Research in the Liberal Arts
Because the College of Liberal Arts is so varied, from anthropology to music, our professors are always in the midst of interesting research, writing books and papers. Here's a sampling of projects.
Exploring the roots of Mexican-American political action
Raised among the vast lemon orchards of Southern California, José Alamillo is one of many Mexican Americans whose contrasting childhood memories include both the light aroma of spring lemon blossoms and the darker images of his father returning home at night, his body covered with black soot from lighting smudge pots amid the groves.
Now an associate professor of comparative ethnic studies, Alamillo incorporates such personal experiences growing up in an Anglo-dominated "company town" with an extensive body of research in a new book, Making Lemonade Out of Lemons, that explores how Mexican workers and their families gained the skills necessary to address overt discrimination and labor grievances, as well as lay the groundwork for the broader civil rights struggle of the late 20th century.
As with Making Lemonade Out of Lemons, much of Alamillo’s scholarly research explores how Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans have used culture, leisure, and sport to build community, construct gender and ethnic identities, forge cross-cultural relations, and advance politically and economically in the United States.
What is driving global climate change?
A new study by Professor Eugene A. Rosa and colleagues pinpoints the causes of a recent finding by a working group of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change that global climate warming is due to human activities. The principal factors? The growth of human population and consumption.
In fact, the researchers' findings suggest the impact of these 2 environmental stressors is so profound that they may outpace any potential environmental benefits from industrial modernization and improving technologies. Urbanization, economic structure, age of population, and other analyzed factors have little effect, according to their research published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
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What do rodeo queens have to do with history and mythology?
"A lot," according to English professor Joan Burbick. She interviewed white and Native American women in the Pacific Northwest who were rodeo queens from the 1930s to the present. "I see the rodeo as playing out the mythology of the West in sports. Many women in the West believe in the stories of rugged individuality popularized from the 1930s." Burbick's findings are detailed in her recent book entitled Rodeo Queens and the American Dream.
Professor Burbick is a former Lewis E. and Stella G. Buchanan and Meyer Distinguished Professor of English and teaches courses on nationalism.
What happened?
The time is 600–1300 AD. The place is the Mesa Verde region in southern Colorado. Europeans haven't arrived on the North American continent yet. For centuries, farmers have been here tilling the earth and producing crops, but now they're gone. Why? What happened?
Professor Timothy Kohler, Department of Anthropology, is the senior principal investigator for a 3-year project that will answer some of these questions. The grant, funded by the National Science Foundation, enables Professor Kohler to expand his long-term research project on human/ecosystem interaction in the Mesa Verde region. His research examines changing land-use strategies in small-scale farming societies during a time of climatic change and population growth. It will consider why the farmers who lived in this region for centuries abandoned it shortly before 1300. The project will make use of an innovative computer-based system that will enable Professor Kohler's research team to simulate the movements and other behaviors of thousands of households simultaneously.
What is a women's policy office?
If you are an American, chances are very good you have never heard of a women's policy agency. These are governmental offices set up to promote women's rights and status. We have one in the United States, the Women's Bureau in the Department of Labor, and it has state and city level offices. Meanwhile, similar agencies in other countries are very well known.
Amy Mazur, professor of political science, has a National Science Foundation grant to complete a 10-year project examining women's policy offices in contemporary European countries, the U.S., and Canada. Working with an international team of researchers, Mazur will examine "state feminism," answering such questions as, "Do women's policy offices make democracy more democratic?"
Are prisons good for the economy?
Gregory Hooks, professor and chair of sociology, and Clayton Mosher, associate professor of sociology, WSU Vancouver, in collaboration with other scholars, have investigated the economic impact of the construction of new prisons on the communities where they are placed. Their research has been published in Social Science Quarterly and strongly argues that penal institutions do not revive local economies or greatly improve the wage structure.
Imagine being published as an undergrad
In addition to developing their own original research, undergraduate psychology majors often participate in faculty research. Several such students have been published as coauthors on their faculty mentors' research articles.
Or presenting at your field's professional conference
With Dr. Ella Inglebret's guidance, Linsey Baker became the first undergraduate speech and hearing sciences student to present research at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association conference in more than a decade.
Life is good at WSU.
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A unique richness of students, faculty, location, activities, and organizations creates a full, lively student life at the University. This section gives you the insider's view on student life and a sampling of the opportunities here.
"Glimpses." Students talk about life at WSU
These brief posts are written by WSU students to give you a personal look through their window on campus life.