Katharine A. Owens, professor and chair of the Department of Politics, Economics, and International Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, is the 2024 recipient of the Donald W. Davis University Interdisciplinary Studies Award. It is presented annually to a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the University Interdisciplinary Studies Program.Owens combines her teaching and research with magnificent work on behalf of the University Interdisciplinary Studies (UIS) program. Course development and program advocacy are just two of the dozens of ongoing contributions she makes to the platform.
Owens’s accomplishments speak to her dedication to and passion for many interests, which, in addition to politics and economics, include environmental policy, perceptions, and civic engagement.
“Kat’s advocacy for UIS and for university-wide general education is evident in the program’s significant improvements,” states Margaret R. Tarampi, current director of UIS and associate professor of psychology. “Increased full-time faculty participation, diversity initiatives, and assessment strategies are among those advancements. In addition to many other contributions, she has prioritized and promoted equity, diversity, and inclusion, and has fostered the importance of a sense of belonging in the classroom.”
Colleagues of Owens note that her teaching, advocacy, and research effectively merge science, policy, and the arts, and as a result, she vastly enhances interdisciplinary approaches and thinking. She works with students on a variety of service-oriented and applied-learning projects that address real-world challenges.
A National Geographic Explorer and Fulbright-Nehru Scholar, Owens received a National Geographic Society Collaboration grant for her work exploring plastic pollution on rivers in the United States, Indonesia, and Uganda.
Owens is also an artist whose work has been shown in galleries and museums around the country.