April 27, 2006
Make it a Washington Weekend
From comet dust to a classic rock musical, open houses in sciences, arts and medicine, guided tours and student reunions — the UW’s three campuses will bloom with events for all ages during Washington Weekend, today through Saturday.
Now in its second year, Washington Weekend is a chance for old friends to return to campus for an update and for new friends to join the campus community in celebrating, as the University shows off its finest people and programs in Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma against a springtime setting. (For a full schedule of events and more, visit the Washington Weekend home page, at http://www.washington.edu/alumni/weekend .
“The University is a real treasure in our backyard, and we invite everybody to come back to campus and see all the great things going on here,” said Jon Marmor, communications director for the UW Alumni Association, which is sponsoring the event. He added that even staff and faculty will likely find something new this weekend. “It’s a chance to go to parts of the campus you’re unfamiliar with and learn something fascinating in a new department.”
And there’s plenty to see, to be sure, on all three campuses, including open houses and events enjoyed for years that now are part of the Washington Weekend lineup.
The Health Sciences Open House that shows off the latest research and technology, and the College of Engineering’s lively open house both will be held all day Friday and Saturday. Slavic Fest joins Washington Weekend this year, too, with a grand opening, a folklore parade and a children’s concert, all on Saturday. And in the Electrical Engineering Department, they are celebrating their centennial throughout the day on Saturday.
The UW Bothell is celebrating, too — its 15th birthday, with an open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The festivities will be kicked off by Interim Chancellor Steven Olswang near the colorful, flowered “W” recently installed on the campus. Student and faculty research will be on display, campus tours and tours of the UW Bothell’s wetlands restoration project will be given, and food and entertainment will abound.
But the activities are not intended for guests and neighbors alone; this year a new gathering called the UW Community Celebration has been added to bring together faculty, staff and retirees in a festive and social atmosphere. This hour of collective admiration will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. Friday, April 28, in the lobby of Meany Hall. Advance registration for this event has ended, but those still interested in attending should e-mail rsvpdr@u.washington.edu.
Authors, artists and researchers, both of the UW and guests, will present discussions and lectures of world-class interest and import. Here are some highlights:
- Don Brownlee, principal investigator of the NASA Stardust mission and a UW professor of astronomy, will discuss the planning, operation and amazing early results from the mission in a presentation titled Dust in Time: A Solar System Mystery, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29, in 120 Kane. (Advance registration is required; click here to register.)
- Shawn Wong, UW professor of English, will discuss his popular novel American Knees and show clips from the feature film based on the book released this year, titled Americanese, from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the University Bookstore in Seattle.
- Mona Lisa Saloy, Louisiana-based poet, folklorist and author invited to the UW as a visiting professor after the ravages of Hurricane Katrina, will discuss her award-winning book of poems Red Beans and Ricely Yours from 7 to 8:30 p.m. today in the Carwein Auditorium of UW Tacoma’s Keystone Building. (Click here to register.)
- William Dietrich, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, will join well-known photographer Art Wolfe, artist and UW faculty member Philip Grovedare and others to share reflections on the natural world in a program titled Northwest Artists’ Eyes: Revealing the Power of Nature’s Inspiration, at 7 p.m. today in 220 Kane.
- Charles Johnson, author and UW English professor, will be the keynote speaker at Literary Voices, a special event being held Saturday evening at the UW Club and involving writers from the UW and beyond. Other authors scheduled to appear include Gerald Baldesty, David Bosworth, William Calvin, Ivan Doig, Colleen McElroy, Margaret Levy and David Shields. Proceeds from the dinner will support Friends of the Libraries projects. (Register in advance by e-mailing uwlibs@u.washington.edu.)
Also tonight is the annual Who Gets the Last Word lecture, where senior-level students choose a faculty member to deliver an unconventional lecture on any topic. This year the honor goes to Stan Chernicoff, assistant dean for academic support and senior lecturer in Earth and Space Sciences, whose lecture will be at 6:30 p.m. in 210 Kane. And reconstruction after disaster will be addressed in After Hurricane Katrina: RE-Construction or NEW Construction for Health and Human Services from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in 120 Kane.
The campuses will abound with family-friendly activities, too, during the three-day celebration.
- “Explore the Living Oceans”: The College of Ocean and Fishery Sciences will feature interactive displays, informative demonstrations and hands-on activities in several locations Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stroll along Boat Street to learn about such things as Puget Sound sharks, bizarre fish from around the world and invasive species threatening our waterways.
- Family history will be the topic in two events Saturday in the Allen Library. “Researching Your Family History” will be from 10 to 11 a.m., followed by “Preserving Your Family History” from 11 a.m. to noon.
- “Playdate at the Henry” from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, invites “children of all ages” to come explore, from the colorful prints of Roy Lichtenstein to the monumental sculptures of Maya Lin (of whose work a separate tour is available at 3 p.m.). Jump rope sensations The Lafayette Elementary Popcorns will perform at 12:30 p.m. and Double-Dutch superstars, On the Double, will show off at 1:30 p.m.
- Slavic Fest presents its Folklore Parade from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday in Red Square, and its Children’s Concert from 4 to 5:30 p.m., in 130 Kane.
And speaking of concerts, the Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder drumline and the Husky Marching Band will perform from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday, on the HUB lawn.
Performing arts are well displayed in the three-day schedule, with the School of Drama presenting the rock musical The Who’s Tommy each evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Meany Studio Theater. The Dance Student Association will also present SPIN, a dance concert featuring its students, at 3 and 5 p.m. Saturday in 267 Meany. Also, the Dance Department, School of Drama, School of Music, School of Art and College of Architecture and Urban Planning and the Center for Digital Arts & Experimental Media all will hold open houses to meet the public.
Husky sports are reflected on the schedule, too. The Huskies will meet the University of Arizona Wildcats in softball and baseball, in the Husky Ballpark and the softball stadium respectively. Coupons for discount admission to the games will be handed out all three days at the HUB lawn.
And all of this will be rounded out by student reunions (the 50th of the Class of 1956), museum events, informative seminars about education at the UW, library tours, art walks, gala dinners and more.
The 2005 Washington Weekend celebration drew a crowd of about 15,000 visitors, said Marmor of the UW Alumni Association. But Marmor said he expects more than twice that attendance for the 2006 event.
