SBS Developments 2020

DEV E LO P M E N TS THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS

1

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020 A Publication for Alumni and Friends of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences https://sbs.arizona.edu Dean John Paul Jones III Marketing and Communications Senior Director Ana Tello Writer and Editor Lori Harwood Designer Mackenzie Meitner Contributing Writers Maribel Alvarez Mike Chesnick Katy Smith Eric Van Meter Development Office Ginny Healy, senior director of development Dave Silver, director of development Gail Godbey, associate director of development Oona Feddis, events and donor relations manager Inquiries may be addressed to: SBS DEVELOPMENTS The University of Arizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences P.O. Box 210028 Tucson, Arizona 85721 520-626-3846 harwoodl@arizona.edu On the cover: SBS student scholarship recipients Lauren Easter, Kevin Sanchez, Zia Pearson, Zachary Stout, and Saudra Alvarez. Photo by Mackenzie Meitner.

UArizonaSBS UArizonaSBS collegeofsbs uarizonasbs

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

SBS DEVELOPMENTS

CONTENTS FEATURES

2 Q&A WITH THE DEAN 4 PUTTING STUDENTS FIRST 8 HELPING OTHERS TELL THEIR STORIES 10 BUILDING INTERCULTURAL CONNECTIONS 11 PLANNING FOR POSITIVE CHANGE 12 ACTING AS CHANGE AGENTS THROUGH GIVING: SUPPORTING

AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENT AFFAIRS 14 A SECOND CAREER LEADS TO ALUM’S SUPPORT OF BUSINESS JOURNALISM 15 INSPIRING A NEW GENERATION OF JOURNALISTS 16 OPENING DOORS: SUPPORTING INTERNSHIPS AND GRADUATE EDUCATION 18 FIGHTING GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE 20 EXPLORING THE SCIENCE AND MYSTERIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS 22 PRESTIGIOUS CENTER FOR ARABIC STUDY ABROAD MOVES TO THE

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

33 HONORARY DEGREES

ACKNOWLEDGE GENEROSITY AND COURAGE 34 GRADUATING SBS

AMBASSADORS EMBRACE FUTURE

DEPARTMENTS

28 MAGELLAN CIRCLE 32 SBS ADVISORY BOARD PROFILE FEATURING KIM BOURN 24 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN A PANDEMIC 36 SOUNDBITES 38 SOUNDBITES: COVID-19 EDITION 40 THE BUZZ: NEWS & NOTES 44 GIVING WAYS AND HOW TO GIVE

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

3

Q & A WITH THE DEAN John Paul Jones III Don Bennett Moon Dean

Q.

Let’s talk about COVID-19. As dean of one of the largest colleges at the University of Arizona, you are trying to provide a quality education for thousands of students and support faculty and staff. What are the biggest challenges and possible consequences of the current situation?

A.

The biggest challenge has been uncertainty. The summer has seen us preparing for an in-person return, as well as for various remote and hybrid modalities.

The path we forged early in the summer was disrupted by the mid-to-late summer COVID-19 spike in Arizona, and with that there has been a great deal of alarm on the part of faculty and staff – and students and their parents – about returning to traditional in-person teaching, no matter what safeguards we might try to implement in the classroom (e.g., masks, testing, cleaning, distancing). These fears are justified; we all feel them.

As to the consequences – and here I’ll stick to pedagogy rather than the ever-present health impacts – I’m a strong advocate for the traditional model, especially for undergraduates. Being on campus, learning in classrooms and labs, having normal interactions with faculty, advisors, and one’s fellow students – this is life changing for students. That’s why our graduates are so loyal to the institution. We want to retrieve that model, but COVID-19 is the decider.

4

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Q.

How do you see this pandemic transforming higher education?

A.

As I hinted above, we are entering into a period of rapid evolution. A dependable vaccine will get us back in the classroom, but we will never be the same after this pandemic. Technology must play an increasingly larger role in the pedagogy of the future, even as we strive to return to normal. If COVID-19 lingers, our universities will have fewer international and in-person students. We will lose the intimacy of in-person contact and the learning that gives it such value. This is when, for example, an attentive faculty member is able to look across the room and read a student’s emotional register – from “I don’t get it, but don’t want to raise my hand” to “Ah ha! That’s brilliant!” That’s hard to do remotely.

Finally, COVID-19 is hastening what has been predicted for quite some time: the realignment of higher education. We will have fewer institutions, and there will be greater distinctions between a smaller number of elite private and flagship publics focusing on the teaching and research and all the rest.

Q.

The killing of George Floyd and countless more before him revealed how much work must be done to overturn structural racism. The subsequent protests and unrest illuminated the hunger for real change. What do you see as the college’s role and responsibility here?

A.

Our role is clear: teach, research, and support the current movements as they progress on their racially and socially just agendas. And our responsibilities are huge, for we have the largest number of faculty on this campus with deep expertise in diversity and identity, in social and economic justice, and in anti-racist, anti-colonialist, anti-classist, Indigenous, feminist, and LGBTQ theory and practice. We must deploy all these resources in a coordinated way, beyond individual scholarship or disciplinary boundaries, so as to help our students and communities understand and confront structural racism – and its correlates.

But we must also mobilize our expertise at the institutional level. We must lead meaningful discussions that lead to transformative practices around diversity and inclusion, and we have to guide this into every nook and cranny of the university.

Q.

What is your message for the alumni, donors, and friends of SBS who want to support the students and research in SBS but may also be struggling themselves?

A.

Take care of yourself and your family first.

But if you have the resources to help, then contributing to the university’s student emergency fund is a great place to start. If you have more resources, consider supporting or endowing a scholarship – whether for a student in your favorite discipline or simply in the college overall. And with our current financial situation, which is worse than it has ever been, those with resources and a desire to make a lasting impact might consider underwriting a faculty member’s line or research activity through a named chair or professorship. We have so many outstanding faculty to support, and large gifts can help us keep them here while enhancing the quality of their work in and beyond the classroom.

Q.

Some people during this quarantine have learned how to bake bread. Others binge watch Netflix. What has been some of your personal pandemic coping mechanisms?

A.

Oh boy. I basically Zoom or email all day, and, like a lot of us, try to make progress on the nest during the weekends. My biggest regrets are not taking on a big project of self-improvement – improving my Spanish, really getting fit, reading the great novels – and not being able to see more of, and hug, my (adult) kids. But I do like listening to music and was recently asked to contribute to a Spotify “Bear Down and Rock Out!” playlist. I chose two songs by Tucson’s own Linda Ronstadt – “It’s So Easy” and “La Charreada.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

5

Putting Students First We offer hundreds of undergraduate and graduate scholarships each year, but with more than 6,000 students, there is so much more we can do. With the rising cost of higher education, you can help make college more affordable and accessible and help us recruit and retain our highest achieving students.

Here are just some of the amazing students who have benefited from your generosity!

Zia Pearson

Political Science and Africana Studies major Recipient of the Louis F. Landon Memorial Scholarship Zia said that her dream of attending the University of Arizona seemed possible until the age of 12, but then her life was severely impacted by her father’s mental illness and his decision to leave her family. “I then watched my mom work harder than I thought was humanly possible to support my brother and me.

This experience made me value education even more and ignited my passion to understand mental health in the African American community.”

Determined not to add to her mother’s financial burden, Zia scoured Scholarship Universe and found the Louis F. Landon Memorial Scholarship, which covers tuition, as well as room and board.

“I am beyond grateful for the blessing of being awarded the Louis F. Landon Scholarship,” Zia said. “I am not exaggerating when I say I would not be in school earning my degree if not for the scholarship. It has truly changed the direction of my life.”

Gabriel Peña

Economics major and Latin American Studies minor, ‘20 Recipient of the Governor Raúl H. Castro Scholarship When Gabriel was a first-year student in college, his mom’s cervical cancer returned, and she was quite sick until just recently. Needing financial support in his senior year, Gabriel discovered the Raúl H. Castro Scholarship, which was created in honor of Castro, the only Mexican American governor of Arizona and a U.S. ambassador to three countries.

Gabriel has tremendous admiration for Castro and considers him a role model. An economics major, Gabriel found a “true passion” with Latin American Studies, starting with his first class in “Human Rights in Latin America.”

“I feel very fortunate to receive the scholarship, and it also made me feel more confident that I could follow in Raúl H. Castro’s footsteps and become a lawyer and politician,” Gabriel said.

6

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Ryan Bravin

Communication and Creative Writing major, ‘20 Recipient of the Brenna Ilana Berger Memorial Scholarship Ryan had various health problems growing up, which included fine motor skill disorders, cerebral palsy, and an autism diagnosis. During his path to college, he has exhibited perseverance and resilience, which make him an ideal candidate for the Brenna Ilana Berger Memorial Scholarship.

Each year, the Brenna Ilana Berger Memorial Scholarship provides $30,000 to two Communication majors who have faced significant hardships in pursuing their education. Fiercely determined to keep Brenna’s memory alive, Melany – Brenna’s sister – and her parents, Esther and Bob Berger, created the scholarship in 2013 to honor Brenna’s love of the university and her work as a counselor with at-risk students.

Receiving the scholarship twice was life changing for Ryan, giving him the financial freedom to apply to the Teach for America program, which he started this fall as a high school English teacher in North Carolina. He eventually wants to be a pastor, where he “hopes to inspire a hurting and broken world.”

“I am so grateful to the Berger family that they are willing to make an investment in me,” Ryan said. “They see what I’ve overcome and think that I can use that to help other people.”

Saudra Alvarez

Information Science & eSociety major Recipient of Richard H. Tyler Student Emergency Funds The University of Arizona established the Richard H. Tyler Student Emergency Fund to help students impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic with various expenses, including housing, food, course materials, technology, healthcare, and childcare.

A working mom, Saudra is pursuing her B.A. degree while working at the library full-time. “What drives me to commit myself to work and study are my three boys, ages 17, 13, and 10. I strive to be a great example to them, and I want them to know that pursuing higher education is valuable and will open doors,” Saudra said.

“Our income decreased due to COVID-19, and we were struggling with bills, and we also received unexpected bills during this time,” Saudra said. “I’m very grateful for the generous support from the Richard H. Tyler Student Emergency Fund. This helped my family and provided some peace of mind.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

7

Lauren Easter

Law and Philosophy major, ‘20 Recipient of a Magellan Circle Scholarship Lauren endured a five-year abusive relationship where she was physically, mentally, and sexually abused. At the age of 24, Lauren left her abuser. While in a women’s shelter, she recognized the need to finish school and be a role model for her son.

While double majoring in Law and Philosophy, Lauren worked full-time as a paralegal and volunteered with Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse.

When she graduated in the spring, Lauren received the prestigious Provost Award. She plans to pursue a dual MBA and JD and recently created a scholarship foundation for individuals impacted by gender-based violence.

“My success and endeavors could not have happened without the support and recognition I have received from being a part of the Magellan Circle family,” Lauren said. “The generous donation by my patron allowed me to be more selective with my time – dedicating my passion and talents to my academics and advocacy. The Honorable Margaret Houghton’s contribution has inspired me to give back by assisting others in achieving a higher education.”

Zachary Stout

PPEL (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law), Philosophy, and Economics major, ‘20 Recipient of the Kathryn A. Governal Perseverance Award Zachary went from opioid addiction and prison to being a triple major. Zachary, who plans to be a lawyer, found his calling advocating for criminal justice reform and increasing access to higher education. He hopes to help change the way our prison system works.

“The Governal Award as well as other scholarships I’ve received have provided encouragement as well as needed funds,” Zachary said. “As a first-generation, non-traditional student, I am especially honored to receive an award recognizing perseverance.”

