2021 Labor Studies Awards Celebration - Program
Welcome to the 2021 Labor Studies Awards Celebration hosted by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies at the University of Washington!
In a normal year, our Awards Celebration is a spirited banquet bringing together over 300 students, faculty and community members. This year, we are all staying home and staying safe due to the pandemic, but we are still excited to join you online as we honor our students, faculty and community supporters.
This website serves as the event program for the evening. Below you will find the event schedule, a list of our evening's sponsors, and a detailed list of our awards recipients and speakers. Each student award recipient has prepared a special presentation of themselves and their research, available to view by clicking their name in the detailed program.
To view videos of short interviews with this year's scholarship recipients, click here.
Awards Celebration - Event Schedule
Awards Program, 6:00pm-7:30pm
Welcome by Kim England, Harry Bridges Chair in Labor Studies
Presentation of Labor Studies Awards, 2021-2022
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Labor Research Grants
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Best Projects in Labor Studies Prizes
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Special Recognition: UW Bothell and UW Tacoma
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Scholarships and Fellowships
Special Guest: Kaija Corry, BAM Labor Intern
Report from the Labor Archives of Washington
Special Recognition: UW Libraries Union
Distinguished Supporter of Labor Studies: Senator Karen Keiser
Keynote Address: Kent Wong, Director, UCLA Labor Center
Land Acknowledgement
Although we gather virtually today, we at the Harry Bridges Center in Seattle, Washington, acknowledge that our lives and our institutions occupy the unceded ancestral homelands of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Snoqualmie, and Puyallup Peoples past and present, as well as the tribes of the Muckleshoot, Tulalip, other Coast Salish peoples, and their descendants. We honor with gratitude the land itself and the Native and Indigenous people who have stewarded it through the generations and continue to honor and bring to light their ancient heritage. This land acknowledgement is one small act in the ongoing process toward true allyship and we commit to uplifting the voices, experiences, and histories of the Indigenous people of this land and beyond.
Awards Celebration - Sponsors
Sponsorship list is not final. This list will be updated regularly before the event.
Event Sponsors ($1,000)
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ATU Local 587 |
Barnard Iglitzin & Lavitt LLP |
ILWU Local 23 | ILWU Local 94 |
| ILWU Seattle Pensioner's Club | ILWU Washington Area District Council | Michael and Susan Peskura | SEIU 925 |
| SEIU Healthcare 1199NW | UAW Local 4121 | WFSE Local 1488 |
Program Sponsors ($500)
| AFSCME Local 1857 | AFT Washington | The Alexander Family - In Memory of Russell Alexander | Anonymous |
| Nancy Beaudet and Dan Jacoby | Susan Glenn and James Gregory | Holly Hulscher - In Memory of Dr. Ronald Magden | ILWU Local 19 |
| ILWU Local 26 | ILWU Local 52 | Ian Kennedy and Michele Drayton | Lanny McGrew |
| Musician's Association of Seattle, Local 76-493 | James and Joan Norton | Pacific Northwest Labor History Association | Teamsters Local 117 |
| UW Geography | UW History | UW Jackson School of International Studies | UW Law, Societies and Justice |
| UW Political Science | UW School of Social Work | UW Sociology | Joseph Wenzl |
Awards Celebration - Program Details
2021-2022 Labor Research Grants
Graduate Student Labor Research Grants
Click a student's name to view a brief presentation about their project (PDF format).
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Jeehyun (Jenny) Lee, Communication
"What do algorithms think about Asian creative labor?: An investigation of transnational creative labor and algorithmic management of the platform economy" Charles Bergquist Labor Research Grant |
Allison Goldberg, Sociology
"Collective Resilience and Collective Resistance: Mutual Aid During Covid-19" |
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Olivia Orosco, Geography
"Essential and Vulnerable: Latino Health Care Workers in the COVID-19 Pandemic" |
Yuying Xie, Geography
"Inequality, racial capitalism, and labor rights: Transnational workers in China’s English Language Training industry" |
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Matthew Fowle, Public Policy & Governance and Lindsey Beach, Sociology "Can ‘Reversing Punishment’ Support Labor Force Participation? Exploring the Labor Consequences of Court-Ordered Debt Relief" |
Lauren Plitkins, Education and Taiko Aoki-Marcial, English "Teaching the Roslyn Cemeteries: Connecting labor, race and immigration through place based curriculum design" |
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Michele Cadigan, Aliyah Turner, and Maxine Wright, Sociology "Racializing Institutional Boundaries: The Case of the CHAZ/CHOP" |
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Washington State Labor Research Grants
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Carrie Freshour, Geography and
P. Joshua Griffin, American Indian Studies "Labor, Race, and Indigeneity in Washington’s Maritime Blue Strategy" |
Lilian Liu, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
"Assessing Stakeholder Engagement in Labor Policy: The Washington Emergency Rule to Protect Workers from Wildfire Smoke" |
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Lisa Manzer, School of Social Work
"Prospects for Post-Pandemic Progress: Modeling the Impact of Proposed Policy Changes in the American Families Plan on Washington State Working Families' Ability to Meet Basic Needs" |
Elizabeth Pelletier, Public Policy and Governance
"Disparities in Parental Employment Instability Around A Birth: Evidence from Washington State" |
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Rachel Salit, School of Medicine
"A Survey of Washington State Employers’ Policies for Returning to Work After Cancer Treatment: A First Step in Reform" |
Ellyn Terry, Public Policy and Governance
"Can a Guaranteed Income Program in Washington State Mitigate Resource Deprivation and Decrease Racial Inequality?" |
Working Groups
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Community Partner: Mary Keefe, Business Agent, Teamsters Local 763 "EMT Well-Being and Quality of Life Working Group" |
![]() Community Partners: Margret Diddams, Research and Policy Analyst, SEIU 775; and the Seattle Coalition "The Employment Conditions of Domestic Workers in Seattle" |

