Vicki Valosik

The Atlantic

For Same-Sex Couples, Changing Names Takes on Extra Significance

“Before I came out and was still on a path of planning to marry a man,” says Victoria, “I was pretty radical and said I’ll never change my name." But when Victoria Cunningham married Lita Grossman, in Washington D.C. in 2006, three years before same-sex marriage was legally recognized in the District, she was forced to reconsider.

Washington Post

Mine: So much is contained in such small things.

Whenever I stumble upon an old list tucked in the back of a notebook or the bottom of a drawer — a packing list for a trip to meet my in-laws, a guest list for a party we hosted two cities and many goodbyes ago — it’s like discovering a flash-frozen slice of the past.

Medium

If you invite an international student home for Thanksgiving

If you invite an international student home for Thanksgiving, he may ask to come back at Christmas—and you may prepare a basket for the guest room with cookies and hotel shampoos, causing your mom to say, “You really like this boy.”

Philadelphia Inquirer

Hunting the Asylum's Secrets

WESTON, W.Va. - Though I consider myself an uneasy agnostic when it comes to ghosts, it's 9 o'clock in the evening, and soon my husband and I will be locked in a shuttered, 19th-century insane asylum to spend the witching hours of a cold, soggy West Virginia night seeking out their company. As we wait shivering on the steps of the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, which predates the Civil War, the darkness is penetrated only by a tungsten sliver of light escaping between the mahogany doors.

International Educator Magazine

Recruiting Farther Upstream

As the growth in numbers of international students enrolling in U.S. universities has slowed, the number of international students in secondary schools more than tripled between 2014 and 2016.

International Educator Magazine

Science: Why Diversity Matters

It might seem counterintuitive: In the laboratory, engineering workshop, and other academic spaces where science gets done, math-based principles rule supreme, and numbers have no language, no cultural inflection, and no gender—why should it matter who the scientists are and where they’re from?

Mobile Bay Monthly

Captain Carol's Sleek Dream Ship

As a child Carol Bramblett dreamed of a sleek sailing ship, named "Joshua," built as fleet as the old schooners that once plied Mobile Bay. After an uphill struggle to launch it into reality, she wonders if the true keel of her dream wasn’t all the people who came together in the process.

International Educator Magazine

Learning Arabic Abroad

Study abroad programs to the Middle East and North Africa have seen tremendous growth over the past decade. While this growth is reflective of a trend in higher education toward global and experiential learning, it is also telling of an intensifying interest in the Arab and Muslim worlds among students and educators in the years since 9/11.

The American Scholar

Water Everywhere

ANTI-ATLAS, Morocco - In a modern update of the ancient practice of collecting dew from stone walls, five villages in southwestern Morocco received drinking water from mountain fog for the first time this spring.

The American Scholar

Above and Beyond

The choicest altitudes for harvesting wind energy are beyond the reach of conventional wind turbines, yet one climate scientist, Ken Caldeira of Stanford University, believes these blustery elevations could power the entire world.

The American Scholar

Break With the Cast

Lugging around a heavy plaster cast for days or weeks can seem worse than breaking the bone. But that could all be changing, thanks to (you guessed it) 3-D printing technology.

International Educator Magazine

Supporting LGBT International Students

THE COLLEGE YEARS can be a time of personal exploration and growth for many young adults, including the exploration of one’s gender and sexuality identities. A 2013 survey from Pew Research Center showed that the median age lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals “come out” is 20, an age that falls squarely within those college years. More and more colleges are providing services such as LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) resource centers in order to support these students and help them find community

US News & World Report

3 Tips for Making the Most of a Study Abroad Program in the Arab Region

Looking into everything from the weather to transportation options in advance can ease the transition.

US News & World Report

5 Facts About American-Style Universities in the Arab Region

There is no governing body over the 18 American universities across the Middle East and North Africa, and each institution is free to develop its own curriculum and mission. However, there are some criteria they all share, such as a focus on critical thinking and the American liberal arts approach.

The American Scholar:

Heart Devices and Desires

Pacemakers of the future will probably look very different from the rigid devices of today, thanks to John Rogers of the University of Illinois and Igor Efimov of Washington University, who have designed a flexible cardiac device that hugs the heart like a glove, stretching with each beat and delivering customized doses of electrical stimulation.

The American Scholar

Biofashionista

Suzanne Lee brews green tea by the gallon, not for the antioxidants but as the first step in growing her own clothes.

The American Scholar

Garbage In, Garbage Out

The industrial water wheel is making a comeback, not as power for New England gristmills but as collector of floating trash headed for a busy harbor.

The American Scholar

In the Courtyard: The smell of jasmine and the murmur of family life in prewar Damascus

Three years of news coverage of the turmoil have not been able to erase the image in my mind of Syria as a peaceful place where jasmine trees dust the interior courtyards of family homes with their white confetti blossoms and scent the warm afternoon air.

International Educator Magazine

Arabic is Blooming

For strategic, business, and cultural reasons, Arabic programs have grown rapidly at U.S. institutions—even surpassing some traditional favorites.

The American Scholar:

Cheap Microscope, Big Promise

Researchers at Stanford University have developed a paper microscope that costs less than a dollar to produce and has the potential of revolutionizing public health.