Department of Communication – UW News

ArtSci Roundup: April 2026

Lauren Zondag — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 21:47:23 +0000

Come curious. Leave inspired.

The UW offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University.

And as April comes to a close, see what’s happening in May.��

ArtSci On Your Own Time or From Your Own Home

Video | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
From “Mourning across Centuries and Languages: A Poem’s Six-Hundred-Year Journey” with Jahan Ramazani to “What Is Racial Capitalism and Why Does It Matter?” with Robin D. G. Kelley, the Katz Distinguished Lectures Playlist offers a rich, ever-growing archive to explore from wherever you are, inviting you to engage with a wide range of thought-provoking topics. Free.

Book Club | Chronicles from��the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka��(UW Alumni)
Readers’ Choice! A mix of mystery and political satire, this novel takes aim at corruption in modern Nigeria. Two old friends decide to investigate a local cartel that traffics in human body parts. But in a country where religious charlatans and dishonest officials abound, can they trust anyone in their search? Free.

EXHIBITIONS CLOSING:

Through April 4 | ��(School of Art + Art History + Design)Death is a fundamental first step toward rebirth—but this transition can feel daunting without a compassionate guide. In The Book of Zero, our 2026 Jacob Lawrence Legacy Resident indira allegra presents a multimedia, meditative experience shaped by their research into doula work, death care, and the cyclical nature of bodies and environments. Free.

Through April 26 | ��(Henry Art Gallery)
How might art respond when the conditions supporting artistic expression—its very ground—are under threat? Directly or more obliquely, at scales ranging from intimate to monumental, works by artists including Chakaia Booker, Denzil Hurley, Jennie C. Jones, and Stephanie Syjuco engage with the conditions that shape creative freedom. Free.

Through April 26 | (Henry Art Gallery)
we leak, we exceed activates the unique volume and multiple vantage points of the Henry’s double-height gallery, drawing together threads from physics, Black critical thought, and information theory to create an immersive environment that interrogates the spatial and social implications of compression. A common process used in data storage, spatial organization, and information systems, compression abbreviates and collapses complex ideas into more simplified forms. Kameelah Janan Rasheed questions the way compression comes at the cost of nuance and creates unrecoverable losses. She draws parallels between the compression of information and the containment of people, both physically and through the structuring and defining of identities. Through a network of video, sound, and architectural mark-making, Rasheed proposes alternatively what she calls “an embrace of Black excess and expansion” as a liberatory practice. Free.

Through May 3 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Deana Lawson’s photographs result from collaborations with strangers whom the artist encounters by chance or deliberately seeks out. The pictures often depict richly textured domestic scenes in which the details of decor, lighting, and pose are constructed. In this way, Lawson draws on the legacies of historical portraiture, documentary photography, and the family album, but transcends these traditions, constructing images that merge lived experience with imagined narratives. Free.

Week of March 30

March 31 | ��(College of Education)
EduTalks brings together educators, researchers and community leaders to share bold ideas shaping the future of education. In just five minutes — and with a single powerful image — each presenter explores innovative approaches to today’s most pressing challenges. In the College of Education, we’re “solving for x,” taking inspiration from high school algebra to step into the complicated, often uncertain challenges in education with imagination and heart. In math, x represents the unknown. In education, it symbolizes the complex questions we face as we strive for a more just, equitable and joyful future for all learners. Solving for these challenges takes imagination, persistence and, above all, community. Free.

April 1 | (Communication)
Dr. Kathleen Hall Jamieson argues that scientists and science communicators would be well served by use of a “mental models” approach to simultaneously increase consequential knowledge and reduce public susceptibility to misconceptions about controversial climate and health findings. By engaging audiences with visual, verbal, or animated models, this approach creates understandings of science on which the audience can draw to recognize and reject consequential misconceptions. Free.

April 1�� | (School of Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring UW School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with UW Libraries. Free.

April 2 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Libraries in French colonial Vietnam functioned as symbols of Western modernity and infrastructures of colonial knowledge. Yet Vietnamese readers pursued alternative uses of the library that exceeded imperial intentions. Bibliotactics examines the Hanoi and Saigon state libraries in colonial and postcolonial Vietnam, uncovering the emergence of a colonial public who reimagined the political meaning and social space of the library through public critique and day-to-day practice. Free.

April 2 | ��(Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Part of Burke’s Free First Thursday series, the museum opens its collections spaces from 4:30 to 7:30 PM. Visitors can explore behind‑the-scenes labs and storage, and speak with researchers, staff, and volunteers about their work.��Free.

April 2 | (Henry Art Gallery)
To celebrate the opening weekend of Eric-Paul Riege: ojo|-|ólǫ́, visit the artist offsite at the Burke Artist Studio, located in the Northwest Native Art Gallery at the Burke Museum, just a few blocks from the Henry. As part of Free First Thursday at the Burke, visitors will have the chance to watch the artist at work and speak with Riege about his process. Free.

April 3 | (UW Planetarium Arts x Colectivo Arte GUENDA)
An evening of guided gallery tours, lightning talks, and moderated panel discussions, featuring artists and scientists from Oaxaca, Seattle, Portland, UW, and UNAM. Guided tours are offered in English and Spanish. Lightning talks and panel will be conducted in English. Free.

April 3 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Be among the first to experience Eric-Paul Riege: ojo|-|ólǫ́, the artist’s largest solo exhibition to date. Featuring sculpture, textiles, collage, and video, the exhibition draws on Diné cultural memory and examines the (re)production of Indigeneity. A no-host bar and music by KEXP DJ Kevin Sur round out the night. Free.

April 4 | (Henry Art Gallery)
An immersive performance by Eric-Paul Riege. Working in close concert with exhibition objects, Riege utilizes performance as a means of care and relationality among materials and objects. At once haptic and visceral, Riege will perform his self-described “weaving dances” as an extension of his world building across and within exhibitions. After the performance, Riege will be joined by co-curators, Thea Quiray Tagle and Nina Bozicnik, for an in-depth conversation about the connections among his research, practice, and performance. Free.

April 2 – 4 | ��(Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Feathers will fly in this exuberant take on Swan Lake by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa. The world’s most romantic ballet is re-imagined as a circus spectacular, full of Circa’s signature physicality and shot through with cheeky humor and a thoroughly contemporary energy. Be swept away by this tale of swans and hapless princes sparkling with quirky touches like the sequined flipper-wearing duck army and a burlesque black swan. There are sumptuous aerials, jaw-dropping acrobatics and of course…feathers! Touching, funny and utterly entertaining, Duck Pond is a tale of identity and finding your true self.��

Week of April 6

Online – April 6 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Sean Jacobs, Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in International Affairs at The New School, and Martha Saavedra, former Associate Director of the Center for African Studies at UC Berkeley. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Each week, Global Sport Lab will bring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Lectures will focus on teams coming to Seattle, as well as topics such as workers’ rights, World Cup histories, immigration and travel bans, the Pride Match controversy, and more. Free.

April 7 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Grammy-nominated documentary The Music of Strangers, which follows members of the Ensemble as they gather in locations across the world, exploring the ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution. There will be a post-screening discussion with visionary Peter Sellars and Grammy Award-winning, multi-instrumentalist John-Carlos Perea, Chair of Ethnomusicology at UW. Free.

