Keynote Speakers
Religious Divides and the Expanding Circle of Cooperation
9:55 a.m. | March 5 | Regency Room
Click here to see a recording of Dr. Ara Norenzayan’s talk!
Who:
Dr. Ara Norenzayan
Title:
Professor of Psychology, University of British Columbia; Co-director of UBC’s Centre for Human Evolution, Cognition, and Culture (HECC)
Bio:
Ara Norenzayan, a social psychologist, has made ground-breaking contributions to the study of the origins of religion, and the psychological impact of religious and cultural diversity in today’s globalized world. His research and findings appear in some of the most influential scientific journals in the world. He is the author of Big Gods: How Religion Transformed Cooperation and Conflict.
For more information, see website.
Video(s):
Big Gods and the Fabric of Society Interview
Selected Publications:
Calling in Not Calling Out
11:50 a.m. | March 5 | Chris Knutzen
Click here for a recording of Loretta Ross’ talk!
Who:
Loretta Ross
Title:
Co-founder of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective
Bio:
A nationally-recognized women’s rights and human rights leader, Loretta Ross is an expert on women’s issues, racism, and human rights whose work emphasizes the intersectionality of social justice issues and how this transforms social change. She was a co-founder, and the National Coordinator from 2005 to 2012, of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, a network of women of color and allied organizations that organize women of color in the reproductive justice movement. She also served as the National Co-Director of the April 25, 2004 March for Women’s Lives in Washington D.C. and is Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Human Rights Education (NCHRE).
Ross is a rape survivor, was forced to raise a child born of incest, and is a survivor of sterilization abuse. She is a model of how to survive and thrive despite the traumas that disproportionately affect low-income women of color. She is a nationally-recognized trainer on using the transformative power of Reproductive Justice to build a Human Rights movement that includes everyone.
A graduate of Agnes Scott College with honorary Doctorates from Arcadia University and Smith College, she is pursuing a PhD in Women’s Studies at Emory University while serving as a consultant for Smith College, collecting oral histories of feminists of color for the Sophia Smith Collection which also contains her personal archives. She is a mother, grandmother and a great-grandmother.
For more information, see website.
Video(s):
Loretta Ross on “Reproductive Justice 101”
Selected Publications:
2020 Paul Ingram Lecture in Religion: Religious Dialogue and Three Cups of Tea: Listen, Respect, Connect
7:00 p.m. | March 5 | Scandinavian Cultural Center
Who:
Imam Jamal Rahman
Title:
Interfaith Sufi Leader, Greater Seattle Area
Bio:
Co-founder and Muslim Sufi minister at Interfaith Community Sanctuary and adjunct faculty at Seattle University, Imam Jamal Rahman is a sought after speaker on Islam, Sufi spirituality, and interfaith relations. Since 9/11, he has been collaborating with Rabbi Ted Falcon and Pastor Don Mackenzie, affectionately known as the Interfaith Amigos. He has been featured in the New York Times, CBS News, BBC, and various NPR programs. He is a former co-host of Interfaith Talk Radio and travels nationally and internationally, presenting at retreats and workshops. His passion lies in interfaith community building. He remains rooted in his Islamic tradition and cultivates a “spaciousness” by being open to the beauty and wisdom of other faiths. By authentically and appreciatively understanding other paths, Rahman feels that he becomes a better Muslim. This spaciousness is not about conversion but about completion. He has served as a visiting lecturer at PLU teaching Islamic Traditions.
About the Paul O. Ingram Lecture:
Held every other year, this lectureship celebrates the work of Professor Emeritus Paul O. Ingram. These lectures continue Dr. Ingram’s work in extending understandings of all religions through scholarship and teaching in comparative religions and interreligious dialog, by bringing to campus scholars whose work exemplifies the comparative, descriptive, and analytic methods that define the field.
