Paw'd Defiance

In this episode of the podcast we hear from UW Tacoma senior Andre Henderson and his mother Renay Henderson. Andre graduates on June 13 with a degree in social welfare. Andre’s journey has been a difficult, but no matter what he always had the support of his family, including his mother. Renay earned a degree in human resources back in the early 2000’s, while raising three children and working ful...

In this episode of the podcast we take a tour of Professor Mike Honey’s office. Honey is a founding faculty member of UW Tacoma. He started in 1990 and moved into his current office in 1997. The office overlooks Pacific Avenue which runs right through the heart of downtown. Honey’s office is lined with books and posters. Research material and graded papers are stuffed into accordion file folders....

In this episode UW Tacoma Professor Katie Baird talks about her new book " Growing Mangos in the Desert. " The book chronicles Baird's experience in the Peace Corps. The then twenty-something was sent to Mauritania to teach farmers there how to grow rice. Baird had very little training and couldn't speak the local language. Needless to say things didn't go as planned. Bair...

In 1996 Howard Zehr published " Doing Life ." The book features photos and stories of men and women serving  life sentences in Pennsylvania prisons. Years later, Zehr partnered with UW Tacoma Associate Professor Barbara Toews on a follow up book. "Still Doing Life, 22 Lifers, 25 Years Later." In " Still Doing Life ," Toews and Zehr talked with some of the same men and...

UW Tacoma Professor Heather Dillon and a group of students worked together to get a campus chapter of The Society of Women Engineers at UW Tacoma. Dillon and the students - Anna Wen, Jasmine Davis and Sophia Elmobdy - talk about the importance of having a SWE chapter on campus. The group also discusses the barriers women in engineering face. Finally, the conversation turns to why each student deci...

UW Tacoma junior Illia Meserenko is an international student from Ukraine. In this episode Meserenko talks about the war between Russia and Ukraine. Meserenko's mother, father and grandmother are still in Ukraine. His mother and grandmother fled Kyiv but his father stayed behind. Meserenko talks about how they're doing and the impact that war has had on him. Finally, he talks about his d...

This is the 100th episode of Paw'd Defiance! We wanted to do something a little different, so we handed over the microphone to alumna Jazmyn Pratt and asked her to interview UW Tacoma Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange. The two had never met prior to recording, but you'd never know it from the conversation. The pair sound like old friends as they talk about their individual college experien...

We're now in year three of the COVID-19 pandemic. Case counts are declining and while we don't know what the future holds, it felt like a good time to stop and reflect on what we've experienced. This is the first in a series of episodes where we ask members of the UWT community to talk about the last two years and the impact it's had on them. First up, UW Tacoma Associate Teach...

Television journalist Michelle Li went viral for a tweet she posted to social media. The tweet showed Li reacting to a message from a viewer who said Li was "being very Asian" during a segment about traditional New Year's Day foods. #VeryAsian became a global sensation and attracted attention from the media, including Ellen DeGeneres. Li used the incident to launch the Very Asian Fo...

Grief is about more than just death. Grief is a way of expressing loss. We may grieve over the loss of a job or we may grieve when a friend moves across the country. Loss and grief are an important part of the human experience. In this episode we talk with UW Tacoma Professor Charley Emlet. Emlet researches aging, particularly in vulnerable communities. For the past several years he's also ta...

Early libraries in the United States were private and available to only a few. Women played an important role in transforming libraries and turning them into public spaces that can be enjoyed by everyone. UW Tacoma Library Director Annie Downey talks about this history and the racism/sexism these librarians faced. Downey also discusses the overlap between libraries and the feminist movement. 

In this episode we talk with Rabbi Bruce Kadden and Associate Professor Bonnie Becker about what it means to be Jewish.  Our conversation includes a brief overview of some of the basic tenets of the religion. We also discuss anti-Semitism, its history and why this hatred of Jewish people persists to this day. Finally, Dr. Becker tells us why she decided to publish an op-ed about the Whoopi Goldber...

