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October 7, 2020

UW books in brief: Children’s books on STEM professionals, a courageous personal memoir — and UW Press looks back at 100

 

New books by University of Washington faculty members include a pair of children’s works profiling STEM researchers and a personal memoir of an immigrant’s journey to freedom. Also, several UW faculty and staff members are featured as UW Press looks back on a century of publishing — and a book on British colonialism is honored.

Work of Quintard Taylor, Bill Holm featured as University of Washington Press looks back at 100

Marking the 100^th birthday of University of Washington Press, its staff chose “10 pivotal titles” from its history — including three books by UW faculty members — in an essay for the website LitHub titled “A University Press Looks Back on a Century of Publishing.”

The list represents books, the staff wrote, that helped define their fields. “Mirroring the innovative spirit of research and inquiry at the University of Washington, the press developed a reputation for publishing at the forefront of many fields … from natural and environmental history to Native and Indigenous studies, and from African American and Asian studies to literature in translation.”

The list includes “Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form,” by Bill Holm, UW professor emeritus of art history and curator emeritus of the Northwest Coast Indian art at the Burke Museum, calling it “a foundational reference work and study guide for contemporary Native carvers, painters and weavers.” UW Press put out a 50^th anniversary edition of the volume in 2014.

Also featured is UW history professor emeritus Quintard Taylor‘s chronicle of “the growth of the neighborhood at the city’s heart that shaped its urban history.” “The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 Through the Civil Rights Era” was published in 1994.

“Seattle’s journey to world-class status has been closely tied to the vibrant culture that blossomed in this community,” the UW press staff wrote, “nurturing such talents as Ray Charles, Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix along with the first Black Panther Party chapter outside of Oakland. The book’s call for economic justice remains as relevant and urgent as ever.”

Also noted is “Flora of the Pacific Northwest: An Illustrated Manual,” published in 1973 with a new, updated edition in 2018. The book — called the bible of botanists and gardeners in the region — is by C. Leo Hitchcock, who was a UW professor of botany; with botanist Arthur Cronquist. The new edition was revised by David Giblin and Peter Zika of the UW Herbarium and UW biology professor Richard Olmstead, with Ben Legler of the University of Idaho.

Also on the list was John Okada’s novel “No-No Boy,” ushered back into print with fair consideration for the author’s family by UW English professor Shawn Wong.

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Faisal Hossain of civil & environmental engineering publishes children’s books on STEM

Faisal Hossain, UW professor of civil and environmental engineering, has published two books for young readers: “The Secret Lives of Scientists, Engineers, and Doctors,” volumes one and two, from Mascot Books.

The books will showcase “the struggle, growth and success” of 12 professionals in STEM fields, including a geneticist, a biologist, a cancer researcher and a scientist at the National Institutes of Health, among others. They will be written especially for readers from second to fifth grades.

With more volumes planned, the book series is a spin-off from a National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine effort called New Voices, aiming to widen access to science education. Read an article on the Civil & Environmental Engineering website.

Published in September, the book is available for order and will be in stores soon. To learn more, contact Hossain at fhossain@uw.edu.

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Affiliate dentistry faculty member publishes memoir of escape from Iran

Dr. Mahvash Khajavi-Harvey, a part-time affiliate faculty member of the UW School of Dentistry, has published “Daylight Forever,” a memoir of her solo journey from Iran to the United States as a Baha’i refugee.

The book tells of Khajavi-Harvey growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War, and of her escape on her own at age 15 across the Iran-Pakistan border. Khajavi-Harvey is a Seattle dentist and human rights activist.

One reviewer wrote that the story “is a vivid reminder that immigrants bring with them deeply rooted values of family, loyalty, hard work and perseverance. We are richer for their presence.”

The memoir is available through eBook platforms, online retailers and bookstores. To learn more, contact Khajavi-Harvey at zkharvey@gmail.com.

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Historian George Behlmer’s book ‘Risky Shores’ honored by conference on British studies

UW history professor emeritus George Behlmer‘s 2018 book “Risky Shores: Savagery and Colonialism in the Western Pacific” was co-winner of the 2019 Stansky Book Prize from the North American Conference on British Studies.

The prize, which comes with $500, is awarded each year to “the best book published anywhere by a North American scholar on any aspect of British studies since 1800.” Behlmer’s book was published by Stanford University Press, and was featured this summer in the journal American Historical Review.

The other Stansky Book Prize winner was “Trust Among Strangers: Friendly Societies in Modern Britain,” by Penelope Ismay of Boston College.

Tag(s): Bill Holm • Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture • College of Arts & Sciences • College of Engineering • Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering • Department of History • Faisal Hossain • George Behlmer • Quintard Taylor • School of Dentistry • Shawn Wong • University of Washington Press • UW Herbarium

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