Video(s):
Imam Jamal Rahman on the Many Faces of Interfaith
Selected Publications:
- Sacred Laughter of the Sufis: Awakening the Soul with the Mullah’s Comic Teaching Stories and Other Islamic Wisdom (Skylight Paths Publishing, 2014)
- Spiritual Gems of Islam: Insights & Practices from the Qur’an, Hadith, Rumi & Muslim Teaching Stories to Enlighten the Heart & Mind (Turner Publishing Company, 2013)
- The Fragrance of Faith: The Enlightened Heart of Islam (Book Foundation, 2004)
Mutual Aid for Survival and Mobilization
9:15 a.m. | March 6 | Chris Knutzen
Made possible by sponsorship from ASPLU.
Who:
Dean Spade
Title:
Associate Professor of Law, Seattle University
Bio:
Dean Spade founded the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, a non-profit law collective that provides free legal services to transgender, intersex and gender non-conforming people who are low-income and/or people of color. SRLP also engages in litigation, policy reform and public education on issues affecting these communities and operates on a collective governance model, prioritizing the governance and leadership of trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming people of color.
For more information, see website.
Video(s):
“Fight to Win! Critical Trans Resistance in Scary Times”
Selected Publications:
Immigration, Racism, and the Transnational Food System
10:30 a.m. | March 6 | Regency Room
Who:
Dr. Seth Holmes in conversation with indigenous Mexican immigrants
Title:
Associate Professor in the UC Berkeley School of Public Health’s Community Health and Human Development Division and the Graduate Program in Medical Anthropology, Co-Director of the MD/PhD Track in Medical Anthropology coordinated between UCSF and UC Berkeley, Co-Chair of the Berkeley Center for Social Medicine
Bio:
Seth M. Holmes has an M.D. from the UC San Francisco School of Medicine and a Ph.D. in Medical Anthropology from UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He is on faculty in the Division of Society and Environment and the Joint Program in Medical Anthropology at UC Berkeley. A cultural and medical anthropologist and physician, he has worked on social hierarchies, health inequities, and the ways in which such asymmetries are naturalized, normalized, and resisted in the context of transnational im/migration, agro-food systems, and health care. He has received national and international awards from the fields of anthropology, sociology, and geography, including the Margaret Mead Award. In addition to scholarly publications, he has written for popular media such as The Huffington Post and Salon.com and spoken on multiple NPR, PRI, Pacifica Radio and Radio Bilingüe radio programs.
For more information, see website.
Video(s):
TED Talk, “Our Food System Hurts: Living with Migrant Farmworkers”
Selected Publications:
- Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farmworkers in the United States (University of California Press, 2013)
- Social Medicine in the Twenty-First Century (Public Library of Science Medicine, 2006)
- Health Care and the Stalling of Immigration Reform (Huffington Post, 2014)
- American Politicians’ Reactions to Refugees Echo Past Xenophobia: Which Side of History Do We Want to Be On? (Huffington Post, 2015)
- Marking ‘Preemptive Suspects’: Migration, Bodies, and Exclusion (Latin American Perspectives, 2017)
Under the Volcano: Polarization in Mexico's Decaying Democracy
11:50 a.m. | March 6 | Scandinavian Cultural Center
Who:
Dr. Denise Dresser
Title:
Professor of Political Science, ITAM, Mexico City
Bio:
Named by the World Policy Journal as one of the 14 Latin American Women to “keep an eye on” in 2014, and by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most powerful women in Mexico, Dr. Dresser is a Mexican political analyst, columnist, academic, and author of numerous publications on Mexican politics and U.S.-Mexico relations.
She has been a member of the Research Council of the Forum for Democratic Studies, the National Endowment for Democracy, the World Academy of Arts and Science, the advisory board of Trans-National Research Corporation, the editorial board of the Latin American Research Review, the Latin American advisory board of Human Rights Watch, the Global Affairs Board at Occidental College, the board of the General Service Foundation, and the Governing Board of the Institute of Lifelong Learning at UNESCO. She served on the Citizens’ Committee in charge of investigating Mexico’s dirty war and was on the board of the Human Rights Commission for Mexico City for 8 years. In 2015, she was awarded the Legion of Honor by the French government for her work on democracy, justice, gender equality, and human rights.
