History Professor Returns From Sabbatical Trip to China
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While on sabbatical last semester, Brian Dott (right), the Robert Allen Skotheim Chair of History, took a six-week research, learning and lecture trip to China.
A key motivation for the trip was to deliver two talks in Chinese about the history of the chile pepper in China. To bolster his spoken Chinese, Dott took a refresher course in advanced Chinese at a program based at Qinghua University in Beijing. He ended up giving five talks in total on the trip—all of them in Chinese.
A talk Dott gave in Pingxiang, Jiangxi, was part of a promotion of the city’s new tourism title as the “spice capital” of China, where he interacted with local restaurateurs, chile plant breeders, a carver of fruit decorations, a famous local archaeologist, the local library and a provincial broadcaster.
The trip also provided an opportunity for Dott to meet up with three Whitman alums: Gary Haotian Zhang ’17 (Film and Media Studies), Xuefei Sun ’23 (History) and Wei Lu ’25 (History, German Studies).
See more photos from the trip on Instagram.
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Staff Professional Development Funding Opportunity
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The Office of Human Resources is pleased to announce the continuation of the Staff Professional Development Cohort for the 2026–2027 academic year.
This program is designed to support staff in pursuing meaningful learning opportunities that foster both individual professional growth and the continued strength of our campus community. Through the cohort experience, staff may apply for funding to attend conferences, workshops, training programs or other professional development experiences that align with their current role or future career aspirations.
Staff may apply for up to $3,000 in funding for professional development experiences taking place between Sept. 1, 2026, and June 30, 2027.
Participants selected for the cohort will be expected to:
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- Attend four cohort meetings throughout the academic year to share progress, reflect on learning, exchange ideas and collaborate with fellow participants.
- Develop a tangible resource that benefits their department or the broader campus community. Examples include: a training module, resource guide, process improvement plan, toolkit, presentation or other project that applies what they’ve learned.
- Deliver a brief presentation about the resource they develop during a culminating event attended by invited members of the Whitman community.
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Parking Lot Stripe Painting This Week
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The stripes will be repainted in several campus parking lots this week as follows:
Thursday, July 16:
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- Hall of Music/Stanton Hall
- Technology Services
- Baker Ferguson Fitness Center
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- Harper Joy Theatre
- Reid Campus Center
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Parking lots will be unavailable on the day they are painted but will be available for use the following day.
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It’s Summer Fly-In time! Our first cohort is here this week (July 12–16), and the second cohort will be here next week (July 19–23). Shout out to the Summer Fly-In leaders (pictured) who are introducing these new students to the many resources Whitman has to offer and helping them make connections with their peers.
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Indoor Soccer: Futsal Game
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Sherwood Athletic Center, Multipurpose Gym
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Stanton Sports: Sand Volleyball
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Find us on social media: @whitmancollege
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