In search of a close-knit college in Washington state

[branchandroot]

Help me, Obi-Web!

Everyone who lives in Washington state, I have a question for you:

Do you know of any colleges or universities that are close-knit? Community oriented? Small, liberal arts colleges are often good for this.

See, my spouse and I both work at a college we like a lot. Alas, that college is in Ohio, which is not currently a very nice place to be thanks to the new governor. *shakes her fist at the people who voted for the asshole* I mean, seriously, can we borrow Wisconsin's judge, please? We need one down here too. And, honestly, Georgia is freaking me out, right now, and the federal government seems to have largely gone batshit insane, and, let's be straight up about this, if everything goes to hell (or to The Handmaid's Tale, which is seeming alarmingly less ridiculous by the month) I want to be living somewhere my fellow citizens will be at least a little less likely to outlaw my love, sexuality, life choices, and religion.

Besides, what better place to be, when the real oil crisis finally hits, than someplace with abundant hydropower? And, at least, awareness and the start of planning for the approaching time when it will be less abundant.

So! Cascadia ho! In, you know, two or three years when we're out from under the damn mortgage insurance.

And this means finding new jobs, and that means colleges that have what we really value: a close community among the faculty and staff (and at least some of the administration).

Any suggestions?

Comments

[7veils]

If you aren't too frightened of living on the Pacific Rim what with the upsurge in seismic activity around the Ring of Fire these days, the Olympic College in Bremerton might appeal to you.

I don't know anything about the Lewis-Clark state college, but the last time I was in Washington, I really enjoyed the small and very beautiful city of Coeur D'Alene. I've also heard good things about Gonzaga in Spokane (that was close to where I used to live, so quite a few people I knew attended it and spoke well of it.)

I don't know if you will be any better off in the long run, though, especially if there is as much of a backlash against the Republicans in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio as we've been hearing lately.

[branchandroot]

*wry* I /did/ read up on the Cascadia subduction zone, yeah. One more reason in favor of Washington and not Oregon.

*makes notes*

*sighs* Eh. I haven't actually seen any backlash to speak of hereabouts. This is, by and large, a depressingly conservative state, despite the isolated flares of liberality in the big urban areas. I've been thinking for some time that I want to be in a more congenial social matrix. The current politics are just the last straw to start me really looking for ways and means.

[chronolith]

Gonzaga is one of the Jesuit flagship schools and pretty conservative. For Jesuits. Just a note.

[7veils]

I didn't know that. I was only going on the word-of-mouth of graduates, but I'm not really in the habit of quizzing people on their beliefs or level of tolerance towards beliefs that differ, so a detail like that would've passed by me completely.

But I think this brings up a really good point: that no matter where a person lives, there are enclaves of people whose minds and hearts are closed to them, and this resistance and obstruction increases, the more committed this person is to living and expressing their liberation. Also, I've lived in the most conservative province in Canada for the past year-and-a-half, and have never felt endangered for freedom of expression like I did when I lived in a small, rural area that is regarded as one of the 'last bastions of the hippies.' This is to say that it isn't the area's politics which determine how much oppression and opposition a person receives — not necessarily. I don't think there is a place on the planet now that isn't facing some sort of struggle between those who want to live with kindness and liberty, and those who prefer authoritarianism.

[helens78]

:) Washington has its share of economic problems, too, but so far we're hanging in there.

Anyway, I know nothing about the faculty/staff/administration environment in the WA state colleges/universities (having never been on the other side of the teacher/student fence), but I can say that, from a student's perspective, the Seattle-area community colleges are made of nine thousand kinds of win. In the meantime, I've forwarded your question on to a friend of mine who teaches at/has taught for more than one university in the state. :)

[branchandroot]

Fantastic, thanks! *thoughtful* Em might be glad to hear about the community colleges, too. And goodness knows, CCs are almost always hiring people who teach writing.

[kaigou]

If you're not stuck on Northeast, there's always the University of Texas at Austin, which might sound strange as a suggestion, seeing how it's in Texas... but Austin isn't really in Texas. It's actually in its own, uhm, reality. A very awesome reality but sometimes... well, let's put it this way: the city's unoffficial motto is "Keep Austin Wierd" and there's a freaking Godzilla (with glowing red eyes at night) on the rooftop of a local business. (Google for 3105 Guadalupe Street, Austin, Texas, turn south and go a half-block, and he's on the left.) There are also sometimes zombies. Plus it's one of the most energy- and water-wise places I've ever been, and the city even hosts free wifi at every park. It's like a strange mix of the down-home, the ultra-liberal, the lazy bohemian, and the college town. With the occasional pair of cowboy boots.

