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College of Arts & Sciences


February 18, 2020

ArtsUW Roundup: Brazil’s Grupo Corpo, Scheidel Lecture with Regina G. Lawrence — and more

This week in the arts, attend Critical Issues lecture series with Sadie Barnette, Grupo Corpo performs at the Meany Center, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. 2020 UW Department of Communication Scheidel Lecture February 19, Reception: 3:45 pm, Lecture: 5 pm | Walker Ames Room, Kane 225 Join the Department of…


Simple, fuel-efficient rocket engine could enable cheaper, lighter spacecraft

A rocket takes off

UW researchers have developed a mathematical model that describes how rotating detonation engines work.


February 14, 2020

Earth’s cousins: Upcoming missions to look for ‘biosignatures’ in the atmospheres of nearby worlds

Artist's depiction of the TRAPPIST-1 star and its seven worlds.

Victoria Meadows, professor of astronomy at the University of Washington and director of the UW’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory, talks about how upcoming missions like the James Webb Space Telescope will be able to characterize the atmospheres of potentially Earth-like exoplanets and may even detect signs of life. Meadows is delivering a talk on this subject on Feb. 15, 2020 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in Seattle.


February 13, 2020

Immune cells consult with neighbors to make decisions

An illustration showing immune system cells migrating to a wound site.

Scientists and physicians have long known that immune cells migrate to the site of an infection, which individuals experience as inflammation — swelling, redness and pain. Now, researchers at the University of Washington and Northwestern University have uncovered evidence that this gathering is not just a consequence of immune activation. Immune cells count their neighbors before deciding whether or not the immune system should kick into high gear.


February 10, 2020

UW study reveals gender, racial disparities in evictions

Photo of closed door with eviction notice on the front

A new University of Washington study of eviction filings from each of Washington’s 39 counties illustrates where, and to whom, evictions hit hardest.


February 7, 2020

Interactive map shows worldwide spread of coronavirus

heatmap of China showing worldwide spread of coronavirus

University of Washington geographer Bo Zhao has created an interactive map, updated every few hours, of coronavirus cases around the world.


February 6, 2020

ArtsUW Roundup: a Valentine’s Day concert with Mark and Maggie O’Connor, Money can’t buy you HYGGE Presented by Kristian Næsby, and more

This week in the arts, attend a student jazz ensemble concert, hear from Department of Communications faculty about creative ways to tackle challenges within your community, join Rahel Aima for another Critical Issues lecture, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. Lecture-Recital: Bach Cello Suites: Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir February 11,  1:30 pm |…


February 5, 2020

Soundbites & B-roll: Altruistic babies

For journalists Download soundbites and b-roll   New research by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, or I-LABS, finds that altruism may begin in infancy. In a study of nearly 100 19-month-olds, researchers found that children, even when hungry, gave a tasty snack to a stranger in need. The findings not…


February 4, 2020

First-of-its-kind hydrogel platform enables on-demand production of medicines and chemicals

a water-based gel that is used in molecular biology research

A team of chemical engineers has developed a new way to produce medicines and chemicals and preserve them using portable “biofactories” embedded in water-based gels known as hydrogels. The approach could help people in remote villages or on military missions, where the absence of pharmacies, doctor’s offices or even basic refrigeration makes it hard to…


Altruistic babies? Study shows infants are willing to give up food, help others

Toddler offers bowl of raspberries to camera.

New research by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences finds that altruism may begin in infancy. In a study of nearly 100 19-month-olds, researchers found that children, even when hungry, gave a tasty snack to a stranger in need.


February 3, 2020

UW Books in brief: Poetry of India’s Bani-Thani, equitable parent-school collaboration, building military cultural competence — and a 2019 National Jewish Book Award

Notable new books by UW faculty members include studies of military cultural education programs and equitable collaboration between schools and families. Also, National Endowment for the Humanities support for a coming book on an 18th century India poet, an honor for a work about postwar Japan — and a National Jewish Book Award.


