Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

West Coast Regional Conference 2019

Winona Wynn and Laura Selznick welcome you to the 2019 Western Region MMUF Conference collaboratively sponsored by Heritage University and Stanford University!  A special thank you to  the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their generous support. We especially appreciate the assistance of our Seattle regional partners: Cynthia del Rosario (The Information School), Connie So (American Ethnic Studies) and Natalie Vaughan-Wynn (Conference Consultant and Technical Assistance). Additionally, we are grateful for our Yakama Nation Cultural Center ad hoc committee (Heather Hull, Deidre Maldonado, Dana Eliason, and Winona Wynn) for their assistance in processing and actively co-planning this academic/cultural experience.

We are looking forward to hosting this conference at three unique locations. We will begin in the urban seaport city of Seattle, then travel over Snoqualmie Pass and witness the incredible landscape transition as we enter into the rural Yakima Agricultural Valley, which in 2015 and 2016, produced more hops than any other agricultural area in the world (edging out Germany, who formerly held the title). Our closing day will be spent at Heritage University, and the Yakama Nation Cultural Center, where we will be hosted at the Cultural Museum and the Winter Lodge.

*Cultural Note*

The town where the airport near Heritage is located is spelled Yakima. The name of the local tribe is spelled Yakama.


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Conference Schedule

Thursday, October 24, 2019

West Coast Schools arrive in Seattle and check in at University Inn and Watertown Hotel

Friday, October 25, 2019
6:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Breakfast available at the hotels
9:00 a.m. Welcome to the University of Washington; Poster Sessions begin (Haggett Cascade Room)
9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Poster Sessions Continue
10:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Panel Sessions 1-5
12:30 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Lunch with “Pop-up” Resource mini-talks
2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Workshops A & B (choose 1)
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m. Workshops C & D (choose 1)
4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Snack Break with mini grad school fair
4:45 p.m. – 6:15 p.m. Panel Sessions 6-10
6:30 p.m. Students: Activity/Dinner; Coordinators: Separate Dinner at Ivar’s Salmon House
Saturday, October 26, 2019

Transitioning from Seattle to the Yakama Nation and Heritage University

6:30 a.m. Pick up breakfast and board buses to Heritage University
10:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Cultural Activities
11:45 a.m. – 1:15 p.m. Lunch at Yakama Nation Winter Lodge
1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Panel Sessions 11-14
3:15 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Consecutive Talking Circles at Heritage University
5:30 p.m. Check into Legends Casino Hotel and change for dinner at Heritage
7:00 p.m. Closing Dinner/Keynote Speaker: Swil Kanim
Sunday, October 27, 2019
7:30 a.m. Board buses at Legends Casino Hotel

Safe Travels Home!


Presentation Types

MMUF students can present their work in one of the following formats:

  • Oral presentations
  • Poster presentations
  • Talking circles

Oral presentations: If you are giving an oral presentation, please prepare a 7-8 minute presentation. Please rehearse and time yourself to make sure your presentation does not exceed the time allotted; this ensures that everyone has time to present. For many students, a 7-8 minute presentation, typed out in 12-point Times New Roman font, will be between 3.5 and 5 double-spaced pages.

The oral presentations will be organized into 75-minute panels with up to 6 student participants and a moderator. The moderator will keep time and let you know when you are nearing the 8-minute time limit. Time will be allotted at the end of the panel for questions from the audience.

A/V will be provided. If you are using slides, you can load your slides onto the computer 30 minutes prior to the session. We recommend bringing your slides in at least 2 different formats in case of any technological issues or internet failures: by thumb drive, e-mail, etc.

Poster presentations: We will open our conference with Students giving Poster Presentations. Please review the following for suggestions on How to Make a Good Poster!

After you check-in at your hotel in Seattle, please stop by The Watertown Hotel Conference Room (up three stairs from the lobby) to drop off your posters and collect your Conference bag.  

Poster set-up:  Conference volunteers will be collecting posters early Friday morning to transport them to our opening session in the Husky Union Building (Room 250).  They will be setting them up on poster boards for presenters. On Friday morning, please meet our designated Poster Volunteers in the lobby and patio area of the Watertown, 30 minutes prior to our opening session, so they can guide you to your posters.

Attendees to the poster session will walk by your poster, study its contents, and ask you questions. You should be prepared to answer questions and to explain your project one-on-one throughout the poster session. Often students prepare explanations of various lengths to suit the audience — a one-minute summary of your project, a five-minute summary of your project, etc.

Talking circles: The purpose of the talking circle is to provide an opportunity for fellows at an early stage of their research to speak about their research projects. The talking circle is a traditional and sacred format in indigenous communities; each member’s voice is equally considered and respected, and each person participating in the circle is expected to offer support in word or action.

If you are participating in a talking circle, you will begin with introductions, including name, discipline, and question or research under consideration. The circle is then entirely student-directed, although a faculty facilitator will sit outside the circle and help facilitate the conversation when needed.

The talking circles are 75 minutes long, and, in line with the goals of the circle, A/V will not be provided.


Lodging

Seattle: Watertown Hotel, University Inn

  • When you arrive at your respective hotel, please stop by the Watertown Hotel Conference Room just off the lobby (up three stairs). Check-in for the conference will be Thursday from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and Friday from 6:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. At this time, you will pick up your name tags, conference bags and snacks. One of our Conference Volunteers will be there to greet you and answer any questions you may have.

Toppenish: Legends Casino Hotel


Participating Institutions and Affiliates

Institutions
  • CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
  • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, DOMINGUEZ HILLS
  • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, FULLERTON
  • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
  • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES
  • CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN BERNARDINO
  • CLAREMONT MCKENNA COLLEGE
  • HERITAGE UNIVERSITY
  • PITZER COLLEGE
  • POMONA COLLEGE
  • SCRIPPS COLLEGE
  • STANFORD UNIVERSITY
  • UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY
  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES
  • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE
  • UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
  • WHITTIER COLLEGE
Affiliated Participants
  • SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL
  • WOODROW WILSON FOUNDATION

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship is an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Diversity Program.