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Humanities

Newspaper clipping about Washington State College Spanish House
Summer 2023

A brief history of the Spanish House at Washington State College

During part of her time in Pullman, Anne H. Fornfeist of Deer Park lived at Spanish House.

A member of Sigma Kappa Phi, she would go on to graduate from Washington State College with a degree in foreign languages and literature in 1922 and raise a family in the fertile farmlands of the Yakima Valley. One of her sons, another Coug, would became a state representative, senator, and congressman before serving as secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation.

Sid Morrison (’54 Hort.), featured in the Summer 2023 issue of Washington State Magazine, knew his mother went to college in Pullman and that she … » More …

Robot hand typing
Spring 2023

Ethical dilemmas of AI-generated art and stories

ChatGPT, DALL-E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion—names that most of us hadn’t heard more than a couple of years ago now represent a slew of creative programs powered by artificial intelligence.

Large language model AI programs can write stories and articles, make illustrations and artwork, and converse with users using prompts. But what does it mean for human artists and writers? Will AI steal jobs and creative works? How should people approach the thorny ethical thicket around AI-generated art?

Mark Fagiano, an assistant professor of philosophy at Washington State University, talks with Larry Clark, editor of Washington State Magazine, about how ethics in action and … » More …

Edgewater Hotel
Spring 2023

The Edgewater Hotel: Legend of the Sound

The Edgewater Hotel in Seattle hosted rock and roll royalty from the Beatle to Led Zeppelin and Nirvana. Students from Washington State University Everett pulled together photos and stories to share that incredible musical history.

Read more in “Encoring Seattle’s Edge.”

 

Produced by the Edgewater Hotel, with material gathered by WSU students

 

Stories from the Edgewater

History and legends at the Edgewater. Here’s a sample:

The Beatles

In 1964, at the height of Beatlemania, few hotels would host the Fab 4. During their world tour, however, The Edgewater welcomed them. An ambulance was used to … » More …

Buddy Levy
Spring 2023

Empire of Ice and Stone: A chat with author Buddy Levy

The treacherous Arctic is the setting of a harrowing true story of shipwreck, disaster, and survival in the early twentieth century. Acclaimed adventure writer Buddy Levy, also a creative writing and English professor at Washington State University, talks with Washington State Magazine associate editor Adriana Janovich about his latest book, Empire of Ice and Stone: The Disastrous and Heroic Voyage of the Karluk.

The second of three nonfiction historical narratives by master storyteller Levy about survival and exploration in the Arctic wilderness, this book tracks the voyage of the Karluk to the Bering Sea and its destruction in the ice, leaving crew, Inuit guides, and … » More …

Soldier from World War II who attended Washington State University
Winter 2022

Unforgotten: Fallen Cougars Project at Washington State University

The mission of the Fallen Cougars Project is to create a digital memorial to the 250 Washington State College World War II war dead. By researching and displaying short biographical portraits, the Fallen Cougars Project aims to reintroduce these largely forgotten WSC students into the 21st century Cougar Nation.

Through historical film footage and interviews, student researchers and project director Ray Sun, associate professor of history at Washington State University Pullman, explore the meaning of the project and what it means to them personally.

Visit the Fallen Cougars Project website.

 

Also read about the project, veterans, and some … » More …

Book cover of Making Space for Women
Winter 2022

Making Space for Women: Stories from Trailblazing Women of NASA’s Johnson Space Center

Book cover of Making Space for Women

 

Edited by Jennifer M. Ross-Nazzal ’04 PhD History

Texas A&M University Press: 2022

 

One made the coffee every morning. “That was just standard operating procedure,” she explains, noting one boss never called her by her name. It was always “Young Lady.”

Another, in her first job out of high school, babysat for astronauts after work. Still another, a mathematician, was asked to fill in for two weeks for a secretary who was on her honeymoon. When she … » More …

Book cover of Pioneering Death
Winter 2022

Pioneering Death: The Violence of Boyhood in Turn-of-the-Century Oregon

Book cover of Pioneering Death

Peter Boag

University of Washington Press: 2022

 

His father slapped him, commanding him to tend to his chores. Instead, the 18-year-old marched into the farmhouse where he lived with his parents and siblings, grabbed his father’s rifle, and shot him in the back of the head before turning the weapon on his mother and a community member who had stopped to chat.

The more historian Peter Boag learned about the killing in west Linn County⁠—and its place in the larger social … » More …