Individualized Study Plan

Alexandria Wheeler

Community, Environment and Planning

Class of 2018
College of the Environment

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Table of Contents

Letter of Introduction…………………………………………………………......3

Visual Map of Course Plan………………………………………………………4

Course Descriptions……………………………………………………………...5

Internship………………………………………………………………………...14

Senior Project……………………………………………………………………15

Study Abroad……………………………………………………………………16

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Letter of Introduction
On a hunch, I enrolled in CEP 200: Introduction to Community, Environment, and
Planning during fall of my sophomore year. The content was interesting, but even more
intriguing was the style of the class, where students facilitated many lectures and group
discussions and had more autonomy over the direction of the class. It was this style of
learning that led me to apply to the major and ultimately to where I am today. CEP has
given me the flexibility to pursue a minor in Environmental Studies while exploring
classes in American Ethnic Studies and food studies.

Early on in my undergraduate education I became interested in food systems and how

change in this particular system can impact the rest of our social, environmental,
economic, and cultural systems. I learned the ins and outs of our American industrial
food system and a globalized corporate food regime that is replicating colonial systems
of oppression just with new labels and brands. My interest in food led me to
environmental and ethnic studies courses. I started to learn about the (real) history of
the U.S and how the historical exploitation of people of color carries on today. I wanted
to understand how my own family’s experience and that of other Filipinx folks’
experiences fit into the U.S., so I incorporated several Asian American Studies classes
into my ISP.

The Individualized Study Plan or ISP is a living document for students in the
undergraduate program Community, Environment and Planning (CEP). The following
pages contain my educational path and academic goals for the next two years and
beyond.

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Visual Map of Course Plan

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Fall 2016
CEP 300 CEP Retreat (Core course, 1 credit)
Focuses on planning analysis assessment and development of the major. Opportunities
for community building and all-major policy deliberation and decisions. Workshops for
skill building in consensus, facilitation, and for major-specific activities such as
developing individual study plans and study abroad experiences.

CEP 301 The Idea of Community (Core course, 5 credits)

Theories of community and communal rights and responsibilities. Experience building a
learning community within major. Explores struggles for community in every sector of
life.

CEP 400 Governance Practicum (Core course, 1 credit)

Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

CEP 446 Internship (Core course, 5 credits)

Connects core and individual courses with field work. Group and individual readings
develop understanding of how students' internships and field placements constitute
particular element of community and environmental planning. Explores how what we do
for a living is part of our lives as citizens and public service.

GEOG 360 Principles of GIS Mapping (Methods course, 5 credits)

Origins, development, and methods of cartographic mapping. Principles of data
representation and map design for thematic mapping and spatial analysis. Introduction
to principles of geographic information systems.

Reflection

This first quarter in CEP was really an opportunity to hop into the major and explore how
other CEPsters have used their education. The retreat was a fun experience where I
met new people and learned the behind-the-scenes of how this quirky major operates. I
was able to practice some of this new-found knowledge by joining PESE, and
programming events for the major that bring us closer together. CEP 301 was my first
core CEP course and a bit of a surprise for me. I expected the content to focus on
different, modern models of communities that would impact how modern societies
function. Instead the course focused on philosophers that formed the basis of Western

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thought. The great was great for creating a foundational understanding of how many
Western societies function, yet it lacked other, more diverse authors that could help us
as students envision new models for society. In CEP 466, we practiced how to talk
about our internship experiences and market them for future job applications. Lastly, in
GEOG 360 I realized that although I find GIS really interesting, I’m not well suited for the
work and would not like to do this work for a living.

Winter 2017
CEP 302 A Environmental Response (Core course, 5 credits)
Explores issues of environmental crisis and societal responses. Readings and reflective
analysis from broad selection of authoritative sources to develop grounded perspective
in ecological literacy and consciousness. Concurrently, experiential education in
challenges and practical responses to building sustainable society through participation
in community-based environmental effort.

CEP 400 A Governance Practicum (Core course, 1 credit)

Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

JSIS 478 F Special Topics in International and Global Studies: Real Cost of Food
(Methods course, 5 credits)

This course focused on the “Real Cost of Food”. The “real cost” is often the social and
economic consequences of cheap fast food and industrial agriculture that pollutes the
environment and produces disproportionate health effects for American families.

ENVIR 439 A Attaining a Sustainable Society (Minor: Envi Studies, 3 credits)

Discusses diverse environmental issues, the importance of all areas of scholarship to
evaluating environmental challenges, and the connections between the past and the
future, to reveal integrative approaches to protect the long-term interests of human
society.