The award – which was established in 2002 by George and Roberta Governal in memory of their daughter, Kathryn Anne – recognizes distinguished achievement by a student in overcoming personal, economic, or physical obstacles in completing a degree. Every year, the award is given to five students from different majors – Philosophy, Communication, Journalism, History, and Psychology.

8

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Mojtaba Ebrahimian

Middle Eastern and North African Studies Ph.D., ‘20 Recipient of the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Fellowship Mojtaba grew up in Iran, coming to the University of Arizona for his Ph.D. He recently completed his dissertation, which explores 19th-century Persian travelogues of Europe and their reflection of a new historical consciousness of Iranian and global history in Iran. Mojtaba comes from a family of teachers and would like to work in academia.

“Words cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Fellowship and for the support of Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute,” Mojtaba said. “Without the fellowship, I could not finish my program.

As a foreign student, I cannot apply for FAFSA and am not authorized to work anywhere except on campus. The fellowship allowed me to work with peace of mind on my dissertation, to travel for academic conferences, and, most importantly, to pay for my living expenses, tuition, and insurance.”

Miranda LaZar

Anthropology graduate student Recipient of the Lewis and Clark Fellowship Miranda grew up living in the mountains in New Mexico and was fascinated by the wildlife she encountered. During high school and college, she learned about wildlife conservation through volunteering and working at the Albuquerque Biopark. She fell in love with the discipline of archaeology.

“I was drawn to the combination of theories and methods from both the hard sciences and the humanities to create a holistic understanding of human life in the past,” Miranda said. “Zooarchaeology allowed me to combine my two interests to research human/animal interactions through time.”

For graduate school, Miranda chose the UArizona School of Anthropology because of its excellent faculty mentors and research opportunities. She feels fortunate to have received the Lewis and Clark Fellowship, which is awarded to students pursuing studies in paleolithic archaeology or paleoanthropology.

“I am extremely grateful for the Lewis and Clark Fellowship, as it will provide me with stable financial assistance during a time of immense uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic,” Miranda said.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

9

HELPING OTHERS Create Their Stories

Dave and Tory Schechter help students with the growing costs of college education and provide opportunities for underrepresented communities.

Dave and Tory Schechter, Rina Nkulu, and Maggie Rush-Miller.

When Dave Schechter (B.A., English, ’90) was an English major at the University of Arizona, he was often asked the dreaded question: ”So, what are you going to do with that degree?”

Turns out you can be a vice president at Nike. The tools that Dave learned at UArizona – including how to tell stories – formed a solid foundation for his success in the world of business and marketing.

Dave, who was SBS’s 2019 Alumnus of the Year and the keynote speaker at the 2019 SBS winter convocation ceremony, is a dedicated Wildcat. In addition to being a diehard supporter of Arizona sports teams, Dave has helped guide Wildcat interns at Nike and participated in the Wildcat Mentor Society. He and his wife, Tory, have also funded the Dave and Tory Schechter Scholarship, which supports the advancement of women and African American students in the Department of English.

“I’m passionate about the mission of the university, and my wife and I are also passionate about providing opportunities for underrepresented communities and people who are struggling to navigate their way through the growing costs of college education,” Dave said.

Discovering His Path Dave started at UArizona as a Journalism major, but switched his major to English Literature when he realized he preferred creative writing and analyzing literature.

Dave worked for the Arizona Daily Wildcat and was president of the ATO fraternity. After graduation, Dave began his career working in media relations for sports 10

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

organizations, including the Los Angeles Rams.

He joined Nike in 1995, and has worked in sales, merchandising, and product creation, recently becoming the global vice president of footwear development. He says his goals remain “to be a great teammate and a servant leader.”

Dave says that his English major helped prepare him for his career, including teaching him critical thinking, how to take feedback, and storytelling skills.

“Stories are the threads that knit our cultures, lives, and the world together,” Dave said. “I leverage the power of storytelling in my job every day.”

Helping Others Over the Finish Line Dave and Tory are at a place in their lives where they can and want to give back.

“I believe that you have a responsibility if you are capable of helping others,” Dave said.

Dave and Tory have made gifts to the College of SBS and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to support student success. They are also active members of the Portland community, supporting organizations focused on teen mental health awareness and services.

Dave said it took him 10 years to pay off his financial aid. “It was the first check I wrote every month, and it was a pretty heavy burden.”

Dave and Tory created a scholarship for students in the English department because, “We want to help students get over the finish line, especially now, when the pandemic is making life even more challenging,” Dave said.

He also wants to support underrepresented communities. “As an African American, I can tell you that when I began my career, there was not a single person at a highlevel of the organization who looked like me,” Dave said.

“Diverse organizations succeed because they represent our whole country, not just the America of privilege.”

“When considering social justice many people ask the question, ‘But what can I do?’ It’s actually quite simple,” Tory said. “Passion inspires action. Make a list of what makes you angry. Make a list of things you love to do. Do something you love that addresses what makes you angry and don’t ever question if it’s enough. The ripples of kindness spread wide.”

Maggie Rush-Miller, who just completed her B.A. in Creative Writing and is finishing a B.F.A. in Film and TeleviDave Schechter working at Nike.

Dave Schechter as a student at the University of Arizona.

sion, received the Schechter Scholarship at a point in her life when her two eldest children were also in college and her youngest was a junior in high school.

“Like many single parents, finances are tight, particularly given my full-time status here at the university,” Maggie said. “I had returned to school out of necessity given a long illness within my family with its origins stemming from the opioid crisis.”

“Receiving my degree and my experience here at the U of A has been one of the greatest accomplishments of my life,” Maggie added. “Yet none of this would have been possible without extensive financial support, including the generosity of the Schechter family. Their interest and intent on supporting women of color will have a significant and much needed impact for many years to come.”

Fellow scholarship recipient Rina Nkulu is a writer, artist, and recent graduate who majored in English and minored in Art History.

“The scholarship really helped me get through a difficult-in-every-way senior year,” Rina said. “I am also thankful for the opportunity that it presented in terms of making space for important conversations about Black students’ experiences in English departments, as well as the necessity of their representation in them. I’m really grateful for the generosity of the Schechters.”

Dave and Tory are happy to help. “We believe that the way to dismantle systemic racism is to provide opportunities and a platform for Black women to be heard and supported,” Dave said.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

11

Building Intercultural Connections Jorj and Caryn Nofal help MENAS promote cross-cultural understanding. By Eric Van Meter and Lori Harwood

In the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, or MENAS, students learn about the history, culture, and languages of the Middle East and North Africa. Increased cultural understanding doesn’t just take place through instruction and research, however. It takes place when students from different countries and backgrounds interact and discuss issues.

“Our diverse students and alumni come to Tucson from all regions of the United States as well as the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and Latin America,” said Benjamin Fortna, director of MENAS. “I find that many of the students learn from one another, both culturally and linguistically and in terms of background,” said Maha Nassar, associate professor in MENAS. For Jorj Nofal (B.S. ‘81, M.S. ‘83, Mechanical Engineering), this type of learning is what he encountered when he came to the University of Arizona and met students from all over the world. “It was a fantastic experience to be able to sit down and talk with people from other cultures. And as we talked about religion and politics and other issues, things slowly changed within me, and within them.”

That value of finding common ground across cultural differences is one shared by his wife, Caryn (B.S., Psychology, ‘83; MBA, ‘86, Northern Arizona University). “There’s so much to be learned from people of different cultures, and I think we all have a lot more in common than what we don’t have in common,” Caryn said.

Jorj and Caryn Nofal established the Nofal Family Foundation Fellowship to assist graduate students in the 12

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

school – to allow them to explore subjects they’re passionate about and to have the types of intercultural experiences that help form a global community.

The goal of creating intercultural connections is built into the very fabric of MENAS. The prestige of the school – from being one of only six Arabic Flagship programs, to teaching the highest number of first-year Turkish students, to offering one of the country’s strongest Persian programs – provides students at every level with opportunities for enrichment. The school hosts numerous cultural and academic events and offers a variety of study abroad programs.

The Nofal Fellowship recipients are grateful to be able to take advantage of more of these opportunities. Kelly Loomis joined several Arabic clubs on campus, including the Model Arab League. Scott Jones says the Nofal Fellowship allowed him to present his work at a graduate student workshop at the University of California, Berkeley.

“The fellowship helped me have more time to participate in extracurricular and departmental events and activities, and thus I could get to know the faculty and fellow students and build relationships with them,” Scott said.

The impact of such experiences can change the landscape of intercultural relations for generations. Graduates go on to positions in academia, government, NGOs, journalism, military, and business.

“Diversity is key to understanding this world,” Jorj said.

“It would be great if we could help foster the leadership to bring people together in understanding and respect.”

PLANNING FOR Positive Change Steve Brown sees his planned gift as a way to help future generations make a difference.

By Eric Van Meter Steve Brown (B.A., Public Administration, ‘78) has long been fond of a saying in public transit: “If you don’t know what’s going on right now, just stand by. It’s going to change in 20 minutes.”

Kidding aside, no one was prepared for the rapid changes brought on by the coronavirus. As General Manager of Gold Coast Transit in California’s Ventura County, Steve was still settling operations into a new 15-acre facility – a $53M project 10 years in the making – when the pandemic hit.

On the heels of that massive undertaking, he was suddenly grappling with tectonic shifts that came in a matter of weeks: ridership of 3.8 million cut by 70%, buses limited to a dozen passengers for social distancing, and $4 million in revenue from state sales tax siphoned away by a wounded economy.

But part of leadership is finding opportunity in crisis.

Steve had extra capacity in drivers and vehicles at a moment when Ventura County had a surge in residents who, for safety reasons, were now homebound.

“There were nonprofits providing meals for people that suddenly had this increased need,” Steve said So Steve put his teams to work delivering meal kits.

It took a special government waiver to repurpose transit resources, but in the end, drivers who might have been furloughed instead brought vital nutrition to more than 4,000 of the county’s most vulnerable.

Family Values Steve’s career in public service was a natural continuation of values his family had modeled: an older brother in the Peace Corps and the United Nations and parents involved in community life. His mom was such a civic dynamo that an Idaho governor and longtime senator both asked her to join their staffs.

After graduation, Steve entered management training at Phoenix Transit, working his way through every department, including driving his own bus route. Over the

Steve Brown

years he earned leadership roles there and at Southern California Rapid Transit District. In 2010, he was appointed General Manager at Gold Coast, which he had recently led through rebranding.

Today, that job means oversight of some 200 employees and a fleet of nearly 90 buses and transport vans.

It also means figuring out how to serve four cities on “Sunday-level service” for every route, every day, to say nothing of ever-present challenges like evolving technologies and California’s climate action goals.

Passing the Torch Many of these same challenges will face future leaders in public service. Some of them might become leaders with Steve’s help, thanks to the Steven P. Brown Scholarship Endowment, which will fund undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Government and Public Policy.

The endowment will be funded through an estate gift that Steve put in place after the sudden death of that older brother who had inspired his public service. “I’m really heartened by the outreach and activism of young people today,” Steve said. “What I really would like is for these scholarships to help people give back to their community – to get them into the public sector where they can bring about positive change.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

13

Acting as Change Agents Through Giving By supporting African American Student Affairs, Ed and Anne Wimberly are continuing their lifelong tradition of working for things that matter.

By Katy Smith

Ed Wimberly (B.A., History, ’65) attended the University of Arizona during the turbulent civil rights movement, and he’s reminded of those times now.

“Each of us is called to say something, to do something that matters,” Ed wrote in a recent essay sharing insights he gained during those days, to offer help “in this current time of immense hurt, struggle, and challenge.”

