Exhibits

On Exhibit: Wang Center Photo & Video Contest Winners

During the 2021-2022 academic year, 149 PLU students participated in global and local study away programs to acquire new perspectives on critical global issues, advance their language and intercultural skills, form valuable new contacts and lasting connections, and advance their academic and career trajectory. Due to the worldwide pandemic, 46 students returned home early in spring of 2020 and PLU study away was put on hold for 2020-2021. We were so excited to send students into the world again this year!

The Annual Wang Center Photo Contest is an opportunity for #LutesAway students to reflect upon their study away experience and provides a way for students to share the world’s images, from their perspective, with the PLU community.

Here is the online version of the exhibit which includes all the winning photos and videos plus each winner’s explanation.

Exhibit supported: The Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education
Curators: Wang Center Staff and Holly Senn, Librarian

 

On Exhibit: Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are “commemorating and encouraging the study, observance and celebration of the vital role of women in American history.” (https://www.womenshistorymonth.gov/).

This exhibit includes a short list of just a few women’s first achievements in the past six years, from 2017 to 2022, and print biographies about women from the Mortvedt Library collection. While there are many women and transwomen who have been the first in their position, this abbreviated list is designed to highlight the length of time in American history that women have not been included in leading roles in entertainment, business, and politics.

Here is the online version of the exhibit, which includes information about the women noted and abstracts of the books in the exhibit.

Exhibit supported: The Center for Gender Equity and Gender, Race, and Sexuality Studies
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

On Exhibit: Books in Support of Healing: Pathways for Restoration and Renewal

The books in this exhibit support the 10th Biennial Wang Center Symposium, “Healing: Pathways for Restoration and Renewal,” which will take place online on March 9-10, 2022. Included are books are about healing, in all its forms, and books by panelists in their area of scholarship.

“Healing: Pathways for Restoration and Renewal” will explore the concept of healing understood in the broadest sense as described in the 2015 article, Healing, A Concept Analysis:
“Healing is an intervention, an outcome, and a process, and at times, all three. It also describes an ability or power, energy, and cleansing of grief, trouble, or evil. The concept is relevant in a wide range of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, psychology, public health, education, religion, and spirituality. Healing occurs in multiple dimensions—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, familial, social, communal, and environmental. Healing occurs at multiple levels from the micro level, as cellular wound healing, to the macro level, as in national and global healing.” (See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4653605/)

Here is the online version of this exhibit, which includes links to articles written by panelists and other resources.

Exhibit supported: The 10th Wang Center Symposium, Healing: Pathways for Restoration and Renewal
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

Black History Month Exhibit: Seeking (a Supreme Court) Justice

(CNN)- President Joe Biden committed to nominating the nation’s first Black female Supreme Court justice, as he honored retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer at the White House on Thursday. “The person I will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience and integrity. And that person will be the first Black woman ever nominated to the United States Supreme Court,” Biden said. “It’s long overdue in my view. I made that commitment during the campaign for president, and I will keep that commitment.” – from CNN

In honor of Black History Month, this exhibit focuses on the intersections of race, law, and justice and features print books from the collection that highlight topics that include Black women intellectuals and lawyers; women and the Supreme Court; Supreme Court cases such as Dred Scott v. Sandford and Loving v. Virginia; Jim Crow laws and the Voting Rights Act.

Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: The Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies program, the Diversity Center, the Black Student Union, and the Gender Equity Center
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

On Exhibit: Graphic Novels

This display intends to highlight The Mortvedt Library’s graphic novel collection and their power of visual storytelling. Graphic novels are a compelling medium which combine elements of the visual arts and literature. This curated display focuses on stories related to social justice, resilience, and diverse voices. Additionally, this display contains books about graphic novels and their history and impact.

Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: The Communication and Languages & Literatures departments.
Curator: Julie Babka, Librarian

 

On Exhibit: Stalking Awareness Month

January is Stalking Awareness Month. The PLU Center for Gender Equity is choosing to uplift stalking awareness in this library exhibit because it often falls to the wayside in discussions of domestic violence, healthy relationships, and romantic gestures. Across media and society throughout the decades, stalking behaviors have frequently been mischaracterized as romantic, not a big deal, sweet, funny, and harmless. In reality, stalking can be scary, dangerous, isolating, and traumatic. A stalker is most often a current or former intimate partner, an acquaintance, or a family member.

Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: The Gender Equity Center; Counseling Center; Psychology; Gender, Race & Sexuality Studies; and Marriage & Family Therapy
Curator: Magdalena Stickel, PLU CGE Confidential Advocate

 

On Exhibit: Resources about Acknowledging and Respecting Indigenous Languages and Land

This exhibit highlights resources for exploring the south Puget Sound indigenous Salish family of languages, including Twulshootseed. As the PLU land acknowledgement notes, “PLU is on the traditional lands of the Nisqually, Puyallup, Squaxin Island and Steilacoom peoples; we acknowledge and respect the traditional caretakers of this land.” This exhibit also highlights articles that speak to how land acknowledgements have been used, what they communicate, and what they don’t say.

Language, oral and written, is key to culture transmission and retention. To revitalize Twulshootseed, the Puyallup Tribe of Indians has a language program and a website with extensive language-learning resources such as videos, literacy books, online classes, audio files, etc. The language has an alphabet of 43 characters with 18 sounds that are not verbalized in English. To learn more about Twulshootseed visit https://www.puyalluptriballanguage.org/about/.

Translations of languages by non-indigenous speakers can be fraught with misinterpretations, misrepresentations, mispronunciations, and colored by the translator’s own biases. The language books in this exhibit, which include translations, are not authored by indigenous people.

Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: Native American and Indigenous Studies; Languages and Literatures; and Gender, Race & Sexuality Studies
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

On Exhibit: Library Resources about Homelessness

“Although homeless people are often detached from the mainstream of society, they are far from antisocial. Homeless people everywhere have their own sets of skills, specialized knowledge, and codes of behavior, which help them survive and cope with the adverse conditions under which they live. Nevertheless, most members of mainstream society who encounter homeless men and women neither understand nor appreciate the root causes of homelessness, the intelligence and resourcefulness of the homeless community, and the daily struggles for survival on the street.”
— From Deutsch, J. I. (2013). Homelessness. In C. G. Bates, & J. Ciment (Eds.), Global social issues: An encyclopedia. Routledge.

This exhibit highlights the many resources on homelessness policies, current affairs, causes, effects, etc. that can be accessed or located through the search box on the library home page and the library’s online databases, including newspaper articles, academic journal articles, book chapters, reports, e-books, and print books on the library’s shelves. Below is the virtual exhibit with links to resources. Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: Gender, Race & Sexuality Studies; departments of Social Work and Political Science; and other disciplinary and interdisciplinary studies
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

Common Reading Book 2021, The Best We Could Do

The 2021-2022 academic year Common Reading book is the critically acclaimed graphic novel, The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui. In this timely and breathtaking memoir, Bui explores her experiences as a daughter of Vietnamese immigrants who escaped the fall of Saigon in 1975. Her book describes how she has come to understand her family’s history and her sometimes fraught relationship with her parents in light of who she has become as a daughter, wife, and a mother. Told in a graphic novel format, Bui explores the universal themes of immigration and migration, family, racism and discrimination, duty, and redemption as they relate to the modern-day Vietnamese Asian-American experience. – from https://www.plu.edu/first-year/

Mortvedt Library has many resources to support your reading of and engagement with The Best We Could Do. In addition to print books, the library has online films and journal articles and links to other content. Here is the virtual exhibit with links to resources.