April 7 | ��(Asian Languages & Literature)
Japanese-language literature has been both read and written in Brazil for more than a century, creating an ever-expanding corpus of works. The talk will introduce these literary activities, focusing on the first decades of their production. In addition to presenting the authors, newspapers, bookstores, and readers in Brazil, the talk will also raise some questions about what makes up “Japanese literature” — and all other identity-based groupings of literary texts. Free.

Online option – April 7 | Unlocking Secrets: Interrogating the Epigenome to Reveal Pregnancy Risks in Moms with High Blood Pressure with Bertha Hidalgo (Public Lectures)
Dr. Bertha Hidalgo as she explores how epigenetics is reshaping our understanding of hypertensive pregnancy disorders. This lecture highlights population-based insights, early biomarkers of risk, and transformative strategies for prevention—advancing maternal health equity and innovation in public health. Free.

April 8 | (English)
Featuring Ange Mlinko, poet, critic, editor, & professor. Book signing and reception to follow. Free.

April 8 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)
Grrrilda Beausoleil is turning 50. All she wants is a reunion with her 1990s riot grrrl band—the one she abandoned just as they were about to make it big. With a scrappy film crew documenting the journey, she navigates old wounds, new-age platitudes, and a San Francisco transformed by tech and displacement. The band must decide whether they can trust Grrrilda again—and whether their DIY roots of wheat paste, stickers, and zines can still build community in a digital age.

Dubbed “SPINAL TAP with BIPOC and queers” by the Chicago Reader, the film is a hilarious improvised mockumentary that treats comedy as activism. At its heart, the production centers LGBTQ community building across generations—reconciling past and present, passing the mic, and finding solidarity through creativity. Free.

April 8 | (School of Music)
Seattle’s contemporary music orchestra performs György Ligeti’s piano concerto, featuring faculty pianist and SMO member Cristina Valdés, alongside new works for sinfonietta by faculty composers William Dougherty, Joël-François Durand, and Huck Hodge. SMO is joined onstage by select graduate-student members of the UW Modern Music Ensemble in this large-ensemble format.

April 10 | ��(Digital Arts & Experimental Media)
Anomalous Textualities re-imagines the Studio Theater as a traversable showroom. Inhabited by seven distinct works, the margins of language and meaning are re-mediated, embodied, and deconstructed through human-machine (mis)translations. In this performance-installation, spatial, temporal, and linguistic boundaries are blurred, giving way to slippages across models, bodies, and forms. Within this anomalous showroom, language models drive mechanical systems, glitching oracles, and choreographic prompts. Two further works explore non-verbal communication, seeking a physical vocabulary for a world shared with a “technological other.”

In this complex system, there is no fixed sequence. Light and sound are the conductors. As illumination fades in and out across the grid, models are sporadically activated. The audience is invited to navigate the showroom and explore multiple perspectives, moving through the partitions to witness interactions up close, or observing the entire system from the margins as it breathes and stutters as a single organism. Free.

April 10 | Sand Point Open Studios (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Visit the private studios of the Painting + Drawing MFA students and Division of Art faculty at the School’s Sand Point facilities. We will also be celebrating the opening of Rebecca Shippee’s show in the Sand Point Gallery. Students, alumni and the general public are invited for an evening of conversation, interaction, and art. Free.

April 10 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
What does democracy look like from below? This talk will look at how ordinary lives are reshaped by surveillance, majoritarianism, and corporate-political nexus in South Asia. Exploring media influence, gendered surveillance, majoritarian and casteist politics, the struggles of urban poor workers and the slow erosion of democratic rights in contemporary South Asia through Neha Dixit’s The Many Lives of Syeda X, this talk explores how journalism can recover erased histories, expose routine violence, and hold power to account. Free.

Week of April 13

Online – April 13 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Mary V. Harvey, Chief Executive at the Center for Sport and Human Rights; Maya Mendoza-Exstrom, Board Member of the SeattleFWC26 Local Organizing Committee, Chief Business Officer of Seattle Reign Football Club, and Chief Operating Officer of Seattle Sounders Football Club; Leo Flor, Chief Legacy Officer of the SeattleFWC26 Local Organizing Committee; and Anita Ramasastry, Henry M. Jackson Professor of Law and Director of the Sustainable International Development Graduate Program at the ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý School of Law. Free.

April 13 | (School of Music)
Faculty soprano Carrie Shaw’s new Seattle-based group Wind Up Vocal Project performs musical puzzles of the past and present, including Ming Tsao’s “DAS WASSERGEWORDENE KANONBUCH.”

April 13 | (School of Music)
The School of Music keyboard program presents a solo piano recital by Spencer Myer, associate professor of music at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, performing works by Haydn, Ravel, Liszt, and Carl Vine. Free.

April 14 | ��(School of Art + Art History + Design)
Our question to consider: We are all in this together, so, how do we actually do this work together? This year-long program series hopes to honor our commitment to social justice and to gather our community to think about the work of liberation through shared texts, art, film, music, conversation, and workshops. Unlike your traditional book club, all the reading and study happen together, so no need to prepare. Join us monthly as we approach the topic of liberation from a number of perspectives. Free.

April 14 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Tiffany Tsao will discuss the challenges of translating Indonesian literature in the context of a publishing industry that has tended to value Indonesian works more for their “Indonesianness” than their literary value. Catering to a readership interested specifically in the history, culture, and living conditions of Indonesia has some near-term benefits, but does this approach do Indonesian writing a disservice over the long term? She will discuss, more specifically, how this state of affairs has shaped the decisions she has made as a translator – from the works she has chosen to translate, to her approach to the translation process itself. Free.

April 16 | (School of Music)
Faculty percussionist Bonnie Whiting celebrates the release of Through the Eye(s), her new CD out now on Neuma Records. Documenting a cycle of pieces for solo speaking and singing percussionist developed in collaboration with nine incarcerated people at the Indiana Women’s Prison, Through the Eye(s) is a collaboration with composer Eliza Brown, who facilitated the project. The program includes a short performance followed by a question-and-answer session. Free.

April 16 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Join The Black Embodiments Studio for The (Printed) Matter of Black Arts Writing: Archives for the Future, a panel discussion on the practice of collecting, preserving, and circulating Black arts writing ephemera. Featuring archivists and publishers of printed matter like flyers, zines, pamphlets, notebooks, and books, the program explores the significance of gathering around materials that are fragile and prone to disappearance—and reflects on what contemporary practices of preserving and circulating Black arts writing ephemera can tell us about the futures of the art world in general. This is the second of two programs for Public Scholarship + Practice: Black Futures + Archives, a new series highlighting ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý-led research and practice at the intersections of visual art and culture. Free.

April 16 – 18 | (Drama)
The IGNITE New Works Festival is a three-day event celebrating UW student “ART” of all forms, including performance art, theatre, film, installation, multimedia, and sculpture. The festival’s goal is to ignite expression, community, accessibility, and belonging among UW students by showcasing art that is FRESH, RISKY, and ODD. Performances will be held in the Glenn Hughes Penthouse (GH Penthouse) or Hutchinson Hall (HUT). Free.

April 17 | (School of Music)
Ana Alonso Minutti, associate professor of musicology and ethnomusicology at the University of New Mexico, presents “Noising the Desert: Land and Memory in Raven Chacon’s Work.” Composer and installation artist Raven Chacon (Fort Defiance, 1977) has developed a body of work shaped by the sonic landscapes of the New Mexican desert. This presentation traces how his engagement with noise amplifies place and activates personal and cultural memory, positioning noising as a borderlands practice that unsettles colonial histories. Free.

