The following descriptions are for courses offered by the UW Women’s Center throughout the year. These descriptions are for reference only and do not indicate a schedule of course offerings. For current quarter classes, please click here to visit the Class Schedule page for the current quarter.
Math Study Group
Instructor: Katherine Shaw
Many students find the idea of doing math overwhelming, irritating, or frightening, and others may just want to be in a friendly environment as they learn. This study group is a way for students working on various math or science classes to bring questions to a small group environment. Hosted by a math and science geek, enemy of Math Anxiety, with experience explaining concepts to people from a wide variety of backgrounds. The study group will supplement and help with, not replace, any math before calculus, and/or any introductory science class.
Milk-Based Soap Making
Instructor:Linda Conroy
This class is for the experienced as well
as the beginning soap maker. We will
explore the art of creating luxurious soap
that incorporates fresh goat milk (cow as
well as whey will also be discussed). Milk
based soap makes the creamiest soap
around. It is considered a delicacy in the
soap market. This class will offer essential
tips to creating your own. We will also
learn about a variety of whole herbs
that can be included to create unique
batches of soap. Participants will take
home recipes as well as some of the soap
we create in class. Bring rubber gloves, 4
small yogurt containers with a lid and an
old towel. All other supplies provided. $10
materials fee.
Mission Possible: Working Abroad
Instructor: Nancy Mueller
Adventure. Excitement. Mystery and
romance in exotic ports of call. Why
should James Bond have all the fun? If
you’ve ever dreamed of packing your
bags and working your way around
the world to make money and make a
difference, this class is for you. Join global
career expert Nancy Mueller as she shows
you what it takes to land an international
assignment – and how to succeed at
work overseas when you do. Learn savvy
strategies to: Focus and organize your
global job search; Uncover international
job leads; Market yourself to global
employers; Locate international resources
on the Internet; polish your international
employment application; and Re-enter
the U.S. job market. Class text is Nancy’s
book, Work Worldwide: International
Career Strategies for the Adventurous
Job Seeker (Avalon Travel Publishing).
Negotiations
Instructor: Wendy Harman
Ever heard that women pay more for a
car or that women negotiate for lower
pay than men? Well, if you want to
improve your negotiating skills to get the
price you want or the pay you are worth,
this is the course for you. We will meet
for three evenings and cover the three
biggest negotiations a woman enters
into: a job, a car and a home. The sessions
will include some practical tips proven
through research to enable negotiators
to get the best deal possible, and we
will engage in practicing negotiations as
the best way to learn to negotiate is by
doing it with a trained facilitator who can
give you feedback and suggestions for
improvement. Come join in, pay less and
get paid more.
One-Day Intensive Baby Boomer Boot Camp
Instructor: Dori Wright
Do you want to make a mid-life career change that pays off? What will you do when you no longer have to work to live? Is “age” a four-letter word for you? Have you planned who will care for you as you grow older? Baby Boomers are a special breed. We marched for civil rights, equality for women and peace. Now we’re trying to be at peace while struggling with elder care, mid-life career change and our own aging. We face decisions and dilemmas. We are smart; we just need some skills, resources and a plan. Baby Boomer Boot Camp will give you the practical knowledge you need to make decisions and a plan you can follow. You’ll also find out how others are handling these issues. Bring a $12 materials fee
Passion and Principle in the New American Dream
Instructor: Cecile Andrews
Everyone wants to clarify their values, enjoy their lives, and make a difference. In this workshop we give you tools to discover what your particular passion is and help you figure out how to implement your ideas. All of this is done in the context of creating a New American Dream in which caring and community are central. This is a one-time workshop, but for those interested, there will be an ongoing support group.
Pilates Mat Class
Instructor:
Christine Fosmire
Experience the exercises developed by Joseph Pilates. Class combines core abdominal exercises with plenty of stretching. Feel the flexibility of your spine increase as you strengthen your abdominals to improve posture and alignment. Great for those suffering from minor and occasional back pain. Bring your own towel. Classes start punctually, please be on time.
Plan Your Estate: Expressing Your Will and Promoting Family Harmony
Instructor: Joanna Roth
Learn the basics of preparing your will, powers of attorney and living will. Preparing estate planning documents can ultimately reduce legal fees, diminish stress at a loved one's death, and provide comfort to those left behind. Get help in drafting your estate planning documents from a local estate planning attorney.
Permission to Receive: What it
means to take the Reiki Journey:
Instructor: Eileen Dey
What would it be like if you took the leap
and opened to your true potential? If
you could instantly be in touch with the
healing light of Reiki to serve as a guiding
lantern on your journey of self-discovery....