Ed and his wife, Anne Wimberly, have done much that mattered to them. They earned doctoral degrees and both served for many years as faculty members at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta. Ed was also president of ITC and is a retired minister. Each has authored or edited more than 18 books, and they’ve contributed to future generations through their philanthropy.

12 14

SBS DEVELOPMENTS DEVELOPMENTS 2020 SBS 2020

The Wimberlys were excited to celebrate their 54th wedding anniversary this summer by mailing a check from Atlanta to Tucson. It fulfilled their pledge to endow a fund for African American Student Affairs, or AASA. The Drs. Edward P. and Anne E. Wimberly AASA/B.L.A.C.K Scholarship Endowment will fund the greatest needs in AASA in perpetuity. AASA provides opportunities for students to learn more about leadership, social justice, and creating community. It includes Building Leaders and Creating Knowledge, or B.L.A.C.K., a program that incorporates Black/African American cultural knowledge and experiences with academic support. The Wimberlys also made a scholarship gift for students involved in leadership clubs for Black students.

“I’m glad my wife knows how to save money. I married a jewel,” said Ed.

POWERFUL GUIDANCE Ed: “My experiences in Wildcat Country revealed the importance of belonging; openness to injustice awareness-raising, linked with the challenge to be change agents; having a heart’s knowing of the value of every human; and being unafraid to stand, speak, and act on behalf of justice.”

Anne: “It’s important to march in protest. If we push our grieving inside, it will eat us up. It’s critical that time is given to cry, yell, say exactly what’s going on inside ourselves in order to have enough energy to stay the course for advocacy.”

“WHAT WE’RE ABOUT” Teaching and giving to students helped the couple cope with not being able to have children, said Anne. They lost a baby girl, Diana Kay, who was born premature and lived only two days, as well as three more children who didn’t come to term.

What the Wimberlys specifically hope their gifts will do is help Black students enter the University of Arizona and graduate.

“We know for sure African American students need support,” said Anne. “Statistics show they’re more likely to drop out, because they’re less likely to have the funds to carry them through. Our young people need all the incentives, encouragement, and affirmation they can get. That’s what we’re about.”

HELP, COMFORT, AND INSPIRATION Marilyn Nuamah is beginning her second year at Arizona with tuition assistance from the new Wimberly Scholarship. The funds are important to her family because her mother just finished her own master’s degree and her father is working on a doctorate, she said. They also support relatives in Ghana.

“I’m very thankful knowing people want to give back, especially to our community. I probably wouldn’t even be able to attend college or would have loads of debt if not for these types of scholarships,” she said.

Marilyn is also glad for the camaraderie she discovered last year through AASA and the groups she joined, African Americans in the Life Sciences and Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students.

“It gives you kind of a home away from your home.

It’s a place to talk to people and tell them what I’m going through, and to help them and have them give me advice, as well,” she said.

Anne and Ed Wimberly. (Photo, opposite page): Ed was an Arizona football player and has kept in touch with fellow players.

Marilyn is an Honors student who plans to become a pediatrician, and the two career-focused clubs help her stay motivated.

“We get to meet with doctors of color. They give us tips and talk to us about how they made it there. It’s super inspiring to see other people of color who have become so successful,” she said.

A LASTING CONNECTION The community Marilyn is finding is one that has never wavered for Ed, who was an Arizona football player.

“I wasn’t necessarily the top player, but I always played, and I didn’t disgrace myself,” said Ed, who is also an Arizona Football Letterwinner.

Anne has come to feel like an honorary Wildcat through her husband’s friendships with his teammates.

“The players kept in touch after all those years, and that touches my heart. I was always there, and it was like becoming a member of the University of Arizona family. The famous saying ‘Bear Down’ became my motto as well,” she said.

The couple fondly recalls visiting Larry Fairholm ’65 when he was playing in the Canadian Football League.

Larry was the Arizona team captain in 1964 and played for the Montreal Alouettes for eight seasons after graduating.

Ed and Larry became friends as first-year students living on the same floor of Graham-Greenlee dorm.

Everyone called Ed “Rev” after he revealed his desire to become a reverend, Larry said.

“He’s a special person, a giving person. When he and his wife came to visit, it was like seeing a family member,” he said.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

15

A Second Career Leads to Alum’s Support of Business Journalism

By Mike Chesnick

Joe Altman’s journalism degree helped him land exciting jobs with The Associated Press in Detroit, New York, and Phoenix. He covered fugitive manhunts and campaign rallies, led coverage of General Motors’ and Chrysler’s bankruptcies, and edited stories about natural disasters and Hollywood celebrities.

Joe Altman (B.A., Journalism, ‘99) is still living the thrill of meeting deadlines and deciphering information, except now he’s doing it as a tax supervisor in Tempe, Arizona, for RSM, a global accounting and consulting firm.

“You have to be good at research and do a lot of digging for the right answers,” Joe said.

“Tax law is so complicated, and it’s changing all the time.”

Joe credits the skills he learned in J-school – critical thinking, communication, and attention to detail – for not only helping him become one of AP’s business experts but also guiding him in his second career.

For that reason, he’s worked with the College of SBS on a planned estate gift – the Joseph Altman Business Journalism Scholarship Endowment – geared toward students focused on business or entrepreneurial journalism.

“Joe’s multifaceted career as a journalist gave him the opportunity to learn about many topics, including the tax business,” school Director Carol Schwalbe said. “Now he wants to help future students who also have a passion for business or entrepreneurial reporting.”

Joe got hooked on journalism as editor of the Phoenix Greenway High School newspaper, then joined the Arizona Daily Wildcat’s arts desk as a first-year student. He went on to become news editor and editor-in-chief, and now is a member of the Arizona Daily Wildcat Hall of Fame.

16

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Joe Altman

His favorite journalism class was “Reporting Public Affairs” with Professor of Practice Susan Knight, who became a mentor to Altman. “There I was 20 years old, going to courtrooms and school board meetings, and getting to write about it,” he said.

“I loved…explaining to readers what was really going on in their communities and why it mattered.”

Joe interned at Newsday’s Washington bureau and at the Arizona Daily Star before AP hired him for the Detroit bureau.

He moved to New York as a night business supervisor and autos editor, then to Phoenix in 2009 as a West Regional editor. After doing tax preparation and bookkeeping on the side for family and others, he made “the tough decision” to leave AP in early 2016 and pursue his new career.

Joe joined H&R Block as a tax adviser and became an enrolled agent before moving to RSM’s North American Service Center, where he now specializes in partnership returns for private equity funds and oversees 20 people. He’s also taking accounting classes at Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business and plans to pursue an M.S. in taxation.

Meanwhile, he’s excited about investing in the next generation of journalists through his scholarship endowment.

“I hope that our future journalists and our future leaders figure out an answer that will preserve journalism as the vital protector of democracy that it is,” he said.

Inspiring a New Generation of Journalists

By Mike Chesnick

John G. Carlton teaching. Photo by Gary Gaynor/Tucson Citizen.

John G. Carlton inspired many Catalina High School graduates in Tucson to pursue journalism as a career, including Abe Kwok, who’s worked for the Arizona Republic for 30 years.

To honor the late Carlton, Abe and his younger brother, Jackson, set up a UArizona School of Journalism scholarship in the teacher’s name with gifts that included major donations from Jackson’s Southern California-based automotive products company, the Genera Corp.

The scholarship fund is now up to $55,000, thanks to an additional crowdfunding effort through the University of Arizona Foundation in which some of Carlton’s former students gave nearly $8,000.

Carlton, known as J.G. or Mr. C. by his former students, taught English and journalism from 1960 to 1990 and advised Catalina’s award-winning weekly newspaper, The Trumpeteer.

“My experiences in J.G.’s classroom left an indelible mark,” said Abe, an Arizona Republic opinion page editor and UArizona J-school alumnus. “Those journalism tenets of pursuing the truth, of writing clearly and self-editing, of discipline and love of language and words, and of esprit de corps…they guide me still.”

Carlton taught Professor Emerita Jacqueline Sharkey, former director of the School of Journalism, the late crossword builder Merl Reagle, and more than 100 others who worked for news outlets nationwide. Carlton kept their bios in a Rolodex on his desk, so current students could flip through the cards for inspiration.

“He felt like they were all his children,” Carlton’s wife, Muriel, told J-school graduate Caitlin Schmidt of the Arizona Daily Star after his death in 2015 at age 79. “Many of his students kept in touch with him over the years.”

Jackson Kwok, a UArizona Oriental Studies graduate who recently stepped down as president and CEO of Genera, convinced his company to get behind the Carlton scholarship.

“I know Mr. Carlton was close and dear to Abe, and given increasing undue pressure from big business and government – this administration in particular – journalism is considered an important area to support,” Jackson said.

“I’m hoping the scholarship will promote journalism as it was intended — before conglomerates and billionaires leveraged media for their own purposes,” he added. “I’m also hoping to stimulate courage and honest journalism.”

Jackson Kwok. Photo courtesy of Genera Corp.

Abe Kwok. Photo courtesy of Arizona Republic.

The $1,000 Carlton Scholarship is awarded to Journalism majors, with preference given to students who work for the Arizona Daily Wildcat, UATV-3, or KAMP Student Radio.

The scholarship’s first recipient, senior Vanessa Ontiveros, was an apprentice reporter at the Arizona Daily Star, news editor at the Arizona Daily Wildcat, and a podcast assistant at Arizona Public Media. She received the Philip Mangelsdorf Award as the school’s top journalist.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

17

OPENING DOORS Jon and Karin Dinesman support internships to unlock opportunity for today’s change-makers.

By Eric Van Meter

Growing up, Jon Dinesman (B.A., Political Science, ‘94; JD, ‘08) was acculturated to healthcare careers through his dad and siblings. Still, he admits he had “no clue” what he wanted for his own profession. Then an internship at the Arizona State Legislature sparked a love of law and policy. The experience inspired him to get his JD and clinched the job that put him on a path where health, law, and policy intersect. “After graduating law school,” he explained, “I was hired by the Arizona House of Representatives, and that would not have happened if it were not for that internship.”

Karin Dinesman (née Singer, B.S., Speech and Hearing Science, ‘95; M.Ed., Special Education, ‘98) has a similar story. As an undergraduate, she had her sights set on teaching Deaf children. She secured an internship at Arizona Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, and that experience recharted the course she’d seen for her career. “I fell in love with the visually impaired kids there,” 18

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

she explained, and with a new passion, she went on to get her master’s in Special Education and Rehabilitation and work with visually impaired youth in Phoenix for seven years.

Connecting Past, Present, and Future Today, Karin remains devoted to educating kids, including their own three, the oldest of which begins college this fall. Jon is executive vice president of government relations at Centene, the largest Medicaid managed care organization in the country. Adding in its Medicare programs, private insurance, and programs for federal employees and correctional facilities, Centene today provides healthcare plans to one of every 15 Americans.

“My job is really to help provide a voice for those that, quite frankly, don’t have one,” Jon said. That means oversight of a 70+ team working to eliminate barriers to quality care through state and federal channels as well as na-

“We need to continue to empower young people with the realization that they are the movement that’s going to change things.” - Jon Dinesman tional alliances and community outreach: everything from working with governors and state legislators to partnering with the National Urban League and Pro Football Hall of Fame to promote wellness at the community level.

For both Jon and Karin, those early internships are distant memories, with a lot of life between then and now.

At the same time, they’re very aware of how those opportunities helped open doors for them and put them on the path to the life they enjoy today. They continue not only to shape how they see the world, but also the world they want to see – a vision that led them to establish the Dinesman Family Endowment in the School of Government and Public Policy, or SGPP.

Giving with Purpose The endowment has a very intentional focus: help pay for travel, housing, and other expenses associated with internships for undergraduates – costs that too often limit what many students can realistically pursue.

