2025 Global Engagement Conference

Innovation Across Borders

May 21, 2025 | William Philip Hall | 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

REGISTRATION IS FREE | SEATS ARE LIMITED 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Keynote Speaker - Ciara O'Connell, PhD

(Principal Officer, Criminal Policy, Ireland Department of Justice | Global Honors ‘09)

Dr. O'Connell is an expert in international human rights law, with degrees from the University of Sussex, UK (PhD, 2017), the Irish Centre for Human Rights (LLM, 2010) and University of Washington-Tacoma (Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences - Global Honors, with a Minor in Human Rights, 2009).

O'Connell has held numerous academic positions, including at the Centre for Human Rights in South Africa (University of Pretoria) and Australian National University, and she is currently a Visiting Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin Ireland. She has published widely on a variety of human rights-related areas, such as deprivation of liberty and gender and human rights, and has carried out field research in countries across Latin America, Africa and Europe.

Ciara O'Connell

OPENING SPEAKERS

Sheila Edwards Lange

Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange

Chancellor

Holly Bamford Hunt

Holly Bamford Hunt

Director, The Bamford Foundation

Divya McMillin

Dr. Divya McMillin

Associate Vice Chancellor, Innovation and Global Engagement

Phillip Shekleton

Phillip Shekleton

Managing Director, UW Center for Global Studies

Conference Schedule

Time Event
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM COFFEE AND NETWORKING | 9:00 AM - 9: 30 AM
9:30 AM – 10:30 AM WELCOME AND KEYNOTE | 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Dr. Danica Miller, Associate Professor | Welcome to the Land of the Puyallup People
Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange, Chancellor
Holly Bamford Hunt, Director, The Bamford Foundation
Dr. Divya McMillin, Associate Vice Chancellor for Innovation and Global Engagement
  Keynote Speaker: Dr. Ciara O'Connell, Principal Officer, Criminal Policy, Ireland Department of Justice
"Global Rights, Local Lives: Prioritizing People for Meaningful Change"
10:30 AM– 10:45 AM Bamford Fellow in Global Engagement 
Whitney Lopez, “Taxation Policies, Human Rights, & Gender Inequality: Connections Between the U.S. & Brazil “, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Margaret Griesse
10:45 AM – 12:15 PM

HEALTH AND HUMAN RIGHTS

  • Alex Evans, “Barriers to Healthcare for Transgender People in the USA, Brazil, and South Africa”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jarrod Call
  • Alison M. Barlow, “Market Women in Ghana and Their Experiences: Addressing how being a Market Woman influences a Market Woman’s health and access to much-needed resources and how Policies impact Market Women” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Cynthia Howson
  • Mia Escobar, “HIV in the Asia Pacific Region: Key Populations and Interventions”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Anna Groat Carmona
  • Quinton Perry, Sr., “Play the Long Game: Examining the Long-Term Effects of Food Insecurity and Food Apartheid on Vulnerable Populations Locally and Globally”, Global Honors, | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Christine Stevens
  • Jereme Hawkins, “Migration Trends out of Africa through the Lens of African Migrants”, Global Honors, | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Vanessa de Veritch Woodside
  • “Why Everyone Should Practice Citizen Diplomacy: Insights from Vietnam and the Palestinian West Bank”, Faculty Adviser: Dr. Ben Meiches
  • Hailey J.Y. Sato, “Sapient not Conscious; An Exploration of Ethics in Novel Synthetic Biology”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Margaret Griesse
12:15 PM – 1:30 PM Lunch and Poster Session
1:30 PM – 1:40 PM Opening Speaker: Phil Shekleton, Managing Director, UW Center for Global Studies
"The Value of Student Global Engagement in Our Times"
1:40 PM – 2:20 PM

CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

  • Malaya Jove, “Key Environmental Justice Considerations for Nature Based Solutions”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Anne Taufen
  • Jennifer Huynh, “Pierce Conservation District Wildfire Preparedness” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jaleesa Trapp
  • Ashley Peden, “Disney International Parks: Glocalization of Mickey and the Local Market”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Ji-Hyun Ahn
2:20 PM – 3:30 PM

INNOVATION AND DESIGN

  • Levin, Grant Lipscomb, Cynthia Mercado-Ochoa, Erandy Montes, and Julian Rangel, “Siberian Solar Solutions - Sustainable Shipping Container Homes” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Mark A. Pagano
  • Karen Bedoya Alvarez and Melissa D. Martinez, “Healthy Coping Skills Journal - Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Youth Substance Use Prevention Team” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jaleesa Trapp
  • Jian Azul, April Flora, Rachel Skilton, and Markreno Vilaysane, “Filming Tacoma” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jaleesa Trapp
  • Karen Bedoya Alvarez, Alyssa Guidry, Jayda Kim, and Alondra Ramirez-Perez, “Purple Locker Thrift Store” | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Emma Rose
3:30 PM – 3:40 PM Break
3:40 PM – 5:00 PM

CARE AND COMMUNITY

  • David Esguerra, “Overtourism Education: Analyzing Hawaii and Japan’s Tourism and the Need for Tourist Education”, Global Honors | Adviser: Liz Hunt, M.F.A.
  • On leng (Rebecca) Leong, “The Value of Art Therapy: Exploring Practices in Post-Trauma Recovery Across Japan and the United States”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Anne Taufen
  • Jane Jones, “The Effects of Culture on Authoritarian and Authoritative Parenting”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Rachel Hershberg
  • Linda Watkins, “The Impact of Scouting on the Wellbeing of Youth Around the World”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Rachel Hershberg
  • Elena A. Mendoza, “Community Land Trusts’ Global Perspective to Combat Gentrification”, Global Honors | Faculty Adviser: Dr. Jessi Quizar
  • Rayne Lyl Renney, “Value-Holding and Marginalization” | Faculty Adviser: Alif Laila Tisha, North Seattle College
5:00 PM CONFERENCE CLOSE
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