Exhibit supported: The Common Reading program and first year students
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

Beginning in March of 2020, PLU students took classes online during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

2021 Media Literacy J-Term Projects

During J-Term 2021, students in Assistant Professor Kate Drazner Hoyt’s (more info here) Media Literacy COMA 388 class culminated in a final “Critical Making” project, where students built, designed, or mocked up a media literacy tool. The goal of the assignment was to envision a web that prioritized the circulation of credible information. Critical making is a process where students apply theories and concepts to a creative project or artifact, and where imaginative design – focusing more on engagement with theory and concepts, rather than functionality – is encouraged.

The students created designs and mock-ups of browser extensions, mobile apps, and other online utilities for users to help determine the credibility of online information. Their work is featured here.

Exhibit supported: The Communication Department
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

2021 “Interrupted” Wang Center Photo Contest Winners

During the 2019-2020 academic year, 350 PLU undergraduate students participated in global and local study away programs to acquire new perspectives on critical global issues, advance their language and intercultural skills, form valuable new contacts and lasting connections, and advance their academic and career trajectory. Due to the worldwide pandemic, 46 students returned home early in spring of 2020 and PLU study away was put on hold for 2020-2021.

The Annual Wang Center Photo Contest is an opportunity for #LutesAway students to reflect upon their study away experience and provides a way for students to share the world’s images, from their perspective, with the PLU community. The print photos are displayed in PLU’s Mortvedt Library lobby and the digital photos are displayed here as a virtual exhibit.

Exhibit supported: The Wang Center for Global and Community Engaged Education
Curators: Wang Center Staff and Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Black History Month: Black Authors Writing about Racism

This exhibit is comprised of books by Black authors who discuss and analyze race and racism. The books are recent contributions to scholarship and narrative, most having been published since 2019. Book topics include feminism, fatigue, discourse, vilification, education, real estate, racism history, police violence, and mass incarceration. Themes such as social justice, criminal justice reform, persecution, exclusion, and structural inequality are explored alongside examples of persistence, resiliency, Black liberation, and humanity.

E-books as well as print books are included in order to make the exhibit accessible to campus community members who are not able to be on campus due the coronavirus pandemic. See this link.

Exhibit supported: The Black Student Union; Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies; and the Diversity Center
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Struggle for Full Voting Rights

Mortvedt Library is hosting a new popup exhibition from the National Archives, Rightfully Hers, “commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.”

The right to vote has been denied to people based not only on gender and race, but based on other qualification/disqualifications, such as the intersection of gender and race with citizenship (who counts as a citizen?), land ownership (who owns real estate? how much real estate qualifies?), religion (e.g., in various states Baptists, Catholics, Quakers, and non-Christians were banned from voting), age, and literacy.

While the physical exhibit resides in the Mortvedt Library lobby, on the web we’ve added links to Open Access resources on the topics of 15th Amendment (Black men’s right to vote), 19th Amendment (White women’s right to vote), and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (securing Black, Latinx, and Asian women’s right to vote and Indigenous peoples right to vote). The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also made it illegal to use poll taxes, literacy tests and intimidation to prevent people from voting — these tactics had been used in many states to suppress voters who had the legal right to vote.

Exhibit supported: The the departments of History and Political Science; Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies; and the Center for Gender Equity.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

The 2019 school year began, as usual, with students attending classes on campus. In March 2020 classes switched to being fully remote and online due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

 

Wang Center Photo & Video Contest Winners

While Mortvedt Library’s building is closed during the COVID-19 pandemic our exhibits continue–we are highlighting PLU students’ work online. Follow this link to the virtual exhibit of the Wang Center’s photo and video contest winners.

The Annual Wang Center Photo & Video Contest is an opportunity for students to reflect upon their study away experience and to share images with the PLU community. Mortvedt Library displays these photos in the lobby every Spring to promote study away and to give students an opportunity to have their work viewed by a large audience.

Exhibit supported: The Wang Center for Global Education
Curators: Wang Center Staff and Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Pandemics: History & Responses

Today many of us are considering our lives, loved ones, and our way of being in the world in relation to the Coronavirus, or COVID-19. The course of this pandemic can be changed by people who have reliable information, make decisions that consider others, and remain hopeful and diligent. These books from the Mortvedt Library collection document historical and current pandemics, their effects, and the responses to them.