April 17 | (School of Music)
Seattle orchestra Harmonia (William White, conductor) performs concerto excerpts with UW piano students. Kane Chang, Jiaxuan Wu, Eli Antony, and Yuchen Qi.

April 17 | (Political Science)
Presentation by Tongtian Xiao, Ph.D. Student, ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý as a part of the Severyns Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics. Free.

Online option – April 17 | (Classics)
Linda Gosner (Texas Tech) examines mining and its effects on the communities and ecologies of southeast Iberia following the conquest of this region during the Second Punic War. This region also had botanical and marine resources, long exploited by local communities, who reacted to Roman mining in divergent ways. Weavers of local grasses shifted their production strategies, supplying equipment for Roman mining. By contrast, harvesters of a large mollusk species, who once collaborated closely with miners, broke ties with the industry. Ultimately, the talk shows the important role local decision-making played in organizing production and in the empire’s experience in Roman Iberia. Free.

April 18 | ��(Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Hailed as the “global ambassador of Spanish guitar” by Billboard Magazine, Pablo Sáinz-Villegas is widely acclaimed as the successor to Andrés Segovia. His playing dazzles with vibrant colors and deep emotion, captivating audiences with its expressiveness. Sáinz-Villegas’ guitar evokes intimacy and passion, weaving haunting melodies that transport listeners to a place of reverie and reflection. An exceptional performer, he stands as a living testament to music’s profound power to touch the depths of the human soul.

Week of April 20

Online – April 20 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by César Wazen, Director of the International Affairs Office at Qatar University. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Each week, Global Sport Lab will bring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Lectures will focus on teams coming to Seattle, as well as topics such as workers’ rights, World Cup histories, immigration and travel bans, the Pride Match controversy, and more. Free.

April 21 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Focusing on Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s public displays of crying, this talk examines what these moments signify, and why his supporters interpret them as authentic, drawing on insights from focus group discussions. It situates these performances within Erdoğan’s increased reliance on populist discourse and style, arguing that these emotional and performative dynamics have been central to mobilizing support and maintaining the cohesion of his constituency. In doing so, the talk shows how such strategies have contributed to the consolidation of an authoritarian regime sustained by popular backing, particularly in moments when legitimacy is under strain. Free.

April 22 | ��(Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Yo-Yo Ma’s performance is currently sold out. Tickets may become available as some tickets get returned closer to the performance. A waitlist will open at the Meany Box Office starting at 6:30 p.m. on April 22. This special performance from Yo-Yo Ma pairs repertoire from the center of his musical firmament with reflections on how it has shaped his thinking about art, human nature and our search for meaning.

April 22 | (Communication)
Drawing on his research in media, technology, and public life, USC Associate Professor Mike Ananny examines how this framing shapes public understanding, limits accountability, and influences how societies respond to emerging technologies. The talk invites audiences to think more critically about what generative AI is, how it operates, and why treating it as a public problem is essential for addressing its broader social and political impacts. Free.

April 23 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Deana Lawson draws on the legacies of historical portraiture, documentary photography, and the family album, but transcends these traditions, constructing images that merge lived experience with imagined narratives. The aesthetics of intergenerational connectivity guide Lawson’s choice of subject matter, with each of her works taking its place in an overarching project that coheres into what she terms “an ever-expanding mythological extended family.” Lawson’s works also demonstrate a special attention to the element of light, as both part of the mechanical process by which photographs are realized, and as a manifestation of the divinity that suffuses her sitters. A focused presentation of Lawson’s work on the Henry’s mezzanine features photographs that highlight her ongoing exploration of female subjectivity through the photographic image. Free.

April 24 | (German)
German Studies Chair, Ellwood Wiggins, and Professor Andre Schütze present and discuss the enduring legacy of Faust.��Discover what to look out for in Murnau’s revolutionary cinematic masterpiece and learn about the Faust story as a parable of modernity–and of German history–in its adaptations across the ages. What is the price of your soul? Following the discussion, please stick around as the community—students, alumni, faculty, and staff—gather over refreshments to celebrate German Studies’ own 21st Century learning. Free.

April 24 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for more than 150 million years — evolving into spectacular giants like Brontosaurus and T. rex, which captivate our imaginations. In this talk, University of Edinburgh professor and paleontologist Steve Brusatte will discuss the complete story of where dinosaurs came from, how they rose to dominance, how most of them went extinct when a giant asteroid hit, and how some of them live on as today’s birds. In doing so, he will recount stories of digging up dinosaurs and working with colleagues around the world. At a time when Homo sapiens has existed for less than 300,000 years and we are already talking about planetary extinction, dinosaurs are a timely reminder of what humans can learn from the magnificent creatures that ruled Earth before us. Free.

April 24-25 | Improvised Music Project Festival (IMPFEST): / (School of Music)
The School of Music and the student-run Improvised Music Project (IMP) present IMPFest, featuring UW Jazz Studies students and faculty performing with guest artists of international renown. Headliners for this year’s festival are Grammy-nominated drummer, producer, and emcee Kassa Overall and Icelandic composer and bass guitarist Skùli Sverisson.

April 24-25 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Seamlessly blending illusion, acrobatics, magic and whimsy, MOMIX sends audiences flying down the rabbit hole in Moses Pendleton’s ALICE, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland. Join this dazzling company on a mind-bending adventure, as Alice encounters time-honored characters including the undulating Caterpillar, a lobster quadrille, frenzied White Rabbits, a mad Queen of Hearts and a variety of other surprises.

April 26 |��(UW Alumni)
Join the UWAA and BECU for a day of service to help fight food insecurity. Free.

April 26 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Dig into paleontology at the Burke’s annual festival of fossils!
Celebrate all things fossilized with hands-on activities for all ages! View hundreds of specimens from the Burke’s collection and hear about groundbreaking research from Burke and UW scientists.

Fossil fun for everyone!
Watch paleontologists uncover a duck-billed dinosaur in the Fossil Prep Lab.
Learn about the fossils of Sucia Island, including the one and only dinosaur bone found in Washington state!
Chat with Burke paleontologists and students about fossils from the Burke’s extensive vertebrate, invertebrate, and paleobotany collections.
Check out the amazing T. rex skull unearthed by Burke scientists.
And more!

Week of April 27

Online – April 27 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Niki Akhavan, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Media and Communication Studies at The Catholic University of America. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Each week, Global Sport Lab will bring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Lectures will focus on teams coming to Seattle, as well as topics such as workers’ rights, World Cup histories, immigration and travel bans, the Pride Match controversy, and more. Free.

April 28 | ��(School of Music)
Students of Dr. Stephen Price present a UW Organ studio spring recital. Dr. Price teaches Organ performance, Church music, and Keyboard Harmony courses. In addition, he leads ongoing initiatives to develop and revitalize the UW program, continuing the legacy of his predecessor, Dr. Carole Terry. Free.

April 28 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Celebrate the graduating seniors across the art programs: 3D4M, Photo/Media, Painting + Drawing, and Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA) during the 2026 BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrance Gallery. Ways of Becoming is split into three shows between April 28 – June 5, 2026. Free.

