College of Arts & Sciences
November 2, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: UW Pandemic Project Radical Listening Session, National First-Generation College Celebration, and more
This week, attend the UW Pandemic Project’s Radical Listening Session to honor each individual’s lived pandemics experiences, head to Meany Hall for Garrick Ohlsson’s piano performance, celebrate Diwali with the Burke Museum, and more. November 7, 4:30 – 6:00pm | Sharon Stein, “The University and Its Responsibility for Repair: Confronting Colonial Foundations and Enabling Different…
October 26, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth, Labor Studies Annual Awards Celebration, and more
This week, check out Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth’s performance, an ingenious dark comedy written by Jen Silverman, attend the Labor Studies Annual Awards Celebration Banquet, and more. November 2, 7:30pm | Roomful of Teeth with Gabriel Kahane, Meany Hall The Grammy-winning vocal group Roomful of Teeth continue to expand the capabilities of the…
Fruit, nectar, bugs and blood: How bat teeth and jaws evolved for a diverse dinnertime
There are more than 200 species of noctilionoid bats, mostly in the American tropics. And despite being close relatives, their jaws evolved in wildly divergent shapes and sizes to exploit different food sources. A paper published Aug. 22 in Nature Communications shows those adaptations include dramatic, but also consistent, modifications to tooth number, size, shape and position. For example, bats with short snouts lack certain teeth, presumably due to a lack of space. Species with longer jaws have room for more teeth — and, like humans, their total tooth complement is closer to what the ancestor of placental mammals had.
October 19, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Fall Concert with DXARTS, Dance Graduate Research Symposium and more
This week, check out the Fall Concert hosted by DXARTS (Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media), attend the Dance Graduate Research Symposium, listen to guest composer concerts, and more. October 25, 7:30pm | DXARTS FALL CONCERT: Ritual-Entropy-Storm, Meany Hall Join the Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) as they host a Fall…
October 18, 2023
UW’s Chandan Reddy named one of six ‘Freedom Scholars’ for work on race, gender and sexuality
Chandan Reddy, an associate professor of gender, women and sexuality studies and of the comparative history of ideas at the University of Washington, has been named a “Freedom Scholar” by the Marguerite Casey Foundation.
October 17, 2023
Closing in on the elusive neutrino
In a paper published Sept. 6 in Physical Review Letters, an international team of researchers in the United States, Germany and France reported that a distinctive strategy they have used shows real promise to be the first approach to measure the mass of the neutrino. Once fully scaled up, their collaboration — Project 8 — could also reveal how neutrinos influenced the early evolution of the universe as we know it.
UW’s Briana Abrahms chosen as a Packard Fellow for 2023
Briana Abrahms, a University of Washington assistant professor of biology and researcher with the UW Center for Ecosystem Sentinels, has been named a 2023 Packard Fellow for Science and Engineering, according to an Oct. 16 announcement from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation. As one of 20 new fellows across the country, Abrahms, who holds the Boersma Endowed Chair in Natural History and Conservation, will receive $875,000 over five years for her research.
October 10, 2023
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 8: Translation
When you hear a cover of a favorite song, comparisons are inevitable. There are obvious similarities – the lyrics, the melody – but there are also enough differences to make each version unique. Those deviations say more than you might expect. Maya Angela Smith, associate of professor of French at the University of…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 7: Material Culture
Picture a series of uniform mounds of earth, each about 6-feet high. Enclosing 50 acres, the mounds form an octagon that is connected to a circle. This is The Octagon Earthworks, located in central Ohio, and it’s one of thousands of Indigenous mounds across the eastern half of North America. Chadwick Allen is…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 6: Visual Literacy
An empty wallet, a hairbrush, a diaper. These are just a few of the items left behind by migrants at the United States-Mexico border, photographed for a 2021 article in the Los Angeles Times. In this episode, Diana Ruíz discusses how the same images can be used on both sides of the same debate. In…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 5: Disability Studies
Who gets to be a superhero? What about a villain? It depends on where you look. In the 1940s, comic book villains were often distinguished from heroes through physical disability. That changed in the 1960s and 70s, when it became more common for heroes – think Daredevil and Professor X – to be built around…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 4: Environmental Humanities
Centuries ago, writers depicted the natural world as terrifying and dangerous, no place for humans. But that fear, in the decades to come, gradually turned to appreciation, awe and joy, for poets and artists, sightseers and backpackers. Louisa Mackenzie, associate professor of comparative history of ideas at the University of Washington, describes how…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 3: Close Reading Redux
The autobiography of Frederick Douglass, published in 1845, was a standard bearer of the abolitionist movement. Having escaped slavery as a young man, Douglass became a famous activist, orator, statesman and businessman. But it is another aspect of his story that is just as intriguing to Habiba Ibrahim, professor of English at the University…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 2: Close Reading
“Dover Beach,” a poem by 19th century British writer Matthew Arnold, can be read as both a romantic lament and, as many scholars have concluded, a dark, existential commentary on the loss of religious faith. Through close reading, a way of reading for insight, not information, University of Washington English Professor Charles LaPorte…
“Ways of Knowing” Episode 1: Reading
What marks the start of the Anthropocene – the geological epoch marked by human impact on the planet? The debate hinges, in part, on how we define “signature events,” the important information left behind as clues. But finding signature events transcends the study of the Anthropocene; it’s how we read to make meaning of a…
October 5, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: A Conversation with Emily M. Bender, Dubal Memorial Lecture, and more
This week, learn why Emily Bender believes “AI” is a bad term, take part in the Dubal Memorial Lecture on ‘Race, Science, and Pregnancy Trials in the Postgenomic Era’, view the film screening of Tortoise Under the Earth, and more. October 12, 7:00 – 8:30pm | Jewish History and Jewish Memory Revisited: ‘Zakhor’ at 40,…
October 3, 2023
Group seeks to understand how a new type of satellite will impact Earth-based astronomy
Astronomers with the International Astronomical Union are trying to understand how the brightness and transmissions of the BlueWalker3 satellite will interfere with Earth-based observations of the universe — and what can be done to minimize these effects as more of these satellites are launched.
