarked that “the only problem with capitalism is capitalists; they’re too damn greedy.” hoover’s words of frus-tration stemming from working with bankers and industrial leaders to increase business-government cooperation (what he called the Associative state) raises the key point for understanding the financial crisis of 2008. that is, it stemmed from human choices and not impersonal market forces. Financial crises were a common feature in the united states from the beginning of indus-trialization until the great Depression, but nothing comparable has occurred in the past 79 years. starting with the Panic of 1837 down to the stock Market Crash of 1929, there were at least seven major financial crises that led to severe economic downturns and depressions. What the nation has faced since the summer of 2008 is a financial crisis, not a more common market correction or recession. Why so many financial crises? Financial crises occur for three broad, overlapping reasons. First, financial crises are a feature of laissez-faire capitalism. they come about when classical liberal economic thought, as exemplified by Adam smith and John

Professor puts 2008 financial crisis in historical perspectivestuart Mill, is prevalent and guiding govern-ment policy. unregulated markets and finan-cial institutions provide the opportunity for a wide variety of financial schemes and manipu-lations, such as efforts to corner markets, manipulate the money supply, Ponzi schemes, and the creation of monopolies that have led to panics and depressions. this situation was further exacerbated by the lack of govern-ment response, or in the case of the great Depression, the wrong response with the hawley-smoot tariff. second, unregulated markets led to easy credit and leverage buying, or buying on the margins, to fund purchases. For example, during the 1920s, it was common to purchase stocks by putting down only 10 percent of the cost and borrowing the other 90 percent. If someone purchased $100 worth of stock, he or she only had to pay $10. those with a high tolerance for risk could then use the $100 of stocks as collateral to purchase $1,000. If the stock went up, it was easy to cover the initial investment and still make money, but if it went down, one had to cover the loss. During the 2000s, the leverage cost was often as low as 2 percent down.

the final feature of laissez-faire systems that leads to crises is an imbalance in society in terms of income distribution, wealth distri-bution, and political power among classes and groups in society. Prior to the 1930s, workers had few rights, markets were only loosely regulated, and business held overwhelming influence in society. these imbalances extended in other ways that were unhealthy for the economy and society. Most impor-tantly, capital tended to move in only a few directions that promised quick, high return (in the 1920s to reconstruction in europe and land), causing weak but vital parts of the economy, such as agriculture, to suffer. the result of all of this was a boom-bust cycle that led to constant financial panics and depressions.

Financial stability the key question to ask is why, after an average of one every 13 years, there was not a comparable crisis for 79 years, from 1929 to 2008? the answer is found in new Deal reforms. Franklin roosevelt rejected classical economic thought and instead was guided by a combination of what would now be called

The sculpture “Man Controlling Trade” is one of a pair outside the Federal Trade Commission building in Washington, D.C. They were created by sculptor Michael Lantz in 1942. Schmitz uses it to illustrate unregulated capitalism.

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Keynesian economics and the Mature economy theory. roosevelt pursued a multi-variant approach to solving the great Depres-sion and preventing another crisis in the future. he sought to provide relief, reform and regulation. new Deal legislation provided jobs and relief through programs such as the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Public Works Administration and the Works Progress Administration, unemployment insurance and social security. the roosevelt administration passed new regulations for banking, financial institutions and securities to prevent the abuses that created financial panics and plunged the economy into depression. roosevelt, guided by the Mature economy theory, also wanted to restore balance to American society through the establishment of the broker state. he, therefore, sought relief for farmers from foreclosures, price subsidies for crops, and land reclamation, water and electricity to ensure that rural America received a fairer share of the nation’s wealth and a higher standard of living. unions gained the right to serve as the collective bargaining agents for workers to redress the imbalance of power in industrial America, and business was regulated to a greater extent than ever before. the sculpture by Michael Lantz, “Man Controlling trade,” at the Federal trade Commission building in Wash-ington, D.C., captures roosevelt’s view that unregulated capitalism was self-destructive and that its power had to be properly harnessed for the greater good. It is common to hear that the new Deal failed to solve the great Depression, a claim that is misleading. By its third year, 1935, overall production and wealth had passed the levels attained prior to the 1929 crash. What the new Deal did not solve was the problem of unemployment as business learned to do more with fewer workers. It was the latter problem that World War II ended. More importantly, the new Deal created the basis for postwar stability and prosperity.

Financial Crisis Returns Why, after such a long time, was there a new financial crisis? the nation has been moving in this direction since the 1980s and the emergence of the so-called “Washington

Consensus” that argued that deregulation and free markets were the best roads to economic growth and development. With that came a series of smaller crises, the savings and Loan scandal of the 1980s, the dot.com bubble of the late 1990s and finally the real estate-driven crisis of today. With a steady series of deregu-lation of financial markets and banks, there was a return of imbalances of income and wealth that surpassed the 1920s, the decline of the power of unions and the abandonment of the broker state. If the new Deal system was so successful, why was it abandoned? this is a complex question, but a number of points help explain how this came about. “greed is good,” stated gordon gecko in the classic 1980s film “Wall street.” It is a feature of capitalism, and powerful people are always looking for ways to make a great amount of money in a short period of time. Moreover, Americans are poor historians. they look to the future. thus, people forget why we have regulations, where they came from and what good purposes they served.

this was especially true after the initial dereg-ulations and rapid expansion of wealth during the 1980s. It appeared that there were no limits on the possibilities of economic growth and that higher profits than ever before were attainable. the restraints came to be seen as a vestige of the past, unsuited to current condi-tions. “We know more now, it will be different, trust us,” was the new mantra from Wall street to its allies on Capitol hill. history cannot tell us exactly what to do as 2009 is not 1933. still, there are lessons to be learned concerning the need for govern-ment action, a restoration of more balance in society, and the necessity for reform and regu-lation of the financial system.