April 28 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Stephanie LeMenager, Professor of English and Environmental Studies, considers the role of fiction as a form of resistant truth-telling in an era of lies, bullish*t, propaganda, GenAI fakes, and conspiracy theory, and in the shadow of the climate crisis. In our media atmosphere filled with falsehoods, fiction becomes a means of capturing messy realities unassimilable to propaganda. Moreover, the flexibility of fictional imagination allows for social responses to radical uncertainties, via new genres of storytelling that call climate-change publics into being. In this talk, we’ll consider stories of megafire. Free.

April 29 | (Philosophy)
The idea of space as the stage on which physical events play out dates at least as far back as the 5th century BC. The twentieth century saw a shift from theorising about space and time separately to thinking about spacetime, but the metaphor of spacetime as a stage or arena has continued. Twenty-first century physics looks likely to render this untenable – theories of quantum gravity do not appear to postulate spacetime as a fundamental container for physical contents. This talk examines an alternative way of thinking about spacetime based on the role that it plays in our physical theories – spacetime philosophy should focus on what spacetime does, rather than what it is. Free.

April 29 | (Psychology)
Presented by Maureen Craig, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University. Free.

April 30 | (School of Music)
The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band (Erin Bodnar, director) presents “Scenes and Portraits,” featuring music by Gustav Holst, Martin Ellerby, and others.

April 30 |(Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
What does it mean to live well as wildfire and smoke season becomes more a part of life in the Pacific Northwest and many other places around the world? As much as we focus on preparedness and reducing materials that fuel wildfires, we must also reckon with the human dimensions of fire, which shape how we interact with it. “Fire Humanities” is a book project and an emerging field of study that draws on the humanities and arts to center stories, representations, collaborations, and values that promote adaptation, resilience, and justice as we adapt to a world with more fire.

This program will feature a panel discussion with five contributors to the book, who will share their approaches to this emerging field of research. After the panel, you’ll be invited to share your stories of fire and smoke with each other, speak with the panelists, and participate in hands-on activities connected to the Fire Humanities project. Free.

April 30 | ��(Jackson School of International Studies)
Panel discussion featuring Wang Feng, University of California, Irvine, and Yong Cai, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with UW faculty James Lin and Sara Curran. Free.

May 1 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Writing history entails good editing—and accepting when material can’t make the final cut. Lengthy research projects require a command of sources but also analytical flexibility. Such flexibility can ensure rigor, sometimes at the expense of findings that, alas, must be shelved for some other future use. “The B-Sides of Unmaking Botany” will examine a set of sources that did not make it into the recently published monograph Unmaking Botany: Science and Vernacular in the Colonial Philippines (Duke University Press, 2025). The objectives of the talk are thus twofold: to provide a behind-the-scenes take on the production of a scholarly monograph and to offer a conceptual argument gleaned from the sources that nonetheless resonates with some of Unmaking Botany’s principal interventions. Free.

May 1-2 | (American Indian Studies)
Indigenous scholars, artists, community leaders, and practitioners come together to reflect on food sovereignty, wellness, cultural resurgence, and collective healing through land-based knowledge and practice. Keynote by Vina Brown (Haíɫzaqv and Nuu-chah-nulth), a scholar, artist, and wellness advocate, whose work centers on Indigenous law, cultural healing, and community well-being. Raised in her Haíɫzaqv homelands, Vina’s work is deeply grounded in cultural resurgence, ceremony, and Tribal Canoe Journeys. She is the founder of Copper Canoe Woman and co-founder of Rooted Resiliency, an Indigenous women-led nonprofit dedicated to community wellness, cultural healing, and reclamation. Across her work, Vina advocates for land, culture, and collective well-being, with particular attention to healing intergenerational and historical trauma through community, movement, and Indigenous knowledge systems. Free.

See all that’s to come in the May ArtSci Roundup.

ArtSci Roundup goes monthly!

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the UW—whether in person, on campus, or on your couch.

Previously shared on a quarterly basis, those who sign up for the Roundup email will receive them monthly, delivering timely updates and engaging content wherever you are. Check the roundup regularly, as events are added throughout the month. Make sure to check out the ArtSci On Your Own Time section for everything from podcasts to videos to exhibitions that can be enjoyed when it works for you!

In addition, if you like the ArtSci Roundup, sign up to receive a monthly notice when it’s been published.

Do you have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: November

Lauren Zondag — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:21:33 +0000

Come curious. Leave inspired.

We invite you to connect with us this November through a rich and varied schedule of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From chamber opera premieres and public lectures to Indigenous storytelling and poetry celebrations, there’s something to spark every curiosity. Expect boundary-pushing performances, thought-provoking dialogues on memory and identity, and cross-disciplinary collaborations—November is a celebration of bold ideas and creative energy.

As you plan for the end of the year, take a look at what’s coming up in the December ArtSci Roundup.

In addition, .

ArtSci On Your Own Time

Closing November 8 | (Art + Art History + Design)
This Fall MFA exhibition at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery showcases emerging artists’ work. Free.

Closing January 11 | (Henry Art Gallery)
A thematic exploration of the work of thirty-four Asian American and Asian diasporic artists, Spirit House asks the question, what does it mean to speak to ghosts, inhabit haunted spaces, be reincarnated, or enter different dimensions?

Book Club:��“The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah��(UW Alumni)
Readers’ Choice! Author (and UW alum – BA, Communication, ’83 ) Kristin Hannah highlights the struggles of the working poor during the Great Depression in this novel. Elsa is an awkward wallflower who is raising her two children on the family farm. As the Dust Bowl hits, she must choose between weathering the climate catastrophe in Texas or moving her family west to follow rumors of jobs in California.��Free.

Books, podcasts, etc: (��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý Magazine)
This spring, 18,883 degrees were conferred upon graduates of all three UW campuses. We estimate there are just under 600,000 living alumni of the UW. And the UW supports or sustains 100,520 jobs, making it the fifth-largest employer in the state. No wonder we’re always hearing about new books, music, podcasts, and film projects from the UW community. Read on for a few recent accomplishments from Huskies in the media.

Week of November 3

November 1 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
A West Coast premiere of a chamber opera by composer Matthew Aucoin and director Peter Sellars, based on poems by Jorie Graham. The performance explores embodiment and identity in an age of transformation.

Ed Yong

Online Option – November 4 | Becoming a Birder (Graduate School Public Lectures)
This talk considers birding not only as a scientific and recreational practice but as a way of seeing and being—attuned to classification, memory, imagination, and care. Free.

November 4 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
A public lecture on the use—and misuse—of historical analogy in politics, focusing on Holocaust memory and the complexities of comparison in historical discourse. Free.

November 5 |(DXARTS)
Hum Under the Riverstone explores different forms of connection and dialogue that can unfold among various kinds of intelligences: human, natural, and machinic. The title of this project draws inspiration from Édouard Glissant and his concept of archipelagic thinking. Free.

November 5 | (Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring UW School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with UW Libraries. Free.

Online Option – November 5 | (Jackson School)
What does it mean to commemorate a genocide? This is the overarching question governing this academic panel as its presenters ruminate over the mass killings that transpired in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966 which saw an estimated deaths of at least 500,000 alleged communists and their sympathizers, among others. Free.

November 6 – 16 | (Drama)
A new devised performance piece created under the direction of Adrienne Mackey with UW students, set in a dystopian workplace where employees inhabit modular rooms and confront disconnection, routine, and possibility.

November 6 | (Political Science)
Bart Wilson is the Kennedy Endowed Chair in Economics & Law and the director of the Smith Institute for Political Economy & Philosophy at Chapman University, and author of Humanomics (with Vernon Smith), The Property Species, and Meaningful Economics. Free.

