UWLA JEDI Committee Updates
GGN Firm Tour 3/29 – RSVP BY FRI 3/17!
The JEDI committee this quarter has been working in concert with the Professional Advisory Council (PAC) to offer a firm tour with GGN at the beginning of Spring quarter. This is a lead up event to this year’s Out in Front exhibit, which will showcase Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) values in professional practice. Check out the event blurb at the end of this newsletter along with a few other exciting exhibits and events including a UW Public Lecture with Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass.
| Event details: | |
| When: | Wednesday, March 29th, 10am – 11:15am |
| Where: | 1932 1st Ave STE 700, Seattle, WA 98101 |
| Who: | 20 students |
| What: | 10 AM Arrival 15 min Office Tour 15 min GGN Firm Presentation 20 min Project(s) Presentation 20 min Open Q+A 11:15 AM Leave |
Student Grievances
It is important that we address issues of stigma and discrimination that may arise in our community, and even more important to empower our students to do so given power differences between students, staff, and faculty. All members of the UW//LA JEDI committee would like to serve as a potential channel of communication around such incidents. We want to emphasize that we are committed to acting as advocates and intermediaries in addressing these concerns while protecting individual privacy.
Our department developed a grievance protocol two years ago as a guide to approaching student grievances, including a diagram around different pathways for reporting an incident of concern. The document has been shared previously by the advisers at various registration meetings (see image). This resource can also be found on our website under the Student Resources page. While there are pathways outlined for reporting under total anonymity, we encourage you to find a trusted advocate to confide in, as this allows the department to participate more thoroughly in a direct accountability process and report back on actions taken to the affected parties.
Additionally, the JEDI committee would like to emphasize some other aspects of this resource as a way to empower students around approaching these difficult situations. In particular, we want to highlight the “Acting Principles” section, which includes community guidelines around working through grievances, approaching mistakes, as well as ways to intervene in an incident of concern. This is a brief overview of the content included, so we encourage you to refer to the document linked above in its entirety for more information and resources.
Department JEDI Updates
“The principle is simple: we—that is to say, all people—live in an emotional ecosystem that attaches us to the environment, not just as our individual selves, but as beings caught in a single, universal net of consciousness anchored in small niches we call neighborhoods or hamlets or villages. Because of the interconnectedness of the net, if your place is destroyed today, I will feel it hereafter.”
– excerpt from Root Shock
Curriculum Feature: L Arch 561 Human Experience of Place
During winter quarter, graduate students have the opportunity to attend Lynne Manzo’s L ARCH 561 Human Experience of Place class. Students explore ideas of place and place-making using the lenses of social sciences and design disciplines through readings, group discussion, and guest speakers. This year’s class wrote in their journals about how they experienced places, responding to prompts about place attachments, place-making, relationships to nature, and many others.
Liz Forelle (MLA ‘25), “found the place attachment, place meaning, green gentrification, and urban transformations/grassroots community development topics to be the most moving.” The readings on place attachment and the chapter from Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove’s book, Root Shock, left strong impressions on her as future designer and curator of spaces. Having students from outside the Landscape Architecture department such as Education and Social Work elevated class discussions with different insights and perspectives with how people move and occupy spaces. Leading up to finals, the class discussed design justice.
UWASLA Updates
Youths in the Built Environment
In February, the youth outreach program co-sponsored by the Landscape Architecture and Urban Design and Planning departments presented to students from Denny International Middle School (Denny MS), Duwamish Valley YouthCorps (DVYC), Highline District, and UW Women’s Center. Over 100 middle school/high school students were introduced to different career pathways at the College of Built Environments (CBE) and the topic of environmental justice.
This year, youth participants were provided sketchbooks to explore course content and their inner designers through sketches and written words. Students from Landscape Architecture, Urban Design and Planning, Architecture, and Education engaged with youth participants while they designed their own built environments now and in the future. The interdisciplinary collaboration of UW students introduced youths to the diverse studies and relationships they can have while attending UW CBE. Sign up to volunteer here, and all dates are also listed on the UW//LA department Google calendar and website.
Online Resources
Excerpts from UW Mental Health resources for Faculty/Staff and UW’s Counseling Center Employee Guide to Supporting Students in Distress
Options for Responding to Students in Distress
Provide Individual Support
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- Reach Out
Actively listen, be empathetic, and refer to appropriate resources for the student.
Use a non-confrontational approach and a calm voice. “I’m worried about you.” - Be Direct
Don’t be afraid to ask students directly if they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, feeling confused or having thoughts of harming themselves or others. “Have you been feeling bad enough to consider hurting or killing yourself?” - Connect
After acknowledging, listening, and being direct with the student, offer forms of support including: UW Counseling Center or My SSP or connect with SafeCampus for consultation.
- Reach Out
Connect the Student with My SSP
If a student is having intense emotions and needing crisis intervention support, connect the student to MySSP by calling 1-866-775-0608.
Seek Help Immediately
The welfare of the campus community is the top priority when a student displays threatening or potentially violent behavior. IN URGENT OR IMMEDIATE SITUATIONS, CALL 911
Additional Resources for Student Support
Health & Wellness
Learn ways that you can support students’ mental health, including sharing with them the link to Husky Health & Well-Being, a portal to a variety of health services.
UW Counseling Center provides personal counseling, assessment, referral, and crisis intervention services to currently-enrolled students. Students can access same-day, confidential mental health and crisis intervention support 24/7 and in multiple languages. For more information, visit mentalhealth.uw.edu.
UW LiveWell provides support and case consultation for students experiencing personal hardship, including academic hardship as the result of extenuating life circumstances. For more information or to make an appointment, visit https://wellbeing.uw.edu/unit/livewell/.