Exhibit supported: The the PLU Counseling Center; PLU Health Center; the School of Nursing; and departments of History, Political Science, Sociology, and Psychology.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Black History Month: Black@PLU

The Black Student Union, led by BSU President Casey Brown, presents an exhibit for Black History Month that highlights a selection of photos from the PLU Archives and Special Collections that are part of the Black@PLU interactive timeline. The exhibit also highlights the people, origin, history, and supports for creating the timeline. As noted on one poster, the exhibit is “A fragment of a fragment of our history here at Pacific Lutheran University.”

Exhibit supported: The Black Students Union and the Archives and Special Collections
Curator: Casey Brown, President of the PLU Black Students Union

 

 

Disarming Polarization

A living room of reading materials from the Library’s collection on the topic of political and societal polarization, and the inability to communicate and collaborate, as it relates to problems such as climate change, food and water insecurity, immigration, poverty, and income inequality, as well as strained relationships among those of different races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, and social classes.

Exhibit supported: The 9th Wang Center Symposium: Disarming Polarization: Navigating Conflict and Difference.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

A New Year, a New Way of Considering Food

This exhibit includes books from the collection about food, cooking, food politics, etc. and encourages the consideration of our relationship with food, a topic of many new year’s resolutions.

Exhibit supported: The supported the departments of Anthropology, Sociology, and Political Science
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Finals Week Stress Relief: Look at the Pretty Pictures!

This exhibit highlights beautifully illustrated books, which are a feast to the eyes, to encourage students to take a break and relieve stress during finals week.

Exhibit supported: Student success
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Books in Support of Gender & Sexuality Week

This exhibit highlights authors in the LGBTQ+ community. “The overall goal is to allow students of all identities to critically reflect on how they think about and interact with their gender and sexuality beyond this one week time frame and have some fun!”

Curator: Casey Brown, BSU President, APISA Public Relations Director, RHA Social Justice Director

 

 

Student Sculptures

An exhibit of autobiographical sculptures by students in the 3D Design class.

Exhibit supported: Associate Professor Spencer Ebbinga’s ART 202 class
Curators: Holly Senn, Librarian, and Associate Professor Spencer Ebbinga

 

 

Books in Support of the 300 Years of Robinson Crusoe campus events

The books in this exhibit promote the public reading, workshop and key note lecture celebrating the publication Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.

Exhibit supported: The Departments of English and Religion and the Digital Humanities Lab
Curators: Holly Senn, Librarian, and Professor Nancy Simpson-Younger

 

 

Books in Support of the Fall 2019 Jolita Benson Education Lecture

The books in this exhibit promote the Benson Lecture featuring Jason Reynolds. Jason Reynolds is an American author who writes novels and poetry for young adult and middle-grade audiences, including Ghost, a National Book Award Finalist for Young People’s Literature.

Exhibit supported: The 2019 Jolita Benson Education Lecture and the Department of Education
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Life Under Drones

The drones in this exhibit promote the PLU Life Under Drones Symposium which explores the implications of drone technology in a rapidly changing society.

Exhibit supported: The 2019 Life Under Drones Symposium and the Department of Communication
Curators: Holly Senn, Librarian, and Professor Kate Hoyt

 

 

Books in Support of the 2019 Common Read

The 2019 Common Reading book is Octavia Butler’s Kindred A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Damian Duffy and John Jennings. The books in this exhibit related to the themes and issues in, and form of, the adaptation.

Exhibit supported: The 2019 PLU First Year Experience Common Read
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

Books in Support of Earth and Diversity Week

Earth and Diversity Week is an opportunity for the PLU community to engage with our values of diversity, justice and sustainability (DJS) and to explore the intersections between environmental and social justice. We often talk about DJS but rarely stop to reflect on what the terms diversity, justice, and sustainability actually mean and what they look like in practice. In efforts to challenge our understanding and applications of DJS, this book display serves as a method of increasing our campus-wide competency around environmental and social issues..

