UW News

Politics and government


May 2, 2017

Documents that Changed the World: Delayed stock market ticker tape, October 1929

A cleaner sweeps the floor after the Wall Street crash of 1929.

Timing is everything, they say. In the latest episode of his Documents that Changed the World podcast series, Joe Janes of the UW Information School explores how an overload of critical information helped trigger the stock market crash of 1929, and thus the Great Depression. “This is a story about fortunes lost, lives ruined, a…


April 24, 2017

UW Law School hosts ‘How We Police in America: A Case for Reform’ May 4

Officer-involved shootings. Federal investigations. Body cameras. Civilian review boards. Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. In cities around the country, the relationship between police and community is fraught with tension — sometimes the direct result of violent incidents, sometimes the reverberations of problems elsewhere. And almost always, talk of police reform is in the air….


March 28, 2017

After much media attention, UW Information School’s ‘Calling BS’ class begins

The very name of the class, when proposed, seemed to fire imaginations nationwide and beyond. Now with the beginning of spring quarter, the UW Information School’s new course “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data” is getting started.


March 23, 2017

Jackson School to offer lectures for students on ‘Trump in the World’

Faculty with the UW Jackson School of International Studies will explore the impact of the 2016 election on their respective areas of expertise in a new two-credit class titled “Trump in the World: International Implications of the Trump Presidency.”


March 22, 2017

Race, health, justice topics for March 31 UW symposium on medical ethics

The interdisciplinary 2017 Benjamin Rabinowitz Symposium in Medical Ethics on March 31, titled “Race, Health & Justice,” will explore inequities in health and health care and place them in political, economic and historical context.


February 6, 2017

‘Overwhelming’ response, global press attention for new UW Information School course, ‘Calling BS’

It’s almost unheard-of for a university class to spark global press attention — and offers of book deals — before instruction even begins. But such is the case with the UW Information School’s new course, “Calling Bullshit in the Age of Big Data.”


January 31, 2017

UW’s Forefront to recreate memorial, advocate for solutions at Suicide Prevention Education Day in Olympia

Photograph of 2016 memorial

The UW-based Forefront will host a memorial for Washington state residents who died by suicide and join firearms dealers, veterans’ organizations, pharmacists, health care providers and suicide attempt and loss survivors to advocate for two legislative bills as part of Suicide Prevention Education Day.


Poetry, passion and social justice: Activist poets to gather at UW, perform at Seattle Public Library Feb. 3

Poet activists from around the nation will gather for daylong UW conference Feb. 3 on creativity in activism — and then give full voice to that creativity in performances 7 – 10 p.m. at the Seattle Public Library. All are welcome.


December 22, 2016

New UW law course focuses on presidential power in the Trump era

Image of Donald Trump speaking

Donald Trump’s promises on the campaign trail have generated confusion and consternation around the country, as many wonder not only what the president-elect actually intends to do, but what is within his power to accomplish. Will Trump follow through on his threat to deport millions of undocumented immigrants? Could he pull the U.S. out of…


December 14, 2016

Businesses shape international law through ‘astroturf activism,’ paper finds

The furor over the 2010 Citizens United decision drew intense scrutiny to the role of corporate money in U.S. politics and raised questions about the influence of businesses in American lawmaking. But corporate interests also play a powerful role in international legal processes, sometimes by covertly creating or co-opting non-governmental organizations to lobby lawmakers on…


November 17, 2016

Trump and foreign policy: UW Jackson School faculty speak out

Several Jackson School of International Studies faculty members comment on the geopolitical possibilities of the coming Donald Trump administration.


November 14, 2016

State’s housing market strong in third quarter of 2016

Washington state’s housing market remained strong in the third quarter of 2016, according to the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies.


November 9, 2016

UW Libraries to hold Veterans Day open house for WWI-themed exhibit

"Washington on the Western Front: At Home and Over There" will be on display at Allen Library through Jan. 31, 2017.

UW Libraries will host an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. on Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, in conjunction with the current World War I-themed exhibit, “Washington on the Western Front: At Home and Over There.”


November 4, 2016

Election 2016: What happened? Evans School to host Nov. 10 public forum reviewing ballot results

The Evans School of Policy & Governance will look back at the 2016 election in a discussion on Nov. 10 at Parrington Hall.


November 2, 2016

Devin Naar’s book ‘Jewish Salonica’ tells of city’s transition from Ottoman Empire to Greece

"Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece" was published in September by Stanford University Press.

Prof. Devin Naar of the Jackson School and the Department of History discusses his new book, “Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece,”


October 27, 2016

Book by political scientist Victor Menaldo debunks notion of ‘resource curse’

"The Institutions Curse: National Resources, Politics, and Development," by UW political scientist Victor Menaldo.

“The Institutions Curse,” a new book by UW political scientist Victor Menaldo, finds a new explanation for the “resource curse” problem — the idea that resource-rich countries tend to be burdened with corrupt governments and underdeveloped economies.