November 6 | (American Indian Studies)
A series to prepare for the Film Screening & UW Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

November 6 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Part artist talk, part lecture-performance, this presentation by artist Chloë Bass will use the lens of public art today to explore feelings as a type of knowledge. RSVP encouraged. Free.

November 6 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Part of Burke’s Free First Thursday series, the museum opens its collections spaces from 4:30 to 7:30 PM. Visitors can explore behind‑the-scenes labs and storage, and speak with researchers, staff, and volunteers about their work. Free.

November 6 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Renowned pianist Jon Kimura Parker returns to Meany with a dynamic solo program featuring Mozart, Beethoven’s Appassionata, Ravel’s Jeux d’Eau, and an Americana‑inflected selection including works by Chick Corea, John Adams, and Oscar Peterson.

November 7 | (American Ethnic Studies)
Celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Department of American Ethnic Studies (AES) and honor the 449 Japanese American UW students of 1941-42 whose education was interrupted and who were unjustly incarcerated during WWII. Pictures and memories will be shared from the families of The Long Journey Home honorees, followed by remarks from AES Chair Alexes Harris and faculty member Vince Schleitwiler. Free.

November 7 | (Political Science)
Megan Mullin, Faculty Director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, discusses how scientific expertise shapes public decisions in the aftermath of disaster, drawing on lessons from the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Hosted by the Center for Environmental Politics. Free.

November 7 | (Anthropology)
Anthropologist Tracie Canada draws from long-term ethnographic research to explore how Black college football players navigate and resist the structural harms of college athletics. Canada is the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University and director of the HEARTS Lab. Free.

November 8 | (Henry Art Gallery)
As part of the Spirit House exhibition, this reading explores grief, memory, and the porous boundary between life and death through storytelling across cultures. Free.

November 8 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
This special tribute celebrates Amadou’s musical legacy with Mariam’s iconic vocals, longtime band members, and new music from their forthcoming album L’Amour à la Folie. A legendary duo blending Malian blues with Afropop, disco, and rock influences.

Week of November 10

November 12 | ��(Drama)
In conjunction with the School’s upcoming production of OMMIA Break Room, this panel discussion centers on collaborative creation across multiple fields of study with notable faculty speakers from across the Seattle campus.

November 12 | ��(Honors)
As it becomes increasingly woven into our daily lives, public trust in science— or the lack thereof — matters more than ever. Join a dynamic conversation among UW Interdisciplinary Honors faculty whose scholarship and teaching engage natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities, as they explore what happens when scientific research and scholarship are misunderstood, mistrusted or misused. Free.

November 12 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
A panel discussion on the new edited volume Spaces of Creative Resistance: Social Change Projects in 21st-Century East Asia, exploring how scholars, artists, and activists respond to inequality, environmental degradation, and social disconnection across Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Featuring Andrea Arai, Jeff Hou, and James Lin. Free.

November 13 | (American Indian Studies)
Composer Bruce Ruddell, Musicians Adia tsi sʔuyuʔaɫ Bowen (Upper Skagit) and
Ben Workman Smith (Tolowa), Conductors Ryan Dudenbostel and David Rahbee, with John-Carlos Perea (Mescalero Apache/German/Irish/Chicano) as discussant. A series to prepare for the Film Screening & UW Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

November 13 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Philosopher Marshall Abrams challenges standard population-level views of evolution by emphasizing the unique role of individual organisms and their environments. Drawing from his book Evolution and the Machinery of Chance, Abrams explores how evolution unfolds within dynamic “population-environment systems.” Free.

November 13 – 14 | and (Music)
UW Jazz Studies students perform in small combos over two consecutive nights of original tunes, homage to the greats of jazz, and experiments in composing and arranging. Free.

November 14 | ��(Political Science)
PhD Student Ryan Reynolds presents, “Structurally Induced Anxiety and Anti‑War Voting: Military Social Networks and Presidential Elections.” Free.

November 14 | (Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures)
A multilingual poetry gathering celebrating the ghazal, a poetic form rooted in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and more. Participants will recite ghazals in their original languages with English translations, reflecting on sound, translation, and the form’s enduring vitality. Free.

November 16 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Explore ancient technologies, identify animal bones, sort shells, and enjoy a flintknapping (stone tool‑making) demonstration. Burke archaeologists and community partners present hands‑on activities and share stories about artifacts and historical practices. Free with museum admission; free for Burke members.

Online Option – November 16 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies brings together scholars and community members to discuss the meaning and impact of Spanish and Portuguese citizenship offers to descendants of Sephardic Jews. Featuring Rina Benmayor, Dalia Kandiyoti, and Professor Devin E. Naar. In-person registration required. Free.

Week of November 17

November 18 | ��(Chemistry)
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the architects of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi. Professors Dianne Xiao and Doug Reed from the Department of Chemistry will introduce MOFs and discuss their importance.
November 18 | (Art + Art History + Design)
Join a Narcan training workshop followed by a pizza party and conversation focused on community care, harm reduction, and accessibility. Part of the year-long Liberation Book Club series exploring liberation through shared texts, art, film, music, and workshops. Free.

November 18 | (Music)
UW voice students of Thomas Harper and Carrie Shaw perform art songs and arias from the vocal repertoire. ��Free.

November 18 | (Jackson School)
Forty years after the US pulled out of South Vietnam, a Vietnamese martial arts master returns to the waters that claimed his wife and children during their escape in hopes of finding their grave. The screening will be followed by a virtual discussion with members of the GETSEA consortium. Free.

November 20 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Co-presented with the UW School of Art + Art History + Design, this conversation will address the role of historical research in DeVille’s object-based and performance practice, as well as her alchemical way of transforming found materials into psychically charged paintings, sculptures, and installations. Free.

November 20 | ��(American Indian Studies)
A series to prepare for the Film Screening & UW Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

Online – November 20 | (Geography)
Alums share how their geography degrees have shaped careers in climate risk, procurement, and user experience design. Featuring Sadie Frank (CEO, N4EA), Nina Mesihovic (Enterprise Contracts Specialist, WA State), and Anirudh Ramanathan (Senior UX Researcher). Moderated by Professor Sarah Elwood. Free.

November 20 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Historian Edward Wright-Ríos explores the enduring and evolving practice of pilgrimage among Mexican Catholics, challenging common misconceptions and revealing why this tradition remains vital in modern life. Free.

November 20 | (Music)
The Campus Band (conducted by Solomon Encina) and Concert Band (conducted by Yuman Wu) present their Fall Quarter concert at Meany Hall—Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater. The program features works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Steven Bryant, Clifton Williams, Richard Saucedo, Frank Ticheli, and others.

November 21 | (American Indian Studies)
As the days grow shorter, we gather in for a gathering with friends, family, and community to appreciate some long-form storytelling. Free.

November 21 | (Music)
The UW’s graduate-student-led choral ensembles—the University Singers, UW Glee, and Treble Choir—present an eclectic end-of-quarter concert.

November 21 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
This symposium brings together global wetland scholars to propose four analytical interventions in wetland studies, namely: rethinking the undisciplined wetland; post-colonial/settler politics of the wetland; shifting spatial geographies and temporalities of the wetland; and finally (counter) mapping the wetland. Free.

November 23 | (Music)

UW music students perform music from the Baroque era under the direction of Tekla Cunningham. Free.