EDUC 401 H Miseducation of the Filipino: History, Decolonization, and Action

(Methods course, 2 credits)

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This seminar examined the events that led to the miseducation of Filipinx people in the
Philippines. This education was followed by self - reflection and building a creative
project to teach Filipinx youth about our histories.

Reflection

During this winter quarter my education focused on issues in the environment and how
we might envision a greener future. During my freshman year I took ENVIR 239,
sustainable choices, a class that focused on actions that individuals could take to lessen
their impact on the environment. Now in ENVIR 439 I learned about policies on the local
and national scale that can implement to build a sustainable society. Learning from
these policies, I can be better equipped to tackle environmental policy in my career in
the future. The NEPA project in CEP showed me the level of policy and regulation that
goes on behind the scenes before any big construction is undertaken. Lastly, I chose
EDUC as a way to learn more about Filipino culture and understand the legacy of the
U.S imperialism.

Spring 2017

AIS 475 Research Topics in American Indian and Indigenous Studies (Methods 5
credits)
Decolonizing the environmental discourse. Discussions about issues in the environment
generally excludes how they impact indigenous communities across the U.S. This
course takes a radical, indigenous lens to analyze current environmental issues like the
Dakota Access Pipeline and Alberta tar sands.

CEP 400 A Governance Practicum (Core course, 1 credit)

Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

CEP 300 CEP Retreat (Core course, 1 credit)

Focuses on planning analysis assessment and development of the major. Opportunities
for community building and all-major policy deliberation and decisions. Workshops for
skill building in consensus, facilitation, and for major-specific activities such as
developing individual study plans and study abroad experiences.

CEP 303 Social Structures and Processes (Core course, 5 credits)

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Investigates use of formal and informal social structures and processes within context of
community and environment. Looks at patterns and institutions of social organization
and relationships among different sectors. Issues of interrelatedness, citizenship,
knowledge, and communication.

GEOG 377 Urban Political Geography (Methods, 5 credits)

Examines how the spatial structure of cities and towns affects and is affected by political
processes. Considers both traditional and newer forms of politics, as global and local
issues. Special attention paid to where politics takes place within local contexts across
state, civil society, home, and the body.

EDUC 401 Practicum in Community Service (Methods, 1 credit)

“MISEDUCATION OF THE FILIPINO: HISTORY, DECOLONIZATION, AND ACTION”

Reflection

GEOG 377 brought together theory (Gramsci’s hegemony for instance) with tangible
policies operating at the federal, state, and city level to control people’s bodies. The
course was an interesting introduction to how local governments regulate their
populations. In EDUC 401 I applied the knowledge I learned during winter quarter
toward creating an educational seminar for other FilAm youth. Each of us designed a
presentation about a portion of Filipino culture which we then taught at Denny Middle
School and Evergreen State. After creating and presenting a workshop on vegan
Filipino food, I realized how impactful it is to have Filipinx folks sharing their stories to
help other FilAms. This quarter I became a co-point for PESE and was one of the folks
in charge of Senior graduation. This was by far the largest event (and stressful) that I’ve
ever helped coordinate. Eugenie, Kat and I spent all of spring quarter coordinating food,
drinks, decorations, and logistics for the event and making sure all junior volunteers
contributed to it’s success. Despite a few setbacks, everything went without a hitch and
I improved my time management and organizational skills.

Summer 2017
Study Abroad Philippines- Made in the U.S.A.: American Occupation, Identity
Construction, and Social Action - Philippines (Methods course, 12 credits)

• CHID 476A (Methods, 5crs) South Pacific Study Abroad

• CHID 476B (Methods, 5crs) South Pacific Study Abroad
• CHID 470 (Methods, 2crs) CHID Study Abroad

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This program will examine the United States’ occupation of the Philippines and its
implications for current as well as historical Filipino identity construction. Exploring
historical texts, western and indigenous theory, art, Hip Hop culture, and local travel, we
will ask how Filipino identities are negotiated and what it means to live in the islands.

Reflection
The academic material for this course covered a wide range of topics relating to the
Spanish and American colonization of the Philippines : war, miseducation, resource
exploitation, environmental degradation, tourism, sex trafficking, and overseas foreign
workers (OFWs). Although I had learned about a few of these issues before, it was
particularly impactful to be studying in the context where these historical events actually
took place. This trip allowed me to see the connections between ideologies like
imperialism and their physical manifestations in the form of bleaching skin creams,
colorism in the media, and English instituted as an official language of the Philippines.

