Washington State Magazine

Peter Chilson, a Washington State University professor of English, estimates he has spent six years of his life in Mali and the Sahel region of Africa. He was there at the time of last spring’s coup. Read an excerpt from his ebook, We Never Knew Exactly Where: Dispatches from the Lost Country of Mali (Foreign Policy and Pulitzer Center, 2012). Watch a video of him discussing the current situation in Mali and his experience there:...
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This PBS documentary examines the evolution of guns in America, their frequent link to violence, and the clash of cultures that reflect competing visions of our national identity, including the insights of WSU emeritus professor Joan Burbick, author Gun Show Nation. Read an interview with Burbick....
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A look at the intramural Battleship game in Gibb Pool at WSU, courtesy of University Recreation....
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Congratulations to the winners of our first 100-Word Memory Facebook Contest. And thank you to all Cougs who submitted their memories of WSU on our Facebook page. Our first prize winner, Erika Szymanski, will receive a WSU baseball cap. First place: Erika Szymanski | Few things better than walking out of a late afternoon seminar into the sweater-weather evening, low umberish light flooding the channels between buildings, surrounde...
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“Play and depression may be opposite sides of a coin,” says Dr. Jaak Panksepp, a neuroscientist and the Baily Endowed Chair of Animal Well-Being at Washington State University. He explains how “real play” is essential to a child's development. He also describes his serendipitous discovery of rat laughter. Read about Panksepp’s work in “The Animal Mindreader.”...
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An excerpt from Micronesian Blues: The Adventures of an American Cop in Paradise by Bryan Vila, a criminal justice and criminology professor at WSU Spokane. You can read more about Vila in "Training the Island Police."Read the excerpt (table of contents, preface, and first chapter). PDF, requires Adobe Reader or other ...
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WSU executive chef Greg Blanchard reflects on his career and what it takes to be a chef. Read more about Blanchard in "On timing and taste."...
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The 1969 Bell Hop The 1956 Bellman of the Year By turning the women’s gym into a nightclub for an annual dance, the students in Washington State’s Sigma Iota hospitality club drew attention to the hotel and restaurant program and raised money for their seniors to travel and tour some of the finest hotels in the country. The Bell Hop was a longstanding fundraiser that started in the 1940s and lasted ...
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New apple cultivars are being developed at WSU, but many older varieties are also making a comeback in local markets. Browse some of the heirloom apples below, selected by editor Tim Steury. While some of these varieties might not appear on the standard supermarket shelves, one can find some of them in farmers markets and specialty food stores. WSU’s Tukey Orchard...
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Here is a small collection of the lively illustrations Taylor has created for his friend and WSU Classmate, fantasy writer Patrick Rothfuss ’02 MA as well as some of Taylor’s other work. The first images are linked to Rothfuss’s on-line blog at www.patrickrothfuss.com, the second section is from Taylor’s own site: www.natentaylor.com. Taylor and Rothfuss started their friendship at WSU. Now Rothfuss is...
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