January 31, 2020

ArtsUW Roundup: the Orlando Consort performs at Meany Hall, The Best of Everything kicks-off, and more

This week in the arts, attend Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident Marisa Williamson’s artist talk, join the Henry Art Gallery for a trumpet and American Sign Language performance, listen as David Alexander Rahbee leads the UW Symphony, and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. Open Rehearsal with the UW Symphony February 3,  3:30 pm –…


January 24, 2020

ArtsUW Roundup: Preserving Elephants in the Age of Extinction, Brian Brooks Moving Company, The Best of Everything, and more

This week in the arts, experience a free concert at Benaroya Hall commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz, attend a lecture about the story of Shawn Wong’s rediscovery of “No-No Boy,” and more! To learn about more events taking place, visit ArtsUW. Music of Remembrance: Art from Ashes – Free Concert Commemorating the 75th…


January 22, 2020

Community-based counselors help mitigate grief, stress among children orphaned in East Africa

Group of people pose outside a building.

The University of Washington led a clinical trial involving more than 600 children in Kenya and Tanzania, in which community members were trained to deliver mental health treatment, showed improvement in participants’ trauma-related symptoms up to a year after receiving therapy.


January 21, 2020

A foundation for ‘safe motherhood’ created with and for the Somali community

On a recent Saturday evening, a dozen women gathered around a table at a community room in the White Center neighborhood of Seattle, settling in with snacks and conversation. The evening’s program would be more education than entertainment, an opportunity to discuss topics so sensitive that, without the group of women assembled that night, might…


Mosquitoes are drawn to flowers as much as people — and now scientists know why

Despite their reputation as blood-suckers, mosquitoes actually spend most of their time drinking nectar from flowers. Scientists have identified the chemical cues in flowers that stimulate mosquitoes’ sense of smell and draw them in. Their findings show how cues from flowers can stimulate the mosquito brain as much as a warm-blooded host — information that could help develop less toxic repellents and better traps.


January 14, 2020

Academic, administrator, artist: Paintings by JW Harrington to be displayed at UW Tower

JW Harrington is not only a scholar of urban studies and a longtime UW professor, in recent years he has also become an artist. He has an exhibit pf paintings at the UW Tower in January and February.

James W. Harrington is not only a UW professor and former administrator — in recent years, he has also become a prolific painter. UW Notebook caught up with him to ask a few questions about his art and his coming exhibit at the UW Tower.


Faculty/staff honors: Consulting assignment in Africa, honorary doctorate in Bern, conservation leadership award

Recent honors to UW faculty and staff include an honorary doctorate from the University of Bern, an award for biodiversity conservation and a consulting assignment for the World Health Organization.


January 9, 2020

By the numbers: UW in the media in 2019

collage of portraits

In 2019, the University of Washington was mentioned in 4,143 news articles around the world. Among those, UW experts were quoted 2,290 times: 1,185 in national or international outlets and 1,105 in regional and local outlets.


ArtsUW Roundup: Low Brow/High Culture exhibit opens in the Allen Library, guest pianist Conor Hanick performs, and more

This week in the arts, attend a film screening at SAM, visit museums on campus for free with your Husky card, and more! Guest Artist Recital: Conor Hanick, piano January 13, 7:30 pm | Brechemin Auditorium Brooklyn-based concert pianist Conor Hanick performs works of Galina Ustvolskaya and Morton Feldman on Monday evening and leads a free master class…


January 6, 2020

Supporting diversity, inclusion in neuroscience: A conversation about the BRAINS Program with UW psychology professor Sheri Mizumori

The 2019 cohort for the BRAINS program, or Broadening the Representations of Academic Investigators in NeuroScience. Program evaluator Cara Margherio is in the back row, two people to the left of the post. Co-director Claire Horner-Devine is at the far right. Laura Ciotto , program operations, is at the far left. Co-director Joyce Yen is at the far left, middle row. Director Sheri Mizumori is fifth from the right in the front row.