“We want to help make sure that going out of state or even just outside of Tucson doesn’t impede someone’s ability to participate in those opportunities,” Jon said, adding that internships are more than just experiential learning. Great internships can create valuable professional connections. They can open doors to better jobs and put new graduates on paths for advancement. They can be a pipeline to civic leadership.

When an entire class of young people are locked out of those opportunities, the effects can ripple through decades – an injustice that isn’t limited to people with fewer financial resources. Through Karin’s education and career, the Dinesmans recognize that people with disabilities also face extraordinary hurdles, which is why Jon ensures that of the four interns his team takes on annually, at least one is recruited through the American Association of People with Disabilities.

A Mission-Driven Life More recently, the Dinesmans expanded their support for SGPP to help fund graduate education. For them, that higher-order learning was key to the careers they wanted, though they acknowledge that education – undergraduate, graduate, or something outside of college entirely – plays a much broader and equally important role: preparing youth to be the voices and leaders of change.

“We need to continue to empower young people with the realization that they are the movement that’s going to change things,” Jon explained. By way of example, he notes how two years ago, in the wake of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, it was students who spoke up, organized, and created more dialogue on that issue than ever before – even more than had followed the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy.

It’s a phenomenon that dovetails with another the Dinesmans see in students today – and again one that resonates with their own experiences. “What’s happening now – and it is such a wonderful and much needed change – is that youth are choosing careers based on how they want to advance society,” Jon said. “And I think if colleges continue helping students find their mission, they’re going to be more successful.”

It’s something he’s grateful for in his own education and something he looks for in employees today.

“For those I hire, I’ve never focused on what school they came from, but what that school actually prepared them to do and their own desire to be great. As a partner in a Fortune 50 company, I can tell you that I have been prepared every bit as well as anyone from any other school. I just cannot imagine a school doing better than what the University of Arizona did for Karin and me.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

19

Fighting Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence – against students and in the community – is still rampant. A major gift is helping the University of Arizona find innovative solutions.

GBV Consortium Director Elise Lopez is studying the effectiveness of a campus sexual assault prevention program and of the “Safer Bars” program.

A $1.5 million gift from the Chris and Carrie Shumway Foundation supports the University of Arizona’s Consortium on Gender-Based Violence, a research and resource center that seeks to model and inspire a radical shift in the way people think about and address gender-based violence.

By identifying and disseminating best practices, the consortium aims to be a national model for understanding and combating gender-based violence, improving support for survivors, and eliminating cultural attitudes that re-create cycles of violence.

The Shumways were early advocates for and cornerstone investors in the consortium, making their first gift to form the center in December 2017. Their groundbreaking gift funds campus-wide gender-based violence initiatives, allowing the consortium to further its work under the vision of public health expert Elise Lopez.

Housed in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, with Student Affairs and Enrollment Management as a key partner, the consortium is a university “hub” for research and services related to gender-based violence.

The consortium helped launch the new Survivor Advocacy Program offered by the Dean of Students Office, 20

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

provides a grant program to incubate innovative solutions, and offers a variety of engagement opportunities.

Carrie Shumway (B.A., Sociology, ‘93) dedicated years of service as a board member of the Joyful Heart Foundation, which provides services for victims of sexual assault.

Her husband, Chris Shumway, is the managing partner of Shumway Capital, a private investment firm.

“Our Foundation believes in the importance of eradicating gender-based violence and is pleased to support this transformative initiative at the University of Arizona,” said Carrie Shumway. “We are looking forward to the university creating a model that can be replicated on college campuses nationwide.”

Monica J. Casper, former professor and associate dean for faculty affairs and inclusion in the College of SBS, and Melissa Vito, former senior vice president for student affairs, enrollment management, and strategic initiatives for UArizona, co-founded the consortium.

“We are deeply grateful to Carrie and Chris for immediately grasping our vision and committing to fund this important venture,” Casper said.

Last fall, the consortium hosted ‘me too.’ Movement founder Tarana Burke (at left) on campus. Photo by Anna Augustowska.

Last fall, the consortium hosted ‘me too.’ Movement founder Tarana Burke on campus. Burke spoke about the need to recognize sexual violence as a social justice issue and to center Black women’s voices in the fight to end all forms of gender-based harm.

The consortium hosted author and activist Lacy M. Johnson for a reading and Q&A. The consortium also co-hosted a film screening and conversation of The Mask You Live In, in partnership with community groups. The documentary follows boys and young men as they struggle to negotiate America’s narrow definition of masculinity.

This past spring, the consortium also hosted an online self-care workshop for survivors in collaboration with the Survivor Advocacy Program.

Creating a Research-to-Practice Model

Incubating Innovative Solutions

Elise Lopez, the director of the consortium, is an internationally recognized violence scholar, and her work has received national awards. She previously served as the assistant director of the Relationship Violence Program in the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.

“We have an unprecedented opportunity to spark innovation and establish a comprehensive research-to-practice model at the University of Arizona for preventing and responding to violence,” Lopez said.

Along with Mary Koss, professor in the College of Public Health, Lopez is studying the effectiveness of a unique campus sexual assault prevention program for female first-year students. The study is funded by a $2 million grant from Arnold Ventures.

Lopez also stresses the importance of campus-community collaboration. Her recent work includes overseeing a national initiative, called “Safer Bars,” to train liquor servers to recognize and safely respond to sexual aggression.

And with a $3 million NIH grant, Lopez, Koss, and colleagues are evaluating the effectiveness of this program.

The Innovation Fund incubates transformational projects that support victims and survivors and challenge attitudes that recreate cycles of violence. The initiative has funded projects that:

Sharing Expertise with the Community The consortium’s speaker series allows the university and Tucson community to engage with renowned scholars, activists, and artists whose work focuses on understanding and eradicating gender-based violence.

•

harness traditional knowledge to tackle violence against Indigenous women

•

provide financial and legal training to domestic abuse survivors

•

adapt the best community models for accountability practices to UArizona

•

expand sexuality education to first-year students who are involved in Greek organizations

•

enhance a bystander intervention program

The consortium is also working with its local partners and advisory board to adapt GBV prevention to the evolving landscape of campus life. Plans for 2021 include investment in online prevention and awareness campaigns, offering remote opportunities for student interns, working with survivor advocates to expand services, and identifying opportunities to integrate GBV awareness into other student health and safety programs on campus.

“Sexual, dating, and domestic violence have not gone away during the COVID-19 crisis. There is evidence that these forms of violence may actually be increasing. It is imperative that GBV awareness be included in innovative solutions for keeping our students safe and healthy.” - Elise Lopez THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

21

EXPLORING THE SCIENCE AND MYSTERIES OF CONSCIOUSNESS Eugene Jhong has long been interested in consciousness studies.

Now, he is helping a new generation of students explore this fascinating field.

Last year, Eugene Jhong heard a talk by Stuart Hameroff, director of the University of Arizona’s Center for Consciousness Studies, at the BrainMind Summit at Stanford. Hameroff’s talk was titled “Consciousness Depends on Quantum Vibrations in Microtubules Inside Brain Neurons,” which was related to the “Orch OR” model of consciousness Hameroff developed with Sir Roger Penrose in the 1990s. Fascinated, especially after hearing people at his table dismissing the controversial theory, Eugene read up on the topic.

Eugene emailed Hameroff to learn more and decided to support the center’s annual conference “The Science of Consciousness” and its new educational initiative, which includes an undergraduate course in consciousness and the development of a minor program.

“I feel like consciousness is such a wonderful topic because it blends so many possibilities – computer science, psychology, biology, religion. It’s what I would have wanted to do when I was an undergraduate,” Eugene said.

THE PATH TO CONSCIOUSNESS When Eugene moved to the United States from the Philippines to go to Harvard, he gravitated toward many subjects, changing his major to Psychology, Religion, and Economics, before settling on Computer Science. Thinking he should be a lawyer like his dad, Eugene applied to Harvard Law School.

“I remember the first day I was there, I opened up my books and thought I had made a huge mistake,” Eugene said.

Not one to give up easily, Eugene finished law school and practiced law for one year in New York before accepting that being a lawyer was not for him. Instead, he obtained his master’s in Computer Science from Stanford.

22

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Former colleague Jeff Dean – who currently leads Google’s AI division – got Eugene an interview at Google.

Eugene was part of the Site Reliability Engineering team, helping to troubleshoot problems and maintain the server farms. “It was the group that nobody wanted to stay in because it was so grueling.”

Eugene describes his time at Google as a “difficult but wonderful experience.”

He left Google in 2006 to help his mother who was ill.

He invested wisely, and since then, Eugene, who is only 51 and has two teenage sons, has been exploring what interests him. Those interests include consciousness studies.

“I love that it’s this great mystery,” Eugene said. “I feel like Arizona has been a sort of hotbed for this sort of radical exploration of consciousness. It’s exciting.”

A RETURN TO SBS In 1994, the first interdisciplinary conference on consciousness was held at the University of Arizona.

A highlight was a talk by philosopher David Chalmers, who, according to Hameroff, “took the stage with shoulder-length hair, strutting like Mick Jagger.”

“Chalmers talked about how problems like memory, learning, attention, and behavior were relatively easy compared to the really ‘hard problem’ of how and why we have conscious experience,” Hameroff said. “We could have been nonconscious, robot-like ‘zombies’ with behavior but no inner life. How and why do we have feelings and awareness? That was the ‘hard problem.’”

“The audience buzzed,” Hameroff said. “At that moment, we knew why we were there.”

The Center for Consciousness Studies, or CCS, was formally created in 1998 with a grant from the Fetzer Institute. Initially housed in the College of SBS – with directors

“I feel like consciousness is such a wonderful topic because it blends so many possibilities – computer science, psychology, biology, religion. It’s what I would have wanted to do when I was an undergraduate.”

- Eugene Jhong

Eugene Jhong

from psychology and philosophy – the center moved to the Department of Anesthesiology when Hameroff, who is professor emeritus in anesthesiology and psychology, took the reins after Chalmers left the university.

In 2019, CCS returned to the College of SBS, where it now houses the new thrust in education, along with the conference and research activities.

“The Science of Consciousness” – the world’s largest and longest-running interdisciplinary conference on consciousness – attracts 700 to 800 attendees, including neuroscientists, philosophers, psychologists, physicists, mystics, and lay people from all over the world. The conference alternates yearly between Tucson and various international locations, and CCS Assistant Director Abi Behar-Montefiore helps establish a community among conference participants.

CCS also supports original research on consciousness.

Hameroff’s theory with Penrose is currently being tested experimentally. And CCS Associate Director Jay Sanguinetti in psychology is studying the use of ultrasound aimed at brain regions to treat cognitive disorders.

INTERDISCIPLINARY EXPLORATION Linguistics and Psychology Regents Professor Tom Bever, who became CCS co-director when it moved to SBS, is leading the center’s education initiative, with plans for an undergraduate minor involving the Honors College, SBS, and CCS, as well as online programs for the public.

Bever, whose work focuses on how we organize con-

tinuous language as a conscious experience, said there are only a handful of minors in consciousness and UArizona’s program will stand out because of its breadth and the long history of consciousness studies at the university.

“I think it’s a perfect time for undergraduates to study consciousness studies because of many interesting discoveries in the last 20 years as well as reformations of old ideas,” Bever said.

In the new consciousness studies course offered with the Honors College this past spring, students from a variety of majors interacted with faculty in anthropology, Buddhism, computer science, linguistics, Native American studies, philosophy, psychology, and medicine.

One student wrote, “This has been one of the most interesting courses I’ve taken. I had become fascinated by the study of consciousness before this, but the course solidified just how incredible the mind and brain are.”

