UW News

College of Arts & Sciences


August 29, 2022

Black-owned restaurants disproportionately impacted during pandemic

A new study led by the University of Washington uses cellphone location data to estimate the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants in 20 U.S. cities during the first year of the pandemic. The study finds that despite the “Black-owned” labelling campaign launched by companies such as Yelp, the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants dropped off after an initial spike and was inconsistent around the country.


August 25, 2022

‘Dangerous’ and ‘extremely dangerous’ heat stress to become more common by 2100

maps of globe colored orange and red

A new study projects the number of days with “dangerous” and “extremely dangerous” mixtures of heat and humidity by the end of this century. Even if global warming is limited to 2 degrees Celsius, results show that deadly heat waves will become much more common in the mid-latitudes, and many tropical regions will experience “dangerous” heat for about half the year.


August 12, 2022

New faculty books: How your brain works, cycling around the world and more

Four books lined up on a table

Recent and upcoming books from University of Washington faculty include those from the Jackson School of International Studies, the Department of Psychology and the Runstad Department of Real Estate.


August 8, 2022

Q&A: Story collection from UW professor tackles messy emotions of domestic relationships

Black and white photo of child's hand holding an adult's hand by the finger

Maya Sonenberg, professor of English at the University of Washington, highlights common feelings that are often silenced due to shame and societal expectations in her new short story collection, “Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters.”


July 25, 2022

New study challenges old views on what’s ‘primitive’ in mammalian reproduction

Which group of mammals has the more “primitive” reproductive strategy — marsupials, with their short gestation periods, or humans and other placental mammals, which have long gestation periods? For decades, biologists viewed marsupial reproduction as “more primitive.” But University of Washington scientists have discovered that a third group of mammals, the long-extinct multituberculates, had a long gestation period like placental mammals. Since multituberculates split off from the rest of the mammalian lineage before placentals and marsupials had even evolved, these findings question the view that marsupials were “less advanced” than their placental cousins.


July 22, 2022

Novel HIV combination therapies could prevent viral escape and rebound

New research by scientists at the University of Washington, the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization and the University of Cologne indicates that carefully designed cocktails of broadly neutralizing antibodies could help treat HIV while minimizing the risk of the virus evolving to “escape” treatment.


July 15, 2022

Seven UW faculty members elected to the Washington State Academy of Sciences

Campus photo

Seven professors at the University of Washington are among 25 new members of the Washington State Academy of Sciences for 2022, according to a July 15 announcement.


July 12, 2022

New faculty books: Threats to US democracy, early history of gay rights, and more

four book covers on a table

Federalism, queer history, the impact of the Russian Revolution on Jewish communities, and the evolution of Filipinx American studies are among the subjects of recent and upcoming books by UW faculty.


July 8, 2022

Sweetened beverage taxes produce net economic benefits for lower-income communities

Bottles and cans of soda on store shelves

New research led by University of Washington professors James Krieger and Melissa Knox found that sweetened beverage taxes redistributed dollars from higher- to lower-income households.


June 24, 2022

‘Folks on the ground have been activated and ready’: UW expert on reproductive justice and the U.S. Supreme Court

Bettina Judd, associate professor of gender, women and sexuality studies at the University of Washington, discusses the U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.


June 22, 2022

Q&A: New book from UW professor examines history, consequences of fifth columns

Hand controlling a man as puppet

A new book co-edited by Scott Radnitz, associate professor in the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, features original papers on the roots and implications of the politics surrounding real and imagined fifth columns.


June 7, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: Monsen Photography Lecture: Paul Mpagi Sepuya, Dino Lecture: The Last of the Dinosaurs, and Celebrating Pride Month

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Monsen Photography Lecture: Paul Mpagi Sepuya June 17, 6:00 – 7:00 PM | Henry Art Gallery The Henry Art Gallery is excited to welcome Paul Mpagi Sepuya as this year’s Monsen Photography Lecture speaker. This annual lecture brings key makers and thinkers in photographic…


Burke Museum receives national award

museum gallery

The Burke Museum at the University of Washington in Seattle today announced it is one of six recipients of the 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The award is given by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Burke Museum is the only institution in Washington to be selected.


June 2, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: 2022 Awards of Excellence recipients, Undergraduate Composers Concert

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! 2022 Awards of Excellence recipients  June 9, 3:30 – 5:30 PM | Meany Hall This year’s Awards of Excellence recipients are being recognized for achievements in teaching, mentoring, public service and staff support.  The winners will be honored from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. on June…


May 31, 2022

UW-developed, cloud-based astrodynamics platform to discover and track asteroids

A novel algorithm developed by University of Washington researchers to discover asteroids in the solar system has proved its mettle. The first candidate asteroids identified by the algorithm — known as Tracklet-less Heliocentric Orbit Recovery, or THOR — have been confirmed by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center, according to a May 31 announcement by the B612 Foundation.


