College of Arts & Sciences

November 18, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Lessons (Not) Learned from the Holocaust, What to Watch, Read, and Listen to at Home, and Drawing Wild Washington

During this time of uncertainty and isolation, find solace in digital opportunities to connect, share, and engage. Each week, we will share upcoming events that bring the UW, and the greater community, together online. Many of these online opportunities are streamed through Zoom. All UW faculty, staff, and students have access to Zoom Pro via UW-IT. Lessons…

November 12, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Rick Steves at UW Global Month, Beethoven Piano Trios, Lessons (Not) Learned from the Holocaust, and more

November 4, 2020

Faculty/staff honors: New atmospheric research board trustee; prize-winning fiction; PBS show consultant

Shuyi Chen, UW professor of atmospheric sciences, has been elected one of five new trustees to the board of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, the group that manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

A University of Washington meteorologist joins a national board for atmospheric research, an English professor’s story is honored and a Jackson School faculty member helps with research for a PBS show.

November 3, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Global Challenges Discussion, Katz Lecture: Abderrahmane Sissako, and more

November 2, 2020

No social distancing in the Cretaceous: New study finds earliest evidence for mammal social behavior

An illustration of ancient mammals in an underground burrow.

A new study led by paleontologists at the University of Washington indicates that the earliest evidence of mammal social behavior goes back to the Age of Dinosaurs. A multituberculate that lived 75.5 million years ago, Filikomys primaevus engaged in multi-generational, group-nesting and burrowing behavior, and possibly lived in colonies.

October 29, 2020

UW Space Policy and Research Center brings researchers, policymakers together for online symposium Nov. 6

A preview of the Nov. 6 SPARC Symposium, which will feature a conversation with Andy Weir, author of “The Martian.”

A research team led by UC Irvine and the University of Washington has created a new model of how the coronavirus can spread through a community. The model factors in network exposure — whom one interacts with — and demographics to simulate at a more detailed level both where and how quickly the coronavirus could spread through Seattle and 18 other major cities.

October 28, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: UW Global Month, 2020 Annual Space Policy and Research Center Symposium, and more

October 27, 2020

Vanessa Freije of UW Jackson School explores Mexican politics, journalism in new book ‘Citizens of Scandal’

A talk with Vanessa Freije of the UW Jackson School about her new book, “Citizens of Scandal: Journalism, Secrecy, and the Politics of Reckoning in Mexico.”

October 20, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: So Far So Good, Conversation with Jorge Ramos, and Emily Levesque in Conversation with KUOW’s Ross Reynolds

October 16, 2020

New annual book prize named for late UW historian William Rorabaugh

The national Alcohol and Drugs History Society has established an annual book prize in the name of UW history professor William Rorabaugh, who died this spring, calling him “a pioneer in the social history of alcohol.”

October 13, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Beyond Guilt Trips, Washin Kai: Rakugo by Katsura Sunshine, Protests for the Soul of a Nation, and More

October 12, 2020

UW awarded NIH grant for training in advanced data analytics for behavioral and social sciences

With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, a five-year, $1.8 million training program at the University of Washington will fund 25 academic-year graduate fellowships, develop a new training curriculum and contribute to methodological advances in health research at the intersection of demography and data science.

October 7, 2020

UW books in brief: Children’s books on STEM professionals, a courageous personal memoir — and UW Press looks back at 100

New books by UW faculty members include children’s works profiling STEM researchers and a personal memoir of an immigrant’s journey to freedom. Also, UW Press remembers a century of publishing, and a book on British colonialism is honored.

October 6, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: From Ally to Antiracist, Re/Frame: Abandoned, and more

A diagram showing the overlap between the atomic layout of sheets of 2D materials

In a paper published Sept. 14 in the journal Nature Physics, a team led by the University of Washington reports that carefully constructed stacks of graphene — a 2D form of carbon — can exhibit highly correlated electron properties. The team also found evidence that this type of collective behavior likely relates to the emergence of exotic magnetic states.

Election security is the theme of a new podcast by James Long, an associate professor of political science at the University of Washington. “Neither Free Nor Fair?” features experts from the UW and elsewhere on topics such as mail-in voting, foreign interference and the role of social media, and resolving disputed elections.

October 5, 2020

UW secures competitive $1 million Luce Foundation grant to advance Southeast Asian research and community engagement

The Southeast Asia Center at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies and the Libraries at the University of Washington will spearhead a new initiative of innovative collaborations to explore the effects and consequences of authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and on Southeast Asian American communities in the United States.

September 29, 2020

ArtSci Roundup: Velvet Sweatshops and Algorithmic Cruelty, Social Movements & Racial Justice, the Vice Presidential Debate Preview, and More

Margaret O'Mara's history of Silicon Valley was published in July by Penguin Press.

A conversation with new School of Music professor Anne Searcy about her new book, “Ballet in the Cold War: A Soviet-American Exchange.”

September 28, 2020

Book notes: A talk with UW English professor, author Shawn Wong about his UW Press book series for Asian American authors

"Aiiieee!" coedited by UW English professor Shawn Wong gets republished

UW English professor Shawn Wong discusses his UW Press book series. “We’re interested in all Asian American authors, particularly classic works that have gone out of print. We are open to anything — fiction, poetry and nonfiction,” Wong said. “But we’re also interested in new works.”

September 26, 2020

UW political scientist: Amy Coney Barrett gives conservatives a ‘hammerlock’ on the US Supreme Court

Quote: (Trump’s nomination of Amy Coney Barrett) will give Republicans a 6-3 hammerlock on the court, and short-term consequences include the near-certain overruling of Roe v. Wade, with the Affordable Care Act also in real danger.