At the end of the semester, Eugene was invited to listen to the students’ final presentations via Zoom. He said he enjoys seeing the gift’s impact at an individual level.

“I find it really fun to get to see these young minds question things at a very deep level. I think it’s just a wonderful opportunity for them,” he said.

Eugene added, “Consciousness is all we know. It is our direct experience of the world. To emphasize that to our young people in the academic setting is really important.”

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

23

Prestigious Center for Arabic Study Abroad Moves to the University of Arizona As the new host of CASA, UArizona is helping train the next generation of experts in Arabic language and culture.

A CASA fellow in Amman at a calligraphy workshop.

Every year, a fresh crop of students from across the United States are chosen as fellows of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad, or CASA. CASA fellows embark on a year of intensive study in the Middle East in pursuit of a higher command of the Arabic language and culture.

Acceptance into CASA is considered the pinnacle of Arabic training, and its graduates go on to impact the landscape of Arabic and Middle Eastern studies, as well as U.S.-Middle East policy.

In 2019, the University of Arizona was named the new host of CASA, taking over the responsibility from Harvard University. Sonia Shiri, an associate professor in the School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, was chosen as the new director.

“This honor further solidifies the University of Arizona’s status as home to one of the best Arabic programs in the country,” said John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

24

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

The Gold Standard of Arabic Training The Center for Arabic Study Abroad was established in 1967 to offer year-long, advanced Arabic language training, which is provided at the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and, more recently, at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.

Due to COVID-19, it is unclear if or when CASA fellows will be able to travel to either program location for the 2020-2021 program year.

CASA has graduated more than 1700 alumni, who have helped define U.S.-Middle East relations for the last half-century through their work in the U.S. State Department, academic institutions, and the private sector.

CASA is represented by a consortium of 31 universities in the United States. Depending on funding and security issues, CASA accepts around 20-35 fellows a year from across the country. Eligible students are mostly graduate students with a minimum of three years of formal instruction in Arabic.

“CASA is widely perceived as the gold standard of Arabic training and is a highly prized, must-have experience for fellows launching into academia, government, or other professions.” - Sonia Shiri As the director of CASA, Shiri is shaping the future of the program, working with the governing board, the overseas partner institutions, and fellows. Shiri also collaborates with UArizona Global’s Study Abroad office.

“CASA is a critical program,” Shiri said. “It is widely perceived as the gold standard of Arabic training and is a highly prized, must-have experience for fellows launching into academia, government, or other professions.”

Shiri says she is committed to providing CASA fellows with rich learning experiences rooted in the culture of their Arab host environment yet fueled by cutting-edge research and efficient pedagogical practices.

Excellence in Arabic Instruction at UArizona “CASA’s move to UArizona demonstrates that the university is a focal point for Arabic study and reinforces the decision I made to pursue my graduate work here,” said Aaron Graybill, a MENAS graduate student.

UArizona is one of only six institutions in the country selected to participate in the Arabic Flagship program, which helps undergraduate students reach superior-level fluency in Arabic. Likewise, the university is one of a few campuses that offer Arabic Project Global Officer, or Project GO, which improves the language competency, regional expertise, and intercultural communication skills of ROTC students. UArizona also offers an Arabic major and a growing Jumpstart Arabic program for high school students and incoming first-year students.

At the heart of this constellation of achievement is Sonia Shiri, who is director and principal investigator of the university’s Arabic Flagship and Project GO programs.

Shiri was also elected chair of the Language Flagship Council, representing a consortium of 21 universities and eight languages.

“Dr. Shiri is an energetic and hands-on leader who succeeds in keeping the group morale high, motivating and inspiring students, instructors, and staff alike to work together to achieve levels of Arabic proficiency that are literally off the charts,” said Elizabeth Saylor, an assistant professor of Arabic at Middlebury College, who worked under Shiri’s leadership at UC Berkeley. “The CASA program, in my opinion, could not be in better hands.”

2019-2020 CASA fellows at an annual book fair in Amman.

INVESTING IN THE FUTURE While demand for high levels of expertise in Arabic and in the region of the Middle East and North Africa has grown over the past two decades, CASA’s funding has diminished.

CASA has received support from the Department of Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad program, which, because of reductions over time, now supports tuition and stipends for 15 fellowships at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.

CASA benefits from two endowments from the Ford and Mellon Foundations, located at the American University in Cairo. Because of inflation and the increase in tuition costs, this now supports only a couple of fellowships in Egypt annually.

To better respond to this national need in Arabic and MENA regional expertise, CASA needs to grow its capacity for accepting more fellows.

Your support enables CASA to train future generations of Middle East studies faculty, State Department leaders, NGO experts, journalists, and other globally-minded professionals with an understanding of the complex politics and the rich culture and history of this region.

Your contributions would provide a source of current-use funds to address immediate priorities and enable CASA to increase the number of fellows. Larger gifts (including bequests) could be added to CASA’s small endowment to boost long-term impact.

You can donate to the program at casa.sbs.arizona.edu/support.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

25

This fall, the College of SBS is offering 11 virtual courses on a wide range of topics.

Community Engagement in a Pandemic

COVID-19 put a halt to in-person events. But the college embraced the new virtual format, creating online lecture series on COVID-19 and WOMANPOWER, hosting a conversation on Census 2020 with local leaders, and offering a range of community classes.

By Maribel Alvarez, Associate Dean for Community Engagement

The community engagement functions of public research universities like the University of Arizona were part and parcel of the social compact that President Lincoln envisioned when he signed into law the legislation that created land-grant universities. At the heart of the Morrill Act of 1862 was the idea that colleges supported by public investments are under the ethical obligation to develop, transmit, and apply knowledge for the public good.

Today, we recognize that the creation of land-grant universities was entangled with the ideologies and policies of settler colonialism that dominated U.S. politics in the latter part of the 19th century. In the College of SBS, we interpret the contemporary mandate of the original legislation as requiring more than just “doing good,” but also as doing “no harm.”

26

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

As soon as it became clear in early March 2020 that COVID-19 presented risks too high to take for our SBS-sponsored community activities, we quickly modified our programs. As it turned out, we ended up doing even more public programming across the summer months than we had planned when the health crisis began.

“Our SBS staff showed up with grit, energy, and loyalty to the mission of community service, and our community partners benefited from such dedication,” said John Paul Jones III, dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

SBS Community Engagement Highlights Census 2020 On April 8, three dozen nonprofit community leaders attended an online briefing on the 2020 census and the challenges of counting hard-to-count population groups in Arizona. The presentation featured the research of Jason Jurjevich, associate professor of practice in the School of Geography, Development & Environment, who is a leading voice on the implications of excluding the most vulnerable sectors in our society from the census count. Securing a fair and accurate count on the census is of vital importance for a wide range of policy decisions that affect the lives of ordinary people.

The three lectures in the series “Science + Society: Transformation During COVID-19” can still be watched online.

The event was sponsored by the College of SBS, the School of Geography, Development & Environment, UArizona Government and Community Relations, and the Community Foundation of Southern Arizona.

Virtual Series: Science + Society: Transformation during COVID-19 In July, we partnered with the College of Science to offer three virtual conversations between “social” and “biological” scientists about transformation during COVID-19, examining the before, during, and after of living through the pandemic. The talks were moderated by award-winning reporter Nancy Montoya.

Considering how much information there is in news outlet about COVID-19, we felt we had something unique to contribute through dialogue with our colleagues. For example, we discovered that historian Emma Pérez in the Southwest Center could address crucial questions about big events that shape us – including who gets to craft the narrative of what happened, what is remembered, and what is forgotten. In the first lecture in the series, Pérez conversed with Michael Worobey, head of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, who approaches similar questions around ethics and truth-telling in cases like the 1918 flu, but from the point of view of a geneticist.

To date, the videos have more than 1,900 view on the series’ YouTube channel. (Story cont. on next page)

In the final virtual lecture of the COVID-19 series, biologist Joyce Schroeder (left) and communication scholar Rain Wuyu Liu examined the essential role of human perception and behavior on fighting a pandemic – both now and in the future.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

27

The Community Classroom offers lifelong learning courses, cultural immersion experiences, and professional development courses, such as “The Craft of Editing in Professional Contexts,” which starts on Nov. 2.

we also recognize the ways that COVID-19 is forcing a re-thinking on what we have to date comfortably identified The SBS Community Classroom, a new initiative in the as the “engagement” part of our mission. college, has been extremely well received (see sidebar).

Community engagement across SBS has always been The concept is simple: we offer non-credit classes to community members taught by our faculty and/or affiliated distinctive in its focus on applied and participatory action with and by community members, not relying solely on community scholars – drawing on topics of interest and the static delivery of lectures on social media. From our sometimes on the burning issues of the moment. award-winning Wildcat Writers program with high school In courses co-taught by Linguistics Professor and students, to the school gardens we help run through our Agnese Nelms Haury Chair Noam Chomsky, community partnership with Tucson Unified School District, to the members “sit” alongside undergrads in the class. (This vital role of program evaluation and community research fall, Chomsky co-teaches “LING 211: Language, Mind, and projects run from units like the Southwest Institute for ReBrain” alongside fellow Linguistics Professors Tom Bever search on Women and the Bureau of Applied Research on and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini.) This experiment in intergenerational learning is both illuminating and challenging. Anthropology – there is an energy of connectedness and collaboration that we sorely miss in our new reality.

Maximizing the opportunity and demand for at-home One such program under review is the SBS Downtown activities during the shutdown, SBS Community Classroom Lecture Series, which bring live audiences to The Fox Thequickly stood up its first summer session. Our SBS staff member Kerstin Miller worked diligently with faculty to as- ater in downtown Tucson for the dual functions of rigorous semble syllabi, publicize the courses, and support the tech academic learning and after-lecture socializing in local needs of instructors. We offered four classes that enrolled restaurants and bars – where lively exchanges make the events memorable and relevant. a total of 137 community participants.

With the theme WOMANPOWER (in recognition of This fall, we are offering a record 11 virtual courses on the 100th anniversary of women’s right to vote), this year topics such as political polling, Tucson foodways, kindness, whiteness and racial violence, powerful presentations, can- we have lined up a powerful set of speakers for the five Thursdays in October (see sidebar). Although the lecnabis policy, populism in Europe, language and the brain, tures will be virtual, we are working with our community professional editing, chocolate, and community-based partners to infuse the events with that distinctive flavor of program evaluation. Learn more at community gathering that has benefited local businesses. http://communityclassroom.arizona.edu

SBS Community Classroom

Looking Ahead

While we celebrate the determination of SBS faculty and staff to continue producing these and other extraordinary programs during a time of social distance and anxiety, 28

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Learn more at https://sbsdowntown.arizona.edu

Kelsey John spoke about “Łįį’ (Navajo Horse) as Healer and Educator” as part of the Animalities Downtown Lecture Series in 2019.

COMMUNITY CLASSROOM AT-A-GLANCE: First Semester With A Full Line-Up: Fall 2018 Courses Offered So Far: 30 Instructors: 29 (includes Professor Noam Chomsky twice a year + 26 SBS faculty) Total Enrolled Participants to Date: 1,211 Partnerships: 6 (Southwest Folklife Alliance, Dunbar African American Cultural Center, Loft Cinema, TUSD, Pima County, UArizona Foundation) Rate of Satisfaction: 88% of all people who took surveys rated the courses either excellent or very good.

Demographics: 52% of people who took the surveys were younger than 65.

New Enrollment: percentage of students new to SBS CC: Fall 2019: 85% Spring 2020: 86% Summer 2020: 93% Financial Model: 100% self-sustaining THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

29

The Magellan Circle is a society of donors who contribute to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. The money raised in the Magellan Circle supports the Magellan Fund for Excellence and student scholarships.