November 24 | (Music)
The UW Studio Jazz Ensemble and Modern Band present a shared program featuring a mix of repertory selections, original compositions, and inspired arrangements. This performance offers a dynamic evening of jazz that highlights the talents of UW’s student musicians.

ArtSci Roundup goes monthly!

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the UW—whether in person, on campus, or on your couch.

In addition, if you like the ArtSci Roundup, sign up to receive a monthly notice when it’s been published.

Do you have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).

New UW course connects the climate crisis to communications and design

Lauren Kirschman — Mon, 14 Jul 2025 17:26:31 +0000

A new ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý course teaches students how to examine the climate crisis and environmental problems from a communications and design perspective. Photo: Aidan Moeck/Dominic Muren/Adrienne Russell

On the second day of “Communications & Design for the Environment,” a Communication Leadership course held for the first time this spring, and took their students to the Apple Store and told them to implode it.

Figuratively, of course.

The concept comes from Donna Haraway, a scholar of science and technology studies, who famously challenged her students to “implode” everyday objects to unpack the way the world works. Russell, a ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý professor of communication, and Muren, a teaching professor of design, applied the technique to their course by challenging students to examine the objects around them and how they connect to the environment and the climate crisis.

The concept of “implosion” challenges students to examine the objects around them and how they connect to the environment. Photo: Aidan Moeck/Dominic Muren/Adrienne Russell

For example, in a zine created for the course, Russell and Muren used the implosion method to examine a ceramic mug. The mining, shipping and firing of porcelain clay generates carbon emissions. The industrial molding process creates a low-cost product, but material and energy are wasted on mugs that break easily. A joke giftware mug, which likely gets little use, still leaves behind carbon emissions. This all means that a ceramic mug often has a carbon footprint ten to hundreds of times greater than a glass or plastic mug.

In the Apple Store, the students came prepared with a printed list of things to observe and questions to ask. They went through the implosion process for an hour and a half before returning to the classroom. They then discussed the dissonance that emerged when considering the welcoming store layout and clean brand design with the environmental impact of mining, refining and producing the company’s products.

The course teaches students how to examine the climate crisis and environmental problems from a perspective beyond the hard sciences. From a communication standpoint, this means considering which topics resonate with audiences, whose views get amplified while others are silenced, which ideas are backed by money and more. The design viewpoint means exploring how people get around, what they wear and where they live. Russell and Muren are working on designing a certificate program for Comm Lead, in which students will take a series of courses focused on environmental design and communication.

“The climate crisis is such a huge issue,” Russell said. “A lot of people get stalled trying to deal with it. But what we hope students take away from this class is that no matter where you are or what you do or what your expertise is, there’s an entry point where you can think about things and how they relate to the environment.”

The idea for the course took root at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Russell and Muren happen to be neighbors, and, like so many others, they started a book club to get through lockdown. Much of their respective work revolves around the environment and climate change, so their reading list did, too. And since they were already immersed in��research on the topic anyway, they started planning a class.

“The way communication and design allow you to understand the climate crisis is really different from the scientific or political tradition,” Muren said. “Both of those traditions are powerful, but there’s not a lot that an individual can do within them. You basically need giant actors to fund these huge things for climate change to get addressed by science or the government. We approach it from a more bottom-up, influence-based perspective, where ideological threads can be encoded into objects, spaces or organizations.”

Adrienne Russell and Dominic Muren created a zine to introduce students to their course, “Communications & Design for the Environment.” The is available to read online.

With this in mind, students completed projects that were tailored to their interests and skills. One student, who worked as a user experience designer, was interested in designing more sustainable websites. While redesigning the website of a popular clothing store, she learned how to create websites that use less energy and made a how-to guide for other designers.

Another student, inspired by her Native Hawaiian ancestry, focused on loʻi kalo — traditional Hawaiian wetland farms where taro is cultivated in terraced ponds. She considered the perspective of an organization that’s trying to restore the system, explaining the science and why they’re pursuing it. She created multiple vehicles for the information, including a zine and a presentation that explicitly discussed the reason kids are important to the revitalization’s success.

“One of the things everybody always wants to hear is what they can do about the climate crisis,” Russell said. “The fact of the matter is, there’s no way we can solve this if we just put the most vulnerable people out there and expect them to do it.”

But, Russell said, there are many ways people are engaging with environmental issues. Some professors, for example, work the climate crisis into their everyday classes. There are also alliances like Clean Creatives, a movement of advertising and public relations professionals who refuse to work with fossil fuel clients.

“Our fundamental idea behind this course is shifting people’s mindset to think about how whatever you’re doing can intervene and not exacerbate the climate crisis,” Russell said. “This is very different from talking about individual solutions, and it’s not shifting the responsibility away from governments and corporations that are doing most of the polluting. It’s a mentality shift so people don’t feel so discouraged, and it’s also about the ways we can shape our smaller communities.”

This kind of reframing also allows people to address problems like emissions while simultaneously building resilience.

“We had a farmer come in and present his work on community food sovereignty and racial inclusivity around food,” Muren said. “He’s trying to bring wine and people of color together in community. That’s a joyful side effect of trying to solve the climate crisis. It doesn’t have to be all about these negative things if you can think about it in clever, more holistic ways.”

For more information, contact Russell at adruss@uw.edu and Muren at dmuren@uw.edu.

ArtSci Roundup: Summer 2025

Arts & Sciences — Wed, 11 Jun 2025 19:41:40 +0000

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this Summer.

ArtSci on the Go

Looking for more ways to get more out of Arts & Sciences? Check out these resources to take ArtSci wherever you go!

Zev J. Handel, “Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese”��()

Black Composers Project engages the School of Music faculty and students ()

Ladino Day Interview with Leigh Bardugo & MELC Professor Canan Bolel ()

Back to School Podcast ��with Liz Copland ()

Featured Podcast: “Ways of Knowing” (College of Arts & Sciences)

This podcast highlights how studies of the humanities can reflect everyday life. Through a partnership between and the ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý, each episode features a faculty member from the UW College of Arts & Sciences, who discusses the work that inspires them and suggests resources to learn more about the topic.

Episode 1: Digital Humanities with Assistant Professor of English and Data Science, Anna Preus.

Episode 2: Paratext with Associate Professor of French, Richard Watts.

Episode 3: Ge’ez with Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, Hamza Zafer.

with Associate Professor��of Law, Societies and Justice, and of International Studies, Stephen Meyers.

with Professor of Mathematics and of the Comparative History of Ideas, Jayadev Athreya.

with Assistant Professor of Cinema and Media Studies, Golden Marie Owens.

From the School of Music

External Event:

The student-run Improvised Music Project presents performances by a rotating cast of UW jazz studies students, faculty, and special guests every first and third Wednesday, 6 to 10 pm, at (1508 11th Ave, Seattle, WA).

Event Dates:

June 18
July 2
July 16
July 30
August 6
August 20

From the Burke Museum

| 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

Admission to the Burke Museum is FREE, and the museum is open until 8 p.m. on the first Thursday of every month. Large crowds are expected, ��in advance.

CLOSING EXHIBIT | – Final day Sunday, June 22

Learn about the diversity and significance of trees with our hands-on activities. Play the tree-themed Hidden Husky gallery hunt — spot the five hidden huskies in the galleries to earn a special sticker prize!

