Biography

As an educator, organizer and activist, Shirley Osterhaus has been involved in solidarity and human rights work for the greater part of her life. Having lived in Bellingham for over 20 years, she was one of the co-founders of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force, Central American Refugee Assistance (CARA), Bellingham-El Salvador Sister City Organization. Shirley has traveled on multiple educational delegations to various conflict areas of the world to better understand the reality of people on the ground. Most consistently, she has stood in solidarity with the people of Mexico and Central and South America. For over a decade as Catholic Campus Minister at Western Washington University, she organized and took groups of students on cross-cultural, educational/service trips to Tijuana, Mexico.

 

Shirley Osterhaus: Curriculum Vitae (PDF, 81KB)

 

Interest Areas

Human rights; Peace; Nonviolence; Environmental Justice; Gardening; Backpacking; Biking; Traveling.

Selected Publications

• Loucky, James, Armstrong, Jeanne, and Estrada, Larry. 2006. Immigration in America Today. Greenwood Press, Article: Religion

 

Courses taught

World Issues Study Group
Human Rights/Global Visions
The Spirit of Justice
Journey to Nonviolence
Spiritualities of Peace and Justice Making
The Sacred Earth