Over the years, Magellan Circle members’ generous donations have supported around 730 students and funded many research projects and faculty awards.

In 2020, Magellan Circle members met their student scholars at a brunch. Photos by Leslie Epperson.

30

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Student speaker Sydney Hess with her patron Ben Menges.

“I was brought up as an only child in a single-parent household with my mother as the sole contributor. The thought of attending college was scary, not only because new people and places are intimidating, but because the financial burden rested on my shoulders alone. Truly, I did not even know if college was a possibility.

As a first-generation college student, I have made the most of my college career thus far in spite of my circumstances. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for scholarships, grants, and the fact that the University of Arizona, SBS, and scholarship donors believed in me. I would like to specifically thank my patron, Ben Menges. I cannot express enough gratitude for his support.

My trials and the help I have gotten along the way have allowed me to see that there is always something better, and if I work hard enough, there is no stopping me in obtaining that something. These have provided me with the fuel, the passion, and the desire to grow into the leader and learner I know I will become.”

- Sydney Hess, Magellan Circle student speaker; PPEL (Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law) major; former ASUA student body president

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

31

2020 MAGELLAN CIRCLE MEMBER HONOR ROLL CIRCUMNAVIGATORS (LIFETIME MEMBERS) Agnese Nelms Haury Charitable Trust Arizona Friends of Tibet Armin and Esther Hirsch Foundation ArtPlace America Charles Koch Charitable Foundation

Yetadel Foundation

Randall Rodman Holdridge

Zuckerman Family Foundation

Hervey Hotchkiss and Susan Parker Hotchkiss (P)

CIRCUMNAVIGATORS (INDIVIDUALS) Rowene Aguirre-Medina and Roy Medina (P) Joe Altman Bob and Donna Altschul Phala L. and Cliff Andressen

Cox Communications, Inc.

Jean Angle

David S. Greenberg Charitable Fund

Paul and Alice Baker* Julie Behar

Diamond Foundation

Bob and Esther Berger

Don Bennett Moon Foundation, Inc.

Tom and Olga Bever*

Freeport-McMoRan Foundation Fundación México Gannett Foundation Helios Education Foundation H. W. Wilson Foundation, Inc. Israel Institute, Inc. James S. McDonnell Foundation Judy & Bernard Briskin Charitable Foundation Knight Foundation Marshall Foundation Omidyar Network Fund, Inc. Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute Ruth McCormick Tankersley Charitable Trust Southwestern Foundation State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company Stranahan Foundation

Betsy Bolding (P) Thomas and Sara Borin Lyn Brillo Arch and Laura Brown (P) Steve Brown (P) Louise Carroll (P)* Jim and Karen Carson Beth Castro Mike and Karen Collins Garland and Carolyn Cox Don and Ashley Daley Frank DeFazio Stephanie Denkowicz and Aydin Caginalp Ruth and Stephen Dickstein (P) Jon and Karin Dinesman Sally Drachman Salvatore Sally Duchin Sandy and Karl Elers

Jim and Joanne Hunter Eugene Jhong Peter Johnson Gary and Connie Kaasa Simin Karimi Mike and Beth Kasser Tom and Reenie Keating (P) Randy and Ken Kendrick Ruth Kramer Steve and Nancy Lynn (P)* Barbara Martinsons Fletcher and Elizabeth McCusker Margy McGonagill and Garry Bryant (P) Jon and Chloe McQueen Jim Meehan and Patricia White Kristie Miller Don Bennett Moon David and Carol Nevins William Owen Nugent Geertruida Oberman John and Thea Patterson Rolf and Sarah Peters Ken and Betsy Plevan Ramki and Lakshmi Ramakrishnan Melody Robidoux (P) Linda and Ken Robin (P) Ron and Karen Rose Adib and Vivi Sabbagh (P)* John and Helen Schaefer* David and Tory Schechter

The Shanty Café, Inc.

Betty Feinberg

Thomas R. Brown Family Foundation

Betty M. Fink Edythe and Bruce Gissing (P)

Thomas W. Smith Foundation

Josh Grabel

Tucson Medical Center

Mary Grier

Sarah and David Smallhouse

Vital Projects Fund

Matt Harelson and Julie Briskin-Harelson

Jaye Smith David and Noelle Soren

Peter Hayes

Raymond and Tina Spencer

William & Flora Hewlett Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation

32

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Matt and Lindsay Hesketh

Carol and Cecil Schwalbe Carrie and Chris Shumway Barbara Sibley

Barbara Starrett and Jo Ann Ellison (P)

Sandy Maxfield

David and Andrea Stein

Richard and Shana Oseran

Carla and Richard Stoffle Ronald and Diane Weintraub Bill and Colleen Weissman Duane and Linda Whitaker* Nieves ZedeĂąo and Tom McGuire Mel and Enid Zuckerman

PATRONS ($1,750 LEVEL) Endowed Patron The Late Lillian Fisher*

PATRONS Keith and Mara Aspinall Kathleen A. Barry Melany Wynn Berger

Fred Frelinghuysen and Mary Voyatzis

Benjamin Menges Matt and Jennifer Rabin Leo Roop* Peter Salomon and Patricia Morgan Neelam and Gulshan Sethi Shelley Sherman Nick Soloway and Kay Ransdell

Adel Gamal Stephanie Healy Arthur and Lee Herbst John Hildebrand and Gail Burd Sandra Hoffman John Hudak Susan Jewell

Kathleen S. White

George and Anna Kennedy

Lynne Wood Dusenberry and Bruce Dusenberry

Jan Konstanty and Patricia Wallace Meg McCarther

Ed and Keeley Wright*

Blake McCay

EXPLORERS ($1,000 LEVEL) Endowed Explorer Jan Lesher

John and Cynthia Millikin John Olsen and Ovadan Amanova-Olsen* Luis and Cecy Parra

Al and Susie Bergesen

EXPLORERS

Hank and Barbara Peck

Richard and Bahar Delgado

Julie and Jett Anderson

Curtis Scaife

William Ganley

Barbara Atwood and Pete Eisner

Bob and Anne Segal

Pam Grissom*

Art and Barbara Bailey

John Teets

Michael Honkamp

Sherrill and Dennis Bambauer

Daniel and Susan Warmack

Margaret M. Houghton*

Jim and Judy Brown

Mike and Margaret Warren

Peggy Johnson and Joe Tarver

Elise Collins Shields and Creston Shields

Weegee and Scott Whiteford

George and Margie Cunningham

(P) - Also Patron member * - Founding member

Gary and Joni Jones John Paul Jones III* Robin and Jack Lavin Todd and Carole Lundmark

Dino DeConcini and Beth Murfee DeConcini

2020 Magellan Scholarship recipients. Photo by Leslie Epperson.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

33

Board Profile Kim Bourn

When Kim Bourn moved to Tucson 28 years ago, she wanted to continue to run races in memory of a friend who died of cancer. So she helped establish the Race for the Cure and the Southern Arizona affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The experience launched her 20+ year career and passion for public health.

Kim obtained her B.A. in Communication and Psychology from the University of Colorado and her M.A. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Arizona.

She was the first development director for the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health before becoming the director of the Zuckerman Family Foundation.

Her first assignment with the Zuckerman Foundation was to create an analysis of food resource and sustainability programs in the community. She conducted a gap and duplicative analysis to better understand how to help create long-lasting impact and collaborations. The Foundation decided to fund the Community and School Garden Program, housed in the School of Geography, Development & Environment.

“We decided that the Community and School Garden Program could be one of the prongs in the public and private partnerships we were creating to make a long-term, collaborative impact in that space,” Kim said.

Kim added, “The program is exemplary, and I would love to see it in every school across the country. The hands-on learning and academic integration it provides for students in the K-12 schools is just invaluable.”

Kim joined the SBS Advisory Board and learned more about the college.

“I love that there’s so much cross-cultural and cross-professional work being done,” Kim said. “And I love 34

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Kim Bourn

how J.P. [SBS Dean] helps us understand the diversity and inclusion in all of that work, and its impact on a local and national level, as well as where the opportunities and challenges lie. It’s inspiring to be involved.”

Kim volunteers extensively in the community, a value she has passed on to her three children (who she thinks might be future Wildcats – “We do bleed that Bear Down blood!”). Kim has volunteered with Integrative Touch for Kids and Tucson Medical Center and works with a number of nonprofit organizations and executives to provide coaching and advising on philanthropic endeavors.

Kim’s commitment to public health has been fortified by the COVID-19 pandemic, and she hopes that a possible silver lining is that more people understand how important public health is for the entire community.

In late 2019, Kim resumed working at the university as the executive director of corporate engagement and business development for the College of Public Health, and she sees many synergies between the work in her college and in SBS. “I think that the College of SBS and the College of Public Health have some great opportunities for some broadbased engagement and for improving health outcomes for everyone in southern Arizona and across the state,” Kim said.

Honorary Degrees Acknowledge Generosity and Courage Nominated by the College of SBS, these three individuals are receiving an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from UArizona. Their accomplishments and generosity are an inspiration to future and fellow Wildcats!

Alison Levine

Alison Levine, a New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and businesswoman, graduated from UArizona in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Communication. She has climbed the highest peak on every continent and has skied to both the North and South poles – a feat known as the Adventure Grand Slam, which only 20 people in the world have achieved. Levine is the founder of the Climb High Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of jobless women in western Uganda.

Levine’s virtual speech during the university’s spring 2020 commencement addressed the unpredictable and trying times that graduates face as they enter the workforce amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When it comes down to it, what will help you more than math or history or biology or computer science is resilience,” Alison said.

Bruce Bartlett

Bruce Bartlett and his wife, Patricia (who’s receiving an honorary degree from the College of Education), are being recognized for their work supporting student success, particularly through the Strategic Alternative Learning

Techniques Center, Think Tank, and the Student Success District. The Bartletts are former educators whose son, Ben, benefited from the SALT Center. Ben graduated from the university in 2010 with a degree in Regional Development from the College of SBS. The Bartletts have made generous gifts to the SALT Center for scholarships, operations, and student wellness services such as counseling. The Bartlett Labs at the SALT Center advance understanding of issues that impact learning and attention challenges for undergraduate students.

Melody S. Robidoux

Melody S. Robidoux, who has a degree in political science and a juris doctorate from UArizona, is a long-time donor to the School of Government and Public Policy. She has helped the school thrive by supporting faculty, student travel, and space renovations. Her latest gift helps the school reward and retain some of its strongest scholars.

Melody was co-owner and CEO of the technology company Artisoft. In 1990, Melody sold her interest in the company and decided to promote societal change through philanthropy. She founded the Melody S. Robidoux Foundation, and, in 1992, she co-founded the Women’s Foundation of Southern Arizona.

“My interest has always been in policy, often directed toward women’s rights, social justice, and education,” Melody said. “I am interested in developing people who can speak articulately and understand policy and the law – who want to be leaders.”

Photo of Bruce and Patricia Bartlett by Chris Richards/Arizona Alumni Association.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

35

Graduating SBS Ambassadors Embrace the Future

SBS student ambassadors represent the college at various student, donor, and community events. Eleven of these amazing students graduated in the spring!

Here are fun facts and future plans for some of our SBS ambassadors, Class of ’20!

Lexy Burris

Nitza Cabral

Mish DeCarlo

36

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Major and minors: Care, Health, and Society; minors in Africana Studies and Public Health Why I love my major: It teaches me how to emotionally regulate, empathize, and view people and the world through a holistic lens.

Extracurricular activities: TRiO ASEMS participant and student assistant Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: I love being at the TRiO lounges because I am able to be with all the people I have grown up with and study with like-minded people.