Exhibit supported: 2019 Earth and Diversity Week.
Curators: Isabel LaRue and Kenzie Gandy, PLU students

 

 

Books in Support of the 2019 Jolita Benson Education Lecture

The 2019 Jolita Benson Education Lecture features author Matt de la Peña speaking on the topic “My Journey From Reluctant Reader to Author.” Matt de la Peña’s presentation centers around his journey from reluctant reader to published author, and the transformative power of literature. “I didn’t fall for books until I was in college — I got there on a basketball scholarship — but once I did, it changed my life,” says de la Peña.

Exhibit supported: 2019 Jolita Benson Education Lecture and the Department of Education.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Wang Center Student Photo Contest Winners

The Annual Wang Center Photo Contest is an opportunity for students to reflect upon their study away experience and is an opportunity to share the images, from their perspective, with the PLU community. We display these photos in the Library lobby to promote study abroad and to give students an opportunity to have their work viewed by a large audience.

Exhibit supported: PLU’s global education program.
Curators: Wang Center Staff and Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Uganda Event-Related Books

Books from the Mortvedt Library collection displayed in a reading room in the lobby that speak to Witness Uganda, a documentary musical coming to PLU on March 6, 2019 which explores the complications of being a Samaritan.

Exhibit supported: The 4th Biennial Ambassador Chris Stevens Memorial Lecture/Event.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Highlighting Student Research in the Archives & Special Collections: Black @ PLU

Over the course of spring semester 2019, the Black Student Union, led by Nai-Nai Watts and Peanina “Nina” Moore, in partnership with the Archives and Special Collections, Alumni Relations, Campus Ministry, and Marketing and Communications, will develop “Black @ PLU,” a digital exhibit exploring Nai-Nai and Nina’s research and inviting Black students and alumni to share memories of their own PLU experience. The items on display in this exhibit preview “Black @ PLU” by showcasing records of Black student life, past and present, from the Archives and Special Collections.

Exhibit supported: Black History Month, the Black Students Union, Archives and Special Collections, Alumni Relations, Campus Ministry, and Marketing and Communications.
Curators: Nai-Nai Watts and Peanina “Nina” Moore, PLU students; Anna Trammell, Archivist

 

 

Books About Compassion

Compassion is an important part of PLU’s mission, “PLU seeks to educate students for lives of thoughtful inquiry, service, leadership and care—for other people, for their communities and for the Earth.” This exhibit of select books from the Mortvedt Library collection explores compassion in many different ways, including historical examples, social critique, spiritual guidance, psychology, and science.

Exhibit supported: The mission of the University.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

African Art – Exhibit Refreshed

Library’s permanent exhibit of African Art was contextualized with information from student research collected and reported on https://www.plu.edu/africanartcollection/ .

Exhibit supported: The departments of Anthropology, Art & Design, History, and Sociology.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Scholarship on Race in Sports

Exhibit on the topic of the scholarship of race in sports highlighted print books from the Mortvedt Library collection and scholarly journal articles from the library’s online databases.

Exhibit supported: The departments of Athletics, Sociology, Psychology, Kinesiology, and Anthropology.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

 

Have a Seat!

Exhibit of proposed seating and table options for the first floor of the Library. Students tried out the furniture, voted on their favorites, and commented via the whiteboard.

Exhibit supported: Student choice in determining the look and feel of the Library space.
Curator: Holly Senn, Librarian

 

I am Psyched

Exhibit that highlighted women of color in psychology. APA’s Women’s Programs Office created the first I am Psyched! exhibit to engage visitors, especially young women and girls of color, in exploring how psychology benefits daily life

Exhibit supported: The Department of Psychology.
Curators: Jon Grahe, Professor of Psychology and Holly Senn, Librarian