CHSS Western Today News

The Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Western Washington University is seeking accreditation for the Clinical Doctorate in Audiology (Au.D.) Program by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, 2200 Research Boulevard, #310, Rockville, MD 20850, 800-498-2071 or 301-296-5700 or at 

Western's German program, in the Department of Modern & Classical Languages, is one of six university co-sponsors of this year’s virtual “Women in German” conference, held Nov. 4-7.

When Rae Lynn Schwartz-DuPre, Western Professor of Communication Studies and Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, pulled out the first Curious George book to read to her children, she found herself awestruck.

Despite the significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Western Washington University’s fall enrollment numbers held steady with the previous year, while posting record gains for diversity, its Graduate School, and a sizeable increase in its first-year class over Fall 2020.

Western Professor of Linguistics Kristin Denham and Assistant Professor of Linguistics Jordan Sandoval have published a new book that introduces the study of language for undergraduate and beginning graduate students who would like to further their linguistics studies.

Did you grow up speaking a language other than English or Spanish? Are you interested in learning more about your language? 

WWU Professor of Anthropology Emeritus James Loucky was named the recipient of the Howard and Rosemary Harris Lifetime Peacemaker Award by the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center on Sept. 19 - the International Day of Peace. The award is named after Howard Harris, longtime professor in Western's Department of Anthropology, and his wife Rosemary, who together started the Rufus Jones School, a Quaker K-12 school which was situated in one of the large old houses that until the 1990s were on what are today the parking lots on South Campus.

The Department of Linguistics will host the first event in its speaker series for the 2021-22 academic year at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14, either in-person in Bond Hall 415 or via Zoom (Zoom meeting ID: 938 3082 3471).

WWU Associate Professor of  Modern and Classical Languages Hugo Garcia will present three documentaries dealing with Cuba at the Pickford Film Center in Bellingham. These documentaries are presented as part of the Pickford's annual Doctober Festival and will also serve to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.

WWU Professor of English Christopher Wise recently published "Decolonisation or Redemption? The One State Solution: 'Unsilencing Gaza' and 'Liberating Palestine'" in Arena Quarterly, No. 7 (2021).

Research Recap Sept. 24

Western Washington University is the highest-ranking public, master’s-granting university in the Pacific Northwest for the 22nd year in a row, according to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report college rankings.   

From flashy magazine covers guaranteeing a perfect ‘summer body’ to the endless sea of flawless photos on social media, the pressure to change our bodies is everywhere. For Anna Ciao, a Western associate professor of Psychology, the solution lies in intervening at the individual level where people can challenge assumptions about body image they didn’t even know they held.

WWU Journalism Department faculty member Stephen Howie recently has an article, "Suspended by only a wing and the air, glider pilots soar from Samish Overlook," published in the Seattle Times.