Paw'd Defiance
139 episodes - English - Latest episode: 9 months ago - ★★★★★ - 6 ratingsWelcome to Paw'd Defiance, where we don't lecture but we do educate. This podcast comes to you from the University of Washington Tacoma. Our show is about more than campus. During each episode we'll highlight a different person, program, area of research or educational topic that is relevant not only to the university but also to the Greater Tacoma community and beyond.
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Episodes
Keep Giving & Loving
April 29, 2020 20:00 - 12 minutes - 8.33 MBIn this episode we hand over the microphone to UW Tacoma Lecturer Tony Perone and his mom Magda. Madga is a nurse in Yonkers, New York. She's spent the past few months helping patients with COVID-19. The conversation between mother and son is, at times, sad but it's also loving and even joyful. Magda talks about what it's like to be with a person during their final hours and she reflects on her decision, at age 40, to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.
Environmental Justice in the Time of COVID-19
April 22, 2020 19:00 - 23 minutes - 16.3 MBOn this episode of the podcast with UW Tacoma Associate Professor Robin Evans-Agnew. Evans-Agnew researches asthma and environmental justice. He's part of a project along with Assistant Professor Christopher Schell called Voices Unbound. Voices Unbound uses different methods, including post cards and podcasts to get input about environmental issues from groups that are often ignored by policymakers. In this episode Evans-Agnew talks with People for An Environmentally Friendly Kenmore (PERK) ...
Finding a Silver Lining In a Time of Pandemic
April 04, 2020 00:00 - 28 minutes - 19.8 MBOver the past few weeks, we've collectively experience a pandemic that's required a strength and resourcefulness many of us didn't know we were capable of. We've made sacrifices, moved our lives indoors, and we're still unsure of what's to come. "Since I started at UWT, life has become busier, and as a result, I've lost touch with some friends. But when the realities of life with COVID-19 started to sink in, I thought about all those people, and I was worried about them. Especially my frie...
Lift as You Climb
March 12, 2020 17:00 - 40 minutes - 28.1 MBRosa Franklin is a local icon. She was the first black woman elected to the Washington State Senate, serving the 29th Legislative District in the Tacoma area. Born in the Jim Crow era South, Franklin moved to Tacoma in the 1950s. Franklin holds bachelor's degrees in biology and English and a master's in social science and human relations. She worked as a nurse for 40 years before joining the Washington State Legislature in 1990. Franklin recently teamed up with local historian Tamiko Nimura...
Indigenizing Higher Education
March 02, 2020 23:00 - 34 minutes - 23.5 MBUW Tacoma Ed.D. Director Robin Starr Zape-tah-hol-ah Minthorn (Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, Apache, Nez Perce, Umatilla and Assiniboine) recently wrote an article for Higher Education Today where she discussed ways colleges and universities can better meet the needs of its Indigenous students. We'll talk about her recommendations. We'll also discuss a paper Minthorn co-wrote about a theoretical campus tour that provides a fuller understanding of an institution's history. Finally, Minthorn discus...
Movies!
February 27, 2020 23:00 - 33 minutes - 23 MBWe're joined by UW Tacoma Associate Professor David Coon and Destiny City Film Festival's Executive Director Emily Nakada-Alm to discuss how movies play a part in shaping our culture, and the way our social identities are reflected in and affected by the movies we watch. We'll also talk about film festivals as an important format for storytelling outside of the media industry, as well as what makes a movie "good."
Motherhood Part II
February 06, 2020 23:00 - 34 minutes - 24 MBUW Tacoma Associate Professor Natalie Jolly and Assistant Professor Sarah Hampson join us to talk about their research. Both Jolly and Hampson have looked into life in the military for mothers. We'll discuss their work and we'll also get into a conversation about motherism, the wage gap, the new Paid Family & Medical Leave act in Washington State and the possibility of having the Equal Rights Amendment added to the United States Constitution.
Novel Idea
January 30, 2020 22:00 - 11 minutes - 7.93 MBA common book is used by colleges and universities to get students on the same page - literally. The idea is to have students in different classes read the same book. UW Tacoma used to employ common books but shelved the idea a few years ago. The project has been revised with a particular emphasis on creating community. Indeed, the renewed effort is referred to as the "community book." In this episode we'll talk with UW Tacoma Lecturer Annie Nguyen about this year's community book "Washingto...
What to Inherit, What to Leave Behind
January 17, 2020 00:00 - 45 minutes - 31.4 MBThe importance of the U.S. Census, how cities are built and life growing up in Iran are just some of the topics covered during this episode with UW Assistant Chancellor for Community Engagement Ali Modarres. Modarres is well-known in the Sound Sound. Besides being an assistant chancellor, Modarres serves as Director of the School of Urban Studies at UW Tacoma. Modarres is an expert on cities, specifically how they're built and who they're built for. He has focused a significant portion of hi...