A conversation with UW psychology professor Sheri Mizumori about the UW-based program Broadening the Representations of Academic Investigators in NeuroScience — or BRAINS for short — designed to accelerate career advancement for postdoctoral researchers and assistant professors from underrepresented populations.


January 3, 2020

ArtsUW Roundup: welcome 2020 with a celebration of Asian American writers, kick-off the Critical Issues Lecture Series, and more

This week in the arts, attend several screenings with the 2020 Southeast Asia x Seattle Film Festival, visit museums on campus for free with your Husky card, and more! Shawn Wong & Tara Fickle January 9, 7:00 pm | The Elliott Bay Book Company Come celebrate the publication of the Third Edition of Aiiieeeee! An Anthology of Asian…


December 19, 2019

Mindful travel, Silicon Valley’s evolution, Schumann on viola, Seattle history — UW-authored books, music for the Husky on your list

A list of several UW-authored books and cds that might make good holiday gifts.

  A teacher discusses respectful world travel, a historian explores Silicon Valley’s evolution, a professor and violist plays the music of Robert Schumann and a late English faculty member’s meditation on Seattle returns … Here’s a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by UW faculty in the last year — and a…


December 12, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: wrap up the year at the Burke Museum and Henry Art Gallery and see what’s coming up in 2020

To end the year on a high note, take advantage of visiting the museums on campus (free admission, as always, for UW employees and students)! Burke Museum Daily 10 am – 5 pm | Closed on December 25 and January 1 Experience natural and cultural collections at the Burke Museum. The Burke brings research and…


December 9, 2019

Jackson School researcher explores nexus of politics, religion in new podcast, ‘ReligioPolitics’

Randy Thompson, postdoctoral researcher with the Jackson School, is producing the new ReligioPolitics podcast

Randy Thompson, a postdoctoral researcher with the UW Jackson School of International Studies will explore the nexus of religion and politics in a new podcast, “ReligioPolitics.”


December 6, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Jomama Jones performance, Scandinavian 30, and more

This week in the arts, enjoy Beethoven Trio Cycle with School of Music faculty, use the arts to spark dialogue about memory loss, support Indigenous Artists at the Burke, and more! Beethoven Trio Cycle Concert December 9, 7:30 pm | Meany Center Faculty colleagues Craig Sheppard, piano; Sæunn Thorsteinsdóttir, cello; and Rachel Lee Priday, violin, present…


Astronomy fellowship demonstrates effective measures to dismantle bias, increase diversity in STEM

a person smiling and looking at the camera

Joyce Yen — director of the University of Washington’s ADVANCE Center for Institutional Change, an NSF-funded body to promote female STEM faculty on campus — recently worked with the Heising-Simons Foundation to dismantle bias and promote diversity in a prominent grant that the Foundation awards to postdoctoral researchers in planetary science. In this Q&A, Yen shares the many, sometimes counterintuitive ways bias can work against goals toward greater diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM fields.


December 4, 2019

Joy Williamson-Lott honored for book on civil rights, higher education in South during Jim Crow era

Joy Williamson-Lott, uw grad school dean and professor of education receives honor for her 2018 book Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order

Joy Williamson-Lott, dean of the UW Graduate School and a professor of education, has been honored for her 2018 book “Jim Crow Campus: Higher Education and the Struggle for a New Southern Social Order.”


December 3, 2019

International studies professor Donald Hellmann to receive Japan government’s Order of the Rising Sun — highest honor for scholars

Donald Hellmann, longtime professor in the Jackson School, is being awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by the government of Japan

Donald Hellmann, UW professor emeritus in the Jackson School of International studies and of political science, has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun from the Government of Japan, in recognition of his contributions in promoting academic exchanges and mutual understanding between Japan and the United States. Hellmann, 86, teaches courses on Japanese government…


December 2, 2019

Faculty/staff honors: Housing association nod, honorary doctorate, distinguished fellow, best conference paper

Recent honors to UW faculty and staff members include an honorary doctorate from the University of Bucharest, membership in an inaugural class of distinguished fellows in pharmacology, and a leadership position in a national student housing association.


