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Common Reading Program Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement

DACA attorney Luis Cortes Romero on U.S. Supreme Court case

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Luis Cortes Romero, an immigration attorney from Seattle, Washington.

PULLMAN, Wash.—Dreamer, University of Idaho Law School graduate, and Seattle immigration attorney Luis Cortes Romero will present “This Case is My Story: The Supreme Court Argument to Preserve DACA” at 7 p.m. Mon. March 2 in the CUB Junior Ballroom. Hosted by the Common Reading Program at Washington State University, the program is open to the public at no charge.

Luis Cortes Romero, an immigration attorney from Seattle, Washington.
Luis Cortes Romero, an immigration attorney from Seattle, Washington. Romero’s presentation on his experience arguing for the preservation of DACA before the U.S. Supreme Court ties closely to this year’s Common Reading book.

Since March 2018, Cortes Romero has been a managing partner at Immigrant Advocacy and Litigation Center, PLLC, in Kent, Wash. and since 2012 an executive board member of the DREAM Bar Association. This past November, he was one of six attorneys at the table in front of the U.S. Supreme Court arguing to continue protection against deportation of people brought to the U.S. as children.

“A lot is at stake for me individually,” he told a CNN reporter days before the court date. “I will be looking at nine individuals who will ultimately decide whether my clients will be deported—and me with them.”

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WSU Common Reading Lecture on Sept. 19 Features Irom Presentation on Communication and the Rohingya Refugee Crisis

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Bimbisar Irom, assistant professor of communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.

Bimbisar Irom, assistant professor of communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.Bimbisar Irom, assistant professor of communication in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.PULLMAN, Wash.—Bimbisar Irom, assistant professor of communication at Washington State University, will present at 5 p.m. Mon., Sept. 23 in Todd Hall 216 a lecture titled, “Through Western Eyes: Humanitarian Communication and the Rohingya Refugee Crisis.” The event is hosted by the Common Reading Program and is free and open to the public.

Irom’s talk focuses on Western media coverage of the ongoing Rohingya refugee crisis that originated in Myanmar and has now spilled over into the neighboring countries of Bangladesh, India, Thailand, and Malaysia.

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Oct. 22: Soonish Authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith Will Deliver Common Reading Invited Lecture

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Soonish authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith.

Soonish authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith depicted in cartoon form.Soonish authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith depicted in cartoon form.PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University announces that the twelfth annual Common Reading Invited Lecture will be presented at 7 p.m. Mon., Oct. 22, in CUB M.G. Carey Senior Ballroom, featuring Kelly and Zach Weinersmith. The event is open at no cost to everyone; a book signing will follow the lecture.

“How Little We Know: Why Most of Our Opinions Are Probably Wrong” is the title chosen for the lecture by the authors of this year’s common reading book at the college. Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything is being used in dozens of WSU classes for first-year and other students. Extracurricular programming and events help to take the conversation about book topics beyond the classrooms. » More …

“The Law and Emerging Technologies” to be presented Sept. 5 by Jacob Rooksby, new Gonzaga law dean

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Dean of Gonzaga University School of Law Jacob Rooksby.

Dean of Gonzaga University School of Law Jacob Rooksby.Dean of Gonzaga University School of Law Jacob Rooksby.PULLMAN, Wash.— Jacob H. Rooksby, dean of the Gonzaga University School of Law, will deliver the inaugural Common Reading lecture for 2018-19 on Wed., Sept. 5, at 5 p.m. in CUE 203 at Washington State University.

The public is welcome at no charge to this event, which is cosponsored by the Common Reading Program with the WSU Pre-Law Resource Center.

First-year and other WSU students are reading the common book, Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything for many classes, and enjoying extracurricular programming related to it. The lecture series allows students to learn from experts in their fields about topics raised in the book. Rooksby’s presentation will be the first guest lecture of many this 2018-19 academic year. » More …

WSU Common Reading presents David Shier on “Being Human Virtually” March 21

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March 16, 2018

PULLMAN, Wash.–David Shier, associate dean of the Honors College at Washington State University, will present “Being Human Virtually” at 7:00 p.m. Wed., March 21, in Todd 130, hosted by the Common Reading Program. The lecture is free and open to the public. https://commonreading.wsu.edu/.

The lecture develops topics Shier taught in his fall Honors course, “Me, Myself, and AI.” » More …

MIS Professor Robert Crossler presents “Data Pitfalls in a Digital World: Protect Yourself” Mar. 6

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PULLMAN, Wash.—Robert Crossler, assistant professor of Management Information Systems, will present “Data Pitfalls in a Digital World: Protect Yourself” at 4:30 p.m. Tue., March 6, in CUE 203, hosted by Washington State University’s Common Reading Program. The lecture is free and open to the public.  https://commonreading.wsu.edu/

In this presentation, Crossler will consider the ramifications of putting personal data on the Internet, and what individuals can do to be protected from related hazards. He will also provide insight into various career opportunities, across a variety of disciplines, emerging to address these data challenges. » More …

WSU Common Reading presents Kimberly A. Houser on the legal consequences of VR and AI Feb. 26

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February 22, 2018

Pullman, Wash.­–­­­­­­­ Kimberly A. Houser, a technology attorney and WSU business law professor, will present “Legal Issues with Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence” at 4:00 p.m. Mon., Feb. 26, in CUE 202, as part of WSU’s Common Reading Program. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Houser researches and presents on the legal aspects of new technologies and privacy law. She made national headlines in fall of 2017 for her study examining ways that the IRS is breaking privacy laws by mining data from social media and public data pools. In this presentation Houser will talk about how the fast-paced developments in the largely unregulated fields of VR and AI lead to gaps in the law. » More …

Jan. 29: Transformational power of undergraduate research is topic of talk by Shelley Pressley

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PULLMAN, Wash.—Shelley Pressley, director of the Washington State University Office of Undergraduate Research, will present “Leveling up with undergraduate research” at 4:10 p.m. Mon., Jan. 29, in CUE, 203, the Common Reading Program has announced. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Pressley’s office advocates helping students undertake research with a mentor—often a faculty member—from the freshman year forward. The experience can transform students’ time and academic experience at WSU, she said. Currently, evidence indicates that 26 percent of WSU seniors have engaged in research. » More …

Technology and humanity topic of Jan. 23 Common Reading lecture by Deborah Compeau

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PULLMAN, Wash.—The Washington State University Common Reading Program hosts “Do we manage technology, or does technology manage us?,” a lecture by management information systems professor Deborah Compeau, at 4:30 p.m. Tues., Jan. 23, in CUE 203. This free event is open to the public.

There are many ways in which we both manage and are managed by technologies, said Compeau. From social technologies that draw us in, to artificial intelligence technologies that replace human decision-making, we are confronted by a world where technologies increasingly challenge our agency. » More …

Video Games, Campus Culture, and Identity topic of Nov. 28 Common Reading Lecture

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“The Privilege to Play: Video Games, Campus Culture, and Identity,” a Washington State University Common Reading Program lecture by professor David Leonard at 5:00 p.m. on Tues., Nov. 28 in Todd 116. The event is free and open to the public.

This talk will examine how both video games and universities sell “experiences” that not only privilege and empower certain identities and experience, but also sell a world that erases, obscures, and finds pleasure in an imagined “Other.” Both games and college create worlds of tourism, selling not simply an experience of fun and excitement but one in which joy and pleasure are derived through particular understandings of race, gender, sexuality.

Highlighting the ways that video games and America’s historically white colleges and universities create experiences that center the needs and pleasure of white male gamers/students, this talk focuses on how these experiences feed off dominant racial and gendered stereotypes.

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