UW News

College of Arts & Sciences


March 19, 2018

University of Washington graduate and professional disciplines rank highly in US News’ Best Graduate School lists

library at night

Nearly 50 different graduate and professional programs and specialties at the University of Washington are among the top 10 in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate School rankings released March 20.


March 15, 2018

New minor recognizes, celebrates Pacific Islander community

The University of Washington’s new minor in Oceania and Pacific Islander Studies debuts spring quarter. The 25-credit, interdisciplinary program is the result of a longtime effort to elevate the history and culture of an underrepresented, and often misrepresented, community.


Democratizing science: Researchers make neuroscience experiments easier to share, reproduce

Depiction of the left hemisphere of the human brain

Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a set of tools to make MRI studies of our central nervous system easier to share.


March 14, 2018

Could anti-Trump sentiment mobilize African-American voters in 2018?

African-American voters who dislike and feel threatened by Donald Trump and his presidency are more likely to vote and to engage with politics, according to new research from the UW and California State University, Sacramento.


UW mourns chemistry professor, former provost and vice president for academic affairs, Irving Shain

Mug shot

Former University of Washington Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Irving Shain has died. He was 92.


March 9, 2018

A prestigious award brings UW composer Huck Hodge time to reflect, write

Huck Hodge, associate professor in the UW School of Music and chair of its composition program, is the recipient of the Charles Ives living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

UW music professor Huck Hodge talks about the Charles Ives Living Award, bestowed on him by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.


How social networks help perpetuate the ‘Cycle of Segregation’

  Think about the last time you looked for a new apartment or house. Maybe you asked your friends or colleagues about where they lived. You thought about your route to work, or that neighborhood you always drive through on your way to your kid’s soccer practice. Many of these places were familiar to you,…


March 8, 2018

‘Trump in the World’: Jackson School faculty give public talks through spring quarter

The UW Jackson School of International Studies presents “Trump in the World: International Implications of the Trump presidency,” a series of public lectures and discussions Tuesday afternoons through spring quarter.


UW political scientist Megan Ming Francis named fellow with NAACP’s Thurgood Marshall Institute

UW political science associate professor Megan Ming Francis. Story is that she has been named a fellow of the NAACP's Thurgood Marshall Institute.

Megan Ming Francis, UW associate professor of political science, has been named a fellow with the Thurgood Marshall Institute. The institute is a multidisciplinary research and advocacy policy center within the NAACP’s Legal Defense and Educational Fund.


March 7, 2018

Is there a glass ceiling in academic publishing?

A University of Washington study finds that women authors are significantly under-represented in high-profile academic journals.


March 5, 2018

Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies to hold ‘Re-imagining Solidarity’ conference March 10

Immigrant rights, environmental concerns and racial, class, gender and sexual justice will be the focus of a daylong conference hosted by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies March 10 at the UW.


March 2, 2018

Celebrated poet Charles Simic to give UW’s 54th Theodore Roethke Poetry Reading April 12

Charles Simic

Charles Simic, one of America’s most celebrated poets, will give the 2018 Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Reading on April 12. Simic will be the 54th poet to appear in the series since its inception in 1964.


February 27, 2018

Mining memories for stories of ‘real black grandmothers’

LaShawnDa Pittman, a UW assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, is collecting stories of African-American grandmothers, past and present, on her Real Black Grandmothers website.


February 21, 2018

A talk with UW historian Quintard Taylor: Taking ‘the long view’ in troubled times

Quintard Taylor, UW professor emeritus of history and recipient of a lifetime achievement honor from Washington State Historical Society, discusses his work and this unusual moment in American history.


February 20, 2018

Using a laser to wirelessly charge a smartphone safely across a room

Five people posing

Engineers at the University of Washington have for the first time developed a method to safely charge a smartphone wirelessly using a laser.


February 15, 2018

Five UW scientists awarded Sloan Fellowships for early-career research

Five faculty members at the University of Washington have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 15, include Maya Cakmak, assistant professor of computer science and engineering; Jiun-Haw Chu, assistant professor of clean energy and physics; Arka Majumdar, assistant professor of electrical engineering and physics; Jessica Werk, assistant professor of astronomy; and Chelsea Wood, assistant professor of aquatic and fishery sciences.


February 13, 2018

‘Supply Chain’: New book of poems from UW’s Pimone Triplett

Pimone Triplett, University of Washington associate professor of English and creative writing, has released a new book of poems, her fourth. "Supply Chain" was published by the University of Iowa Press in late 2017.