David Schmitz joined the Whitman faculty in 1985. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the State University of New York, Plattsburgh; his master’s degree at SUNY, Stony Brook; and his doctorate at Rutgers University.

“Financial crises were a common feature in the United States from the beginning of industrialization until the Great Depression, but nothing comparable has occurred in the past 79 years.”

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David Schmitz, Robert Allen Skotheim chair of history, speaks to a campus and community audience about the recent financial crisis.

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“Many of our disciplines are being reshaped in global directions, and the Global Studies Initiative allows us to catch up with some of those changes. Ultimately, we all hope to be more effective teachers, with loads of fresh ideas and insights.”

— Shampa Biswasassociate professor of politics,

director, global studies

GLOBAL STUDIES AT WHITMAN

Pre-2002 Globally focused courses are found in Asian and Latin American studies, and disciplines such as economics, English, history, politics and religion.

2002 Ashton ’43 and Virginia Graham O’Donnell ’43 establish the O’Donnell Visiting Professorship in Global Studies.

2004-05 Global Studies Faculty Working Group forms.

2005-06 Working group hosts workshop with Ahmed Samatar, dean of the Institute for Global Citizenship at Macalester College.

O’Donnell endowment supports an international sexual rights forum; a lecture byaformercommanderoftheU.N.interventionforcesinRwanda;anda month of classes with an expert on peace psychology.

2006-07 Grant proposal to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation drafted.

O’Donnellendowmentsupportslectureson“TheU.S.andtheIslamic World” by a national correspondent of The Atlantic Monthly; on the politics ofbiosafetybyanEthiopianEnvironmentalProtectionAgencyofficial; and on the International Monetary Fund by a professor and director of the Canadian Payments Association; as well as a weeklong seminar by a TV business news anchor from Germany.

2007-08 September 2007 — Mellon global studies proposal submitted.

O’Donnell endowment supports a semester-long course on women’s writing and activism in South Asia, a workshop and a lecture, all by a professorfromtheUniversityofPeradeniya,SriLanka;acourseon global challenges of public health; and a lecture on global develop- ment and international institutions as they relate to Africa by Ahmed Rhazaoui ’68,aretiredU.N.official.

June2008—MellonFoundationawards$345,000granttolaunch Global Studies Initiative.

July2008—ShampaBiswas,associateprofessorofpolitics,named global studies director.

Summer2008—GlobalStudiesInitiativekicksoff:Incoming first-yearsassignedtoread“Persepolis.”

2008-09 OpeningWeek—Forumon“Persepolis”;facultyandfirst-yearsdiscuss the work.

Fall2008—O’DonnellprofessorshipmovesunderumbrellaoftheGlobal Studies Initiative.

O’Donnell endowment supports a course on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic by Kris Nyrop ’79, former executive director of Street Outreach Services in Seattle; and a diversity workshop, classroom visits and a lecture by a Canadian Cree dramatist and novelist.

February 2009 — Inaugural Global Studies Initiative symposium, “Torture and the Human Body.” O’Donnell endowment supports panel participation by the author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror.”

April 2009 — “Persepolis” author lectures on campus.

May 2009 — Global studies faculty members present initiative progress to overseers.

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July 2009 21

around the world, serve in the Peace Corps and armed services, and work with nonprofit organizations on vital issues of global impor-tance, such as hIv/AIDs, global warming, energy and poverty. Whitman is already known for developing “strong, broad and rigorous thinkers.” the deepened focus on global issues made possible through the initiative will foster even more “strong global thinkers who are prepared to deal with the profound challenges of a connected world,” Biswas said. For the faculty, the initiative’s seminars and workshops “will be like going back to graduate school; this opportunity to have an intense semester-long intellectual environ-ment to read closely with and be pushed and challenged by some very smart colleagues is truly exciting,” said Biswas. “Many of our disciplines are being reshaped in global directions, and the global

Zahi Zalloua, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures, French, and a member of the Global Studies Steering Committee, said the first Global Studies Initiative symposium’s explora-tion of intellectual issues surrounding torture represented the “material manifestation of the liberal arts idea.” Zalloua is pictured here engaged in another liberal arts tradition, Whitman style: an outdoor class on sunny Ankeny Field late this spring.

the world’s cultures and societies bleed into each other and

remain intrinsically and incontrovertibly connected. Whitman

professors know this.

they understand that in this era of rapid globalization it is even

more essential that courses of study address historical and contem-

porary interconnections to enable Whitman students — future

humanitarians, teachers, diplomats and business people — to

interact effectively and meaningfully with people from all corners

of the world.