For more info, see website.
Video(s):
“What’s Wrong with Mexico?”
Selected Publications:
2020 Koller Menzel Memorial Lecture: The Uses and Abuses of Identity
3:30 p.m. | March 6 | Chris Knutzen
Who:
Dr. Kwame Anthony Appiah
Title:
Professor of Law and Philosophy, NYU
Bio:
A philosopher, literary scholar, novelist, and author of the weekly Ethicist column for the New York Times magazine, Kwame Anthony Appiah is described by one source as “our postmodern Socrates”:
He asks what it means to be African and African-American, but his answers immediately raise issues that encompass us all. His principal and abiding concern is how we individually construct ourselves in dialogue with social circumstance, both private and public, past and present. He probes the complexity of this process of personal formation, emphasizing the opportunities as well as the dangers for self-creation in today’s ethnically fluid and culturally hybrid world. (see: https://prelectur.stanford.edu/lecturers/appiah/)
Born to a Ghanaian father and British mother, Appiah earned a doctorate in philosophy from Cambridge University in 1982 and continued his academic career at Yale, Cornell, Duke, Harvard, and Princeton before joining the faculty of New York University as Professor of Philosophy and Law in 2014. In addition to teaching regularly about African traditional religions, his current interests range over African and African-American intellectual history and literary studies, ethics, the connections between moral philosophy and psychology, and political philosophy and the philosophy of the social sciences. His work at the interface of ethics and psychology was recognized in a special issue of the journal Neuroethics devoted to his book Experiments in Ethics. The 2018 issue of the journal New Literary History was devoted to his writings on literature and theory. His major current work has to do with the connection between theory and practice in moral life while also working on two larger projects. One explores some of the many ways in which we now think about religion; another examines the ethical and political consequences of the changing nature of work.
Appiah has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and, in 2008, was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has served as president of the PEN American Center and of the American Philosophical Association, Eastern Division, as well as a trustee of the National Humanities Center and the American Academy in Berlin and as a past board chair of the American Philosophical Association. Among his many honors, he was awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2012; he is the recipient of the Herskovits Award of the African Studies Association for his book In My Father’s House, and he received Joseph B. and Toby Glitter Prize from Brandeis University in recognition of his contributions to racial, ethnic, and religious relations. He is also the recipient of numerous honorary doctoral degrees.
For more information see: http://appiah.net
For press highlights see: https://www.law.nyu.edu/presshighlights?field_fulltime_faculty_target_id=1529
Publications:
- The Lies that Bind: Rethinking Identity (Liveright 2019)
- The Honor Code: How Moral Revolutions Happen (Norton 2010)
- The Ethics of Identity (Princeton 2007)
- Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers (Norton 2007)
- In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture (Oxford 1993)
Faith in the Age of Hijacked Religions
CANCELLED DUE TO TRAVEL DISRUPTION
Made possible by the generous sponsorship of Mountain View Lutheran Church, Edgewood, WA
6:30 p.m. | March 6 | Chris Knutzen
Who:
Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb
Title:
Founder and President of Dar al-Kalima University College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem; Co-Founder, Bright Stars of Bethlehem
Bio:
A theologian, social entrepreneur, and advocate of human rights for all, Rev. Dr. Raheb has founded several NGO‟s including Dar annadwa Cultural and Conference Center, Dar al Kalima University College of Arts and Culture, and Bright Stars of Bethlehem, in addition to several other civic initiatives on national, regional, and international levels. He is the most widely published and translated Palestinian theologian to date documenting the unique context and dimensions of the Palestinican Christian perspective. In 2015, the 50 year-old multilingual contextual theologian received in the 2015 Olof Palme Prize for his courageous and indefatigable fight against occupation and violence, and for a future Middle East characterized by peaceful coexistence and equality for all. In 2012 the German Media Prize was awarded to Rev. Dr. Raheb for his “tireless work in creating room for hope for his people, who are living under Israeli Occupation, through founding and building institutions of excellence in education, culture and health.” The work of Rev. Dr. Raheb has received wide media attention from major international media outlets and networks including CNN, ABC, CBS, 60 Minutes, BBC, ARD, ZDF, DW, BR, Premiere, Raiuno, Stern, The Economist, Newsweek, Al-Jazeera, al-Mayadin, Vanity Fair, and others.
