Dear Friends,
As we approach the end of this academic year, I wanted to highlight a few important developments from a very eventful year.
We are very happy to note that Suzanne St Peter (CHID alum, 1991) joined us in February as CHID’s new administrator. We are thrilled to have her! Suzanne comes to us after many terrific years of experience at the UW School of Social Work. Along with an impressive set of professional skills, she also… Read more
Shawn Goicoechea and Sandra Leyva met in Cyprus while participating in a CHID study abroad program directed by former UW Professor Robert Burrowes in the Summer of 2006. The class was an exchange between UW and the American University of Cairo, so the pair quickly made friends with their Egyptian counterparts, and at the end of the program, traveled to Cairo with their new friends and hosts. This was not the first CHID study abroad opportunity Sandra or Shawn had taken advantage of. In fact,… Read more
Did you notice anything odd about our haiku? Does it feel recognizable, yet wrong? We reversed the traditional five-seven-five syllabic structure.
Why? Because CHID is changing. We, like many others, wonder if the program will remain recognizable. But, like our reversed haiku, is change ever wrong or is it just becoming?
The early architects of the CHID program have been meditating on how the CHID model will endure the contemporary climate of neoliberal… Read more
Telling my story, in its most truthful sense, means telling a story of confusion and pain, but also one of resilience. I came to UW troubled and broken-hearted, seeking a purpose within my self—a self that I could come to love. I soon came to realize that I couldn’t be who I am in an academic setting if I took my personal struggles with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other traumas out of the equation, so instead I found ways to merge my personal self with my academic self. Through… Read more
One thing comes to mind as I’m brewing my hot masala chai early in the morning. Deep in thought, I’m 24 hours into my fourth spring quarter—my final quarter as an undergrad if things go as planned… and I let the tea bag seep for too long! Bitter chai is always a shame. I reluctantly pour my unbalanced brew into my cup and wait for it cool. As the chai cools, I watch as steam rolls off the rim of the mug. The vapors tumble through the air, as I look at them I begin to reminisce. These past four… Read more
This year has been an exciting and challenging one for CHID’s study abroad programs. Early Fall 2015 saw the renewal of our Exploration Seminars (Romania & Georgia, Amsterdam, and New York City), an innovation first developed in CHID and now run across the university. Our students and faculty program directors continue to travel far and wide, trying to learn individually and collectively about how they are positioned in the world.
But, as the events of the last year have made increasingly… Read more