347. Betty Houchin Winfield: Pioneering Women in Academia
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Release Date: 02/02/2024
Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
As we head into another presidential election year, few issues feel as pressing as the spread of political misinformation. How can political campaigns fight back against the barrage of lies and disinformation? As time, tension, and technology all progress in our world, we’re not always prepared for the acceleration and its impact on the political climate. The public can often be left to weed through a seemingly endless digital news cycle and the task of differentiating between fact, misinformed fictions, and intentional disinformation. As the population faces the high-stakes election season...
info_outline 357. Susannah Fox with Sally James: Rebel HealthTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Anyone who has fallen off the conveyor belt of mainstream health care and into the shadowy corners of illness knows what a dark place it is to land. Where is the infrastructure, the information, the guidance? What should you do next? In her new book, Rebel Health, Susannah Fox draws on twenty years of tracking the expert networks of patients, survivors, and caregivers who have come of age between the cracks of the healthcare system to offer a way forward. Covering everything from diabetes to ALS to Moebius Syndrome to chronic disease management, Fox taps into the wisdom of...
info_outline 356. Dr. Rajiv Shah with Eric Liu: Charting a Course for ChangeTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Ever wondered how a leader orchestrates large-scale change on a global scale? In his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens, Rajiv J. Shah, President of the Rockefeller Foundation and former administrator of USAID unveils his model for driving large-scale change. Drawing on his experiences, from vaccinating 900 million children with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to combating the Ebola outbreak, Shah reveals the secrets behind executing seemingly impossible endeavors. Through behind-the-scenes stories and reflections on personal growth, Shah shares his...
info_outline 355. Barbara McQuade with Jenny Durkan: In Search of TruthTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
The subject of disinformation is a well-known part of political rhetoric, but it has implications even outside of the sphere of democracy. From the electoral system to schools; from the workplace to hospitals, the consequences of it are far-reaching and dire. A legal analyst at MSNBC and former U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade’s decades of experience in law help inform her authorship of Attack From Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America. The book asserts that disinformation has been used deliberately and strategically to polarize, pushing voters to extremes, and...
info_outline 354. Michael J. Gerhardt: The Law of Presidential ImpeachmentTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Have you ever wondered how impeachment really works? As a witness and consultant in the impeachment trials of Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, legal scholar Michael J. Gerhardt has collected a lifetime of scholarly research and firsthand experience. But despite his proximity to such high-profile cases, Gerhardt doesn’t advocate for or against the impeachment of specific presidents. Instead, he illuminates the legal and procedural aspects that govern the process, providing a comprehensive overview of impeachment from its origins to present-day practice. His new book, The Law Of Presidential...
info_outline 353. César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández: Redefining the Borders — How to Shape Inclusive and Just Immigration PracticesTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Is it possible to reshape immigration practices to align with the values of inclusivity, justice, and the historical promise of the United States as a welcoming haven for all? Law professor and immigration lawyer César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández presents a powerful case for divorcing immigration law from criminal law in his book, Welcome the Wretched. He challenges the status quo by advocating for the abolition of so-called immigration crimes, questioning the criminalization of border crossings, and proposing a shift towards allowing migrants, even those accused or convicted of...
info_outline 352. Boldt at 50Town Hall Seattle Civics Series
Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Boldt Decision, a pivotal moment in civil rights history and tribal sovereignty. Centered around Charles Wilkinson’s posthumously acclaimed work, Treaty Justice, a panel will discuss the significance of the Boldt Decision and its enduring impact on the tribal sovereignty movement in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Three panelists and a moderator will delve into the historical significance of the ruling, reflecting on its implications and the work that still lies ahead. The panelists include Jeremiah “Jay” Julius, a fisherman, Lummi...
info_outline 351. Ijeoma Oluo with Michele Storms: Be a RevolutionTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Ijeoma Oluo’s #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want To Talk About Race (), offered a vital guide for how to talk about important issues of race and racism in society. In Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, she discussed how white male supremacy has had an impact on our systems, our culture, and our lives throughout American history. But now that we better understand these systems of oppression, the question is this: What can we do about them? In her new book, Be A Revolution: How Everyday People Are Fighting Oppression and Changing the...
info_outline 350. Tamara Payne with Glenn Hare: The Life and Legacy of Malcolm XTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
In 1990, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Les Payne embarked on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to interview anyone he could find who had actually known Malcolm X. His goal was ambitious: to transform what would become over a hundred hours of interviews into an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction. Following Payne’s unexpected death in 2018, his daughter Tamara Payne heroically completed the biography. Presented by the Seattle Opera and Town Hall Seattle, Tamara Payne returns to the Town Hall stage (following her virtual appearance in...
info_outline 349. Tim Schwab with Ashley Fent: The Problem with PhilanthropyTown Hall Seattle Civics Series
Journalist Tim Schwab is no stranger to investigative journalism that scrutinizes power structures and questions how private interests intersect with public policy. With funding from a 2019 Alicia Patterson Fellowship, Schwab pursued an investigative series specific to Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, and his work was published by in 2020 and 2021. Now Schwab expands on his reporting in a new book, The Bill Gates Problem. Schwab provides an in-depth analysis of Bill Gates’ philanthropic trajectory, tracing his evolution from a prominent figure in the tech...
info_outlineStarting in 1967, when fewer than 1% of women completed any education beyond four years of college, the Washington State University (WSU) Sociology Department dared to hire three female faculty members who became lifelong friends. Lois B. DeFleur, Sandra Ball-Rokeach, and Marilyn Ihinger-Tallman were role models for many women and paved the way for those who followed.
Four decades later, volume editor Betty Houchin Winfield, who in 1979 was a new assistant professor in communications at WSU, prompted her former mentors to tell their stories, she had benefited immensely from their support and encouragement. In Winfield’s book, We Few, We Academic Sisters: How We Persevered and Excelled in Higher Education, the three women discuss their childhoods, educational and research efforts, personal lives, and career advancements. Though all married professors, they fought to be known as individual scholars, overcoming sexual discrimination and harassment as well as intense societal pressure to follow traditional female roles.
Their impressive careers parallel larger national events and the onset of increasing opportunities for women. Initially, associate or assistant professors, all three became full professors when it was exceedingly rare. Dr. DeFleur later held positions as dean, provost, and university president. Dr. Ball-Rokeach gained international status as a major media sociologist, and Dr. Ihinger-Tallman became WSU’s first female Chair of the Sociology Department.
Don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate their inspiring narratives that highlight the importance of community and offer invaluable guidance to the current generation of academics.
Betty Houchin Winfield has deep ties to Seattle, where she raised her children and completed her Ph.D. at the University of Washington. While teaching at various universities, including those in Missouri, North Carolina, and Poland, she maintained her Eastlake condo for summer and holiday stays. Throughout her academic career, Winfield achieved remarkable milestones, such as post-doctoral work at Columbia and Harvard, along with receiving prestigious teaching and research awards. She shares similarities with the subjects of We Few, We Academic Sisters by breaking gender barriers, becoming only the second woman to receive the University of Missouri system’s Thomas Jefferson Award and the first to hold the Curators’ Research Professorship in the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Following her retirement in 2012, she has made Seattle her permanent residence and remains actively engaged in civic projects, including leading the pre-COVID luminaire art project on the Pier 86 Grain Terminal waterfront.
The Elliott Bay Book Company