In the last couple of years, a group of professors — when they were not teaching, researching or serving on college governance committees — spent many of their “off-hours” meeting in living rooms and local establish-ments to work on a three-year plan, a global studies Initiative that eventually was launched with a $345,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. the funding provides comprehensive faculty development among other opportunities. through it, professors are learning from each other and from cross-disciplinary texts. they are examining existing global studies programs and interdis-ciplinary courses, with the goal of creating new courses to enhance Whitman’s curric-ulum. “A good liberal arts education must include global education,” said shampa Biswas, associate professor of politics and director of global studies. Whitman graduates can expect to teach in public schools with an ever-greater global diversity, work at banks and corporations with global clients, conduct scientific research with colleagues from

Shampa Biswas

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you’re not schooled in a global environment.” At Commencement, he told the 2009 grad-uates, “I know that most of you will not specialize in the international arena, but all of you will be informed and affected by it wher-ever and however you engage.” “globalization has a very long history,” Biswas said. “the nation-state is a fairly modern concept. But the nation-state itself is a global concept. It is not uncommon for people to think of ‘the global’ as ‘out there,’ outside the boundaries of ‘our nation,’” Biswas said. however, “every nation-state, including the united states, has emerged in and out of global currents. global studies is not simply about studying ‘other cultures,’ but about understanding the larger dynamics through which cultural difference within and outside current nation-states emerges and exists.” For instance, you can’t understand u.s. politics and culture, Biswas said, if you don’t study such altering events as the transatlantic slave trade, the long patterns of immigration

from europe and Asia, the u.s. role in World War II and the liberal world order that emerged during post-war reconstruction, and then recognize how elements of these events are embedded in this country’s contemporary

culture, in its literature, in its multiple under-standings of itself. global awareness on campus is important “if we aspire to precision in our teaching,” said gaurav Majumdar, an assistant professor of

english who teaches 20th century British literature, among other courses, and is a steering committee member for the global studies Initiative. he said sometimes disciplines such as literature have been taught at colleges “in a way that didn’t overtly address the interna-tional currents of literatures … the circulation of language and ideas.” It’s important to learn that national literature “didn’t happen sponta-

neously within national bound-aries,” Majumdar said. If that isn’t addressed, “we’re forget-ting about the international exchange … and that produces misinformation instead of infor-mation.” the effort will help students recognize even more that “they aren’t living in an invulnerable national bubble that floats over, and controls, the world,” Majumdar said. “And in the current worldwide recession, recognition of co-dependence and global dialogue becomes even more important.”

“Neither national borders nor disciplinary boundaries will confine the challenges that students and all of us will face in the coming years. The Global Studies Initiative will help us as an intellectual community to grapple with the relationship of globalization to the liberal arts in the world in which we teach and learn. It will provide the resources and the intellectual space for us to develop new courses that explore global issues across traditional divisions and disciplines, as well as to rethink and retool some of our existing courses in a more global context.”

— Bruce Magnussonassociate professor of politics,

Global Studies Steering Committee

Gaurav Majumdar

studies Initiative allows us to catch up with some of those changes. ultimately, we all hope to be more effective teachers, with loads of fresh ideas and insights,” which will enhance the student experience, she said. Ryan Crocker ’71, recently retired from a storied diplomatic career, his last post as u.s. ambassador to Iraq, agrees with Whitman’s faculty that global education is essential. he credits his Whitman liberal arts education with equipping him for his Foreign service career, and during his Commencement address he lauded the global studies Initia-tive, which he said “promises to take this college to a new level in international affairs.” When he was a student at Whitman, the world was in the midst of the Cold War, he said. Because of the balance of the two powers, it had a level of stability that it doesn’t have today. “In the post-Cold War era, in a non-polar world, regional peculiarities, tensions and phenomena create conflicts and chal-lenges in ways that are not predictable if

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Selected Readings for Faculty Global Studies Seminar

This is a partial list of the books faculty will discuss during the fall 2009 Global Studies Initiative seminar. Revathi Krishnaswamy and John C. Hawley’s essay collection, “The Postcolonial and the Global” (University of Minnesota Press, 2008), engages a still-incipient rigorous conversation between the humanities and the social sciences, with contributions from some prominent names in both scholarly areas. An effort to disrupt disciplinary insularity, the book of 19 essays unfolds in three parts — examining disciplinary boundaries and interdisciplinary exchanges, the links between global ethics and postcolonial concerns, and the collusions between imperialism and global processes. Giovanna Borradori, ed. “Philosophy in a Time of Terror: Dialogues with Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida” (The University of Chicago Press, 2003). Turning to Habermas and Derrida, two major contemporary philosophers, this book paints a complex picture of the ethical terrain in the aftermathofthe9/11attacks.Morespecifically,itexplorestheethico-politicalchallengesofthinking about terrorism and globalization in relation to the legacy of European Enlightenment and the Abrahamic tradition. Andrew Lakoff, “Pharmaceutical Reason: Knowledge and Value in Global Psychiatry” (Cambridge University Press, 2005). In a globalized world where it seems everything must achieve “liquidity” to circulate the globe, Lakoff’s book addresses the role of pharmaceuticals in the spread of biological models of human behavior. Looking ethnographically at the efforts of an internationalpharmaceuticalcompanyinArgentinatofindauniversalgeneticdefinitionofbi-polardisorder, this book offers a close look at how biomedicine spreads around the world as well as theopposition,bothscientificandpolitical,thisexpansionfacesindifferentlocalsituations. Salman Rushdie, “The Satanic Verses” (New York: Picador, 1988). While it’s notorious for very different reasons, “The Satanic Verses” is, by far, the most ambitious contemporary novel about migration, “globalized culture,” and the dangers in assuming the clear separation of cultures, narratives and selves. Rushdie messes with form, using language for dazzling — and very funny — effects. In addition, the notorious fatwa issued on the author by Ayatollah Khomeini generated a rich debate about the tensions between religious identities, censorship and pluralist democracy in a globalized world. John C. Hawley, “India in Africa, Africa in India: Indian Ocean Cosmopolitanisms” (Indiana University Press, 2008) is an interdisciplinary challenge to the notion that globalization is a recent, entirelyEurocentricphenomenonthathaslargelytodowitheconomicflows.Itscontributorsdelveinto literature, dance, history, sociology, religion and gender studies to study how the people of the Indian Ocean Basin looked at themselves and each other in creating an integrated world with deephistoricalrootswhoseculturalflowscontinueandflourishintothepresentday.