Rev. Dr. Raheb holds a Doctorate in Theology from the Philipps University at Marburg, Germany. He is married to Najwa Khoury and has two daughters, Dana & Tala.
For more information see website.
Video(s):
Video Gallery, A Tough Calling: The Joys and Struggles of Pastoring in Palestine, Bright Stars of Bethlehem
Selected Publications:
Panels
Welcome and Introduction: Asking the Questions
8:15 a.m. | March 5 | Scandinavian Cultural Center
Made up of PLU faculty representing a variety of disciplines in the Liberal Arts, this panel kicks off the symposium with a series of reflections on polarization both as a human behavior and as a social and political phenomenon. Panelists will explore the phenomenon as one that unites, but also divides, and that impacts the ability for humans and communities to dialogue and build agreement across difference on pressing issues.
Who:
Michael Artime, Department Chair and Assistant Professor of Political Science
Bio:
Michael Artime is Assistant Professor & Chair of the Department of Political Science. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Political Science. His research has focused on the challenges and opportunities associated with communication in the landscape of new media technologies. In particular, he has explored the discourse that takes place on online comment sections and the ways in which we relate to each other in online spaces.
Who:
Corey L. Cook, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Bio:
My research explores how beliefs (e.g., religious, existential, or social beliefs) influence perceptions of threats and opportunities regarding others in our social environment. My research largely focuses on how such beliefs influence stereotyping and prejudice toward a wide range of groups, including atheists, immigrants, LGBT, and Muslims. My other research interests include morality/values, evolutionary psychology, and “alternative” belief systems (e.g., conspiracies, the occult, etc.).
Who:
Justin Eckstein, Assistant Professor of Communication, Director of Debate
Bio:
Dr. Eckstein is an Assistant Professor, the Director of Forensics for PLU’s storied speech and debate team, the T.O.H. Karl Forensics Forum; and the moderator for the Ruth Anderson Public Debate Series. He teaches class such as Applied Research, Argumentation & Advocacy, Introduction to Communication, and Gender & Communication. Dr. Eckstein’s research explores argumentation and debate. His work has appeared in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, The Quarterly Journal of Speech, Western Journal of Communication, Communication Studies, Contemporary Argumentation & Debate,The Journal of Argumentation in Context, Argumentation & Advocacy, and Relevant Rhetoric.
Who:
Mary Ellard-Ivey, Professor of Biology
Bio:
Mary Ellard-Ivey is a Professor of Biology at Pacific Lutheran University. She received her undergraduate degree in molecular biology and biochemistry from University College Dublin, Ireland. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in plant molecular biology. While her laboratory research experience is on plant responses to abiotic stress and pathogens, she has broad interests in the interactions between all living organisms and their environment and how genes and environmental cues act in concert. In the Biology Department she teaches classes in genetics, molecular biology and genomics. Dr. Ellard-Ivey has been actively involved in the Women and Gender Studies Program for two decades at PLU where she has participated in development of the curriculum. She has enjoyed many opportunities to bring her genetics expertise to classes in women and gender studies through teaching in the program. She is particularly passionate about learning about and discussing the deep complexities of sex determination across all living organisms with students within and outside the natural sciences. She is also passionate about learning about and sharing how current biological thinking is inconsistent with simple binaries and consistent with sex and gender as existing on a continuum.