October 25, 2016

Philosophy of immigration: Panel discussion Oct. 27 part of two-day UW conference

A UW panel discussion Oct. 27 will look at immigration-related questions from philosophical, sociological and historical perspectives. It’s part of a two-day international conference on immigration.


October 21, 2016

Communication professor Leah Ceccarelli honored, discusses ‘rhetoric of science’

Leah Ceccarelli - story is a Q and A with her about her work, for which she was given the National Communication Association's 2016 Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award.

Communication professor Leah Ceccarelli discusses the work that brought her the National Communication Association’s Douglas W. Ehninger Distinguished Rhetorical Scholar Award for 2016.


October 18, 2016

Documentary, archive to remember the ‘Seattle Freeway Revolt’

A tree wraps its branches around the concrete pillars of one of the ramps that weren’t built due to the freeway revolt. Minda Martin of UW Bothell is directing a documentary about the protest.

Minda Martin had not lived in Seattle long before, on a walking tour, she noticed the famously truncated “ramps to nowhere” in the Washington Park Arboretum. A filmmaker and faculty member at UW Bothell, she was fascinated — and inspired. “I was stunned by these giant freeway stumps covered in ivy along land that didn’t…


October 12, 2016

Cars vs. health: UW’s Moudon, Dannenberg contribute to Lancet series on urban planning, public health

Automobiles — and the planning and infrastructure to support them — are making our cities sick, says an international group of researchers now publishing a three-part series in the British medical journal The Lancet.


October 5, 2016

Building ‘up not out’: Draft UW Campus Master Plan for 2018 now seeking public input

aerial of UW campus

A new proposed draft Campus Master Plan for 2018 sees the University of Washington’s Seattle campus growing up rather than out — building a little higher, filling in with more density, not expanding its borders, helping to ease transportation flow and creating big new green spaces. 2018 draft Campus Master Plan — opportunities for public…


‘A Hug from Afar’: A Sephardic family’s journey of escape as World War II looms

"A Hug from Afar: One Family's Dramatic Journey Through Three Continents to Escape the Holocaust" is by Claire Barkey Flash, with foreword by Devin Naar, UW Isaac Alhadeff Professor of Sephardic Studies and associate professor of history and Jewish studies.

Prof. Devin Naar of the Jackson School’s Stroum Center for Jewish Studies discusses the book “A Hug from Afar: One Family’s Dramatic Journey Through Three Continents to Escape the Holocaust,” by Claire Barkey Flash, for which Naar wrote the foreword.


October 4, 2016

New LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History project debuts Oct. 10

At left is Jack Starr, a successful female impersonator whose stage name was Jackie Starr -- called "the most beautiful man in America" by gossip columnist Walter Winchell. At right is Billy DeVoe. It's 1950 and they are at the Garden of Allah, Seattle's first gay-owned and operated gay bar. This story is about a new digital collection -- the LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History Project that is part of the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project

The UW’s Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project has an important new component — the LGBTQ Activism in Seattle History Project. There will be a public launch at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, in Room 340 of the HUB.


September 30, 2016

‘We the people’: All invited to UW Constitution read-aloud event Oct. 7

An image of artist Junius Brutus Stearns' painting of George Washington signing the U.S. Constitution at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The University of Washington will hold its annual Constitution read-aloud event on Oct. 7 at Suzzallo Library.

UW Libraries is inviting the public to Suzzallo Library at lunchtime on Oct. 7 to listen to — or participate in — the annual reading of the United States Constitution.


September 23, 2016

‘If these shackles could speak’: Charles Johnson’s powerful statement for Smithsonian Magazine feature on new African American Museum of History and Culture

Charles Johnson, UW professor emeritus of English, was asked to write a statement to accompany an item to be displayed in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. The item is an iron slave shackle from the 19th century, and the photo -- by Wendel A. White -- depicts that.

Charles Johnson, UW professor emeritus of English, wrote a statement to accompany an item to be displayed in the new National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C. What he wrote also was featured in a special issue of Smithsonian Magazine.


September 20, 2016

New film about British Holocaust trial has UW connection

Poster for the film "Denial," which is about historian Deborah Lipstadt, who taught at the University of Washington in the 1970s.

“Denial,” a new movie about an American historian’s lengthy court battle with a British Holocaust denier, has a UW connection — Deborah Lipstadt, the film’s protagonist, taught at the UW early in her career.


September 14, 2016

Allen Library exhibit explores South Asia in art, scholarship

Poster for "Envisaging South Asia: Art, Images, and Scholarship," an exhibit in the UW's Allen Library through Oct. 31.

A new exhibit in the UW’s Allen Library explores South Asia through art, artifacts, manuscripts, music and more. “Envisaging South Asia: Art, Images, and Scholarship” will be on view through Oct. 31.


August 29, 2016

David Domke to discuss presidential election at Sept. 7 fundraising event

David Domke will be this year's speaker at the William R Ruckelshaus Center's Chairman's Circle fundraising luncheon Sept. 7.