In 2005, before even attempting to write a grant proposal for this initiative, faculty invited a speaker from a college with a long-estab-lished global studies program — Ahmed samatar, dean of the Institute for global Citi-zenship at Macalester College — to talk about the nuts and bolts and challenges of orga-nizing such a program. the faculty then began a two-year process to create a grant proposal. It took multiple drafts, which were sent to many sets of eyes and people with contrasting views across campus. It’s expected that by the end of the three-year Mellon grant, about half of the Whitman faculty will have attended seminars and work-shops to study “globalization through a variety of disciplinary lenses,” according to the grant proposal. to do that, about eight faculty members will attend a semester-long seminar on campus in fall 2009, and then half of them will share that information with colleagues in workshops the following summer. Meanwhile, the other half will use what they learn to collaborate with other professors to create interdisciplinary courses. that schedule will be repeated each year, bringing on board more and more faculty members and more new or revised courses. examples of possible new courses: “globalization and health,” “global Pandemics in science and Culture” and “Literature and Politics of empire.” Faculty members also will produce working papers and lead discussion groups for annual campus-wide symposia featuring prominent visiting scholars — the first of which was held earlier this year. As part of the initiative, the steering committee and other faculty are actively seeking additional funding sources to expand foreign language offerings, enhance study abroad and international student/faculty research opportunities, and bring more inter-national students and scholars to campus. Biswas is quick to point out the many Whitman programs already in place that emphasize global awareness: study in six foreign languages and study abroad; opportu-nities for prestigious international fellowships; and interdisciplinary programs in Asian, Latin American, and race and ethnic studies. the number of international students on campus

has increased steadily. the Ashton J. and virginia graham O’Donnell endowment, which for the past several years has brought to campus renowned speakers with international experience and expertise, is now under the umbrella of the global studies Initiative. (See story, Page 24) Many professors at Whitman, in a wide variety of disciplines and fields, already incor-porate global material into their teaching, Biswas said. this initiative “allows us to talk with each other much more systematically about the different ways we already do global studies here, how we can do it better and how we can do it collaboratively.”

Jim russo, an initiative steering committee member and associate professor of chemistry, said the initiative is important to him because his area of focus — biochemistry and infec-tious diseases — “is centered on preparing students to be practitioners and researchers in the biomedical sciences and public health. “Problems in these areas span borders and are created or exacerbated by global issues of travel, migration, poverty, food production, and nutritional deficiencies and excesses. For example, my infectious diseases course next fall will engage students in an interdisciplinary approach to address malaria, tuberculosis and hIv, diseases in which the vast majority of the mortality and morbidity resides outside the united states,” he said. “In addition, we will examine and monitor the global transmission of the h1n1 influenza (swine flu) virus that surfaced in the spring and mutations that

Jim Russo

24 Whitman Magazine

If Ash O’Donnell ’43 and Virginia Graham ’43 had written their own “I Have a Dream” speech when they married 66 years ago it would read like this: travel the world to learn about cultures; use our talentstobenefitbusinessandthepublic;teach our children to be global citizens; and help educate Whitman students about the critical importance of thinking and acting beyond the boundaries of a map or a culture. The physics major (“Ash”) and the Phi Beta Kappa (“Gini”) followed their dreams. The global emphasis they envisioned for Whitman is possible today in part because of efforts they began in the1980sthatculminatedin2002withthe establishment of the O’Donnell Visiting Professorship in Global Studies. It brings to campus experts in interna-tionalfieldsfromdiplomacytoengineer-ing and the arts, and is now a key component of the Global Studies Initiative. The O’Donnells began laying the groundwork for the global studies professorship around the time their youngest child, Jennifer (O’Donnell Conner) ’83, graduated from Whitman. However, the source of the couple’s love of the college and desire to infuse its students with a global awareness was bornmorethanfivedecadesearlierwhenGini, from Seattle, and Ash, from Helena, Mont., were awarded four-year scholar-ships. “From that moment on, we held Whitman in high regard,” said Ash. After graduation, the O’Donnells followed an international route, each stop along the way enriching their belief in the value of an interdisciplinary, global education. And each stop worthy of a chapter in a book Ash hopes he will

“The Global Studies Initiative is important to me since my area of focus in the BBMB program (biochemistry and infectious diseases) is centered on preparing students to be practitioners and researchers in the biomedical sciences and public health. Problems in these areas span borders and are created or exacerbated by global issues of travel, migration, poverty, food production, and nutritional deficiencies and excesses.”

— Jim Russoassociate professor of chemistry,

Global Studies Steering Committee

O’Donnells’ quest to bring the world to Whitman began in the 1980s

could increase its virulence. the depth of understanding of these critical public health issues is greatly enhanced by a campus-wide curriculum in which students can probe the global economic, political, cultural and social forces that make these diseases such a critical public health problem,” said russo, who also serves as Whitman’s health professions adviser. “Many of our students will serve as clini-cians outside of the united states or treat patients who have immigrated to the united states from around the globe. Cultural compe-tency is essential for clinicians in disease treat-ment and prevention, and a vibrant global studies curriculum can best prepare students to practice as nurses, physicians, public health specialists or any health professional serving a diverse patient population.”