Dawg Tales - Tradition
December 19, 2019 23:00 - 18 minutes - 13 MBA Thanksgiving dinner gone awry, a homemade game of Jeopardy devoted to better understanding one's family and an ornament collection that's been growing steadily for nearly 30 years. These are just some of the stories told to us by UW Tacoma students, faculty and staff. Everyone now and then we're going to hand over the microphone and ask you to tell us a story around a certain theme. We're calling this series Dawg Tales. For this first episode in the series we decided to focus on stories a...
Finding a Spot: Parking at UW Tacoma
December 18, 2019 19:00 - 22 minutes - 15.8 MBIn this episode we talk about parking in and around UW Tacoma with Associate Director of Maintenance & Operations Tessa Coleman, Program Operations Manager James Sinding and ASUWT President Vincent Da. UW Tacoma's urban setting presents different challenges and limitations when it comes to parking. We'll talk about those. We'll also discuss a new parking lot that is scheduled to open in the spring along with other possible solutions that could help open up spots on campus. Finally, we'll cha...
Motherhood Part I
December 09, 2019 22:00 - 34 minutes - 23.6 MBUW Tacoma Associate Professor Natalie Jolly and UW Tacoma Lecturer Annie Nguyen talk about the role of motherhood in the United States. Jolly and Nguyen are both mothers. They'll talk about their experiences as working mothers. They'll also discuss how motherhood is viewed in the Amish community and in other parts of the world. Finally, Jolly and Nguyen will address what changes need to be made to better support mothers and parents in general who are either working or going to school.
Arsenic and Old Lakes
December 03, 2019 00:00 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBThe Asarco smelter shutdown more than 30 years ago but the plant's legacy is still being felt. Lead and arsenic emitted from the smelter's smokestack contaminated the soil and found its way into local lakes. UW Tacoma Associate Professor Jim Gawel joins us to discuss his work. Gawel and a team of researchers is examining arsenic in local lakes including Lake Killarney in Federal Way. Gawel will also talk about the importance of getting students into the field and the chair in his office that...
The Susan Lucci of Pies
November 26, 2019 23:00 - 9 minutes - 6.39 MBUW Tacoma's pie day started back in 1997 as a way for faculty to thank staff. Each year since then faculty make pies and bring them to campus for staff to enjoy. Over time this event has turned into a friendly competition whereby people vote on their favorite pies. UW Tacoma Associate Professor Jim Gawel has been participating in pie day for more than 20 years but has one only once, hence his nickname-the "Susan Lucci of Pies" During this episode we go to Gawel's kitchen as he prepares a pum...
The Scholar Activist
November 07, 2019 19:00 - 6 minutes - 4.84 MBUW Tacoma Senior Lecturer Ellen Moore studies how the environment is discussed in the news and the larger world of pop culture. Moore is active on campus with the sustainability committee and is involved with environmental issues in the South Sound.
Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest
November 07, 2019 00:00 - 40 minutes - 27.9 MBWarmer temperatures and rising sea levels are only part of the story when it comes to climate change in the Pacific Northwest. Decreased mountain snow pack could lead to drought and more wildfires. On the flip side, heavy rains may lead to more frequent and intense flooding. We'll talk about the local impact of climate change and climate resiliency with the University of Washington's Amy Snover. Snover serves as both director of the Climate Impacts Group and university director of the Northw...
Learning Lushootseed
September 18, 2019 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBThe Lushootseed Language Institute (LLI) is a collaboration between the Puyallup Tribe of Indians and UW Tacoma's Professional Development Center. The LLI is one part of the Puyallup Tribe's larger effort to revitalize Lushootseed. Up until the early 1800s, Lushootseed was the only language spoken by indigenous peoples living in an area from present day Olympia in the south to Skagit Valley in the north. The Puget Sound and the Cascade Mountains provided the eastern and western borders. In t...
Water is Life
September 11, 2019 18:00 - 11 minutes - 7.85 MBOn this special episode of Paw'd Defiance we hand over the microphone as students and staff in UW Tacoma's Math Science Leadership program explore Mt. Rainier. MSL serves youth in grades 7-12 that are historically underrepresented in STEM. The program works to connect students to different STEM fields through activities and field work. MSL is traditionally held over a three week period in the summer. This year is a bit different. Students spent a week on campus and at different locations aro...
It's All Happening at the Zoo!