Academic Advising: Consider connecting students with an academic advisor if they are experiencing challenges navigating academic commitments in light of stressors and other disruption in their lives.
The Center for International Relations & Cultural Leadership Exchange (CIRCLE) serves as a cross-cultural engagement hub and supportive environment for international and domestic students. More information can be found at circle.uw.edu.
King County Equity Now (KCEN)
ABOUT KCEN
Our mission is to close the racial wealth divide and foster thriving Black communities. In furtherance, we:
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- craft city, county, and state policy solutions
- execute power-building, high-impact equity campaigns
- conduct and facilitate Black-centered research
- organize with Black community and allies
- create Black-centered media
- fight and spotlight anti-Black racism
- empower Black political representation.
Invest $17M to Build the Tubman Center for Health & Freedom!
Tubman Center for Health & Freedom is requesting $17M (42% of the total construction budget) from the Washington State Legislature to construct the state’s only Black community-owned, -led, and serving health center to meet the needs of marginalized people for generations to come. Our communities have solutions!
Community Designed Model: The Tubman Center for Health & Freedom (TCHF) heard from over 24,000 community members and will deliver care that our communities want and need, with 8,000 primary care patients loved on each year and reaching 16,000 relatives through health services and health promotion programming in the community. Our new permanent location will be on light rail with 150 family-sized affordable homes (apartments) steps away from the clinic doors. As we keep building our services and staff, we will continue to provide high-quality jobs with career progression for 60-100 practitioners from the community and many additional health center staff. We will offer culturally-appropriate, community-designed healthcare career pathways for future practitioners, broadening and expanding our state’s healthcare workforce and creating urgently needed opportunities from our community for all communities. Read more and sign the petition.
Upcoming Events
OUT in FRONT: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion
UW PAC Landscape Architecture Design Exhibition
Gould Hall Court – University of Washington
Exhibit from April 28 through May 8
Opening Reception Celebration: Friday, April 28
Link to RSVP
OUT in FRONT: Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, is a fresh take on a favorite biannual event by the UW Landscape Architecture Professional Advisory Council. OUT in FRONT is a showcase for local firms to share innovative and exciting design work with students and the larger professional design community. This year’s event encourages professionals to share work that highlights JEDI principles, practices, or inquiries.
Our community of students, staff, faculty, and professionals is actively asking how we practice landscape architecture through a JEDI lens. Through this exhibit and related events, we hope to share our perspectives in response to these questions, while strengthening our community, and exploring the applications of justice in design practice.
Leadership Academy: Mother Earth and Indigenous Lands
Saturday, April 15th, 2023 from 11:30am – 2:30pm
Women’s Center, Cunningham Hall, UW Seattle campus
RSVP Here
A workshop featuring Jade Sierra, WA State Legislative Assistant to Senator Claudia Kauffman and UW Alum, in discussion with indigenous community leaders. Learn from indigenous and native leaders about their work and how leadership skills have been developed and applied to reclaiming and recultivating indigenous lands.
Miss Chief in the Museum
UW Public Lectures
April 19, 2023 7:30 pm
Kane Hall, Room 120
RSVP Here
History is subjective. The dominant version of history upheld in museums on this continent is told from the perspective of the colonial settler cultures who projected their values and ideals onto the Indigenous people and landscape of North America. Cree artist Kent Monkman discusses his interventions in museums that have taken form as commissioned paintings, curated exhibitions, videos, and site specific performances. Monkman will also discuss his 2019 commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York – a diptych of two monumental history paintings for the Great Hall and the creation of a new performance piece.
Designing Beyond the Binary
Seattle Architecture Foundation
April 26, 5:30PM – 6:30PM
Register Now!
Seattle Architecture Foundation (SAF) is pleased to present Designing Beyond the Binary, a research project seeking to honor and better understand the lived spatial experiences of trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and queer individuals and communities. Funded by Mithun, the researchers are conducting a national survey and semi-structured interviews to inform a set of actionable design tools to increase design knowledge and support designers in fostering greater gender inclusivity in built environment design practice. Please join this interactive presentation with Jake Minden and K Kaczmarek to learn more about inclusive design to foster equitable built environments for all queer communities.
FREE admission, with an option for suggested donation.
From the Ground Up: Black Architects and Designers
MOHAI Exhibit, 10 AM-5 PM
Open through Apr 30, 2023
(Seattle Public Library offers free Museum Passes including ones to MOHAI if you are a member)
From ancient temples to soaring, modern skyscrapers, Black architects have had a strong presence throughout history. Today, the tradition of greatness continues.
On view at Seattle’s Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) from February 4 through April 30, 2023, From the Ground Up: Black Architects and Designers explores the past, present, and future of architectural talent, while learning about Black pioneers in the field.
Originally created by the Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago, with a local addition by curatorial consultant Hasaan Kirkland and co-developed with the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, this exhibit celebrates the enduring innovation and impact of Black architects across the United States.
May Day: Women and Equality
UW Public Lectures
May 1, 2023 6:30 pm
Kane Hall, Room 120
RSVP Here
As a leading voice in the women’s movement, Ai-Jen Poo will talk about the status of today’s labor movement and its impact on women.
Whole Child Development: Navigating Trauma, Building Resilience, Optimizing Healing and Well-Being
UW Public Lectures
May 11, 2023 7:00 pm
HUB 145
Register Here
This lecture will explore the impact of interpersonal, community, institutional, and societal factors on individual-level behaviors in minoritized children.
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge & The Teachings of Plants
UW Public Lectures
May 11, 2023 7:30 pm
Kane Hall, Room 130
RSVP Here
Through personal experiences and stories shared by Robin Wall Kimmerer, we are invited to consider what we might learn if we understood plants as our teachers, from both a scientific and an indigenous perspective.