A kick-off event for the global studies Initia-tive was held in fall 2008; it was a forum on “Persepolis,” a memoir about author Marjane satrapi’s childhood in revolutionary Iran that was required summer reading for first-year students. satrapi came to campus to speak in April 2009. (See story, Page 27) the inaugural global studies Initiative symposium, held in February 2009, focused on torture, approaching a critical contemporary issue in an interdisciplinary way with outside experts discussing the topic from historical, legal and ethical perspectives. (See story, Page 26) Biswas said in her opening comments at the symposium that “the public purpose of the university is to elevate the level of public discourse in a society, and do so in ways that matter. … to deepen and broaden our conversa-tions — across disciplines and specializations, across the scholar-practitioner divide.” the symposium was a “spectacular success,” she said, noting that Whitman students who made presentations “emerged as full intellectuals.” now on to the next step: preparation for the faculty’s first fall global studies seminar and each participating professor’s journey to become a “different kind of teacher.” “We care deeply about our intellectual commitments,” said Biswas. “We care deeply and passionately about this.”

July 2009 25

someday write. Neither a speech nor a magazine story could do it justice. EarlychapterswouldfindAsh—withinoneweek of his graduation from Whitman — work-ingontheManhattanProject,firstattheradiationlabattheUniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley, and later with Gini in Oak Ridge, Tenn., at Y-12, the production site for the U-235usedintheHiroshimabomb.In1947theU.S.AtomicEnergyCommission(AEC)replaced the Manhattan Project, and Gini, Ash andfirst-borndaughterSherry (O’Donnell Burns) ’68 returned to the West, where Ash worked for the AEC at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington.

In 1951, the family of four (with the addition of daughter Joan) moved to the San Francisco BayArea,wheretheAECsetupanofficetooversee operations at the Livermore Labora-tory. As technical operations manager of that office,AshwitnessednuclearweaponstestsinNevada and Eniwetok in the Marshall Islands. Middle chapters in the 1950s would chronicle the birth of their third daughter, Lynn, and Ash’s shift to the private sector and peaceful uses for atomic energy as he joined the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and organized the Nuclear Economics group. Ash andGiniattendedthefirstU.N.InternationalConferenceonPeacefulUsesofAtomicEnergy convened in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1955.

The couple worked as a team throughout their assignments and spent the three weeks after the Geneva conference visiting European countries for SRI and making lifetime friends. In 1956 they participated in the San Francisco World Affairs Council Asilomar Conference on peaceful uses of nuclear energy. In 1957, Ash traveled around the world — 17 countries in three months — to study nuclear energy programs and to presentpapersatthefirstJapan-U.S.Conference on Peaceful Nuclear Energy. The opportunity to work in Vienna, Austria, with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “came out of the clear blue sky” in

1961,fulfillingtheO’Donnells’dream to move their children, including baby Jennifer, overseas so they “could start understanding the world around them.” Princeton Professor of Physics Henry D. Smyth, appointed by President JohnF.KennedyasU.S.ambassador to the IAEA, hired AshashisseniorscientificandtechnicaladvisertotheU.S.mission to the agency. “It was part of our real plunge into a world we thought we knew,” Ash said. “Yet every day, we learned something we didn’t

know.” As the story unfolded during the family’s three-plus years in Vienna, he and Gini represented their country as members of theU.S.DiplomaticCorps,andtheirthreeoldest daughters attended the American International School with children from 35 nationalities. “It made real international citizens of them,” said Ash. In 1964, after serving more than 10 years with the AEC and Department of State, Ash accepted an offer from Bechtel Corporation, a privateengineeringandconstructionfirm,inSanFrancisco.Heretiredin1987,afteropeningnewfieldsofbusiness,servingasvice president of several divisions and, later, being elected a director of The Bechtel Group of companies.

Inthefinalchapteroftheircareer,thecouple traveled the world advancing the interests of Bechtel and participating in international organizations. Challenges included selection of the best-prepared engineers, constructors and staff to perform the work in new environments, bringing into focus for the couple the importance of global education. The O’Donnells, convinced that Whitman needed to “go global” — to develop profession-als capable of understanding different cultures and the rapid changes in the world — had begun efforts to bring Ambassador Philip Habib, special presidential envoy to the Middle East,tocampustodeliverthe1983Com-mencementaddress.Itwas1986beforetheambassador’s schedule permitted the visit. “We knew he was involved in some discussions” during the day of his talk, Ash said. That night, atCordinerHall,HabibmadethefirstpublicannouncementthattheUnitedStateshadbombed Libya in retaliation for terrorist attacks. Habib had been in negotiations “trying to get LibyanCol.MuammarGaddafitobackdown,”Ash said. “That’s what we were looking for — to bring real-life experience” to students. “We couldn’t have written a script to follow that would have accomplished our goal any better.” He sees the Global Studies Initiative as a natural extension of the work he and Gini began decades ago. “We are delighted with the broad support given this concept by faculty, administration and trustees,” said Ash, a former chair of Whitman’s Board of Trustees. “Whitman has learned to move with the forces of humanity and the world,” Ash said.“The bottom line: Change is not optional. It is mandatory if each generation expects to realize the inevitable advancement necessary to meet future inevitable challenges.”

— Lana Brown

“Whitman has learned to move with the forces of humanity and the world.”

— Ash O’Donnell ’43

Ash ’43 and Virginia Graham O’Donnell ’43

26 Whitman Magazine

The “Torture and the Human Body” symposium drew Whitman and Walla Walla community members to Maxey Auditorium to explore this complex issue.