Who:
Sergia Hay, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Bio:
Dr. Sergia Hay studied at Wellesley College, Cambridge University, Luther Seminary, and Columbia University and has previously taught philosophy in Massachusetts and Germany. At PLU since 2011, she teaches courses in applied ethics and the history of philosophy. Her area of scholarly specialization is Søren Kierkegaard and her current research investigates his views on language as well as the influence on his work by Johann Hamann, a contemporary of Kant. Dr. Hay believes that in addition to posing fascinating questions, philosophy can help us solve pressing problems like hunger and environmental degradation.
Who:
Heidi Schutz, Associate Professor of Biology
Bio:
I see teaching and mentoring both as a service and as a means of becoming a better scientist and scholar. One of the things I enjoy most is the integrative nature of teaching. For me, teaching is an opportunity to bring together my biological research interests, current research on learning theory and new teaching technologies to create dynamic, challenging and productive courses.
My research focuses on the interplay between form, function, selection and evolutionary history and I employ both comparative and experimental approaches.
Angry Tías and Abuelas
1:45 p.m. | March 5 | Regency Room
PLU welcomes three representatives from the Río Grand Valley-based non-profit organization, Angry Tías and Abuelas. The organization was the recipient of the 2019 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, which identifies and honors those who embody Robert F. Kennedy’s belief that the power of individual moral courage can overcome injustice. As the citation for the award reads: “The Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley are a collective group of women from South Texas who provide emergency assistance to asylum seekers at ports of entry and bus stations along the U.S.-Mexico border. The group aims to offer food, water, clothing, toiletries, logistical support, and cash funds when needed to those recently released from ICE custody. These advocates will use their platform to continue meeting the immediate health and safety needs of immigrants, informing asylum seekers of their rights, providing direct financial support to refugee shelters, as well as offering advice and accompaniment to immigrants.” (See: Angry Tias and Abuelas)
Who:
Cindy Candia
Bio:
Cindy Candia is the daughter of migrant, civil rights parents and activists. She is a humanitarian activist, a mom to any LGBTQ+ and ally persons, also an ex-juvenile correctional officer out of Washington State. Co-founder and humanitarian of Angry Tias and Abuelas of the RGV.
Who:
Elizabeth Cavazos
Bio:
Elizabeth Cavazos has worked as a Mental Health Professional, and in addition to her advocacy work with the Angry Tias and Abuelas, she also volunteers in various capacities to help conserve, restore and educate others about the unique ecosystem of the Rio Grande Valley.
Who:
Nayelly Barrios
Bio:
Nayelly Barrios is an intersectional feminist, activist, writer, educator, and Rio Grande borderlands native. She is a Lecturer in the Writing Program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is a co-founder of Angry Tias and Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley.
Faith Communities at the Crossroads: Bridging Divides
3:45 p.m. | March 5 | Scandinavian Cultural Center
Featuring several PLU alumni and church leaders, this panel explores the different ways that faith communities and organizations are working at the grassroots level to bridge divides in local communities with a focus on issues that include: climate change, inclusion of LGBTQ communities, race relations, interfaith dialogue, migration, and refugee support and advocacy.
Moderator:
Pastor Jen Rude
Bio:
Pastor Jen Rude (she/her) serves as University Pastor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA. Her previous work includes serving as program director for Extraordinary Lutheran Ministries (a national support and advocacy organization for LGBTQ pastors and seminarians), working as an Outreach Minister with The Night Ministry in Chicago (working with young adults experiencing houselessness), and serving as associate pastor of Resurrection Lutheran in Chicago, IL. Jen received her Masters of Divinity from Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA and her B.A. in Religion with Gender Studies and Psychology minors from ELCA-affiliated Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Outside of work, Jen enjoys hiking, cooking, brewing homemade kombucha, the Enneagram, reading about minimalism/simple living, tending to her composting worms and exploring beautiful Tacoma and the Pacific Northwest with her spouse Deb Derylak.