Are you ready to depart? Reiki master,
Eileen Dey, M.A., takes the helm of this
evening’s ship as you begin a magic
sojourn to the center of your Self. She
provides an entertaining and enlightening
session fi lled with spiritual storytelling,
humor and guided meditations to help
you discover your own unique path.
Eileen is the founder/director of www.
reikitrainingprogram.com, the only
licensed Reiki vocational school in the
state of WA, and producer of the CD,
Permission to Receive: Reiki Journeys of
Self-Discovery and Healing.
Power up Your Passions
Instructor: Halimah Bellows
Are you doing work you love? Are you energized and excited most of the time? Do you feel like you are really living your life? If not, you may have buried your natural passions and talents. Isn’t it time you did something really meaningful and fulfilling and—got paid for it? In this fun workshop,
Reclaiming Ourselves
Instructor: Susan Wadden
This class is offered to those who are
interested in knowing more about how
vibration, sound therapy and acupressure
can heal the body, mind, and spirit.
We will review key acupressure points
that direct the fl ow of energy in the
system towards a place of balance and
wholeness. We will study a spectrum of
fl ower essences and essential oils that
support this work and also introduce tuning forks that are designed specifi cally
to work with the meridian energetic
systems of the body. This will be a “hands
on” class. My belief is that all women are
healers. We will be fi nding the “healer” in
each other.
Relationship Agreements: The Pre-Nup and Beyond
Instructor: Joanna Roth
Whether you're planning a wedding or cohabitating with a partner of the same or opposite sex, you can benefit from understanding the family laws that pertain to you, and the options you have in writing the rules that apply to your particular family. Couples of all ages and circumstances can benefit from the honest discussion and open sharing that goes into creating your own relationship agreement. The speaker is a Seattle attorney practicing in estate planning and family law.
Re-Membering Family - A Family
Constellations Workshop
Instructor: Michelle McKinney & Rhonda Laumann
Family Constellations is a gentle and nonjudgmental
way to transform personal
and professional issues resulting from
hidden dynamics in our family system.
Through this work, extraordinary insights,
resolution, and healing can be gained
allowing one to move forward in life
with a greater sense of peace, love and
support.This day-long workshop provides
a unique opportunity to explore a life-long
pattern or personal issue and experience
Family Constellations. Bring a snack, and
a sack lunch.
Resolving Conflict Across Cultures
Instructor: Lori Markowitz
The problem underlying most global confl icts? A dearth of
citizens prepared to effectively develop and apply strategies
for resolving confl ict and creating peaceful societies. This
class will offer you an opportunity to develop compassionate
listening, cross-cultural dialogue, and confl ict resolution skills
while demonstrating that – to be effective and sustainable
– peacebuilding initiatives must be responsive to the unique
needs and cultures of the communities in confl ict.
Retire with Fire
Instructor: Halimah Bellows
You’re retiring...So Now What? How
will you defi ne your next life chapter?
Finances alone do not automatically
make a good retirement. Of course,
your fi nancial picture is important, but
what you really want is a healthy, happy,
vibrant and meaningful lifestyle. The key
to a happy, healthy, vibrant and enriching
retirement is how well you plan for it.
You owe it to yourself to gather as much
information as possible so you can chart
your retirement course with confi dence.
NOW, when you’re zero to 10 years from
your fi rst retirement, not when you’re 10
years into it. In this introductory workshop
we will look at the thoughts and feelings
behind this major life transition so that
you can start to work on creating a
balanced and healthy retirement lifestyle.
Revising Your Writing-Fiction or Memoir
Instructor: Catherine Alexander
Do you have a story that needs help? In a fun and accommodating class, we will concentrate on revision of your previous or current work. Constructive feedback will help your story come off the page. We will emphasize the key ingredients of fiction and memoir; including characters, conflict, dialogue, scene & summary, sensory details, and the importance of emotional memory. Focus is on encouragement and individual support. Bonus: Find out about the story market and how to get your story into print.
Scrapbooking for Writers
Instructors: Teri & Robert Sprackland
If the long winter months have dried up your writing enthusiasm, why not recharge your batteries with an afternoon of collage and scrapbooking techniques? This new workshop explores techniques culled from the visual learning processes of your “right brain.”
We will go far beyond the standardized scrapbooking layouts to capture the raw images needed to bring your writing to life, particularly useful for fiction writers who struggle with outlining plots or describing characters.
Self Defense 101
Instructors: Joanne Factor
Research indicates that women who
successfully defended themselves were
able to quickly recognize threatening
situations, express, and if necessary
physically enforce their boundaries.
