WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
CIIA > SHOWCASE INDEX > SHOWCASE 2005
Center for Instructional
Innovation and Assessment

INNOVATIVE TEACHING SHOWCASE

2005
2006
Larry Estrada
Edward Vajda
Kathleen Young
Theme Contents
Portrait
President Karen W. Morse,
Western Washington University

There is a remarkable level of activity and interest among the faculty at Western that is international in scope. We strive to graduate citizens of the world who are creative, imaginative, analytical and competitive not only for work around the Puget Sound, but for work in and with Beijing, Dakar, Frankfurt, San Jose, Bangalore, ...even Vancouver, and other spots around the globe. What do we do to assure that our students are prepared?

Built upon the campus-wide emphasis on the concepts of globalization and sustainability, this year’s Showcase theme, "Educating Global Citizens", features three Western Washington University faculty members whose teaching goals include preparing their students to be undaunted by national boundaries. Dr. Larry Estrada, Fairhaven College, encourages cultural understanding and uses learning communities to promote engagement, transformation, and deep learning in his students. Dr. Edward Vajda, Modern & Classical Languages, brings his world-class scholarship on native Siberian peoples and languages into the classroom, providing his students with knowledge that they could never read about in a textbook. Dr. Kathleen Young, Anthropology, teaches her students that the "hard subjects" are important for them to study in order to learn what it is to be a "human being" in this increasingly global environment.

Innovative Teaching Showcase highlights the overlapping interests among disciplines, ensuring that our liberal arts core is the foundation for a future marked by innovation and creativity. Our faculty use the tools provided by Western’s Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment to advance teaching and scholarship. Technology extends traditional teaching methods to encompass a range of interactions that build upon existing relationships while encouraging new ones, such as those that cross disciplinary boundaries.

Ed Vajda, Larry Estrada and Kathleen Young are among the people who are leading the way. I invite you to read more about each of them in this year’s showcase.

 

Karen W. Morse
President, Western Washington University