May 26, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: DinoFest, UW Symphony and Concerto Competition Winners, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! DinoFest June 5, 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM | Burke Museum Put on your pith helmets and head to the home of Washington’s only dinosaur discovery for the Burke Museum’s annual festival of fossils. During this museum-wide event, hear about groundbreaking research from…


Seattle democracy vouchers increase donations, number of candidates in city elections

Two hands putting voting ballots in box

A new study from Alan Griffith, assistant professor of economics at the University of Washington, shows that Seattle’s democracy voucher program has increased the number of voters donating to city elections and the number of candidates in those elections.


May 23, 2022

Social cohesion found to be key risk factor in early COVID infections

motorcyclist rides along San Francisco neighborhood street

A study by the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Washington shows how social connectedness in San Francisco neighborhoods was associated with COVID-19 infection rates.


May 19, 2022

Q&A: Why discriminatory bias is a public health problem

Tony Greenwald, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Washington and creator of the Implicit Association Test, explains how public health strategies can help address unintended discrimination.


ArtSci Roundup: Ethnomusicology Visiting Artist: Heri Purwanto, School of Art + Art History + Design Graduation Exhibition & More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Gospel Choir May 23, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall Phyllis Byrdwell leads the 100-voice gospel choir in songs of praise, jubilation, and other expressions of the Gospel tradition. $10 | Buy tickets & more info Astronomy on Tap: Technology in Earth Orbit and…


May 13, 2022

‘Resistance Through Resilience’: Conference highlights compassion-based practices to interrupt racism

Advertisement for conference with raised fist in background

The seventh annual Center for Communication, Difference and Equity Conference, “Resistance Through Resilience,” will be held in collaboration with the University of Washington Resilience Lab.


May 12, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: MFA Dance Concert, Passage, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Christina Fiig: Gender Policies in a Context of (Quasi) Permanent Crisis May 17, 12:00 PM | Online Join the Center for West European Studies and the Jean Monnet EU Center to continue the Talking Gender in the EU Lecture Series, with Christina Fiig…


Simulation offers UW students practical experience in crisis negotiation

Students sitting at a table

Robert Pekkanen, University of Washington professor in the Jackson School of International Studies, teaches Crisis Negotiation. The centerpiece of the course is the International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise (ISCNE), a negotiation simulation where students act as diplomatic teams facing a real-world crisis scenario.


Changes in cholesterol production lead to tragic octopus death spiral

After a mother octopus lays a clutch of eggs, she quits eating and wastes away; by the time the eggs hatch, she is dead. Some females in captivity even seem to speed up this process intentionally, mutilating themselves and twisting their arms into a tangled mess. The source of this bizarre maternal behavior seems to be the optic gland, an organ similar to the pituitary gland in mammals. For years, just how this gland triggered the gruesome death spiral was unclear. But in a new study published May 12 in Current Biology, researchers from the University of Washington, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Chicago show that the optic gland in maternal octopuses undergoes a massive shift in cholesterol metabolism, resulting in dramatic changes in the steroid hormones produced. Alterations in cholesterol metabolism in other animals, including humans, can have serious consequences on longevity and behavior, and the team believes this reveals important similarities in the functions of these steroids across the animal kingdom — in soft-bodied cephalopods and vertebrates alike.


May 11, 2022

Faculty/staff honors in STEM mentoring, applied mathematics and Inuit languages

Recent recognition of the  includes the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring for Joyce Yen, the election of J. Nathan Kutz as a Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics fellow and the recognition of Alexina Kublu with the 2022 Inuit Language Recognition Award.


May 9, 2022

Q&A: Exposing the anti-radical origins of anti-Asian racism

A row of books with their spines facing up

In his new book, University of Washington history professor Moon-Ho Jung traces how Asian radicals organized and confronted the U.S. empire and were labeled criminally seditious as a result.


May 6, 2022

Four UW researchers elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2022

Four faculty members at the University of Washington have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2022: Elizabeth Buffalo, professor and chair of physiology and biophysics; Joseph Mougous, professor of microbiology; Dr. Jay Shendure, professor of genome sciences; and James Truman, professor emeritus of biology.