David Domke, chair of the UW Department of Communication, will discuss the wild 2016 presidential campaign and its implications for the country in a luncheon Sept. 7 for the William D. Ruckelshaus Center.


August 25, 2016

Report explores factors that might attract children to marijuana edibles

A new report from the UW School of Law’s Cannabis Law and Policy Project identifies factors that make food attractive to children. Commissioned by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, the report studied research on what makes food appeal to children and the role that marketing and branding play.


August 12, 2016

‘Hilloccio’ vs the ‘gas giant’: Suzzallo Library exhibit features powerful editorial cartoons from campaign 2016

The editorial cartoons filling a ground floor exhibit in Suzzallo Library through November are hard-hitting, but they fairly depict the wild campaign of 2016, and the serious issues the year has brought as well.


August 9, 2016

New book ‘Cities that Think Like Planets’ imagines urban regions resilient to change

Marina Alberti's book "Cities that Think Like Planets: Complexity, Resilience, and Innovation in Hybrid Ecosystems" was published in July by University of Washington Press. Photo is the cover illustration of the book.

What does it mean for a city to “think like a planet”? Marina Alberti of the UW College of Built Environments discusses her new book, “Cities that Think Like Planets,” published by UW Press.


July 28, 2016

Runstad Center report: Addressing condo construction defect liability may help promote affordable housing in Seattle

A new study from the UW’s Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies suggests that Seattle and Washington state could invite development of more affordable housing by easing the legal risk — or the appearance of risk — in condominium development, construction, liability and insurance.


July 25, 2016

Minimum Wage Study: Effects of Seattle wage hike modest, may be overshadowed by strong economy

The lot of Seattle’s lowest-paid workers improved following the city’s minimum wage increase to $11 in 2015, but that was more due to the robust regional economy than the wage hike itself, according to a research team headed by the UW Evans School.


July 13, 2016

Opinion: Closing parts of the ocean to fishing not enough to protect marine ecosystems

Four line graphs showing rising trneds

In a three-page commentary in the journal Nature, fisheries professor Ray Hilborn argues that establishing marine protected areas is not as effective at protecting marine biodiversity as properly managing recreational and commercial fisheries.


June 22, 2016

Harry Bridges Labor Center report explores effects of job outsourcing at Portland International Airport

Portland International Airport in 2015. Recent research published by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies comments on the economic effects of job outsourcing at the airport, called PDX for short.

The outsourcing of workers at Portland International Airport has increased in recent years while those workers serve ever-more passengers and their wages remain low, according to a recent report from the UW’s Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies.


June 15, 2016

Evans School’s Justin Marlowe addresses public-private partnerships in third financial guide

Volume three of Justin Marlowe's Guide to Financial Literacy has been published by Governing magazine.

Public-private partnerships can be important financing tools, but public officials overseeing them must understand the risks well, says the Evans School’s Justin Marlowe, author of a multivolume Guide to Financial Literacy.


June 10, 2016

Jackson School Space Security Initiative capstone event gathers students, area stakeholders

Saadia Pekkanen, Job and Gertrud Tamaki Professor and associate director of the UW's Jackson School of International Studies, chairs a capstone meeting for junior fellows of the school's Space Security Initiative Wednesday, June 8, at the University of Washington Club. From left, others are: Kristian Ulrichsen, affiliate professor of international studies; Alan Boyle, journalist with GeekWire; and John Thornquist, director of the Office of Aerospace for the Washington State Department of Commerce.

What are the policies of global rising powers regarding the use of orbital and outer space, and what are the implications of those policies for international cooperation? A capstone event for junior fellows of the Jackson School’s Space Security Initiative explored such questions in a recently with space industry, media and government representatives also on hand.


May 31, 2016

Gov. Inslee appoints UW undergrad Austin Wright-Pettibone as new student regent

New student regent Austin-Wright-Pettibone

Gov. Jay Inslee named Austin Wright-Pettibone as the next student member of the University of Washington Board of Regents for the 2016-17 school year. Wright-Pettibone, a Kirkland native, is an undergraduate studying chemical engineering and becomes the first undergraduate since 2008 to be selected as the UW’s student regent. He graduated from Inglemoor High School in…


May 19, 2016

Historical role of translation studied in new book ‘Translation’s Forgotten History’

Book cover to "Translation's Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature," by Heekyoung Cho, UW assistant professor of Asian languages and literature, published in March by Harvard University Press.

“Translation’s Forgotten History: Russian Literature, Japanese Mediation, and the Formation of Modern Korean Literature” by Heekyoung Cho, UW assistant professor of Asian languages and literature, explores the role of translation in the making of modern literature, and how its understanding changes when viewed through the lens of translation.


May 9, 2016

Vicente Rafael explores link between translation, historical imagination in book ‘Motherless Tongues’

"Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language Amid Wars of Translation," by UW history professor Vicente Rafael, was published by Duke University Press.

UW history professor Vicente Rafael says his new book, “Motherless Tongues: The Insurgency of Language amid Wars of Translation,” asks longstanding questions about the relationship between history and language.



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