September 28, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Faculty Concert, The Secret Language of Art Radicals, and more
This week, explore “how to use art for resistance” with Elisheba Johnson, head to Meany Hall for an engaging performance by the Turtle Island Quartet, and more. October 2, 7:30pm | Faculty Concert: UW Faculty Brass, Meany Hall UW faculty brass instructors and Seattle Symphony members David Gordon (trumpet), John DiCesare (tuba), John Turman (French…
September 21, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Kicking the school year off with the Henry Art Gallery, Dawg Daze, and more
Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week. This week, attend gallery exhibitions, Dawg Daze events, and more. As the UW community returns to campus, consider taking advantage of campus perks available to UW employees and students: Free admission to the Henry Art Gallery and Burke Museum Discounted tickets to performances…
September 19, 2023
Five UW faculty members elected as AGU Fellows, plus more honors
The American Geophysical Union announced Sept. 13 that five University of Washington faculty members have been elected as new fellows, representing the departments of astronomy, Earth and space sciences, oceanography, global health, and environmental and occupational health sciences.
September 14, 2023
Faculty/staff honors: Two professors on TIME100 AI list, UW President Ana Mari Cauce honored for contributions to León, and more
Recent recognition for the University of Washington includes Emily M. Bender and Yejin Choi on the TIME100 AI list, President Ana Mari Cauce receiving a Decrees Award and Jeff Hou’s election to the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Council of Fellows.
September 11, 2023
Q&A: New book examines intersection between climate and information crises
Adrienne Russell, professor of communication at the University of Washington, examines in her new book how journalism, activism, corporations and Big Tech battle to influence the public about climate change.
August 29, 2023
Researchers prefer same-gender co-authors, UW study shows
A new study from the University of Washington and Cornell University shows researchers more likely to write scientific papers with co-authors of the same gender, a pattern that can’t be explained by varying gender representations across scientific disciplines and time.
August 10, 2023
Muon g-2 doubles down with latest measurement, explores uncharted territory in search of new physics
A particle physics experiment decades in the making — the Muon g-2 experiment — looks increasingly like it might set up a showdown over whether there are fundamental particles or forces in the universe that are unaccounted for in the current Standard Model. On Aug. 10, the international team of scientists behind Muon g-2 — pronounced “g minus 2” — released the world’s most precise measurement yet of the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon. Calculating the muon’s magnetic moment at a high precision will indicate whether it is interacting solely with the particles and forces known today, or if unknown particles or forces are out there.
July 31, 2023
New algorithm ensnares its first ‘potentially hazardous’ asteroid
An asteroid discovery algorithm — designed to uncover near-Earth asteroids for the Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s upcoming 10-year survey of the night sky — has identified its first “potentially hazardous” asteroid, a term for space rocks in Earth’s vicinity that scientists like to keep an eye on. The roughly 600-foot-long asteroid, designated 2022 SF289, was discovered during a test drive of the algorithm with the ATLAS survey in Hawaii. Finding 2022 SF289, which poses no risk to Earth for the foreseeable future, confirms that the next-generation algorithm, known as HelioLinc3D, can identify near-Earth asteroids with fewer and more dispersed observations than required by today’s methods. That is important because, though scientists know of more than 2,000 near-Earth asteroids, they estimate that another 3,000 await discovery!
July 19, 2023
Researchers put a new twist on graphite
A team led by researchers at the University of Washington reports that it is possible to imbue graphite — the bulk, 3D material found in No. 2 pencils – with physical properties similar to graphite’s 2D counterpart, graphene. Not only was this breakthrough unexpected, the team also believes its approach could be used to test whether similar types of bulk materials can also take on 2D-like properties. If so, 2D sheets won’t be the only source for scientists to fuel technological revolutions. Bulk, 3D materials could be just as useful.