Who:
Briana Brannan ‘13
Bio:
Briana Brannan (she/her/hers) is an Immigrant Accompaniment Organizer with the Church Council of Greater Seattle. In her role she is co-creating networks, programs, and circles for convivencia (coexistence), accompaniment, Sanctuary, and hospitality with faith and immigrant communities in the Puget Sound region.
Briana was raised and has spent time within several Christian denominations and finds resonance within many religious and spiritual traditions. She grew up in Colorado and came to the PNW to attend Pacific Lutheran University. She studied in Mexico and Central America while completing her degree in Global Studies and Political Science. Her favorite places to find rest and renewal are on the trails, near water, on her bike or in her garden. She speaks English and Spanish.
Who:
Pastor Terry Kyllo ‘87
Bio:
The Rev. Terry Kyllo is a Lutheran pastor serving as the director of Neighbors in Faith since 2016 and the director of the Treacy Levine Center. NIF is an organization dedicated to remembering ourselves as neighbors, answering a thirty million dollar per year Islamophobia industry, and living into the beloved community. TLC is an interfaith organization dedicated to bridging divides of race, religion and culture. Through this work Terry has learned that we have forgotten how to recognize other humans, the value of humans and so have lost a part of our own humanity. Terry believes we do not have to live this way. A graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, he has been a pastor since 1991 and has served in partnership between Episcopalians and Lutherans since 2004. He is the author of two books, Being Human and Apprenticeship. Terry was the recipient of the Faith Action Network Interfaith Leadership Award in 2016, the Interfaith Leadership Award from the Muslim Association of Puget Sound in 2017, and the Sultan and Saint Peace award in 2017, and the Called to Lead award in 2018 by the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Who:
Pastor Jim Warnock
Bio:
The Rev. Dr. Jim Warnock recently retired as the priest at Gethsemane Episcopal Church in Marion, Indiana. While there he participated with the church’s reconciliation team, addressing issues of racial reconciliation, violence against women, immigration, and sexual orientation. He has a master’s degree from Regent College in Vancouver, BC, and a doctorate in American history from the University of Washington. He is married to Kresha who recently retired from Ball State University. They have two grown children.
Who:
Jared Wright ’14
Bio:
A Dean’s Scholar, Rieke Scholar, and International Honors student, Jared Wright graduated magnum cum laude from PLU in 2014 with majors in Political Science and Global Studies and a minor in Hispanic Studies. After graduating from PLU he became a summer fellow for the Washington Bus in Seattle, helping advance their mission to bring more young people into the political process. Soon afterwards he joined Americorps and began working for Graduate Tacoma and the Foundation for Tacoma Students, organizing community efforts to improve summer and out of school learning, college advancement, and 3rd grade level reading. While in Oakland, CA in 2017 and 2018, Jared got involved in environmental advocacy with Clean Water Action, becoming a top fundraiser in its phone canvass and organizing action to protect the Clean Water Rule and other important safeguards at the EPA. Lastly, since returning to Washington, Jared has joined Lutheran Community Services Northwest in the refugee resettlement program, where he works with property managers, volunteers, government agencies, and other nonprofits to secure housing, furniture and essential home supplies for refugee families that have fled persecution and are looking to start a new life in the United States.
Who:
Jessica Zimmerle ‘13
Bio:
Jessica Zimmerle is the Program and Outreach Director of Earth Ministry/Washington Interfaith Power & Light, a statewide nonprofit that seeks to build bridges with a faith-based approach to environmental justice. Jessica supports houses of worship implementing sustainable practices and engages the faith community in advocacy campaigns on climate justice, salmon recovery, chemical safety, and more. Jessica graduated from PLU in 2013 with a BA in Environmental Studies. Now, she is studying at Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry and is a candidate for ordination as a Deaconess in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Conflict, Peacebuilding, and the Ethics of Discourse
1:45 p.m. | March 6 | Regency Room
Made up of current PLU students, panelists will share their experiences in unique PLU learning contexts that focus on the topics of dialogue, conflict, peacebuilding, and the ethics of discourse. Panelists have participated in one of the following programs or courses: PLU Peace Scholars (with a focus on Norwegian approaches to peace); Diversity, Conflict and Peace in Northern Ireland (a J-Term study away offering in Sociology and Global Studies); and a course offered by the Philosophy Department on the Ethics of Discourse.
