This spring, Brittany Kamai, visiting professor in the Department of Astronomy in the , taught an innovative course about the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific and how they used the stars, winds, and waves to navigate across the Pacific Ocean.
The course, Pacific Indigenous Astrophysics, was offered by the 糖心原创’s (CAIIS) and funded by the Office of Global Affairs through the Global Innovation Fund, which provides seed funding for international faculty research and teaching spanning multiple disciplines, leading edge student experiences, and collaborations with global partners.
Kamai designed the course to be accessible to all UW students. No astronomy or physics background was required. For Kamai, it was an opportunity to share the wisdom of her ancestors and about modern day concepts of astrophysics to deepen students’ understanding about the cosmos. Students learned about the roles of voyagers within the Hawaiian Renaissance and how critical it has been to bring back deep-sea sailing canoes and Indigenous practices of navigating in traditional ways without external instruments.
For students who have chosen this field, my message is to be聽friends with the sky. Start to see and honor different cultural stories that go along with it.
Students attended joint lectures on the basic design principles for accessible interpretive signs and inclusive communication for people with disabilities. They also conducted field work to observe and analyze interpretive signs in their respective cities 鈥� The UW Arboretum and the UW Farm in Seattle and several parks in Kaohsiung and Tainan, two major cities in Southern Taiwan. In a survey following the project, students ranked the following as having the strongest impact on their growth: Learning and understanding other ways of seeing the world, growth in self-awareness, greater understanding of different cultures, and understanding how to interact with people from different cultures.
鈥淪tudying abroad increases success for everyone,鈥� said Dr. Gayle Christensen, interim vice provost, 
The UW has graduated more than 2,300 students who have gone on to serve abroad around the globe as Peace Corps Volunteers.