August 28, 2019 18:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBPoint Defiance Zoo and Aquarium's Alan Varsik and Karen Povey stop by the show to talk about conservation and sustainability. Varsik and Povey also discuss misconceptions people have about zoos. Varsik weighs in on recent changes to the Endangered Species Act and Povey provides background information the Grit City Carnivore Project. The project is a collaboration with UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Chris Schell.
A Green Cookie Monster?
August 14, 2019 20:00 - 35 minutes - 24.2 MBThink back to your childhood or a time in your life you really enjoyed. What do you see? Chances are your memories of that particular time are attached to a song, movie, product, etc. Nostalgia can be a powerful feeling which is why companies use it in their advertising. UW Tacoma Professor Altaf Merchant studies nostalgia. He'll discuss how it works and how study participants responded to the idea of a green Cookie Monster.
The Language of Genocide
June 25, 2019 23:00 - 6 minutes - 4.44 MBLanguage that surrounded the concept of genocide began in the 1940s—how did it become such a well-known term that can be found today in news media, the Avengers movies, and history books? In this podcast extra, UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Ben Meiches talks about his new book, The Politics of Annihilation. Meiches seeks to analyze the language and concept of genocide as a whole, and explains how the definition we have today has been narrowed over time.
Room for Debate
June 19, 2019 23:00 - 32 minutes - 22.5 MBA conversation about debate with UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Ben Meiches. Meiches is a former national debate champion. Meiches along with UW Tacoma junior Zaira Rojas and UW Tacoma alumnus Eric Ballentine talk about the importance of debate in terms of skill development and how they're working to break down barriers in a space that has historically excluded people of color. Rojas and Ballentine will also the settle the age old argument about which is better: dogs or cats.
Grit City Music History
June 13, 2019 23:00 - 31 minutes - 22 MBUW Tacoma Lecturer Kim Davenport takes us on a magical history tour of music in the City of Destiny. Davenport is a professional musician who has written articles and books about different aspects of Tacoma's history, including music. We'll hear some original recordings of Tacoma booster songs which were designed to bring people to the city. Davenport will also discuss different artists who lived in Tacoma as well as famous artists who played here.
Hair That Won't Be Quiet
June 05, 2019 23:00 - 57 minutes - 26.6 MBThe history of Black hair in the United States with Temple University Associate Professor Lori Tharps. Tharps co-wrote the book Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America with Ayana Byrd. Tharps' work has been featured in the New York Times, Ebony.com, The Columbia Journalism Review and Time Magazine.She also hosts the podcast My American Meltingpot. Tharps and guest host Katherine Felts discuss the importance of hair in African communities prior to contact with Europeans. Sla...
The Fifth Season
June 03, 2019 21:00 - 29 minutes - 13.8 MBWinter, spring, summer, fire and fall. Wildfire season is here. During each of the past two summers a thick blanket of smoke from wildfires covered large parts of Western Washington. Thousands of wildfires in the American West and Canada burned millions of acres. UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Maureen Kennedy talks about how climate change has contributed to a prolonged fire season. She'll also talk about the role of fire in forests and how fire suppression practices that were created to prot...
Winter, Spring, Summer, Fire and Fall
June 03, 2019 21:00 - 29 minutes - 13.8 MBWildfire season is here. During each of the past two summers a thick blanket of smoke from wildfires covered large parts of Western Washington. Thousands of wildfires in the American West and Canada burned millions of acres. UW Tacoma Assistant Professor Maureen Kennedy talks about how climate change has contributed to a prolonged fire season. She'll also talk about the role of fire in forests and how fire suppression practices that were created to protect forests lead to larger and more des...
Using a Robot to Measure Stress in Teens
May 21, 2019 22:00 - 31 minutes - 14.3 MBUW Tacoma Assistant Professor and UW Tacoma student Christina Nelson discuss Project EMAR, a social robot designed to help address teen stress. Project EMAR (Ecological Momentary Assessment Robot) is a cross campus partnership between UW Tacoma and UW Seattle. Rose and Nelson will talk about why they decided to use a robot to help with teen stress and how they are involving teens in the design process.
Searching for Microplastics
May 15, 2019 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBUW Tacoma Senior Lecturer Julie Masura along with student researchers Tracie Barry and Abby Deaton talk about their work with microplastics in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Masura's work in this area began a few years ago. She helped pioneer a method for collecting and analyzing microplastics that is used around the world. Masura also discusses the role students play in advancing research at UW Tacoma.