May 5, 2022

ArtSci Roundup: Sacred Breath: Indigenous Writing and Storytelling Series, Stroum Lectures In Jewish Studies 2022: America’s Jewish Question, and More

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Andrew L. Markus Memorial Lecture: Japanese Propaganda and the Power of Love: Mobilizing the Wartime Empire May 9, 6:30 PM | Kane Hall 225 Historians and cultural critics often identify “exploiting hate” as the primary affective mode of propaganda. Particularly in the context…


UW professors to participate in panel on recently removed Volunteer Park plaque

A road lined by trees leading into a park

University of Washington professors Christoph Giebel, Vicente Rafael and Ileana M. Rodríguez-Silva will participate in a discussion on about a memorial plaque that was recently removed from Volunteer Park due to concerns about its accuracy.


May 4, 2022

Astronomers discover a rare ’black widow’ binary, with the shortest orbit yet

The flashing of a nearby star drew the attention of a team of astronomers, who discovered that it is part of a rare and mysterious system. As they report in a paper published May 4 in Nature, the stellar oddity appears to be a “black widow binary” — a type of system consisting of a rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar, that is circling and slowly consuming a smaller companion star, as its arachnid namesake does to its mate.


May 3, 2022

Rolling back abortion rights is ‘democratic backsliding,’ UW political scientist says

Sophia Jordán Wallace, associate professor of political science at the University of Washington, explains the implications the draft Supreme Court ruling that would overturn the constitutional right to an abortion would have on democracy, abortion rights and the midterm elections.


April 29, 2022

ArtSci Roundup

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Carving out a brave space: Courage in art May 3, 7:00 PM | HUB Lyceum & Online “Have something to say. Be brave enough to say it. Use your art to change the world.” UW Drama Professor and Head of Directing & Playwriting…


April 28, 2022

Professor Margaret O’Mara on contextualizing Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase and the future of online speech

Twitter logo of a blue bird

University of Washington history professor Margaret O’Mara says Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has renewed debate about freedom of online speech, online content moderation and the power of billionaires to shape public conversation.


New meta-analysis examines link between self-harm and stress

A new, University of Washington-led meta-analysis finds that people engage in self-injury and/or think about suicide to alleviate some types of stress; and that there is potential for therapy and other interventions.


April 26, 2022

Scientists find elusive gas from post-starburst galaxies hiding in plain sight

Scientists once thought that post-starburst galaxies scattered all of their gas and dust — the fuel required for creating new stars — in violent bursts of energy, and with extraordinary speed. Now, a team led by University of Washington postdoctoral researcher Adam Smercina reports that these galaxies don’t scatter all of their star-forming fuel after all. Instead, after their supposed end, these dormant galaxies hold onto and compress large amounts of highly concentrated, turbulent gas. But contrary to expectation, they’re not using it to form stars.


April 22, 2022

Former UW Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Robert Stacey to deliver address for classes of 2020 and 2021 on June 12

man in coat and tie

Former UW Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Robert Stacey will speak to the graduates of the classes of 2020 and 2021 when they return to Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium for an in-person celebration on Sunday, June 12.


Heavens need environmental protection just like Earth, experts say

Space urgently needs special legal protection similar to that given to land, sea and atmosphere to protect its fragile environment, argues a team of scientists. The scientific, economic and cultural benefits of space should be considered against the damaging environmental impacts posed by an influx of space debris — roughly 60 miles above Earth’s surface — fueled by the rapid growth of so-called satellite mega-constellations. In a paper published April 22 in Nature Astronomy, the authors assert that space is an important environment to preserve on behalf of professional astronomers, amateur stargazers and Indigenous peoples.


April 14, 2022

Historian Bailkin, astronomer Levesque receive Guggenheim Fellowships

Aerial view of UW Campus

Two University of Washington faculty members are among 180 experts in the arts, humanities, law and the sciences chosen as 2022 Guggenheim Fellows, according to an April 7 announcement from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Jordanna Bailkin, a professor in the Department of History, and Emily Levesque, an associate professor in the Department of Astronomy, are among the new class of fellows, which were selected from a pool of nearly 2,500 applicants.


April 13, 2022

UW artist in residence adds to Grammy Award total

Sheet music resting on a piano keyboard

An artist in residence at the University of Washington School of Music, Steve Rodby produced “Mirror, Mirror,” which won the 2022 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. He now has 14 Grammy Awards.


April 11, 2022

Even in a virtual classroom, preschoolers can gain reading skills

little boy lying on the floor reading a book

A new study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences finds that children can develop key reading skills in a virtual classroom with other students.



Previous page Next page