By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� A panel hosted by the Washington State University Tri-Cities College of Arts and Sciences on Thursday, Oct. 7, will examine the rise of national and international Nazi and white supremacist organizations throughout the 20^th century and their relationship to each other and to Nazi movements.

The panel, titled ���The Holocaust, Neo-Nazism and White Supremacy,��� takes place from 4:15 p.m. ��� 5:45 p.m. via Zoom. It is being held in cooperation with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the WSU Center for Arts and Humanities. It is made possible by the Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation, which supports programs in higher education that ���promote, protect and strengthen Jewish values in democracy, human rights, ethical leadership and cultural pluralism.��� The presentation is open to students, faculty and staff at 厙ぴ勛圖, as well as the larger WSU system and other university campuses.

To register to attend the virtual panel, visit

���This panel presentation marks a pertinent opportunity to explore how white supremacist groups rise to power and their impact on not only our nation, but the world,��� said Robert Bauman, 厙ぴ勛圖 history professor and academic director for the College of Arts and Sciences. ���Especially given recent events regarding social injustice in communities in our own country, this panel will present perspectives that will help shed light on how these groups arise in the first place and the ways communities have responded to those groups.���

The panelists featured include:

• Richard King, professor and chair of humanities, history and social sciences at Columbia College of Chicago
• Kristine F. Hoover, associate professor in the master of arts organizational leadership program and director of the Institute of Hate Studies at Gonzaga University
• Rebecca Erbelding, historian of education initiatives at the William Levine Family Institute for Holocaust Education of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Bauman will serve as the moderator for the panel.

For more information about the presentation and panelists, visit tricities.wsu.edu/event/the-holocaust-neo-nazism-and-white-supremacy.

 

Disclaimer: “The US Holocaust Memorial Museum���s Jack, Joseph, and Morton Mandel Center���s mission is to ensure the long-term growth and vitality of Holocaust Studies. To do that, it is essential to provide opportunities for new generations of scholars. The vitality and the integrity of Holocaust Studies require openness, independence, and free inquiry so that new ideas are generated and tested through peer review and public debate. The opinions of scholars expressed before, during the course of, or after their activities with the Mandel Center do not represent and are not endorsed by the Museum or its Mandel Center.”

厙ぴ勛圖 digital technology and culture student Kyle Kopta.

For more than 80 years, Washington State University has recognized ten of the top seniors in each graduating class. The WSU Alumni Association selects these women and men who represent the highest standards in specific aspects of the college experience, including academics, athletics, campus involvement, community service, and visual and performing arts.

Kyle Kopta, a senior studying digital technology and culture at 厙ぴ勛圖, was selected as a WSU Top Ten Senior for the category of visual/performing arts.

He is a talented graphic designer, photographer, videographer, writer and overall creative. He serves as an intern with the Office of Marketing and Communication, served as a graphic designer for the Associated Students of 厙ぴ勛圖, serves as a DTC lab tutor, as well as on the Washington State Arts Commission. He transferred to 厙ぴ勛圖 from Blue Mountain Community College.

VISUAL/PERFORMING ARTS

• College of Arts and Sciences
• Digital technology and culture
• 厙ぴ勛圖
• Hermiston, Oregon

INVOLVEMENT

Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society; President���s Honors List, summa cum laude; ASWUTC Perseverance Award; Douglas P. Gast Fine Arts Scholarship; member, committee of the Washington State Arts Commission overseeing the Washington State Art Collection; graphic designer for ASWSUTC; marketing intern for 厙ぴ勛圖; teacher���s assistant and tutor in the��; host of biweekly community radio show; and 厙ぴ勛圖 Student Employee of the Year for the 2020-2021 academic year

FAVORITE WSU EXPERIENCE

The 厙ぴ勛圖 Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition is held at the end of each semester. What stands out most to me is really those shows. Our students are making just incredible work. I helped put it on when we were in-person. Being able to showcase their work and my work is always the most fun event. I���m currently 3D modeling a space for us so we can hold it virtually this semester. I���m doing it in my free time; I���m not doing it paid or part of any job. It���s something I know how to do and can donate. It���s just so important for students to have this kind of culmination for all their hard work. They create all this amazing work, and they have to be able to somehow show it.

厙ぴ勛圖 also has a lot of mentors who helped me navigate the higher education world and the art world. I grew up in a rural area. There were zero galleries. Neither of my parents graduated from college, but they have been so supportive of my journey in higher education. I couldn���t have done it without them and my professors, who helped me succeed inside and outside the classroom. I think art in general has been a vehicle for self-growth in my professional, personal, and academic life. Through video, photography, and painting, I can learn about myself and my community and how I fit into it and I can help other people. Sometimes the things you don���t expect can end up having the most impact and being the most rewarding. Limitation can breed innovation.