Pimone Triplett, UW associate professor of English and creative writing, has released “Supply Chain,” her fourth book of poems.


February 12, 2018

Hybrid optics bring color imaging using ultrathin metalenses into focus

A portion of the team’s experimental setup for capturing an image using a metalens. The researchers capture an image of flowers through a metalens (mounted on a microscope slide) and visualize it through a microscope.

In a paper published Feb. 9 in Science Advances, scientists at the University of Washington announced that they have successfully combined two different imaging methods — a type of lens designed for nanoscale interaction with lightwaves, along with robust computational processing — to create full-color images.


February 7, 2018

Arts Roundup: Dance Majors Concert, Modern Music Ensemble, Intersections Pre-Concert Lecture, and more

Dance Majors Concert

This week in the arts, experience modern dance from a fresh and youthful perspective, hear UW’s modern music ensemble and top auditioned choirs, listen to a pre-show lecture by UW Germanics professor, see British pianist Imogen Cooper perform her classical repertoire, and aboard the S.S. American with the Musical Theater program’s performance of “Anything Goes!”


Fruit bat’s echolocation may work like sophisticated surveillance sonar

blue bat head shape

High-speed recordings of Egyptian fruit bats in flight show that instead of using a primitive form of echolocation, these animals actually use a technique recently developed by humans for surveillance and navigation.


February 6, 2018

UW astronomer Woody Sullivan assists in renovation of Olympia’s Territorial Sundial

Woody Sullivan, UW professor emeritus of astronomy, consults with Larry Tate, principal at Seattle's Fabrication Specialties Ltd., right, on the necessary angle and placement of a new gnomon to ensure the time-keeping accuracy of Olympia's Territorial Sundial.

After six months of repair and restoration — assisted by UW astronomer and sundial expert Woody Sullivan — Olympia’s iconic Territorial Sundial is back in place.


February 5, 2018

Watery worlds: UW astronomer Eric Agol assists in new findings of TRAPPIST-1 planetary system

This artist's concept shows what the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system may look like, based on available data about the planets' diameters, masses and distances from the host star, as of February 2018.

A team of astronomers including Eric Agol of the University of Washington has found that the seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the star TRAPPIST-1 are all made mostly of rock, and some could even have more water — which can give life a chance — than Earth itself. The research was led by Simon Grimm of…


January 31, 2018

University of Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory team up to make the materials of tomorrow

The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Washington announced the creation of the Northwest Institute for Materials Physics, Chemistry and Technology — or NW IMPACT — a joint research endeavor to power discoveries and advancements in materials that transform energy, telecommunications, medicine, information technology and other fields.


Reconstructing an ancient lethal weapon

    Archaeologists are a little like forensic investigators: They scour the remains of past societies, looking for clues in pottery, tools and bones about how people lived, and how they died. And just as detectives might re-create the scene of a crime, University of Washington archaeologists have re-created the weapons used by hunter-gatherers in…


January 26, 2018

School of Music’s Laila Storch republishes biography of renowned oboist, teacher Marcel Tabuteau

A biography of world-renowned oboe performer and teacher Marcel Tabuteau by the UW School of Music’s Laila Storch has been republished in paperback by Indiana University Press.


January 25, 2018

If you swat mosquitoes, they may learn to avoid your scent

A tethered, flying Aedes aegypti mosquito.

In a published Jan. 25 in Current Biology, University of Washington researchers report that mosquitoes can learn to associate a particular odor with an unpleasant mechanical shock akin to being swatted. As a result, they’ll avoid that scent the next time.


January 22, 2018

Lab-made hormone may reveal secret lives of plants

Chemical structure of a plant hormone

By developing a synthetic version of the plant hormone auxin and an engineered receptor to recognize it, University of Washington biology professor Keiko Torii and her colleagues are poised to uncover plants’ inner workings, raising the possibility of a new way to ripen fruits such as strawberries and tomatoes.


January 19, 2018

University Faculty Lecture to highlight screening newborns for genetic diseases

For this year’s University Faculty Lecture, University of Washington chemistry professor Michael Gelb will discuss the science behind screening newborns for treatable — but rare — genetic diseases.


January 17, 2018

Scale-eating fish adopt clever parasitic methods to survive

scan

A small group of fishes — possibly the world’s cleverest carnivorous grazers — feeds on the scales of other fish in the tropics. A team led by biologists at the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories is trying to understand these scale-feeding fish and how this odd diet influences their body evolution and behavior.