Favorite TV show/movie: Grey’s Anatomy Favorite quote: “If you can’t accept me at my worst, you don’t deserve to see me at my best.”

Next up: I have been accepted to the master’s in Social Work program at Washington University in St. Louis, and it is fully paid for!

Major and minors: History; minor in Judaic Studies Why I love my major: So many reasons! The faculty in the history department are incredible! They are all so passionate about what they study and are so eager to teach and work with students. The staff in the history department are also phenomenal. I have to shout out to my advisor, Kathryn Gallien, for always helping to guide my path.

Extracurricular activities: I was an intern at the Jewish History Museum and Holocaust History Center. I am also a member of Camp Wildcat, an on-campus nonprofit that takes Tucson’s underserved youth on camping trips to promote higher education!

Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: A favorite place on campus is definitely the mall, but also my department in Chavez. I always feel right at home, and I love hanging out on the comfy couches in the history lounge.

Favorite TV show/movie: Dead Poets Society Favorite quote: “Well behaved women seldom make history.” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich Next up: I will be moving to Indianapolis to serve as a corp member for Teach for America.

I will be teaching middle school social studies!

Major and minors: Broadcast Journalism; thematic minor in Entertainment Media Why I love my major: I love my major because it has given me the resources and opportunities to hone in on my skills, practice what I’m passionate about, all while surounding me with faculty who are supportive and engaging. I love that I am constantly encouraged to remain curious and celebrate the pursuit of inspiration. I have also met two of my best friends through the major, which is just a cherry on top!

Extracurricular activities: Alpha Phi, UATV 3 sports anchor and reporter Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: Illegal Pete’s rooftop!

Favorite TV show/movie: How I Met Your Mother and any Star Wars movie Favorite quote: “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” – Albert Einstein Next up: I will be traveling full-time throughout the United States and Canada to work as an educational leadership consultant for Alpha Phi Fraternity, focusing on membership and marketing!

Nataly Gruender

Major and minors: English and Creative Writing; minor in Classics Why I love my majors: I got to study literature and topics that fascinated me, work on creative projects, and meet some really fantastic people who will be my friends for life.

Extracurricular activities: Persona undergraduate literary magazine; studied abroad in Orvieto, Italy, and London, England Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: Caffe Luce. The SBS ambassadors e-board and I would always hang out there before the meetings.

Favorite TV show/movie: Pride and Prejudice (2005) Favorite quote: “I take it as a sign that it is all right to be alive as I am, just as I am, and to keep trying.” – Jenny Slate, Little Weirds Next up: The Columbia Publishing Course in New York

Meghan Kelly

Major and minors: Political Science; minor in Public Health Why I love my major: I love my major because I was able to pursue my passion along with obtaining an education that would prepare me for my career. I was able to take classes that allowed me to develop critical thinking skills, advance my writing and communication skills, and develop a greater understanding of the world around me and appreciate different points of view.

Extracurricular activities: During my time at the U of A, I enjoyed volunteering at the Campus Pantry and the Southern Arizona VA Hospital!

Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: Mt. Lemmon Favorite TV show/movie: Keeping up with the Kardashians Next up: Attending law school in the fall

Heather Newberry

Major and minors: Environmental Studies, Political Science, and Philosophy Why I love my majors: The unique and surprising ways that all three of them interact and overlap with each other! Also, the amazing professors in each department!

Extracurricular activities: Member of the Arizona Mock Trial team for three years; intern for a year-and-a-half at the Pima County Public Defender’s Office; former photography desk editor at the Arizona Daily Wildcat Favorite place on campus or in Tucson: Cartel Coffee Lab in downtown Tucson and under the trees on the grassy area in front of the Arizona State Museum!

Favorite TV show/movie: The movies Back to the Future I, II, and III Next up: After graduation, I will be starting my M.S. in Sustainability and the Environment at the University of Michigan.

Allie Niegocki

Major and minors: Linguistics; minor in French Why I love my major: I love linguistics because it challenges me to work hard, and it’s absolutely incredible to learn about how we use language and how it works.

Extracurricular activities: Being an SBS ambassador has helped me love my college even more and built my interpersonal and presentation skills. Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society has given me amazing new friends.

Favorite place: Mt. Lemmon or the frog pond by Architecture Favorite TV show: New Girl Favorite quote: “Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien Next up: Gap year/applying for master’s programs in Speech Language Pathology

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

37

SOUND

“As we celebrate Earth Day’s 50th anniversary, the environmental movement finds itself at a critical point in time to reflect upon its record. When have we, as environmentalists, fostered collaboration with the food and farming sectors, and when have we pushed those potential partners away and generated conflict in our rural communities?”

- Gary Paul Nabhan, Southwest Center “On This Earth Day, Let’s Think About Agriculture” High Country News, 4/22/20

“You’re seeing more and more solar installations out in rural areas. We’re seeing that putting solar overhead can provide a consistent energy source, can reduce the water you need to use, and that food is giving back to your solar by helping keep it cool through transpiration.”

- Greg Barron-Gafford, School of Geography, Development & Environment “A New Vision for Farming: Chickens, Sheep, and ...

Solar Panels” The Christian Science Monitor, 4/23/20

“The focus on taking the perfect selfie seems to be encouraging girls to learn to see themselves as external objects for people to look at and admire.”

- Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, Department of Communication “Selfies Could be a Source of Anxiety and Body Shame for Teen Girls” Consumer Affairs, 2/25/20

38

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

“Now that there’s a U.S.-China deal in place, the relevant question is: What does this agreement mean for working-class Americans? The answer is “not much.”

- Jeffrey Kucik, School of Government and Public Policy “There’s Now a US-China Trade Deal – But What about the Workers?”

The Hill, 1/15/20

“We are still in a place where any impulsive action, any confused decision-making process, any crossed signals could trigger unanticipated and unwanted escalations.”

- Leila Hudson, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies “What to Know about Escalating Tensions with Iran, and the Potential for Cyber Attacks” The Arizona Republic, 1/8/20

“Smartphone dependency directly predicts later depressive symptoms. There’s an issue where people are entirely too reliant on the device, in terms of feeling anxious if they don’t have it accessible, and they’re using it to the detriment of their day-to-day life.”

- Matthew Lapierre, Department of Communication “Smartphone Addiction Can Lead to Depression and Loneliness” Newsgram, 11/28/19

DBITES “I believe that education is valuable, even for someone who has a life sentence. It gives them an opportunity to expand their horizons, to put their mind in a different place, to kind of reach out to a world outside the prison walls.”

- Marcia Klotz, Department of English “Prison Education Project Brings Hope to Incarcerated Students” Arizona Daily Star, 10/19/20

“If guns do make people feel safe, secure and protected, if they are empowering, if they are contributing to feelings of pleasure, then they should promote happiness, but we don’t find any evidence of that.”

- Terrence Hill, School of Sociology “The Happy Gun Owner? Research Suggests Otherwise” Forbes, 2/17/20

“I think it’s about time. This has been a controversy and a problem for a number of years. Although there are a number of sports teams out there that have Indian-type names, the ‘Washington Redskins’ is probably one of the more racist terms out there as far as how it pertains to Native people.”

“Right now, the particular shape that Black Lives Matter is taking has forced people to really think about the longer histories of racism that have gotten us to this moment and not just looking at the death of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor as isolated events.

People have connected Black Lives Matter today with this long history of colonization and enslavement.”

- Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert, Department of American Indian Studies “AZ Leaders Applaud NFL Washington Name Change” Cronkite News, 7/13/20

- Tyina Steptoe, Department of History “Juneteenth 2020: What Is It and How Will the Date Be Marked This Year?”

Evening Standard, 6/18/20

“Guatemalan and Salvadoran immigrants have helped expand the U.S. labor movement, organizing far-reaching workers rights’ campaigns in migrantdominated industries that mainstream unions had thought to be untouchable.”

“Many countries use less aggressive policing, avoiding the use of force, injuries and deaths that American police seem to treat as unavoidable. Disciplined nonviolence training would allow the public to expect as much of highly trained police officers as they do of protesters.”

- Elizabeth Oglesby, Center for Latin American Studies; School of Geography, Development & Environment “How Central American Migrants Helped Revive the US Labor Movement” The New Food Economy, 9/2/19

- Jennifer Earl, School of Sociology; Jessica Maves Braithwaite and Kirssa Cline Ryckman, School of Government and Public Policy “Teach Police Nonviolence, Scholars Say” The Conversation, 6/24/20

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

39

SOUND

Once the pandemic hit, professors were busy preparing their classes for remote delivery. At the same time – knowing that social science research is essential to understanding this unprecedented crisis – they wrote op-eds and spoke to media outlets about COVID-19. Here are just some of the media clips: “There were no Zoom meetings, drive-through testing or ventilators in 17th-century London. But Pepys’ diary reveals that there were some striking resemblances in how people responded to the pandemic.”

- Ute Lotz-Heumann, Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies “Diary of Samuel Pepys Shows How Life Under the Bubonic Plague Mirrored Today’s Pandemic” The Conversation, 4/24/20

“I think the first thing that we need to do is acknowledge the loss. Acknowledge the disruption. Yes, of course, we will be OK without a graduation ceremony. But will it add to the psychic burden that we’re carrying in this moment to not have that moment of celebration? Yes.” - Maribel Alvarez, School of Anthropology and Southwest Center “Grieving Rituals Lost to COVID-19” UANews, 4/9/20

40

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

COVID-19

“In Arizona and across the country, there are stark inequalities in household capacity to adapt to extreme heat, and COVID-19 will expose and compound these disparities.”

- Mark Kear and Margaret Wilder, School of Geography, Development & Environment “Self-isolating in a Mobile Home? That Could be Deadly in Arizona” The Arizona Republic, 5/3/20

“The virus has highlighted the often-false notion that older people are frail and need to be protected, which can lead their younger caretakers or family members to take a patronizing or paternalistic approach.”

- Jake Harwood, Department of Communication “How to Avoid Stereotyping Older Adults During the Pandemic” UANews, 4/16/20

“Try to recognize that everyone has good reasons to believe in something, and when people feel vulnerable, they may listen to things they shouldn’t. Look for the struggles they face and acknowledge them.”

- Diana Daly, School of Information “Why You Shoudn’t Trust Memes about Coronavirus” UANews, 4/28/20

DBITES

9 EDITION

“We find that in counties where cases are very low, polarized partisans – that is, Democrats and Republicans with strong preferences for their party over the other – are indeed deeply divided along party lines.

However, as cases increase in a county, partisans become more unified.”

- Samara Klar, School of Government and Public Policy “How COVID-19 is Impacting Politics in the United States” UANews, 7/16/20

“We should invest substantially in a wide range of supports and policies to both keep struggling Arizonans in their homes and to give people experiencing homelessness a safe place to live.”

- Keith Bentele, Southwest Institute for Research on Women “Report Predicts Increased Homelessness in Arizona During COVID-19 Crisis” UANews, 7/27/20

“During this public health crisis, there are so many people demonstrating generosity, kindness, compassion, and even courage, as they risk their lives for others. Altruistic human goodness seems very real to me, and our greatest hope is that it spreads faster than this virus.”

- Laura Howard, Department of Philosophy “Social Distancing as a Moral Dilemma” UANews, 3/24/20

“Privacy will be a central part of the long-term legacy of COVID-19, so we should think carefully about the technologies and policies that are being proposed. We should learn from past experiences such as the ‘USA Patriot Act,’ that even extreme changes in surveillance powers are unlikely to be as temporary as they are promised to be.”

- David Sidi, School of Information “How is the COVID-19 Emergency Eroding Privacy” iSchool News, 6/25/20

“In this census, university students have become a hard-to-count population because so many were encouraged to move back home when the pandemic hit and before the census forms were mailed.”