Mark Danner, author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror,” was one of three experts from varied academic disciplines who participated in the symposium. In the audience: Alyssa Fairbanks ’12, center, and Jason Pribilsky ’93, associate professor of anthropology.

the first symposium sponsored by the global studies Initiative, titled “torture and the human Body,” illustrated what can happen when an issue of global significance is exam-ined at great length and depth and in an inter-

disciplinary way with renowned experts on the subject, faculty and student panelists, and input from an audience that included the general public. the symposium, planned for three hours, ran close to four and exceeded expecta-tions in substance as well as time. Presenters and partici-pants were reluctant to end a significant intellectual explo-ration and discussion. the format took the complex issue beyond the media debates that invari-ably end up on one point —

“should we or shouldn’t we torture people to get information?” — as debaters bounce from one scenario or moral stand to another. “Fostering a Manichean worldview of good and evil, an uncomplicated political reality pitting us against them, is indeed what a one-dimensional discourse on torture does best,” said Zahi Zalloua, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures, French, and a global studies Initiative steering Committee member, in his opening remarks. “the above

narrative takes on ideological force, once it is naturalized, once its contested origins are erased, and presented to the American people, as a self-evident reality.” By contrast, the symposium examined many dimensions of torture as experts offered tools to tackle the issue, presented in-depth evidence of whether torture is effec-tive, and explored the historical and philo-sophical cycles of torture and its legacy, including what torture practitioners bring back with them in mindset, practices and training when they return home to serve in police departments and other security posi-tions. the event featured experts Mark Danner, a contributor to The New Yorker and “the new york review of Books,” a professor at Bard College and the university of California, Berkeley, and author of “torture and truth: America, Abu ghraib, and the War on terror”; Darius rejali, a political science professor at reed College and author of “Democracy and torture”; and stephanie Athey, associate professor of english at Lasell College and author of published articles on representa-tions of torture. these “leading intellectuals — critically engaged in the difficult task of undoing such narratives — have done much to debunk commonplace wisdom about what torture is and what it accomplishes,” Zalloua said at the symposium, noting that they have been remarkably attentive to the language of

Inaugural global studies symposium on torture sets stage

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(Left to right) Politics major Nadim Damluji ’10, philosophy major Adam Chapman ’09 and English major Valerie Lopez ’09, panelists in the torture symposium, impressed speaker Mark Danner, who said their “intelligence, wit and poise” are “testimony to what you are achieving at Whitman.”

torture and “to its ideological deployment in both the media and academia. “they invite us, even compel us to probe the concrete circumstances of torture, scru-tinizing the current framing of the debate as well as seeking alternative and innovative ways to imagine and understand torture and its traumatic effects on the human body.” the symposium explored the issues as a “whole … not analyzed in isolation,” said Zalloua. “It was an important concept … and it welcomed an interdisciplinary approach. It was the material manifestation of the liberal arts idea.” the three guest speakers representing different disciplines were interesting and informative individually, said Leor Maizel ’09. “But taken as a conversation, the partic-ipants in the symposium all gained some-thing significant … the ability to explore broader perspectives on the issue. ulti-mately, I went away feeling that this broad scope allowed me to form more discerning and educated opinions,” said the philosophy major. Valerie Lopez ’09, a symposium panelist, learned from the experience that politically charged issues are best under-stood if “approached dynamically and inter-disciplinarily.” Prior to the event, each student panelist was given the text of one of the speakers’ prepared speeches and asked to prepare a response. It was a powerful showcase of Whitman students’ abilities. “the students really bowled me over with their intelligence, wit and poise,” Danner said. “Impressive — and incontro-vertible — testimony to what you are achieving at Whitman.”

Kendra Golden

Relating to “cultural otherness”

the very first assignment for first-year Whitman students in 2008 happened during the summer — a pre-official start to the academic year: get to know one Iranian child through a special book. Its comic-book-like strips of black-and-white illustrations provided a potent entrée into the stark realities of a child from Iran, and thus the book served as a launching pad for learning through the college’s global studies Initiative. “the Complete Persepolis,” a memoir by author Marjane satrapi, a graphic artist who drew images of formative years spent in Iran and europe, gave these new Whitman students the first of many opportunities to wonder, evaluate and

open their world to additions, alterations or confirmations of their views. “how to relate to cultural otherness, and how to relate to difference, more generally, are questions that concern, or should concern, all Whitman students,” said Zahi Zalloua, asso-ciate professor of foreign languages and literatures, French, who recommended the summer-read book. “exposing students to these questions their first year allows them to cultivate a greater interpretive sensitivity to such global issues.” the autobiographical novel tells the story of a young Iranian girl growing up in tehran during and after the 1979 Islamic revolution, her high-school experiences as a young immigrant woman away from home and family in vienna, her bittersweet return to Iran in the late 1980s and her final departure for France in 1994. the author’s illustrations sting: some show the emotional effects for the young satrapi; others evoke the simple human sweetness of love of family, culture and home even in desperate and difficult times. “the book is a reflection of an incredibly complicated world,” said elyse semerdjian, associate professor of history and a panelist for a fall discussion of the book open to the college community and general public. satrapi’s book, its personal focus, helped readers build a connection with her — to “laugh and cry with her,” semerdjian said. Another panelist, Kendra golden, associate professor of biology, said it was a meaningful experience for her as a microbiologist representing Whitman’s mathematics and science division, to have — in a discussion with faculty members from the social sciences and humanities about a book such as “Persepolis” — “a legitimate place in the larger context of the liberal arts.” golden teaches, among other topics, a nutrition course, and has given public talks on such issues as body image, societal expectations and eating disorders. she said satrapi, while growing up in the political turmoil, “in the midst of it was still going through what a