Learn to recognize assailant ploys and
manipulations--and how to thwart them.
Practice releases from common grabs
and decisive strikes to vital targets.
Assess your risks, and plan around
them. Understand the connections
between awareness, threats, and our
media environment. Come prepared
to challenge yourself--emPOWERment
doesn’t get more fun. Please bring
a materials fee of $3, payable to the
instructor.
Self-Full Selfcare
Instructors:Halimah Bellows
Why be extreme about your self care?
Self-Full Self Care is about the practice of
fully committing to a nurturing regimen.
It’s more than a “just enough” practice
of self care. Self Full/extreme self care
requires connecting with yourself on
a daily basis, deciding what you need
(serenity, exercise, support, rest, creativity,
etc.) and then following through to make
it happen. Are you ready to practice that
which will initially challenge you but will
change the way you see yourself? If you
are, then this workshop is for you. We will
explore the concept of self full self care
with the approach of loving yourself fi rst.
We will then explore and design strategies
that will allow you to incorporate self full
self care into your lives on a daily basis.
Seven Ways Your Nonprofi t Can
Get Corporations and Businesses
to Support Your Work
Instructor: Lisa Arnold
Small community organizations can cultivate long-term relationships with
for-profi t entities - relationships that
generate money, volunteers, technical
assistance, and other benefi ts. This
workshop is for nonprofi t board,
volunteers, and staff who want to learn
how to approach corporations and for
what kinds of benefi ts.
Shared Housing Ownership for Community-Inspired Groups
Instructor: Shawna R. Sherman & Clara W. Berridge
Small housing collectives offer affordability, shared decision making, and the permanence and stability that come with home ownership. Whether you’re interested in learning about how to create a living situation where you have control over the environment in which you age or you’re simply interested in living among friends and enjoying a sense of community at home, this workshop will offer insight into the flexible shared ownership models and how to get the ball rolling to make it work for you. All interest levels are warmly welcome.
Six Weeks to Live
Instructor: Subhan Schenker
How would life change if you had six weeks to live? What would you do differently? How would your priorities be affected? What things would you stop doing? Start doing? What new understandings about life would you find, using this limited time as a tool? This class is a fascinating exploration of how our lives would be affected - concerning people, things, activities, situations, priorities AND ourselves - if we really knew that we have a limited time on earth.
Slow is Beautiful
Instructor: Cecile Andrews
How do we take back our time for the things that matter? How do we experience our days more joyfully and with more depth? Our fast paced lifestyles undermine relationships, health, the environment, our inner lives, democracy, and happiness. Happiness in the US continues to decline as we accept “extreme jobs” and a 24/7 workplace. The “slow” life in which the well being of people and the planet is ignored by competitive and commercial interests of the corporate consumer society. We will explore how people can work for personal, cultural, and policy changes.
Spanish I
Instructor: Normando Lint
Introduction to spoken Spanish, including present tense of regular verbs. Elementary conversations, greetings, and common words relating to family, food and clothing. Learn vocabulary, phrases, and some idioms. Use of handouts and textbook for reading.
Spanish II
Instructor: Normando Lint
Continuation of Spanish I, intensifying conversation. Composition will be introduced. Learn basic Spanish for travel, obtaining a hotel room, ordering food, asking directions, and speaking with people in the market places. Learn past tense of regular verbs, reflective verbs, direct and indirect objects. Use of handouts and a textbook for reading.
Socially Responsible Investing
Instructor: Yvonne Naum
What is socially responsible investing?
Does it matter how your money works for
you? Do you care about investments that
reflect concerns about the environment,
human rights, and corporate governance?
Come and learn about how the expanding
opportunities in this sector may help you
reach your financial goals.
Soul Collage: Images to Feed the
Soul
Instructor: Alia Calendar
Come explore the innate connection
between creativity and intuitive
guidance! This workshop will introduce
the magical process of SoulCollage,
created by Seena B. Frost as described
in her exquisite book by the same title.
Learn the basics of how to create your
own deck of 8x5’’ collaged cards that
refl ect your personal symbols, your
internal “committee” of sub-personalities,
your dreams, your community. Each
card is a small work of art, with imagery
uniquely meaningful to you. Cards can
be used for meditation, refl ection, and
guidance on your current “burning
questions.” No prior collage or art-making
experience is necessary. Together we
will search intuitively for visual images
that call to us and create cards using
an easy cut-and-paste process. To view
beautiful examples of SoulCollage cards,
visit the website www.soulcollage.com.
Please bring: scissors (if you own a large
and a small pair, bring both), a lunch or
afternoon snack, and a $5 materials fee