February 8, 2024
ArtSci Roundup: Journeys of Black Mathematicians, Circa Performance, Building Scyborgs Lecture, and more
This week, head to Kane Hall for the film screening of Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience, attend K. Wayne Yang’s discussion on scyborgs and decolonization, enjoy next level circus by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa, and more.
February 12, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Black Soldiers and the Racial Debilitation of Slavery and the Civil War, Smith Hall
As part of the History Colloquium, Professor La Tasha Levy will discuss “Black Soldiers and the Racial Debilitation of Slavery and the Civil War.” Levy is a Black Studies scholar who currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of American Ethnic Studies
The History Colloquium aims to encourage greater intellectual exchange within the UW community by discussing works in progress from faculty members and graduate students.
Free | More info
February 12, 5:30 – 7:30 pm | Film Screening: Whole, Thomson Hall 
Join the Department of Asian Languages & Literature for a series of films exploring diversity and inclusion in Japanese society. “Whole” is a short drama created by Writer Usman Kawazoe and Director Bilal Kawazoe depicting Haruki, a biracial student who decides to quit college and travel to Japan, and Makoto, a construction worker raised in the projects of Kansai who is also biracial. Haruki and Makoto grow closer and begin their journey from “Half” to “Whole.”
The film is in Japanese with English subtitles and will be followed by a brief discussion.
Free | More info & Registration
February 12, 7:30 pm | Faculty Concert: Cuong Vu, trumpet; Cristina Valdés, piano, Meany Hall
Dynamic duo Cuong Vu and Cristina Valdés straddle the worlds of contemporary classical music and free improvisation, premiering works for trumpet and piano by Oliver Schneller, Wang Lu, and Skúli Sverrisson, and performing music by Huck Hodge and Eva-Maria Houben.
Tickets | More info & Tickets
February 13, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | War in the Middle East Lecture: Regional Repercussions of the War, Architecture Hall
Join the Jackson School of International Studies for a Middle East Lecture Series with Marc Lynch, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, on Regional Repercussions of the War.
This event is part of War in the Middle East, a series of talks and discussions on the aftermath of October 7, the war in Gaza, and responses worldwide.
Recordings of past lectures are available on the event landing page.
Free | RSVP & More info
February 13, 6:30 pm | Building Scyborgs. An evening on decolonization, Town Hall Seattle & Livestream
Join scholar, organizer, and co-conspirator K. Wayne Yang as he shares stories about decolonizing endeavors from past, present, future, and speculative somewheres. Yang will discuss monsters, machines, mortals, and how people are the objects of colonization and agents of decolonization.
The livestream of this lecture will be accompanied by an ASL interpreter and include CART captioning.
Free | More info & Registration
February 14 & 15, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm | Makers Fair, Husky Union Building Street/Lyceum
February 15, 6:00 – 8:30 pm | Simons Laufer Math Film Screening + Director Q&A: “Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience”, Kane Hall
The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute is joined by the Departments of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics, and Statistics for the film screening of Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience.
The film, by George Csicsery, traces the cultural evolution of Black scholars, scientists, and educators. Follow the stories of prominent pioneers, and the challenges and accomplishments reflected in today’s working Black mathematicians. Their mathematical descendants are now present day college and K-12 students across the US, learning they belong in mathematics and STEM.
The screening will follow with a Q&A with Director George Csicsery.
Free | RSVP & More info
February 15 – 17, 8:00 pm | Circa: Humans 2.0, Meany Hall 
A symphony of acrobatics, sound, and light, Humans 2.0 is next level circus by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa. Ten bodies appear in a flash of light. They move in harmony for a fleeting moment and then descend into a sinuous trance. Created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, with pulsing music by composer Ori Lichtik and dramatic lighting by Paul Jackson, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal, and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.
Tickets | More info & Buy Tickets
February 15, 4:00 – 5:30 pm | LECTURE | Sisters in the Mirror: A History of Muslim Women and the Global Politics of Feminism, Thomson Hall
The UW South Asia Center invites Elora Shehabuddin, professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and Global Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, to present a unique and engaging history of feminism as a story of colonial and postcolonial interactions between Western and Muslim societies.
Stretching from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment era to the War on Terror present, Sisters in the Mirror shows how changes in women’s lives and feminist strategies have consistently reflected wider changes in national and global politics and economics.
Free | More info
February 15, 7:30 pm | Brechemin Piano Series, Brechemin Auditorium 
Craig Sheppard, Robin McCabe, and Cristina Valdés lead students from the UW piano studios to perform works from the piano repertoire.
Craig Sheppard is Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard at the UW School of Music. He is also Professor of the Advanced Innovation Center at the China Conservatory in Beijing.
Celebrated pianist Robin McCabe has established herself as one of America’s most communicative and persuasive artists. McCabe’s involvement and musical sensibilities have delighted audiences across the globe.
Pianist Cristina Valdés presents innovative concerts of standard and experimental repertoire, and is known to “play a mean piano.” A fierce advocate for new music, she has premiered countless works, including many written for her.
Free | More info
February 16, 3:00 pm | Concerto Competition: Strings, Brechemin Auditorium
UW Strings students perform concerto movements for outside judges, competing for a chance to perform with the University of Washington Symphony.
Free | More info
February 20, 1:00 pm | The Big Read: Keynote Conversation with the Author, Husky Union Building South Ballroom
The College of Arts & Sciences welcomes the UW community of faculty, staff, and students to participate in the second annual “Big Read.”
Tune into the conversation with Dr. Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League and author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What is Human in a World of Machines and Dr. Emily M. Bender, UW Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Master’s Program in Computational Linguistics.
Free | More info & Registration
February 22, 4:00 pm | Climate Crisis: Our Response as Artivists, Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall
Appearing onstage at the UW’s Meany Center in February, “Small Island Big Song” is an immersive concert experience that celebrates the seafaring cultures of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and features Indigenous musicians from the frontline of the climate crisis.
The UWAA and Meany Center are excited to gather a UW College of the Environment alumna, a current student (Majoring in geography) and creators of “Small Island Big Song” to talk about issues of climate change, advocacy, art and culture. Our panelists each come to these topics from different vantage points and will share their reflections on how these topics all impact one another.
As the climate crisis quickly rises to the top of world concerns, different sectors — including artists — scramble to figure out ways to respond to its impending pressures. We all have a vital role to play. Join the conversation as we explore ways we can use our voices to push the needle on political, economic, social and cultural questions at the root of this global concern.
UWAA hosted reception to follow.
Free | More info & Registration
Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).
Tag(s): College of Arts & Sciences • Department of Applied Mathematics • Department of Asian Languages and Literature • Department of Comparative History of Ideas • Department of History • Department of Mathematics • Department of Statistics • Henry M. Jackson Foundation • Husky Union Building • Jackson School of International Studies • Japan Studies Program • Meany Center for the Performing Arts • School of Law • School of Music • Social Sciences Division • South Asia Center • UW Comparative Religion • UW Graduate School • UW Housing & Food Services • UW Public Lectures