In October of 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical organizations declared a national emergency in children's mental health. In this episode we're joined by Ashley Mangum, Program Manager of Pediatric Mental Health at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital, Kianna Carter, Y outh Engagement Services Behavioral Health Clinician at Mary Bridge and Chris Barrans, Director...

Tacoma recently launched Growing Resilience in Tacoma (GRIT). The guaranteed income program will distribute $500 a month for a year to 110 Tacoma residents. UW Tacoma alumna Abigail Lawson serves as Program Director for GRIT. In this episode we'll talk about guaranteed income , universal basic income and the difference between the two. We'll also talk about GRIT, including how it works a...

We're nearing the end of year two of the pandemic and the news isn't great.  The omicron variant is disheartening. Needless to say, many of us are tired and stressed out. We wanted to do something to help lift everyone's spirits. So, we asked a group of UW Tacoma students, faculty, staff and alumni to tell us a joke, preferably a "dad joke." You know what these are, these...

Part two of our conversation about the Labor Solidarity Project with UW Tacoma Assistant Teaching Professor Alex Miller, Assistant Professor Sonia De La Cruz and alumna Teresa Dennerlein . In this episode we talk about the pandemic's impact on work including the "Great Resignation." We also discuss the changing nature of work as well as what it's like to work in higher educatio...

The Labor Solidarity Project at UW Tacoma  consists of faculty and students working to highlight labor studies in the curriculum, in research, and through community outreach. In this episode, the first of two parts, we talk with UW Tacoma Assistant Teaching Professor Alex Miller, Assistant Professor Sonia De La Cruz and alumna Teresa Dennerlein about the LSP, its mission and why an understanding o...

The 133 foot schooner Adventuress has been to the Artic and was used by San Francisco Bar Pilots to transfer pilots to and from cargo vessels near the F arallon Islands. Today Adventuress is operated by the non-profit organization Sound Experience, as a platform for environmental education about the Puget Sound. In this episode we board the  Adventuress with Associate Teaching Professor Julie Masu...

In this episode UW Tacoma student Ashley Young tells her story. Young struggled in high school. After graduation she attended community college for a year but eventually left school and moved to Florida. She got a job selling sport bikes. The 2008 financial crash lead Young to move back to Washington where she eventually decided to join the Air Force. Young talks about her experience in Afghanista...

The Tacoma-Pierce County Housing Justice Project provides free legal aid to low-income Pierce County residents who are facing eviction. In this episode we talk about the status of the eviction moratorium in Washington state. We also discuss the changes to state housing law. Among the changes, providing representation to tenants facing eviction as well as creating fair repayment plans to tenants wh...

For the first time in 18 months, the UW Tacoma community gathered on campus as part of the annual back-to-school celebration called Convocation. In this episode we'll drop in on the event and hear from some of the speakers including new Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange. We'll also listen as new and returning students talk about life during the pandemic and how they feel about coming to ca...

Most of UW Tacoma's students, faculty and staff have been working, teaching and learning remotely for the past 18 months. In this episode we hear from the campus community as the university pivots back to an in-person model of instruction. Students, faculty and staff share their concerns as well as their hopes about returning to campus. They also discuss how the pandemic has changed them and...

In this episode we talk about the role students play in getting people vaccinated against COVID-19. We also talk about what life has been like for healthcare professionals during the pandemic and how the healthcare field can address vaccine hesitancy. We're joined by Carol McFarland, Assistant Dean, Strategic and Community Partnerships at Seattle Pacific University and Briana Sanger, Nursing...

UW Tacoma alumna Erica Myron has been crowned Ms. Wheelchair USA 2021-2022. In 2003 the then-20-year-old was shot four times. A bullet lodged in one of the vertebrae in her lower back and left her paralyzed from the waist down. Myron talks about her life and how competing in pageants helped her find her voice. Myron plans to spend her time as Ms. Wheelchair USA advocating for things like accessibl...

UW Tacoma alumni Dana Malick and Lyndsey Conway work in the healthcare field at a time that is unparalleled in recent history. Malick recently completed her master of nursing and Conway received her degree about a year ago. Over the last few months Malick has been working at a vaccine clinic at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Conway is a program supervisor at the Cancer Care Alliance. The two wi...