Subject: Taking a teaching position in Olympia, Washington Date: Mon, 2 May 2005 15:15:02 -0500 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD020142092E@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Grossman, Zoltan C." <GROSSMZC@uwec.edu>
Dear colleagues and friends,
I would like you all to know that I have accepted
an offer to become a faculty member
at The Evergreen State College in Olympia,
Washington, starting in September.
Evergreen is a public liberal arts and sciences
institution, and one of the foremost
environmental colleges in the country. I will
be a faculty member in Native American
Studies, and teaching as a geographer
in interdisciplinary programs.
It has been a difficult decision to move
from Wisconsin and the Midwest,
where Debi and I have lived for
so many decades. We are moving to improve
Debi's employment (and other) opportunities,
to be closer to my parents in California, and to be
close to longtime friends in the Seattle area.
We have long been attracted to the Northwest,
and Olympia is ideally located close to
the ocean, the mountains, and rodeo country.
It is an ideal place for continuing our work
with tribes on sovereignty and environmental issues.
I have long been attracted to Evergreen, and
had interviewed there even before coming to
Eau Claire. We look forward to seeing
you if you visit Olympia, the state capital
about an hour south of Seattle.
I will certainly miss the faculty, staff, and
especially the **great** students here at U.W.-Eau Claire.
I have learned a great deal more than I have taught
over the past three years at UWEC. I had
looked forward to working on new projects here--
as well as on the new community radio station--
and teaching my Fall 2005 courses. (UWEC
will be discussing how to teach these courses, so
keep in touch with the Geography office about them).
Evergreen shares many of the strengths of UWEC,
including an emphasis on teaching, collaborative
research between faculty members and students,
faculty and student activism, and a focus on
American Indian studies.
Washington tribes have played a strong role in
fostering Evergreen's amazing Native American Studies
programs, including Native American and World Indigenous
Peoples Studies http://academic.evergreen.edu/curricular/wdvc
and the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute
http://niari.evergreen.edu/nwindian
The programs' centerpiece is the huge "House of Welcome,"
or the Longhouse Education and Cultural Center
http://www.evergreen.edu/longhouse/home.htm
where a Treaty Symposium drew 400 participants last month. The
Nisqually treaty rights leader Billy Frank is an Evergreen trustee.
It is an honor to be asked to join this program.
Debi and I will be here in Eau Claire for
most of the summer, as we complete
summer projects (such as an SREU film
project) and prepare to move. We will
visit Wisconsin after we move, since Debi has
family in the state, and we will maintain ties with
communities here. I will continue to
be a member of the national community
of geographers, and will stay in touch
with UWEC.
Thank you so much for all your support and
encouragement over the past three years.
Thanks especially to all the students
who have been so inspiring with
your hard work and open minds.
Keep it up.
With much appreciation,
Zoltan Grossman
Faculty website: http://www.uwec.edu/grossmzc
Campus e-mail: grossmzc@uwec.edu
Personal e-mail: zoltan@igc.org
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Support and get involved in
Eau Claire's new community
radio station WHYS 96.3 FM
http://www.WHYSradio.org
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