Whitman Stories

The Whitman community is invited to attend a book discussion by Anna Taft ’02 on Monday, Nov. 4. As Founding Director of The Tandana Foundation, Taft has years of experience working on community initiatives in Mali and Ecuador.

As part of its ongoing series, The Press in Times of Peril, Whitman’s Center for Global Studies held a screening of the 2023 sci-fi dystopian film “Lyd,” followed by a discussion with professors Tarik Elseewi and Lauren Osborne.

Whitman students, staff and faculty will have unique opportunities to deepen their global understanding of Día de los Muertos this week in events that highlight the traditions of Indigenous communities.

The Center for Global Studies kicked off The Press in Times of Peril—a yearlong exploration of the intersection of media, democracy and global issues—this month with a fascinating roundtable discussion.

Whitman College sophomore Maryanne Ndung’u ’26 has been awarded $10,000 from the Projects for Peace program, which enables students to develop innovative, community-centered projects addressing critical issues around the world.

Mwamba Muntanga ’25, a Sociology major from Zambia, is driven by personal experience. Using that experience and a desire to be of service to others, he relentlessly advocates for accessible education for all with his nonprofit Education24. During his first year at Whitman, Muntanga’s efforts secured more than $2 million in student scholarships for his nonprofit by winning the prestigious Mwape Peer Education Excellence Award.

Katherine Swisher ’20 has been selected for the Princeton in Latin America Fellowship. She will travel to the Domincan Republic and spend a year with early childhood Montessori teachers developing curriculum and hosting professional development opportunities.

Whitman College sophomore Talia Lorincz ’26 received the British Columbia Medal of Good Citizenship, the second highest award offered in the Canadian province, for her service to Ukrainian refugees. She started a free store in her basement to provide clothing and household items.

Whitman College alum and global leader Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg ’01 establishes Black Women in Executive Leadership, or B-WEL, an initiative to create a connected global community of Black women leaders.

Roger Amerman ’80 is a Choctaw beadworker who brought his expertise to the Marvel series "Echo." Now he's returning to Whitman as the O'Donnell Visiting Educator in Global Studies for Spring 2024. Amerman will teach a new course delving into the paleo-history, history and ethnogeology of salmon-centric Tribal Peoples in the southern Columbia River Plateau.

Last summer International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) and Off-Campus Studies (OCS) joined together into one “global suite” to better meet the needs resulting from return to pre-pandemic levels of study abroad/off-campus studies participation and the largest ever number of incoming international students.

‘Global Returns’ class connects international experiences with career insights, opportunities and meaningful change.