Fall 2017
CEP 490 Senior Project Prep Seminar I: Research and Project Scoping (Core
course, 1 credit)
Supports the conceptualization and planning of senior project/capstone work. Focuses
on selecting a project, beginning a literature review, finding a mentor, and developing a
plan.

CEP 400 A Governance Practicum (Core course, 1 credit)

Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

CEP 300 CEP Retreat (Core course, 1 credit)

Focuses on planning analysis assessment and development of the major. Opportunities
for community building and all-major policy deliberation and decisions. Workshops for
skill building in consensus, facilitation, and for major-specific activities such as
developing individual study plans and study abroad experiences.

CEP 460 Planning in Context (Core course, 5 credits)

Examines theory against backdrop of practice for broad historical understanding of
social, political, environmental planning. Critique from viewpoints, e.g., planning history,
ethics, ecofeminism, environmental justice, class and capitalism, planning and global

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economy. Develop personalized history reflecting individual experience, professional
experience, and philosophical heritage of planning profession.

AAS 360 Critical Filipino American Histories (Minor: Diversity, 5credits)

Examines the diverse historical and contemporary experiences of Filipinas and Filipinos
in the United States in order to critically understand their immigration patterns, colonial
histories, practices of identity constructions, and interactions with other groups.

Reflection

Coming back for my senior year in CEP I started to realize the responsibility I have to
pass on knowledge to juniors in the major and work toward policies that will improve our
program. As point for PESE, I helped organize our annual “Friendsgiving” which brought
CEPsters together over warm, autumnal food and beverages. Through AAS 360 I
deepened my understanding of Filipinx American history and about different patterns of
migration that affected API immigration to the U.S. The most challenging course
however, was CEP 460 Planning in Context. With very little “curriculum”, we were split
up into groups and assigned a project to complete for the City of Tacoma. This was a
challenging experience, which required learning new techniques in videography and
storytelling.

Winter 2018
CEP 400 A Governance Practicum (Core Course, 1 credit)
Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

CEP 491 Senior Project Prep Seminar II: Methods and Actualization (Core course,
5 credits)
Focuses on implementing the senior project/capstone, including revisions and updates
as seen fit.

CEP 461 Ethics and Identity (Core Course, 5 credit)

Examination of personal, societal, vocational, environmental, planning ethics. Readings
and discourse on ethical foundations for public life. Individual and group readings on
values, human potential. Develops understanding of ecological context, moral
responsibility, self-awareness. Constructs positive, diverse view of humanity,
environment regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, beliefs.

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AAS 392 Asian American And Pacific Islander Women (Minor: Diversity, 5 credits)
Explores the intersection of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and sexuality in the lives of
Asian American and Pacific Islander women. Examines how forces such as
immigration, colonialism, sovereignty, labor, family, gender roles and relations,
community, war, homeland politics, transnationalism, and social movements shaped
and were shaped by these women.

SOC W 536 Social Movements and Organizing: People, Power, And Praxis
(Methods, 3 credits)
Focuses on social, economic, and political problems from an organizer's perspective,
and strategies, tactics, and skills necessary to engage in organizing activities.
Emphasizes principles common to community, electoral, union, and issue organizing.
Addresses why people organize, how organizing works, and what it takes to be a good
organizer.

Reflection

This quarter was by far the most interesting I’ve ever had in terms of classroom
curriculum and expanding perspectives. CEP 461 was more or less a continuation of
CEP 301, we reviewed male philosophers, sprinkling in two women for good measure.
Our discussions of ethics turned out to be highly applicable to modern day issues and
provided a toolkit for examining the decision-making process in politics today. After a
few years of doing something resembling student organizing, I decided to take SOC W
536 to better understand community organizing and how it can be utilized to solve
issues in our society. Organizing can feel like draining work, but this class was filled with
graduate students who were experienced and passionate in this field, which inspired me
to keep working with my student organization (Huskies for Food Justice) on campus.
Lastly, I chose AAS 392 to learn more about the issues folks face in the intersection of
being both Asian/Pacific Islander and a woman. Feminist spaces tend to ignore the
issues of women of color while race focused movements tend to prioritize “race” over
“gender”. This course complicated my understanding of the terms “Asian” and “Pacific
Islander” and challenged how I conceptualize women’s role in liberation work.