Also, Austin gets a lot of rain. A LOT OF RAIN. Let me put it this way: Seattle gets an average of 34" of rain annually, over 150 days. Austin gets 32" of rain on average... over 80 days. It never drizzles in Austin, but it does rain down entire flocks of cats, dogs, a few orangutans, and possibly some jazz musicians.

[branchandroot]

*deeply entertained by this image*

I have heard that Austin is it's own... well, yes, it's own reality. I might give it a look-in, but my spouse is pretty interested in local food, and wants somewhere with a little, hm, less extreme growing season.

I do kind of wonder whether Texas will be the first break-away after Quebec finally succeeds and sets the precedent, and what Austin will do then.

[dragonwolf]

Have you checked Oregon? Specifically, the Portland area? I don't know much about the colleges there, but from what I can tell, it's pretty liberal and a lot of people do local growing and such.

That said, what haven't you liked about Kasich? I haven't been paying much attention to politics as of late, having been dealing with taxes and various other pressing matters, and after some brief research, I found a few things that I'd object to, but my train of thought seems to always be totally and completely the opposite of what and how everyone else in the world thinks, so... (While I am a fellow Buckeye, I didn't vote for him, nor do I really have an opinion of him at the moment.)

[branchandroot]

Oregon passed a "marriage protection" law, explicitly prohibiting gay marriage. Portland would probably make me very happy, as a city, but the state as a whole has a row to hoe before I'm pleased with it.

God, what hasn't Kasich done that's slimy? He's pulled exactly the same anti-union act that Wisconsin is getting lambasted for, only he's kept it under the radar so /we/ don't get any coverage; he's killed the rapid transit system that we already had funding for, because obviously no one in Ohio really needs to get from one city to another without a car--or no one that matters to him anyway; he's got a little tin god complex from hell and actually tried to tell the press not to broadcast what he told them about the budget!

And, when you get down to brass tacks, it's /my/ job and community he's slashing the most funding for. Because the educational funding system in Ohio wasn't already in bad enough shape!

Every move he makes targets the people with the least money and makes sure they can't fight back. I swear, every word out of his mouth just pisses me off more.

[marshtide]

I don't know much about Washington beyond that val's uncle the Swedish ex-communist is an academic in Seattle and loves it, so it's probably doing stuff right.

[branchandroot]

*laughs* Yeah, that's a good rec.

[foxinthestars]

I got this link on my twitter feed (posted by Alfie Kohn): http://www.cielearn.org/ Two of the member institutions are in WA (Evergreen and Fairhaven at Western WA), if it's the kind of thing you're looking for.

I also asked my sister-in-law-to-be who's lived up there a long time (my sister just moved out there to be with her last year; I both miss her and envy her), so I'll see if she gets back to me.

I have this running gag, actually, that everyone cool ends up in the Pacific Northwest. ^_~

[branchandroot]

Oh, excellent! I've heard of Evergreen from other people, too.

[chronolith]

Seattle University (Jesuit, but these are the Jesuits who get in trouble for saying there's nothing wrong with being gay, sometimes abortion is necessary, and preach liberation theology. There was an entire class on it my senior year), University of Washington's regional schools seem close knit, Seattle Pacific University, Cornish (but I'm not sure they still have their poetry department), University of Puget Sound, and the Seattle community college network seems pretty friendly.

[chronolith]

Seattle University had a bunch of their tenured English professors retire about 5 years ago as well. I'm not sure they have completely staffed up from that or not. Their law school is also taking off at lightning speed and they've been using the funding for that to pay for their humanities programs. (I've been watching their law school with Great Interest because they are trying to set themselves up as the place to go for indigenous legal issues, which is exactly what I want to teach.)

[branchandroot]

Yeah, they sound like they've got their feet on the ground. I'm looking over their website now. *pokes around with interest*

[branchandroot]

*makes notes* I was thinking about UoPS, yeah.