University of Washington political scientist Scott Lemieux calls Trump’s Supreme Court pick a conservative “hammerlock” on the nation’s highest court.

September 22, 2020

Muslims, atheists more likely to face religious discrimination in US

A new study led by the University of Washington found that Muslims and atheists in the United States are more likely than those of Christian faiths to experience religious discrimination. Researchers focused on public schools and tested how principals responded to an individual’s expression of religious belief.

September 17, 2020

Watching over whales: Online tool detects whales and ships in California’s Santa Barbara Channel in near real-time

An image of a blue whale tail surfacing near a large cargo ship.

Whale Safe — an online tool launched Sept. 17 by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, the University of Washington and other partner institutions — allows users to detect and better protect these endangered animals in the Santa Barbara Channel. It is a mapping and analysis tool to help prevent ships from running into whales.

September 15, 2020

UW political scientist Megan Ming Francis named one of 12 grant-supported ‘Freedom Scholars’ for work on economic and social equity

Megan Ming Francis, University of Washington associate professor of political science, has been named one of 12 grant-supported “Freedom Scholars” in a new $3 million initiative by the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation, working together.

September 10, 2020

Four UW professors win 2021 Breakthrough Prize — so-called ‘Oscars of Science’

Four University of Washington professors were among the winners of the 2021 Breakthrough Prize, which recognizes groundbreaking achievements in the life sciences, fundamental physics and mathematics.

David Baker, a professor in the UW School of Medicine’s department of biochemistry, won the prize for life sciences, while a team of UW physics professors, including Eric Adelberger, Jens Gundlach and Blayne Heckel, earned the prize for fundamental physics.

September 9, 2020

English Department discusses coronavirus, ‘politics of care’ in ‘Literature, Language, Culture’ podcasts, videos — plus Devin Naar of Sephardic Studies interviewed on two podcasts

The Department of English has introduced its new “Literature, Language, Culture” Dialogue Series, a series of podcasts and YouTube videos — and Devin Naar of Sephardic Studies is interviewed on two podcasts

September 8, 2020

How birth control, girls’ education can slow population growth

Education and family planning have long been tied to lower fertility trends. But new research from the University of Washington analyzes those factors to determine, what accelerates a decline in otherwise high-fertility countries.

September 4, 2020

Mask mandates delayed by nearly a month in Republican-led states, UW study finds

Person wearing a face mask with New York City skyline in the background

Political science researchers at the University of Washington examined the factors associated with statewide mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic. When controlling for other factors, states with Republican governors delayed imposing broad indoor mask requirements by nearly a month.

Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the University of Washington, answers questions about mail-in voting.

September 2, 2020

UW Books: Climate change meets restoration science in ‘Anticipating Future Environments’; ‘Building Reuse’ in paperback — and Anu Taranath’s ‘Beyond Guilt Trips’ named a Washington State Book Award finalist

Recent news about UW-authored books includes a UW Press book on salmon habitat restoration amid climate change and a paperback edition of a book on building reuse. Also, Anu Taranath’s “Beyond Guilt Trips: Mindful Travel in an Unequal World” is a Washington State Book Award finalist.

September 1, 2020

UW launches Institute for Foundations of Data Science

The University of Washington will lead a team of institutions in establishing an interdisciplinary research institute that brings together mathematicians, statisticians, computer scientists and engineers to develop the theoretical foundations of a fast-growing field: data science.

August 31, 2020

UW receives NSF funds for investment in an interdisciplinary quantum future

The National Science Foundation has awarded $3 million to establish a NSF Research Traineeship at the University of Washington for graduate students in quantum information science and technology. The new traineeship — known as Accelerating Quantum-Enabled Technologies, or AQET — will make the UW one of just “a handful” of universities with a formal, interdisciplinary QIST curriculum.

August 27, 2020

Frequently asked questions: torpor in Antarctic Lystrosaurus

An artist's rendition of an ancient vertebrate called Lystrosaurus

This FAQ discusses evidence for a hibernation-like condition in Lystrosaurus, a mammal relative that lived in the Antarctic portion of Pangea about 250 million years ago. This discovery was enabled by high-resolution of incremental growth marks preserved in the tusks of Lystrosaurus.

University of Washington scientists report evidence of a hibernation-like state in Lystrosaurus, an animal that lived in Antarctica during the Early Triassic, some 250 million years ago. The fossils are the oldest evidence of a hibernation-like state in a vertebrate, and indicate that torpor — a general term for hibernation and similar states in which animals temporarily lower their metabolic rate to get through a tough season — arose in vertebrates even before mammals and dinosaurs evolved.

August 26, 2020

Faculty from Allen School, Evans School tapped for NSF institutes on artificial intelligence

The National Science Foundation has announced five new institutes devoted to AI research and based at universities around the country. Six University of Washington faculty will be affiliated with the institutes.

A new study led by researchers at the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis, finds that the success rate of summiting Mount Everest has doubled in the last three decades, even though the number of climbers has greatly increased, crowding the narrow route through the dangerous “death zone” near the summit. However, the death rate for climbers has hovered unchanged at around 1% since 1990.

August 25, 2020

Terms in Seattle-area rental ads reinforce neighborhood segregation, study says

words in the sky of a seattle neighborhood

A new University of Washington study of Seattle-area rental ads shows how certain words and phrases are common to different neighborhoods, helping to reinforce residential segregation.

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