Who:
Sergia Hay, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Bio:
Dr. Sergia Hay studied at Wellesley College, Cambridge University, Luther Seminary, and Columbia University and has previously taught philosophy in Massachusetts and Germany. At PLU since 2011, she teaches courses in applied ethics and the history of philosophy. Her area of scholarly specialization is Søren Kierkegaard and her current research investigates his views on language as well as the influence on his work by Johann Hamann, a contemporary of Kant. Dr. Hay believes that in addition to posing fascinating questions, philosophy can help us solve pressing problems like hunger and environmental degradation.
Who:
Dejan Perez
Bio:
Dejan Perez (she/her) is a current senior double-majoring in Women’s and Gender Studies and English and a double-minor in Norwegian and Native American and Indigenous Studies. You can find her at the Center for Gender Equity, Diversity Center, and having too-long conversations in-between classes. She is one of the two Peace Scholars for the 2019-2020 year.
Who:
Sarah Ward
Bio:
Sarah Ward is a current PLU student from Kalispell, Montana. She is a senior double major in Strategic Communication and Global Studies and has a minor in Peace Corps Prep. She is a PLU Peace Scholar, a Global Ambassador for the Wang Center, and a member of the PLU MediaLab documentary film team. Her studies are primarily focused on migration, digital radicalization, and dialogue.
Who:
Barbara Gilchrist
Bio:
Barbara Gilchrist is a senior at PLU from DuPont, Washington. She is a triple-major in Global Studies, Psychology, and Political Science, with a minor in Peace Corps Prep. Barbara currently serves PLU as the ASPLU Vice President, an Admissions Ambassador, a Peace Scholar, and a Rieke Scholar. After her time at PLU, she plans to take a gap year to prepare for the GRE’s so that she can get a Ph.D. in Terrorism Analysis.
Who:
Peter Olschner
Bio:
Peter Olschner is currently completing his senior year at Pacific Lutheran University. Prior to his studies at PLU, Peter lived in Arvada, Colorado where he participated in theatrical productions and musical ensembles throughout his years as a student. He will graduate from PLU with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a minor in Music in May 2020. After graduation, Peter plans to move to San Francisco where he will personally assist his cousin who works as an in-house lawyer for a technology company. In his free time he loves to read books, play music, and exercise.
Who:
Riley Reed
Bio:
Riley is a current student at PLU, pursuing a Senior Business Management and Human Resources major with a Sociology minor. She is very interested in group dynamics, crucial conversations, and conflict resolution. Riley is from a rural town in the middle of Montana and she grew up skiing, hiking, snowshoeing, and adventuring, all of which she enjoys doing as an adult as well. When she is not in classes, Riley is most likely found in the Campus Ministry office with a cup of coffee and a good book.
Who:
Marisa Etzell
Bio:
Marisa (she/her) is a senior at PLU from Whidbey Island, WA. She is majoring in Sociology and minoring in Hispanic Studies and Peace Corps Prep. Marisa is grateful for the various opportunities she has had to study away during her last several years; whether it be a J-Term on the Hilltop in Tacoma, a semester abroad in Australia, or a J-Term spent in beautiful Northern Ireland, each of these experiences have contributed to broadening her global perspective. While she is graduating in May 2020, her education is far from over. Marisa considers the world to be her classroom, and plans to continue to immerse herself in new environments, learning and growing along the way.
Who:
Akeem Bentick
Bio:
Akeem is a graduating senior at PLU from the U.S. Virgin Islands. He is a philosophy major and a pre-dental student, starting dental school in the fall at University of Washington. Akeem is a United States Marine Corps Veteran.