Continued on Page 28

Elyse Semerdjian

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For weeks, the days would start the same way. At dawn, the music would start and Kate Greenberg ’09 would wake up. But this wasn’t a residence hall. this was rural ecuador, the site of a faculty-led study abroad experience, in a bedroom her host parents had vacated for her while they stayed with their three children in the other room in the family’s concrete-block house. sometimes the wind would find its way through holes and seams between the windows and walls. Many nearby homes had dirt floors, but theirs had a concrete floor and a tiled kitchen counter. the house, built by her host father, was lovingly tended. At dawn, the music would roar to life, coming from the other side of the patio in an outbuilding where her host father, santiago Quintuña, 27, a musician with an Andean-fusion band, would enjoy some early morning music time, listening to the stereo before going on to his farm work and involvement in the community’s development of cultural tourism. he and his wife, Lucinda Quintuña, 27, love their community and didn’t want to migrate abroad to provide for their family, and so they have worked hard to develop cultural tourism in the Cañar area. greenberg, welcomed as a member of the family, participated in it all, work and fun, an important part of her course-required research. For her research topic, greenberg chose community tourism — how tourism may affect the Cañari culture. “I was blessed with a wonderful host family,” said greenberg, an environmental studies and humanities major from Minneap-olis, Minn., whose main traveling experiences previous had been annual resort vacations with family. “Our lives look so different. But we were able to talk and listen to one another; we built a bond.” there are many types of study abroad experiences. For this one — five weeks in ecuador — greenberg wasn’t alone. “Whitman” came with her, both in faculty and curriculum. And nine classmates lived in other homes,

experiencing everyday life there and compiling data for research projects. these short-term faculty-led trips are possible through the planning and commit-ment of faculty, many of whom are involved in the college’s global studies Initiative, and through funding from such sources as the Innovation in teaching and Learning grants and the David Deal China exchange endow-ment. recent trips include the one greenberg participated in, which was planned and led by suzanne Morrisey, assistant professor of anthropology, and Jason Pribilsky ’93, asso-ciate professor of anthropology, who have been conducting research in Cañar for a number of years. students executed their own ethnographic research projects and prepared their written findings. the theme was “global-ized Livelihoods: health, nutrition, and Migra-tion” in which student immersion in the culture was key. Another recent faculty-led trip had an interdisciplinary twist: heidi Dobson, professor of biology, and Brian Dott, associate professor of history, teamed up to create a lecture course linked to a separate spring break field course to China, where they and eight students followed the silk road. the field course was designed to connect scientific, environmental and cultural conditions related to the historic trade route and give students a more in-depth understanding of both the lasting influences and the modern changes. Whitman has “an enormous amount of talent in our faculty,” and the faculty is interested in interactive learning, said susan holme Brick, director of international programs. these trips enable them to create “a field trip built into a course” — making it “more directly linked to the Whitman curric-

Curriculum on location: Faculty combine expertise to create courses abroad

girl goes through.” readers from other parts of the world could relate to that, and golden advised the audience at Cordiner hall, which had many first-year students in attendance, to “be true to who you really are … project who you really are.” Zalloua believes the comic book medium “does more than simply illustrate Marjane’s story — graphics help tell the story, merging with text in a form that exceeds the sum of its parts.” “Deploying this medium to call atten-tion to the framing of difference, satrapi makes the twin problems of assimilation and exoticism central to the book’s analysis and critique,” he said. “reading ‘Persepolis’ as a graphic novel means first being attentive to the double function, or rather, double potential, of comics: on the one hand, comics’ reputed accessibility and, on the other, its ability to break with the familiar. It is this tension between universal appeal and startling defamiliar-ization that I find most original in Persepolis.” satrapi, who spoke at Whitman in April, has said, “the only thing I hope is that people will read my book and see that this abstract thing, this Axis of evil, is made up of individuals with lives and hopes.” Kirk Crosland ’12 said the book gave him “common things to talk about with other students.” they’d meet in the residence hall and discuss it. And in reading satrapi’s experiences, despite the cultural differences, “I could identify with things in her life.” Mission accomplished.

Marjane Satrapi, author of “Persepolis,” lectured at Whitman in April.

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Kate Greenberg ’09, seated at right, is shown with her Equador host family, from left to right, baby Kusikayu; Pacari, 7; Franklin, 10; and mother Lucinda Quintuña, in the house that host father Santiago Quintuña (not pictured) built.

ulum.” Faculty and students learn together “about a subject in a very focused way,” she said. these shorter trips are accessible for students who because of extracurricular activi-ties or conflicts with their coursework are unable to break away for a whole semester or year to study abroad, she said. Dobson, who had wanted to teach an inter-disciplinary silk road class for years, said one goal was to help students realize the intercon-nectedness of the world through trade prior to the Modern Age. the traveling class started in Beijing and as they moved west by plane, train and bus, students were able to identify and explore influences from India in the art and religion displayed in ancient Buddhist caves, turkish influences in language and food, and Arabic influences in the writing, all reflecting cross-cultural exchanges, which characterize Central Asia. Dobson and Dott were able to explain envi-ronmental reasons for trade transactions. example: the steppes and grasslands of Central Asia are the natural habitat of horses and were a better area to raise them than central China. that’s why the peoples of these areas were nomads whose lives revolved around horses, and why silk growers from China’s more southerly moist and warm regions, where sericulture thrived, obtained horses for power and warfare by trading silk. “the learning was a lot more effective,” said Dobson, about hands-on aspects that

allowed students to integrate biology, religion, history, geography, politics and social environ-ment. “It was one of the most fun classes I’ve been involved with.” Alex Ponnaz ’11, one of the students in the silk road course, said courses like it “provide perspective you simply cannot get through reading books.” Ponnaz, a religion major who plans to propose an individually planned major in Middle eastern studies, said his focus is history, but he appreciated the interdisciplinary aspect. Dobson’s “immense knowledge of the natural world only added to the course,” he said. It also was a rich experi-ence as the group explored far-flung areas where the “cultures were a world apart from the one in China proper.” the ethnographic research methods explored in the ecuador trip included the participatory model. “you learn as much from participating in the community as surveying, interviewing and focus groups,” Pribilsky said. students were expected to immerse them-selves in the family, learn the rules and patterns in the household and take volumi-nous notes. the professors and students hope to repay the community for its generous hospitality by providing completed research that will enhance local grant proposals to the government on various projects. Pribilsky wants to “build a bridge” between Whitman and Cañar.