Microplastics in the Water
May 15, 2019 21:00 - 28 minutes - 19.9 MBUW Tacoma Senior Lecturer Julie Masura along with student researchers Tracie Barry and Abby Deaton talk about their work with microplastics in the waters of the Pacific Northwest. Masura's work in this area began a few years ago. She helped pioneer a method for collecting and analyzing microplastics that is used around the world. Masura also discusses the role students play in advancing research at UW Tacoma.
Puzzles, Puzzles Everywhere!
May 15, 2019 21:00 - 2 minutes - 999 KBUW Tacoma Senior Lecturer Julie Masura discusses her love of puzzles. Masura has a garage full of puzzles that she's completed and attached to the walls.
Building a Prison to College Pipeline
May 10, 2019 21:00 - 45 minutes - 21.1 MBUW Tacoma Assistant Professor Chris Beasley and UW Tacoma alumnus Omari Amili talk about their experience with incarceration. Beasley and Amili turned their lives around and are now working to build a prison to college pipeline. They discuss the challenges formerly incarcerated people face. Beasley and Amili also talk about the challenge of making college more accessible to those who served time in jail or prison.
Credible Fear
May 01, 2019 18:00 - 40 minutes - 18.6 MBUW Tacoma Professor Marian Harris and graduate student Zea Mendoza spent a week helping women and children held at an immigrant detention center in Dilley, Texas prepare for their credible fear hearings. Harris and Mendoza talk about their experience at the facility including what they saw and heard. They also talk about how the work impacted them on a personal level.
Constructores de la Comunidad
April 28, 2019 18:00 - 2 minutes - 1.1 MBDurante el año pasado, un grupo de estudiantes de UW Tacoma trabajó para organizar una conferencia de inmigración. El resultado es "Nuestra historia de Tacoma: Educación, defensa y construcción de comunidades”. Entre otras cosas, el evento de dos días comienza con un taller legal en donde los participantes pueden hablar con un abogado de inmigración sobre sus asuntos inmigratorios. También habrá un panel que presentará al Juez del Tribunal Supremo del Estado de Washington Steven González y l...
Community Builders
April 27, 2019 22:00 - 18 minutes - 8.55 MBDuring the past year a group of UW Tacoma students have worked to organize an immigration conference on campus. The result is "Our Tacoma Story: Education, Advocacy and Building Communities". Among other things, the two day event will feature a legal clinic where participants can speak with an immigration attorney. There will also be a panel featuring Washington State Supreme Court Justice Steven Gonzalez and Senator Claire Wilson. During this episode UW Tacoma student Karla Michelle Vargas...
Blame Edgar Allan Poe
April 19, 2019 22:00 - 4 minutes - 2.09 MBIs your yard overrun by English Ivy? If so, you should direct at least some of your ire at Edgar Allan Poe. Late in his life, the famed writer penned a series of landscape tales about what trees and plant species make a yard or a property beautiful.
The Ultra-Marathon Educator
April 19, 2019 22:00 - 34 minutes - 16 MBUW Tacoma Assistant Professor Ellen Bayer has a passion for the outdoors. Bayer's love of nature guides her work both in and out of the classroom. She teaches literature courses at UW Tacoma and leads her students on excursions into the natural world. Bayer recounts the story of a student who'd looked at Mt. Rainier her entire life but had never actually seen the mountain up close. This experience lead Bayer to include field trips in her curriculum. Finally, Bayer discusses why she took up r...
A Podcast Episode 65 Million Years in the Making
April 03, 2019 07:00 - 30 minutes - 13.9 MBUW Tacoma Assistant Professors Uba Backonja and Christopher Schell discuss their mutual love of the 1993 film Jurassic Park. Schell and Backonja credit the movie for cultivating their love of science. The pair also talk about their career paths and how students in college now can find inspiration in unlikely places. Oh, and there's at least one dinosaur impression.
Be the First
April 02, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 16.5 MBAmanda Figueroa, Director of Student Transition Programs, and Yanira Pacheco Ortiz, First Generation Student Initiatives Coordinator, talk about what it means to be a first-generation college student. Figueroa and Pacheco Ortiz relay their experiences as first-generation students and discuss ways in which universities can support students who are the first in their families to attend college.
Generous and Welcoming
April 02, 2019 07:00 - 54 minutes - 24.9 MBUW Tacoma Assistant Professor Danica Miller and her father, Puyallup Tribe Vice Chairman Bill Sterud come to the studio to talk about the Indigenous history of the Tacoma area. Miller and Sterud provide context to our historical understanding of the area by discussing, among other things, the Medicine Creek Treaty and the Boldt decision. UW Tacoma sits on ancestral Puyallup land. Miller and Sterud talk about the campus' founding and how that revitalized the Downtown area.