GridgeFridge

In this episode of GridgeFridge, we bring you an Intern Extravaganza Special. GridgeFridge host, Laine Bottemiller, is joined by Morgridge Center interns Barsha Pantha, Isa Hernandez-White, and Makayla Cole to share and reflect about their personal and professional experiences at the center as graduation is around the corner.

Tune in to learn how they've grown and hone their skills over the course of the past three years and what the Morgridge Center means to them and what it could mean to you.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Elise Ahn, the founding director of the International Projects Office and lecturer in educational policy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Elise studies language, linguistics, and education policy. Previously, Elise has also lectured at KIMEP University in Kazakhstan.

The International Projects Office, or IPO, globalizes the Wisconsin Idea through international projects and partnerships—this can look like capacity building at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan or partnering with different countries through the United Nations to address COVID-19.

Beyond the work accomplished by these UW–Madison programs, internationalizing the university is a chance for valuable person-to-person connections, we find out. Keep listening to learn about mutually beneficial international relationships at UW and how learning new languages—despite being intimidating—is a chance to build connections and foster inclusion in education.

Did you know that UW–Madison has an economic impact of $30 billion dollars annually on the state of Wisconsin? In this bonus episode, we talked about how Crystal has seen UW–Madison’s impact across the state of Wisconsin and how she communicates this value to Wisconsin policymakers.

As the senior director of State Relations for the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Crystal Potts is the connecting piece between UW–Madison and the state government, balancing the interests and needs of Wisconsin legislators and policymakers with those of UW–Madison leadership, faculty and students.

Listen to learn how state funding of UW–Madison impacts the university’s competitiveness and how Crystal advocates for the university while responding to legislators’ needs.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Travis Wright. Dr. Travis Wright has been the faculty director of the Morgridge Center for Public Service since 2022, but beyond the Morgridge Center, his life experiences have been full of public service. Growing up facing housing insecurity instability and then finding his own passion for public service, Travis has witnessed firsthand the importance of service and community engagement. 

In this episode, we’re breaking the fourth wall and talking with Travis about his background, research, ideas of community engagement, and how those notions inform his work at the Morgridge Center. Join us as Travis and I discuss emotionally responsive teaching, how public service changed his life, and how community partnerships have the potential to build empathy and understanding.

In this episode, we talk with Gracey Niedzielak and Avery Simpson, the chapter president and vice president of A Moment of Magic at UW–Madison. A Moment of Magic, also known as AMOM, is a nonprofit organization that uses engaging social wellness activities to inspire children to be brave, strong, and fearless.

The organization raises awareness for families impacted by pediatric cancer, children with disabilities and other medically vulnerable and underserved populations. Members of AMOM volunteer and visit these children at hospitals, fundraisers, or their home, often dressed as the children’s favorite character.

Keep listening to learn how AMOM impacts the children and volunteers involved with the organization, and how the organization is making magic happen here at UW–Madison.

Every year, a select group of University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty and academic staff take a five-day journey across the state of Wisconsin, called the Wisconsin Idea Seminar. This episode, we're talking with Assistant Provost and Director of the Wisconsin Idea Seminar Catherine Reiland, who is responsible for designing the immersive study journey.

The Wisconsin Idea Seminar is a chance for academic staff to come together, listen and learn from communities across Wisconsin. When designing seminars, Catherine focuses on the way that communities solve problems and how people can come together in inspirational and mutually beneficial ways.

In this episode, we chat with Catherine about the value of the connection and how the program is a chance to hear from different voices across Wisconsin.

In this special episode of GridgeFridge, we dig into the topic of affordable housing in Madison. As the university’s population continues to grow, students question whether there is physically space enough for them. Others are unsure whether they can afford to come to UW-Madison at all.

Produced over four months, this narrative-style episode features voices across campus and Madison, including leaders from the Zoe Bayliss Student Housing Cooperative, housing administrators/representatives from UW–Madison and the City of Madison, and campus constituents. Listeners will learn about the efforts in motion to better understand the housing crisis and find solutions.

Those initiatives, their progress, and where affordable housing is heading in the City of Madison — we’re going to unpack it all in this special spring semester episode of GridgeFridge.  

In this episode, we’re excited to welcome Emily Boettcher, Elaine West, and Maddy Willander, students who worked on a capstone project involving issues to prisoner reentry — also a Community-based Learning course. Their project centered around the organization Just Dane, a program in Dane County that works to provide resources to and advocate for individuals impacted by incarceration.

We’ll talk with these students on their experience working with Just Dane and in the academic environment surrounding the criminal justice system.

In this episode of GridgeFridge, we're chatting with Amanjot Kaur, Kayley Bell and Sarah Nehls. Throughout the spring, this group has been working with BadgersVote, League of Women Voters, Campus Vote Project, and Associated Students of Madison to activate students in the civic engagement sphere. Following one of the most funded state Supreme Court races, we're reflecting on what made this election special and the importance of the student vote. We're also discussing this semester of BadgersVote's work, reasons you shouldn't be afraid to ask about voting, and why students should care about local elections.

In our second episode of the spring semester, we’re thrilled to welcome Sammy Angelina, Jenna Harb and Claudia Liverseed. Claudia and Jenna are interns for the Morgridge Center’s Student Organization Partnership Programs, called SOPP. SOPP works to connect community partners with registered student orgs to build long-term partnerships between campus and the greater Madison community.

Sammy works as a community engagement education intern, a role in which she facilitates educational workshops for students engaging with the community. In March, Claudia, Jenna and Sammy attended the IMPACT Conference, which is one of the nation’s largest annual conferences focused on civic engagement and community engagement on college campuses.