Spring 2018
CEP 300 CEP Retreat (Core course, 1 credit)
Focuses on planning analysis assessment and development of the major. Opportunities
for community building and all-major policy deliberation and decisions. Workshops for

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skill building in consensus, facilitation, and for major-specific activities such as
developing individual study plans and study abroad experiences.

CEP 400 Governance Practicum (Core course, 1 credit)

Emphasizes personal and collective leadership, democratic decision making, and
learning through direct action and reflection. Explores and develops students' personal
skills as doers and leaders, while also learning how to form and function as effective
groups.

CEP 462 Community and Environment (Core course, 5 credits)

Capstone quarter merges core seminars, disciplinary courses in major, community field
experiences for mastery of personal knowledge and skills. Reflection and synthesis of
themes in major; engagement with contemporary issues. Compares theoretical
definitions of community and environment with individual philosophies and knowledge
within thoughtful, applied context.

EDUC 401U Unforgetting: (Re)creating Filipinx American Narratives (Methods, 3

credits)

Knowing one’s history is essential to knowing oneself. Filipino-Americans and other

ethnic groups, virtually absent in history textbooks or portrayed only from the Western
perspective, lack this crucial self-knowledge. This class examines the history of
schooling as an American enterprise that has bestowed Filipinxs–native and those in
the diaspora–with colonial mentality. Instead of simply replacing the dominant narrative,
we instill critical thinking and historiography that will allow students to reflect on and
develop their own histories. This allows for self-empowerment through the knowledge
and understanding of how events in the past continue to influence us today. Finally, we
transform this mental and introspective work into creative projects that can be used as
media for sharing the knowledge with one’s communities.

ENV H 311 Introduction to Environmental Health (Minor: Envi Studies, 3 credits)

Relationship of people to their environment, how it affects their physical well-being and
what they can do to influence the quality of the environment and to enhance the
protection of their health. Emphasis on environmental factors involved in transmission of
communicable diseases and hazards due to exposure to chemical and physical
materials in our environment.

Reflection
My senior spring quarter was a nostalgic time for me, as I reflected on my work here in
CEP and the work still ahead in my career. Although many folks in class expressed

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discontent over some of our CEP core courses, this spring retreat actually
accomplished positive steps for the major and gave me hope that we can move the
needle forward an inch at a time. This quarter I joined the alumni relation committee and
got to explore the relationship between current students and alumni. Initially the focus of
this committee was on cold-calling alumni and fundraising for the major, but we soon
shifted the focus to “friend raising” which is a much more sustainable source of support
for our major. ENV H 311 was a distribution requirement for my environmental studies
minor that analyzed how the environment can impact public health and health
outcomes. I realized that our environment (including the natural environment, our
occupation, and our residences) really determines how healthy we will be in life and the
majority of those factors are determined by privilege. Communities of color and low –
income communities always suffer the most environmental pollution from factories,
traffic etc. and are the least able to access resources to protect their health. Lastly, my
EDUC 401 instructors Kriya and Dalya were kind enough to let me take their class for a
third time. In this iteration of the course, I again had the space to process what
decolonization means for me and learn from the perspectives of a new cohort of Filipinx
Americans.

Diversity Credit
AAS 206 Contemporary Issues of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans (Diversity,
5 credits)
“Critically examines contemporary Asian and Pacific Islander American issues, ranging
from the Cold War era to the present-day America. Topics include ethnic enclaves,
community-building, civil rights, identity problems, family conflict, social organizations,
political movements, and immigration.”

I took this class during Winter 2015 of my freshman year. It was my first introduction into
racial justice issues and racism in America. The course provided a broad overview of
historical and contemporary events and issues that affect Asian and Pacific Islander
Americans today. On a personal level, the course gave me the framework to understand
internalized racism and further examine my own experiences as an Asian American.

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Internship
For my internship, I worked with Community Alliance for Global Justice (CAGJ). They
are a grassroots, largely volunteer – run organization that supports food sovereignty
and local economies both here in the Northwest and across Africa. Food sovereignty is
the right of communities to have control over their food system and access healthy,
affordable, and culturally appropriate food.

One of their projects involves keeping the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BAMGF)
accountable for their investments into African agriculture. The foundation has given over
$100 million to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) which is supporting
an industrial model of agriculture in the region. While AGRA has done some good work
for small farmers, their overall vision of the food system will benefit large seed
companies and agribusinesses over the livelihoods of small farmers. At CAGJ, the
“AGRA Watch” program amplifies the voices of small farmers and food sovereignty
coalitions through blog posting and communications.