OPENING EXHIBIT | – Saturday, September 13, 2025 to Sunday, August 30, 2026

Woven��in��Wool: Resilience��in��Coast Salish Weaving��showcases both historical and contemporary woven items — from blankets and tunics to hoods and skirts. Journey through the seasonal cycle of weaving, from gathering materials and spinning wool to dyeing with natural ingredients and weaving intricate designs. Along the way, learn��firsthand from weavers and gain��insight��into the deep cultural and scientific knowledge embedded��in��every strand.

From the Henry Art Gallery

OPENING EXHIBIT | – Saturday, July 26, 2025 to Sunday, January 11, 2026

Through the work in the exhibition, contemporary artists connect fragmented family narratives shaped by war, migration, and generational trauma to broader global contexts, creating new narratives that transform their difficult origins. With these artists as guides,��Spirit House��invites you to commune with your ancestors, reflect on significant memories, and journey through time and space.

CLOSING EXHIBIT | – Final day Sunday, July 27

This exhibition highlights��Sanctuary��(2017), a monumental tapestry commissioned by Western Bridge for Seattle’s Saint Mark’s Cathedral and now part of the Henry’s collection.

CLOSING EXHIBIT | – Final days, August 2025

For Bass’s project, commissioned and organized by the Henry, a series of fourteen stone benches is placed throughout Seattle’s , with two additional sculptures residing outside the Henry itself. Each bench is engraved with its own inscription and a silhouetted image applied in light-responsive pigment. The project examines themes of cultivation and wildness, the laws we impose to control human bodies, hierarchy and proximity, and stones as memorials, boundaries, and legislative markers.

CLOSING EXHIBIT | – Final day Sunday, August 25

Be flat��is��Tala Madani’s debut solo exhibition in Washington State, featuring recent and newly commissioned works that explore the influence of symbols, language, and mark-making on power dynamics and individual agency.

CLOSING EXHIBIT | – Final day Thursday, September 25

This focused exhibition features works from��Passing On��(2022), a series of collaged newspaper obituaries of influential feminist activists and organizers. The clippings, presented with Winant’s handwritten annotations, reflect on a lineage of non-biological inheritance and how language shapes memory and history.

June 2025

Wednesday, June 18, 2:00 – 5:00 pm | ��(Burke Museum)

Ravenstail weaving skills have returned to the hands of Northwest Coastal People, but their historical robes are still in museum collections. Mentor weaver Ksm Lx’sg̱a̱n, Ruth Hallows, and apprentice weaver Jay Hallows work in tandem with more than twenty weavers to symbolically restore historical Ravenstail robes by reweaving them and bringing them home to dance in ceremony.

Thursday, June 19, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm | (Burke Museum)

Jai Kobi Kaleo’okalani

BLUEs.Weave will present two interrelated demonstrations of explorative Black American music in honor of the holiday of Juneteenth.

The first demonstration will feature original music works, lyrics, and improvisations meditating on the various forms and aesthetics of celebration as they appear throughout the sonic lineage of Black American music.��The second demonstration will be a live, collaborative composition session where BLUEs.Weave, culminating in a piece and performance reflecting on the importance of Juneteenth and Black freedom.

Thursday, June 19, 7:00 – 8:00 pm | ONLINE ONLY: (Center for Child & Family Well-Being)

Shayla Collins

Join the Center for Child & Family Well-Being for their monthly Community Drop-In with Shayla Collins. A time of mindfulness, self-compassion, and common humanity. You spend so much of your time caring for others, join for a very informal hour (or whatever you can commit to) of practice for yourself.

Thursday, June 19, 10:30 am – 2:00 pm | (Center for Labor Studies)

Join ILWU Local 19 and APRI Seattle for their 6th Annual Juneteenth Waterfront Freedom Celebration. There will be live entertainment, food, drinks, and guest speakers.

ILWU Local 19
3440 East Marginal Way S.
Seattle, WA

Wednesday, June 25, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm | (Chemistry)

Join the Department of Chemistry for a lunch-and-learn workshop with an Introduction to Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR), which provides submicron IR, simultaneous Raman, and co-located fluorescence. It has been used for a wide range of application areas.

Thursday, June 26, 7:00 – 8:30 pm | (Astrobiology)

Join the Institute for Data Intensive Research in Astrophysics & Cosmology (DiRAC) for a special celebration marking a new chapter in astronomy. This milestone represents over two decades of dedication and collaboration from the global Rubin community. DiRAC is especially proud to honor the UW’s Rubin Team, whose leadership and involvement have been instrumental.

This is more than an astronomy event — it’s a celebration of human curiosity, collaboration, and imagination. Whether you’re a student, researcher, space enthusiast, or simply someone who looks up at the night sky in wonder, you’re invited to be a part of this historic moment.

Thursday, June 26, 3:30 – 6:30 pm | Summer Celebration | Live Jazz @ the UW Club (UW Alumni Association)

Join UW faculty, staff, and guests for an end-of-year afternoon of community and connection at the storied, scenic ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý Club. Enjoy live music performed by the Alliance of Improvisers, an ensemble composed of UW Jazz faculty, students, alumni musicians, and special guests.

This event is part of a series of community-building opportunities planned for the year ahead. As the University continues to assess and review future permanent directions for the building, the facility will remain closed for general use.

Wednesday, June 4 to Friday, July 4 | (Taiwan Studies)

This exhibition seeks to honor the memories of those who suffered and reflect on the lasting impact of the 228 Incident. Through archival photographs, personal testimonies, historical documents, and artistic interpretations, view a narrative of loss, resilience, and the ongoing pursuit of justice.

Information Sessions

June 24 |

June 25 |

June 26 |

June 27 |

June 30 |

July 2025

Wednesday, July 2, 12:30 pm | (School of Music)

Students of the UW School of Music perform in this��lunchtime concert series co-hosted��by UW Music and UW Libraries.

Friday, July 11 through August 2025 | ��(Communication)

Interrupting Privilege is a Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity (CCDE) project at the ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý. The project brings together students and community members for intergenerational conversations about race, racism, and their intersection.

The CCDE is inviting you to visit the upcoming Interrupting Privilege museum exhibit at the UW’s Allen North Lobby. The exhibit will be up from July through August. Schedule a 30-minute guided tour, or come visit the exhibit on your own time. Be sure to check Allen Library times before your visit, as Summer hours vary.

Information Sessions

July 7 – July 11 |

July 10 |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: June 2025

Arts & Sciences — Fri, 23 May 2025 21:35:36 +0000

ArtSci on the Go

Looking for more ways to get more out of Arts & Sciences? Check out these resources to take ArtSci wherever you go!

Zev J. Handel, “Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese”��()

Black Composers Project engages the School of Music faculty and students ()

Ladino Day Interview with Leigh Bardugo & MELC Professor Canan Bolel ()

Back to School Podcast ��with Liz Copland ()

Featured Podcast: “Ways of Knowing” (College of Arts & Sciences)

Episode 1: Digital Humanities with assistant professor of English and data science, Anna Preus.

Episode 2: Paratext with associate professor of French, Richard Watts.

Episode 3: Ge’ez with��associate professor of Middle Eastern languages and cultures, Hamza Zafer.

Closing Exhibits

: Christine Sun Kim: Ghost(ed) Notes at the Henry Art Gallery

Week of June 2

Prof. Daniel Bessner

Monday, June 2, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | ONLINE ONLY: (Jackson School)

Join the Jackson School for Trump in the World 2.0, a series of talks and discussions on the international impact of the second Trump presidency.