November 26, 2019

Author, professor Charles Johnson featured on American Philosophy Association posters on diversity

UW English professor emeritus Charles Johnson is one of five people whose likeness is featured on posters promoting diversity and inclusion sent by the American Philosophical Association to every college undergraduate philosophy program in the United States and Canada. And he is in excellent company: The other four people featured, each in a separate poster,…


UW researchers Alex Luedtke, Tyler McCormick receive ‘new innovator’ grants through NIH High-risk, High-Rewards program

Two UW professors — Alex Luedtke and Tyler McCormick — are among 60 researchers the National Institutes of Health has named recipients of its 2019 Director’s New Innovator Awards.


Six UW faculty members named AAAS fellows

The American Association for the Advancement of Science has named six faculty members from the University of Washington as AAAS Fellows, according to a Nov. 26 announcement. They are part of a cohort of 443 new fellows for 2019, all chosen by their peers for “scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”


Dads in prison can bring poverty, instability for families on the outside

A new University of Washington study finds that families with a father in prison tend to live in neighborhoods with higher poverty.


November 25, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Professor Chadwick Allen presents Earthworks Rising, annual School of Music CarolFest, and more

This week in the arts, Three Sisters closes, Professor Shannon Dudley bridges campus and community, Burke Open Doors allows chatting with researchers, and more! Exhibition: In Plain Sight November 23 – April 26, 2020 | Henry Art Gallery This group exhibition engages artists whose work addresses narratives, communities, and histories that are typically hidden or invisible…


UW astronomy professor Paula Szkody elected to American Astronomical Society leadership

Paula Szkody has begun a term as president-elect of the AAS, and will serve as the society's president in 2020-2022.

Balancing the needs of open science with national security and journal sustainability, and respecting the beliefs of native populations near observatories are among current issues for the American Astronomical Society, said Paula Szkody, University of Washington professor of astronomy. She has begun a term as president-elect of the AAS, and will serve as the society’s president in 2020-2022.


November 18, 2019

Among transgender children, gender identity as strong as in cisgender children, study shows

Photo of two children, in silhouette, on a beach

New findings from the largest study of socially-transitioned transgender children in the world, conducted by researchers at the University of Washington, show that gender identity and gender-typed preferences manifest similarly in both cis- and transgender children, even those who recently transitioned.


November 12, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Public opening of ‘In Plain Sight,’ view ALTAR: Ritual, Prayer, Offering — and more

This week in the arts, join poet Cedar Sigo at the Burke, learn about the translation of comics, attend a performance by Gabriel Kahane and School of Music faculty, and more! Closing Reception for ALTAR: Ritual, Prayer, Offering November 22, 6:30 – 8:30 pm | Jacob Lawrence Gallery Altars are often erected to pay homage…


New Weill Neurohub will unite UCSF, UC Berkeley, UW in race to find new treatments for brain diseases

An image of neurons under a microscope

With a $106 million gift from the Weill Family Foundation, UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco and the University of Washington have launched the Weill Neurohub, an innovative research network that will forge and nurture new collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers working in an array of other disciplines — including engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry and mathematics — to speed the development of new therapies for diseases and disorders that affect the brain and nervous system.


November 7, 2019

ArtsUW Roundup: Olmstead in Seattle, the Music of Somalia’s Disco Era, Artist Talk with Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and more

This week in the arts, see a mind-blowing troupe of wildly creative and physically daring dancers at Meany Center, learn about Somali funk, disco, soul and reggae of the 1970s and 80s, and more! Olmstead in Seattle November 12, 7 pm | Center for Urban Horticulture Seattle has one of the most extensively developed Olmsted…



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