- Jason Jurjevich, School of Geography, Development & Environment “Striving for an Accurate Census Amid the Pandemic” UANews, 5/20/20

“One of the things I think about as a literary scholar is what sort of narrative frames we use to imagine and understand the impact of a virus like COVID-19. What does this event mean to us as a culture? This genre is a way of coming to grips with what is, in many ways, a novel event in contemporary culture.”

- Scott Selisker, Department of English “Science Fiction of the Plague and Why We Need It” Arizona Daily Wildcat, 5/12/20

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

41

THE BUZZ News & Notes Two Geographers Receive Prestigious Recognitions

Regents Professor Diana Liverman, director of the School of Geography, Development & Environment, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, two of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies. Liverman (pictured at left, testifying before the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis) studies the human dimensions of global environmental change. Fellow geographer Connie Woodhouse was named a Regents Professor, which acknowledges exceptional achievement. Woodhouse is the world’s foremost authority on the use of tree-ring science to understand the variable flow of river systems on time scales from years to millennia.

Historian Receives Carnegie, Guggenheim, and Fulbright Fellowships This year, historian David Pietz received three prestigious awards for his research. Pietz will use his Carnegie Fellowship, Guggengheim Fellowship, and Fulbright Award to work on the project “Death and Life on the Yangtze: Extinction, Conservation, and Environmental Change in China.” Pietz will examine changing attitudes toward animal life, biodiversity, developmental priorities, and governance practices – all critical dimensions of the contemporary “development versus conservation” debates in China.

Senior Demonstrates Academic Excellence and Community Leadership

SBS Outstanding Senior Award recipient Kate Rosenstengel has conducted research, studied abroad, volunteered in the community, completed prestigious internships, received numerous awards, and represented her fellow Wildcats as vice president of ASUA. Kate graduated in spring summa cum laude with a double major in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law, or PPEL, and Global Studies. Kate is pursuing a master’s of science in Human Rights and Politics at the prestigious London School of Economics.

42

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Archaeologists Discover Oldest and Largest Maya Monument

A Maya monument, discovered by an international team led

by UArizona anthropologists Takeshi Inomata and Daniela Triadan, suggests that the Maya civilization developed more rapidly than archaeologists once thought and hints at less social inequality than later periods. The team used lidar – or light detection and ranging technology – to detect the monument and radiocarbon dating to determine that it was constructed sometime between 1,000 to 800 B.C. The findings were reported by news outlets all over the world.

Developing Socially Savvy Artificial Intelligence UArizona researchers were awarded $7.5 million from the Defense Advanced Research Program to create an artificial intelligence agent that can understand social cues and human interactions, and use that information to help teams achieve their goals. Adarsh Pyarelal, a research scientist in the Machine Learning for Artificial Intelligence Lab in the School of Information, is the principal investigator.

Fighting Opioid Addiction, Supporting LGBTQ Youth

According to a UCLA study, although LGBTQ youth make up about 7% of the population, they comprise 40% of homeless youth. Funded by a federal grant, the Southwest Institute for Research on Women is partnering with community groups to support unstably housed LGBTQ young adults in Tucson. The institute is also part of a community team addressing the opioid epidemic by routing people with addiction toward treatment instead of jail.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

43

THE BUZZ News & Notes

Noam Chomsky Answers Student Questions

Last fall, Noam Chomsky had “Office Hours” with students, answering questions on a range of topics. Chomsky, laureate professor in linguistics and Agnese Nelms Haury Chair, is one of the most influential public intellectuals in the world and the founder of modern linguistics. The event was co-organized by ASUA and the College of SBS and supported by the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice. The video currently has more than 110,000 views on YouTube.

Expanding Degree Options for Students

During the past year, the College of SBS added new degree programs designed to meet student needs and prepare them for the working world. These include both Game Design and Development and Games and Behavior in the School of Information; Professional and Technical Writing in the Department of English; and a Bilingual Journalism graduate program. The School of Journalism is also offering a new online B.A. and M.A. in Studies of Global Media.

Providing Expertise in Global Disaster Relief

With the far-reaching effects of climate change and its disruption of livelihoods, the need for expertise in disaster relief and humanitarian assistance has rapidly expanded.

With a $4.9 million grant from the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology is providing expertise in humanitarian assistance, developing a “cluster of excellence” at UArizona in disaster management – including health and pandemic management – and training the next generation of experts.

44

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

Participate in Making History

Many people are avid consumers of history, but they rarely feel empowered to produce history themselves. To change this, the Department of History launched the Public History Collaborative, or PHC, so that people with an interest in and love for history can come together to make history. With the PHC, director Marya McQuirter and history students work with the public to think through their projects, share resources, and provide a space for them to learn, teach, and collaborate.

Are You a Hugger? It Might Be Hereditary

A study of twins led by Communication Professor Kory Floyd found that genetics play a significant role in how affectionate women are, but not men. The researchers found that, in women, variability in affectionate behavior can be explained 45% by hereditary and 55% by environmental influences, such as the media, personal relationships, and other unique life experiences. People who are predisposed to being more affectionate may struggle more with “skin hunger” amid COVID-19 physical distancing.

Creating COVID-19 Equipment

Two faculty in the School of Information – Peter Jansen and Win Burleson – are lending their expertise in makerspaces and inventing to the essential task of creating the protective and medical equipment needed to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Jansen helped design and make protective face shields, and Burleson created a prototype of a ventilator using only readily available items to fill the supply gap caused by a shortage of specialized parts.

THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COLLEGE OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

45

GIVING WAYS

Supporters of the College of SBS donate in a variety of ways.

Here are just a few!

Community and School Garden Program. Photo by Moses Thompson.

•

Mike and Beth Kasser and the Holualoa Companies sponsored the Summer Lecture Series on COVID-19 and are regular sponsors of the Downtown Lecture Series.

•

Ken and Linda Robin were the title sponsors of the international conference “Contradictions and Tropes of Antisemitism,” presented by the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies in February 2020. They are also regular sponsors of the Downtown Lecture Series.

•

Adib and Vivi Sabbagh have sponsored the Sabbagh Lecture Series for 28 years. Presented by the School of Anthropology, the lecture focuses on the Arab cultures of the Middle East from an anthropological perspective.

The Sabbaghs are also regular sponsors of the Downtown Lecture Series.

•

The Downtown Lecture Series also receives support from Barbara Starrett and Jo Ann Ellison, Maynards Market & Kitchen, and Hotel Congress.

•

Local restaurateur Ray Flores of Flores Concepts celebrated his 50th birthday in July 2019 with a fundraising dinner at Charro del Rey restaurant. Money raised helped pay to repair the school garden at Manzo Elementary school (a partner school with the Community and School Garden Program), which was vandalized in early July.

More than $10,000 was raised by Ray and his friends to help restore the garden.

How to Give

Donating to the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences is making an investment in the future. Our goal is to match every potential donor with an area in SBS that speaks to their passion!

You can make a donation online at: https://give.uafoundation.org/sbs If you prefer to send a check, please make it payable to “The UA Foundation/College of SBS” and designate a specific endowment, program, or unit in the memo section.

Mail the check to: UArizona College of Social and Behavioral Sciences Attn: Development Office P.O. Box 210028 Tucson, AZ 85721-0028 You can also contact Ginny Healy, the SBS senior director of development, at 520-548-4893 or ghealy@arizona.edu.

Thank you for your support!

46

SBS DEVELOPMENTS 2020

ACADEMIC UNITS Department of American Indian Studies Matthew Sakiestewa Gilbert sakiestewa@arizona.edu https://www.ais.arizona.edu School of Anthropology Diane Austin daustin@arizona.edu https://anthropology.arizona.edu Department of Communication Chris Segrin segrin@arizona.edu https://comm.arizona.edu

Department of Linguistics Natasha Warner nwarner@arizona.edu https://linguistics.arizona.edu

Consortium on Gender-Based Violence Elise Lopez eclopez@arizona.edu https://gbv.arizona.edu

Department of Mexican American Studies Anna Ochoa O’Leary olearya@arizona.edu https://mas.arizona.edu

SBS Mexico Initiatives Luis E. Coronado Guel luisguel@arizona.edu https://sbsmexicoinitiatives.arizona.edu

School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies Benjamin Fortna bcfortna@arizona.edu https://menas.arizona.edu

Center for Middle Eastern Studies Anne Betteridge anneb@arizona.edu https://cmes.arizona.edu

Department of English Aurelie Sheehan asheehan@arizona.edu https://english.arizona.edu

Department of Philosophy Jason Turner jasonturner@arizona.edu https://philosophy.arizona.edu

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies Stephanie Troutman troutmans@arizona.edu https://gws.arizona.edu

Department of Political Economy and Moral Science Vlad Tarko vladtarko@arizona.edu https://moralscience.arizona.edu

School of Geography, Development & Environment Diana Liverman liverman@arizona.edu https://geography.arizona.edu

School of Sociology Erin Leahey leahey@arizona.edu https://sociology.arizona.edu

School of Government and Public Policy Edella Schlager schlager@arizona.edu https://sgpp.arizona.edu Department of History Alison Futrell afutrell@arizona.edu https://history.arizona.edu School of Information Catherine Brooks cfbrooks@arizona.edu https://ischool.arizona.edu School of Journalism Carol Schwalbe cschwalbe@arizona.edu https://journalism.arizona.edu Arizona Center for Judaic Studies J. Edward Wright edwright@arizona.edu https://judaic.arizona.edu Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies Ute Lotz-Heumann ulotzh@arizona.edu https://dlmrs.arizona.edu Center for Latin American Studies Marcela Vásquez-León mvasquez@arizona.edu https://las.arizona.edu

Transdisciplinary Programs: Food Studies https://foodstudies.arizona.edu Global Studies https://globalstudies.arizona.edu Human Rights Practice https://humanrightspractice.arizona.edu

Center for Regional Food Studies Megan Carney mcarney@arizona.edu https://crfs.arizona.edu The Southwest Center Jeff Banister banister@arizona.edu https://swc.arizona.edu Rombach Institute on Crime, Delinquency, and Corrections Michael Polakowski mpolakow@arizona.edu https://sgpp.arizona.edu/rombach-institute Southwest Institute for Research on Women Josephine Korchmaros jkorch@arizona.edu http://sirow.arizona.edu Arizona Center for Turkish Studies Brian Silverstein bsilver@arizona.edu https://acts.arizona.edu

CENTERS & INSTITUTES Binational Migration Institute Anna Ochoa O’Leary and Daniel Martinez oleary@arizona.edu daniel.martinez@arizona.edu https://bmi.arizona.edu Center for Border and Global Journalism Celeste González de Bustamante celesteg@arizona.edu https://borderjournalism.arizona.edu Center for Compassion Studies Leslie Langbert langbert@arizona.edu https://compassioncenter.arizona.edu Center for Consciousness Studies Stuart Hameroff hameroff@arizona.edu https://consciousness.arizona.edu Center for Digital Society and Data Studies P. Bryan Heidorn heidorn@arizona.edu https://cdsds.arizona.edu

ADVISORY BOARD 2020 Steve Lynn, Chair John Paul Jones III, Dean Rowene Aguirre-Medina Melany Wynn Berger Kim Bourn Garry Bryant Elise Collins Shields Stephanie Healy Margaret M. Houghton John Hudak Peggy Johnson George A. Kennedy Margy McGonagill Alberto Moore William Owen Nugent Luis Parra Ken Robin Linda Robin Entisar Sabbagh Lynne Wood Dusenberry J. Edward Wright

P.O. Box 210028 Tucson, AZ 85721-0028

NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID TUCSON, ARIZONA PERMIT NO. 190