January 16, 2018

A ‘touching sight’: How babies’ brains process touch builds foundations for learning

A 7-month-old baby sits in the Magnetoencephalography machine at the UW Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences. An I-LABS study shows how babies' brains register "felt touch" and "observed touch."

  Touch is the first of the five senses to develop, yet scientists know far less about the baby’s brain response to touch than to, say, the sight of mom’s face, or the sound of her voice. Now, through the use of safe, new brain imaging techniques, University of Washington researchers provide one of the…


January 10, 2018

Arts Roundup: Trojan Women: A Love Story, Faculty Dance Concert, Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist Concert: Sepideh Raissadat, and performances by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company

Trojan Women: A Love Story

This week in the arts, experience a modern portrayal of a classic Greek Tragedy, see the annual Faculty Dance Concert featuring new collaborations with students and guest artists, hear an internationally renowned classical vocalist showcase her work with UW students, and watch dancers tell a story of resilience in the first performance of an exciting trilogy.


January 3, 2018

Space dust, not aliens: Two UW astronomers assist in new research on ‘mysterious’ star

UW astronomers Brett Morris and James Davenport assisted in new research on “Tabby’s Star,” named for Louisiana State University astronomer Tabetha Boyajian.


Arts Roundup: Performances by violinist Itzhak Perlman, Takács Quartet with special guest Erika Eckert, a riveting play — Trojan Women: A Love Story and more

Photo of Itzhak Perlman

This week in the arts, listen to a duo performance of piano professors, hear the internationally acclaimed Takács String Quartet, promising young pianist Scott Cuellar, immerse yourself in the post-apocalyptic world of Trojan Women: A Love Story, and attend a performance by Grammy and Emmy Award Winning violinist Itzhak Perlman.


Popular exhibit on Latino music debuts as a book: A Q&A with UW faculty authors of ‘American Sabor’

"American Sabor: American Sabor Latinos and Latinas in US Popular Music" by Marisol Berríos-Miranda, Shannon Dudley and Michelle Habell-Pallán, was published in December. The authors also created an American Sabor playlist.

  When “American Sabor” opened at what was then the Experience Music Project a decade ago, its University of Washington creators saw it as a chance to celebrate the extensive Latino contribution to popular music. It was a product of years of interviews and research, and an often challenging exercise in collaboration and presentation. But…


Essay by UW historian Laurie Marhoefer named most memorable of 2017 by The Conversation US

Laurie Marhoefer, UW assistant professor of history

An essay by Laurie Marhoefer, UW assistant professor of history, has been named the most memorable of the year 2017 by the editors and readers of The Conversation US.


December 7, 2017

A literary view of the human era: ‘Anthropocene Reading’

"Anthropocene Reading: Literary History in Geologic Times" was published in October by Penn State Press. It was co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, UW associate professor of English.

The Anthropocene epoch — the proposed name for this time of significant human effect on the planet and its systems — represents a new context in which to study literature. A new book of essays co-edited by Jesse Oak Taylor, UW associate professor of English, argues that literary studies, in turn, also can help us better understand the Anthropocene.


December 6, 2017

Martin Luther, Steve Jobs and aspirational faith: Q & A with UW sociologist Steve Pfaff on ‘The Spiritual Virtuoso’

Alongside the political polarization that has permeated seemingly every issue in American life, there is a similar dichotomy in religion.On one side are those who suggest religion is dying, that’s it’s irrelevant, a force for ill and oppression, explains University of Washington sociology professor Steve Pfaff. On the other are those who say religion is…


December 5, 2017

Living cell membranes can self-sort their components by ‘demixing’

A vacuole in a yeast cell.

Scientists at the University of Washington show for the first time that the complex distribution of molecules within a membrane of a living yeast cell arises through demixing.


December 3, 2017

Kim Nasmyth — a UW postdoctoral alumnus — wins Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences for discoveries in cell biology, genetics

Kim Nasmyth

Kim Nasmyth, a professor of biochemistry at the University of Oxford and former postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washington, is one of five recipients of the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences. Nasmyth and other prize recipients were honored by the Breakthrough Prize Foundation at a ceremony December 3 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California.


November 30, 2017

Giant black hole pair photobombs Andromeda Galaxy

A cosmic photobomb found as a background object in images of the nearby Andromeda galaxy has revealed what could be the most tightly coupled pair of supermassive black holes ever seen.



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