June 28, 2023
New faculty books: Story of oysters, Cherokee oral history, moral contradictions of religion
Three new faculty books from the University of Washington cover wide-ranging topics: oysters, the moral contradictions of religion, and Cherokee creature names and environmental relationships.
June 27, 2023
Researchers make a quantum computing leap with a magnetic twist
A team led by scientists and engineers at the University of Washington has announced a significant advancement in developing fault-tolerant qubits for quantum computing. In a pair of papers published June 14 in Nature and June 22 in Science, they report that, in experiments with flakes of semiconductor materials — each only a single layer of atoms thick — they detected signatures of “fractional quantum anomalous Hall” (FQAH) states. The team’s discoveries mark a first and promising step in constructing a type of fault-tolerant qubit because FQAH states can host anyons — strange “quasiparticles” that have only a fraction of an electron’s charge. Some types of anyons can be used to make what are called “topologically protected” qubits, which are stable against any small, local disturbances.
June 8, 2023
Video: UW School of Drama lead costumer retires after 15 years
Inside Hutchinson Hall, home of the University of Washington School of Drama, students work at tables as they learn to assemble patterns based on costume designs. They’re surrounded by dress forms, bolts of cloth, sewing machines and costumes in progress. This is the Costume Shop, the domain of Val Mayse, master dressmaker for the School of Drama.
June 1, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: 2023 Awards of Excellence, Graduation, Dino Lecture, Summer Reads and more
This week and summer, honor the 2023 Awards of Excellence recipients, visit the newly renovated Jacob Lawrence Gallery to see the works of design students, add one of College of Arts & Sciences Dean Dianne Harris’ favorite books to your summer reading list, learn about the largest animals to ever roam the earth at the…
May 31, 2023
New funding supports growth of Canadian Studies Program, Foreign Language and Area Studies
Two grants from the U.S. Department of Education International and Foreign Language Education office will allow the Canadian Studies Center at the University of Washington to award eight to 10 fellowships each year to students studying French or an Indigenous language spoken in Canada.
May 26, 2023
What’s in a name? Sometimes, the climate
By analyzing records from the U.S. Social Security Administration, two scientists at the University of Washington and Ohio University have discovered that the popularity of certain month and season names for girls varies by geographic region in the continental United States. The name April dominates monthly names in southern states where spring arrives early in the year. June is more popular in northern states where spring blooms later. Autumn is also more prevalent in the northern U.S., a region known for its brilliant fall foliage.
May 25, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Jazz Performance, Art Thesis Exhibition, Book Club Readings and more
This week, head to Meany Hall for music performances, get inspired by the fine arts and design student’s work at the Henry Art Gallery, hear Dean Dianne Harris’ favorite summer reads and more. May 27 – June 25 | 2023 University of Washington MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Gallery North Galleries The Henry Art…
May 5, 2023
UW immunologist, mathematician among newly elected National Academy of Sciences members
Two University of Washington faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2023: Philip Greenberg, professor of medicine and of immunology at the UW, as well as the Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and head of the Program in Immunology in its Clinical Research Division; and Gunther Uhlmann, the Robert R. and Elaine F. Phelps Endowed Professor in Mathematics at the UW.
May 4, 2023
New faculty books: Children and technology, art and life experiences of Black women, and more
Three new faculty books from the University of Washington cover topics ranging from children’s use of technology to the life experiences of Black women to neuroscience and brain research.
April 24, 2023
UW graduate and professional disciplines place highly in US News’ Best Graduate Schools rankings
The University of Washington’s graduate and professional degree programs were widely recognized as among the best in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 Best Graduate Schools rankings released late Monday.
Awakening the canoe: UW Canoe Family prepares for this summer’s Tribal Canoe Journey
Member of the University of Washington Canoe Family have spent months carving traditional paddles using only hand tools, all in preparation for this summer’s Tribal Canoe Journey.
April 21, 2023
ArtSci Roundup: Public Lectures, Art Exhibitions, Music Project Festival and more
This week, attend the annual Schiedel Lecture, learn about the transactional relationship between mental health research and care, enjoy the Improvised Music Project Festival held by UW students and faculty and more. April 25, 6:00 – 7:30 PM | 2023 Scheidel Lecture: How We Create Time Through Communication with Dr. Dawna Ballard, Kane Hall A long-standing…
April 13, 2023
Africa’s grassy habitats emerged 10+ million years earlier than previously thought
A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.
April 10, 2023
Beyond Trump — UW political scientists on the legacy of the indictment on the U.S. presidency
The indictment of former President Trump isn’t just about an individual but about the office of the presidency, and what the country is willing to accept from its leaders, say University of Washington political scientists James Long and Victor Menaldo,
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