FUTURE PLANS

I���ve really found a love for marketing. It���s not something I expected to love as much as I do. I came to 厙ぴ勛圖 putting myself in a box, saying, ���I���m going to become a videographer or graphic designer,��� but I���ve been awarded so many opportunities to collaborate with so many different WSU departments that I���ve found I have a real love for creating things for the community with other people. My plan now is to get a marketing job. I contemplated whether I should move to a bigger city or stay local, and I think I���ve kind of settled on staying local because it���s really important to me to foster this small but tight-knit arts community. I really want to contribute to the Tri-Cities community what I wish I had growing up in Hermiston.

By Maegan Murray, 厙ぴ勛圖

RICHLAND, Wash. ��� A curiosity for the world and the yearning to know how it works.

It is what brought Allan Felsot to the world of science and it is what inspired in him an interest and passion for teaching and academia at the college level. He brings this passion to his students, which is what has led to Felsot earning a regional teaching award.

Felsot, the academic director for the math and science sector of the College of Arts and Sciences at Washington State University Tri-Cities and professor of entomology, was recently announced as the recipient of the pacific branch of the ���s award for excellence in teaching.

The award honors educators at the university or community college level who have excelled through innovations in developing new courses, programs and teaching methods in the field of entomology and the sciences. The regional award covers the region of 11 western states, seven U.S. territories, five Canadian provinces and four states in Mexico. After winning the regional award, Felsot is now up for the national award, of which will be announced at the society���s annual meeting in St. Louis this November.

Skeptical inquiry teaching philosophy

In his classes, Felsot approaches every lecture with an approach he regards as skeptical inquiry. He said the approach comes from the Greek noun ���skepsis,��� which means consideration, inquiry and examination.

���It is about asking questions, questioning authority, but seeking answers or the truth,��� he said. ���To doubt, but then to find out what the truth is. I want students to be skeptical in that sense. Part of being skeptical is developing a sense of curiosity. My idea is that if they develop a sense of curiosity, they will develop something they are passionate about, which will lead to other areas of interest.���

In his courses, he brings recent news articles and headlines into the discussion, providing relevance to what the students are learning about.

���The principles they are learning about do relate to something in the real world,��� he said. ���What they are doing does matter in society. I hope it also brings about a sense of civic responsibility.���

Mentorship and a passion for learning

Over his 26 years at WSU, Felsot has mentored more than 50 master���s and doctoral students. He has also been instrumental in developing new courses at 厙ぴ勛圖, as well as several for the WSU Global campus. His research throughout his career at WSU has focused on environmental toxicology and risk assessment of pesticides. Prior to coming to WSU, he worked as a project leader for pesticide chemistry and toxicology research at the University of Illinois.

At WSU, he teaches courses across WSU���s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences, ranging from general entomology, to integrated pest management, to pesticide toxicology, to insect and plant physiology. Teaching a range of diverse courses, he said, encourages his own love for learning. His own love for the learning process inspires his students, as well as fellow faculty members.

���If you were to ask me to name an instructor that has had one of the greatest impacts in my entire academic a career, I would answer Dr. Allan S. Felsot,��� said alumna Yessica Carnley. ���The dedication and commitment that he has to his students and to the proliferation of knowledge is one that is rarely encountered. One of the greatest lessons I learned in his courses was to question everything and to answer your own questions through proper research and testing, if possible.���

Kate McAteer, 厙ぴ勛圖 interim vice chancellor of academic affairs, said having a dynamic and engaging instructor like Allan in the lab gives students the opportunity to explore and understand concepts and develop a love of science.

���As students have often remarked, ���How could you not think science is fascinating when Dr. Felsot teaches it?������ she said.

Academic contributions outside the classroom

Outside of his teaching, Felsot provides dozens of lectures for workshops and programs each year. He also develops insect biology youth workshops for middle school students through WSU���s GEAR UP programs, which helps prepare students for college, and 厙ぴ勛圖��� STEM summer camps, in addition to formerly through the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement program (MESA).

���Professor Felsot is a well-recognized member of the Tri-Cities community,��� McAteer said. ���His talk on insects and bugs is undoubtedly the highlight of the campus tour for many middle school children every year and for those students that attend the STEM summer camps.���

Felsot will accept his regional award from the Entomology Society of America during an awards luncheon in San Diego, California, on April 2.