In my role as an AGRA Watch intern, I read through agroecology research from our
African partners including the African Centre for Biodiversity and the African Food
Sovereignty Alliance. I learned how to write blog posts that effectively educated our
readers while promoting the research of our partners. Additionally, for several months I
worked on a research project with fellow interns exploring the relationship between the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Cornell Alliance for Science (CAS). CAS hosts
a summer training program for journalists and scientists from all over the world to learn
about how to effectively promote GM (genetically modified) food technology and
industrial agriculture broadly. These “fellows” then return to their home countries around
the world and influence their institutions, media, and lawmakers toward the acceptance
of GM technology and GM – friendly laws.

Our research project identified each of the fellows originating from African countries,
searched their ties to institutions (current and historical) and whether or not those
institutions also received funding from the Gates Foundation. This particular research
was meticulous and pain-staking work that taught me the value of careful and accurate
research. Additionally, I was able to have an in-depth view of how philanthropies are
actually changing the landscape (physically and metaphorically) of agriculture in Africa.

My experience with CAGJ has shown me both how empowering yet incredibly
challenging community organizing really is. The organization only has two paid staff
members and relies on membership fees and folks donating their time to conduct the
research, communications, and logistical work necessary to gain a following on these

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issues. At the same time, just being a part of this work allowed me to regain some
sense of hope and control over the world. I used to be apathetic about the world
because the challenges we are facing are immense in scale and difficult to tackle. But
as I started to work with other interns, and meet new people at events, I realized that
many other people are passionate about this topic and willing to put in a bit of their time
towards making sure the future of our agricultural systems all around the world support
small farmers.

Senior Project
The CEP Senior Project is the culmination of one’s work and knowledge gained
throughout their time at UW. Students design, implement, present, and reflect on their
projects and the ways it has affected themselves and the community.

For my senior project, I wrote a research paper exploring the phenomenon of

philanthrocapitalism. As a case study, I focused on the “Water Efficient Maize for Africa”
(WEMA) program, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. My internship, CAGJ,
approached me about helping organize an educational event around
philanthrocapitalism. In order to help with the event, I had to research what
philanthrocapitalism actually is, and how it relates to our work in CAGJ. I decided to
take that initial research and expand it into an actual research paper that would take a
deeper dive into the concept and its connection to African agriculture.

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Study Abroad
“This program will examine the United States’ occupation of the Philippines and its
implications for current as well as historical Filipino identity construction. Exploring
historical texts, western and indigenous theory, art, Hip Hop culture, and local travel, we
will ask how Filipino identities are negotiated and what it means to live in the islands.
The utilization of English as the primary means of education in the Philippines during
the colonial era and the invisibility of Filipino contributions in the U.S. are some of the
many issues we will consider. Specifically, we will engage the work of Filipino and
Filipino American scholars and community members who assert that the colonial
mentality created by the effects of 300-year Spanish colonization and American
educational policy in the Philippines from 1898 to 1945 has impacted Filipinos as they
learned to become Westernized and behave like Americans, speak Americanized
English, emulate American culture, and absorbed American democratic procedures.
Although we will connect the Spanish influence in the Philippines and its impact on
Filipino society and identity, this program will primarily focus on the role of American
colonization, occupation, and education policies on Filipino identity formation.”

I had always dreamed about studying abroad during my time in college and challenging
my perspectives on the world through travel. Fortunately, CEP gave me flexibility in my
schedule to enroll in this incredible opportunity. “Made in the U.S.A.: American
Occupation, Identity Construction, and Social Action - Philippines” was a UW-led study
abroad program hosted by the CHID department, that took place during Summer B-
term. The trip examine the effects of the American colonization and occupation of the
Philippine Islands. Although the occupation officially lasted from 1898-1945, the
consequences of those years still live on today in the form of skin whitening products
and internalized colonialism within Filipinxs. As a third generation Filipina American who
had never visited the Philippines, I didn’t know to expect but the country I discovered
was at once more beautiful and more complex than I could ever imagine. The people
were generous and welcoming despite all the issues going on in the Philippines. The
trip was at times mentally and emotionally challenging to get through due to the heavy
nature of the content, but I’m grateful for the opportunity to have learned more about
and experienced this beautiful place that I’m connected to.

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