2021-2022 Best Projects in Labor Studies Prizes
Click on a project title to view the student's project.
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PNLHA Best Undergraduate Project in Labor History:
Liam Collins |
PNLHA Best Undergraduate Paper in Labor History:
Selma El-Badawi "The Sweet Fruit of Labor: An Examination of Black Labor Unions in South Africa" |
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PNLHA Best Undergraduate Paper in Labor History:
Kelly Maldonado |
PNLHA Best Undergraduate Paper in Labor History:
Amrine White "Unstable Foundations: Poor Whites and the Economic Fight for Emancipation" |
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Best Graduate Paper in Labor Studies:
Star Berry "University Staff: Indigenous Sovereignty and Justice Online" |
Best Graduate Paper in Labor Studies:
Julia Lund |
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Best Undergraduate Paper in Labor Studies: Hazel Brown |
Best Undergraduate Paper in Labor Studies: Yogasai Gazula "Always On-Demand: How the Gig Economy is Changing Traditional Work Practices" |

2021-2022 Scholarships and Fellowships
Click a student's name to view a special presentation about the student and their work (PDF format).
To view videos of short interviews with this year's scholarship recipients, click here.
Labor Studies Graduate Recruitment Fellowships
| Yasmin Ahmed, Geography | Ragya Kaul, History |
Gundlach Scholarship in Labor Studies
| Selena Caldera, Law & Policy, UW Tacoma |
Labor Employment Relations Association (LERA)/Samuel Bassett Scholarship in Labor Relations
| Elizabeth Lu Gao, Sociology & Law, Societies, and Justice |
Martha H. Duggan Fellowship in Caring Labor
| Anupa Gewali, Public Health and Social Work | Samantha Thompson, Geography |
Martin and Anne Jugum Scholarship in Labor Studies
| Shoaib Laghari, Economics | Brendon McCarroll, Political Science |
Ian Kennedy and Michele Drayton Scholarship in Labor Studies
| Angelica Perez, Law, Societies, and Justice |
Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes Scholarship in Labor Studies
| Paul Ryan Villanueva, Public Policy & Governance |
Frank Jenkins, Jr. Fellowship in Labor Studies
| Diana Vergara |

Special Guest
![]() Kaija Corry |
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Special Recognition
![]() University of Washington Libraries Union Established 2021 |

Robert H. Duggan Distinguished Supporter of Labor Studies Awards
![]() Senator Karen Keiser Washington State Legislature, 33rd District |

Keynote Address
![]() Kent Wong Director UCLA Labor Center |
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