greenberg discovered through her research that though she had been concerned the Cañari culture might “morph” to meet tourist demands or be otherwise adversely affected, no one in the community shared her concern, seeing instead the economic benefits and opportunity to keep the culture alive. she realized that what she had wanted was for the community to be static. “I had a certain notion of what (indigenous) should be … It was me who wanted them to stay indigenous … I wanted the continuity,” she said. her Cañar family had a computer but no Internet at home. greenberg played Barbie with her host sister and baseball with siblings, and she interpreted as they’d watch an english-language “transformers” movie. From their house on the main road from Cañar to the ancient ruins of Inga Pirca, greenberg could hear bulls bugling and public buses zooming by. she shadowed santiago on errands — collected paint supplies for the new tourism restaurant, joined tours or attended events organized by her professors and Los Chaskis, the indige-nous partner organization to which her host parents belong. And she ate. “I’d almost always leave the table in a satiated stupor,” she said. Cañari families often ate potato soup three times a day. In addition, breakfast would have instant coffee and possibly sweet rolls. Lunch, the biggest meal, was often popcorn, fava beans and fresh papaya juice — and then potato soup and then a heaping plate of spiced vege-tables and white rice (normally barley, but their crops were wiped out in heavy rains). greenberg wants to incorporate in her life the sense of ease in the Cañari culture. “they work really hard,” but the pace of the day is different, she said. And even though the family lives in a global world, she learned how important the local community is to them. “travel is an amazing opportunity but if we only have our sights set on being global, we’ll lose the local.” she learned the importance of “building up where you are,” instead of just focusing on being a member of the whole world. “they love their place,” she said. “It inspired me to do the same. It taught me that I have to ‘live’ where I live.”

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Make a difference to Whitman students and faculty.Contact the Office of Development

(509) 527-5165 or (800) 835-9448, ext. 2, or online at https://rs.whitman.edu/~gifts.

“Whitman is very worthy of any support I can give.” “Education is the bulwark of our society,” Dr. Elizabeth Main Welty declared when she received an honorary doctorate from Whitman College in 1994. “Each of us has to stand up, defend it and support it.” She is a woman who stands by her word. And by Whitman. “Libby” Welty, trustee emerita and beloved friend of the college, demonstrated her devotion yet again with a recent gift to create the Written and Oral Communication Initiative. What better way to support higher education than by enriching professors’ classroom pedagogy? Administered through the Center for Teaching and Learning, the initiative will focus on teaching of writing and oral communication at all stages of a Whitman education. Libby’s love of Whitman grew through that of her husband, Dr. Robert F. Welty ’35, an overseer for 12 years before his death in 1989. “My husband was very devoted to Whitman,” she said. “He felt that he had had the best time there of any college experience. He did well and he made wonderful friends.” Ultimately, his

Whitman experience launched his career as a surgeon. The Weltys met at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia and practiced medicine in Spokane for 36 years. Libby’s feelings for Whitman have grown stronger over the years. She served as an overseer and then trustee from 1990 to 2009, faithfully making the trip to campus for visits and meetings. “With all my many years of contact with Whitman, I have always had wonderful experiences,” she said. Her philanthropy, which honors the memory of her husband, has taken many forms, including a gift to help create the campus health and counseling center, the Welty Health Center, dedicated in 2006. Her desire to support Whitman faculty has always been paramount. A gift in 1994 created the Robert Allen Skotheim Chair of History; another provided the Welty Chemistry Laboratory in the Hall of Science, which was dedicated in 2002. That same year, the trustees created the Dr. Robert F. Welty Professorship of Biology. “Libby’s latest gift to establish the Written and Oral Communication Initiative advances faculty efforts to help students develop the confidence and skill to speak effectively and write persuasively. The primary goal of the initiative will be to enhance students’ skills in persuasive argumentation and critical analysis,” said John Bogley ’85, vice president for devel-opment and college relations. “Libby has, in many ways, adopted Whitman College as her own. Libby and Bob have made Whitman a philanthropic priority, and their impact on Whitman is significant and enduring.”

Dr. Elizabeth Main Welty, trustee emerita

Libby Welty:

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Whitman College345 Boyer Ave.Walla Walla, WA 99362

Sherwood Athletic Center to reopen When students arrive this fall, Sherwood Center’s new indoor climbing wall, renovated locker rooms and training space, and enlarged second gymnasium will be ready. A new Hall of Fame atrium in Sherwood will honor Whitman athletes. Full-length windows (shown at left) enclose the climbing wall. For more about the Sherwood renovation, including a video preview of the climbing wall, visit www.whitman.edu and click on Athletics, then Athletics Facilities.

Opening week Before we know it, students and their parents will be on campus for the start of an exciting new academic year. Residence halls open for new students on Aug. 27, and fall semester classes begin Sept. 1.

Fall reunion One of the highlights of reunion weekends is the opportunity to visit popular spots (here, Penrose Library) and hear about campus life from current students.Fallreunionfortheclassesof1984,1988,1989,1990and1999isOct.2-4,2009.See www.whitman.edu/alumni for details.

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