This week: Daniel Bessner; Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

Monday, June 2, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | (Jackson School)

Mediha Sorma, Ph.D

This talk discusses the unconventional forms of care that emerge out of Kurdish resistance in Turkey, where mothering becomes a powerful response against necropolitical state violence. By centering the stories of two Kurdish mothers who had to care for their dead children and mother beyond life under the violent state of emergency regime declared in 2015; the talk examines how Kurdish mothers “rescue the dead” (Antoon, 2021) from the necropolitical state and create their necropolitical power through a radical embrace of death and decoupling of mothering from the corporeal link between the mother and the child.

Monday, June 2, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | (The Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies)

Prof. Masaaki Higashijima

Why do some protests in autocracies attract popular participation while others do not? Masaaki Higashijima’s, University of Tokyo, paper argues that when opposition elites and the masses have divergent motivations for protesting, anti-regime mobilization struggles to gain momentum. Moreover, this weak elite-mass linkage is further exacerbated when autocrats selectively repress protests led by opposition elites while making concessions to those organized by ordinary citizens.

Tuesday, June 3, 5:00 – 6:30 pm | (Communications)

A conversation with local public media leaders about current challenges–including federal funding cuts–and pathways forward for sustaining public service journalism.

Speakers include:

Rob Dunlop, President and CEO, Cascade PBS
David Fischer, President and General Manager, KNKX
Tina Pamintuan, incoming President and CEO, KUOW
Matthew Powers, Professor and Co-Director, Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy

Wednesday, June 4, 3:30 – 4:30 pm | (Psychology)

Prof. Hadas Okon-Singer

Cognitive biases — such as attentional biases toward aversive cues, distorted expectations of negative events, and biased interpretations of ambiguity — are central features of many forms of psychopathology. Gaining a deeper understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying these biases is crucial for advancing theoretical models and clinical interventions.

In this talk, Prof. Hadas Okon-Singer will present a series of studies exploring emotional biases in both healthy individuals and participants diagnosed with social anxiety, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Wednesday, June 4, 12:30 – 1:30 pm | (Center for Statistics & Social Sciences)

Prof. Tyler McCormick

Many statistical analyses, in both observational data and randomized control trials, ask: how does the outcome of interest vary with combinations of observable covariates? How do various drug combinations affect health outcomes, or how does technology adoption depend on incentives and demographics? Tyler McCormick’s, Professor, Statistics & Sociology, ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý, goal is to partition this factorial space into “pools” of covariate combinations where the outcome differs across the pools (but not within a pool).

Friday, June 6, 7:30 pm | (School of Music)

David Alexander Rahbee leads the UW Symphony in a program of concerto excerpts by York Bowen, Keiko Abe, and Camille Saint-Saëns, performed with winners of the 2024-25 School of Music Concerto Competitions: Flora Cummings, viola; Kaisho Barnhill, marimba; and Sandy Huang, piano. Also on the program, works by Mikhail Glinka, Richard Wagner, and Giuseppe Verdi.

Saturday, June 7 & Sunday, June 8, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm | (Burke Museum)

Artist Stewart Wong

Stewart Wong will share knowledge and personal experiences about working with Broussonetia Papyrifera. He will talk about the history, uses, and cultivation of the paper mulberry plant. In addition, Stewart plans on dyeing, drawing on, and printing kapa. Stewart will have printed information and material samples to supplement the talk.

Saturday, June 7, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | On Our Terms with Wakulima USA (Burke Museum)

Join the Burke Museum for a short screening from “,” plus a conversation with co-producer Aaron McCanna and Wakulima USA’s David Bulindah and Maura Kizito about food sovereignty and community building.

Additional Events

June 2 | (Music)

June 2 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

June 2 – June 6 | (Astronomy)

June 3 | (Music)

June 4 | (Music)

June 4 | (Psychology)

June 5 | (Music)

June 5 | (Speech & Hearing)

June 5 | (Labor Studies)

June 5 | (Art + Art History + Design)

June 6 | (Dance)

June 6 | (Geography)

June 7 | (Music)

Week of June 9

Wednesday, June 11 to Friday, June 27 | (Jacob Lawrence Gallery)

At the end of the spring quarter, the academic year culminates in comprehensive exhibitions of design work created by graduating students. The UW Design Show 2025, showcasing the capstone projects of graduating BDes students, will be held from June 11 to June 27 in the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.

Additional Events

June 11 | (Henry Art Gallery)

June 11 | (Art + Art History + Design)

June 12 & June 13 | (DXARTS)

June 13 | (Art + Art History + Design)

Events for the week of June 23

June 24 | (Information Sessions)

June 25 | (Information Sessions)

June 26 | (Information Sessions)

June 27 | (Information Sessions)

Commencement

June marks the end of many College of Arts & Sciences students’ undergraduate experience. Interested in attending a graduation ceremony? Click here to find information on ceremonies across campus.

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

Q&A: How 12 UW researchers fell in love with their research

Sarah McQuate — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 17:27:34 +0000

For Valentine’s Day, UW News asked 12 ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý researchers to share their love stories: What made them decide to pursue their career paths? Scroll down or click on the links below to see their responses.

Lakeya Afolalu Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Assistant professor of language, literacy and culture, College of Education

What do you study at the UW?��

My research explores how immigration, race, language, literacy and identity intersect in the lives of Nigerian immigrant and transnational youth. Unlike in many West African countries, race is the most salient identifier in the United States, often overlooking the diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic identities of youth of African origin. This often affects how immigrant youth make sense of their identities in this country. My research examines how Nigerian youth use multilingualism, literacy and digital literacies to construct and negotiate their identities across home, school and digital environments in the U.S.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

My mother is African American. My father is Nigerian. So, growing up, I often felt like I was split between both cultures. There were also so many societal and familial expectations about what it meant to be “Black,” “African American” and “Nigerian.”

Growing up, my family members and friends in Detroit called me by my African American name, “Lakeya.” But when my sisters and I spent summers and holidays in Queens, New York, with our Nigerian family, the moment I crossed over the threshold of the door I was called by my Nigerian name, “Iyore.”

Honestly, I’d say I set out very early in life to define my life’s path and to be intentional about how I wanted to make myself known to the world — my identity. It was not — and even as an adult Black woman in America, it still is not always — comfortable to defy identity expectations. But what other way is there to live? To be a shell of what others, or society, believe we should be? Is that living? It is not.

As a teenager, I had less confidence in being bold and being my true self. I loved reading novels. I’d go to the bookstore and buy books to read, but I hid this practice from my friends because of some unwritten rule that one can’t be Black, cool and smart. Adolescent peer pressure was a real issue. That’s also how I fell in love with writing. Often feeling misunderstood, I resorted to the pages of my journals where I could be myself and dream of my future self. I continue to keep a journal.

My Aunt Darcelle says I’ve been asking profound questions since I learned to speak. That hasn’t changed. So, it’s no surprise that I’ve committed to a career in research. My research is not just research, though. It’s the story and lives of so many young people who feel wedged between other people’s and society’s ideas of who they should be and what they should become. Sometimes, these expectations can come from those closest to us who have well-meaning intentions — parents, family members, close friends. I understand this feeling well.

There are many times when I’m writing a manuscript or analyzing data, and I draw on memories of my own schooling experiences to interpret interview transcripts from the Nigerian youth in my study. Or I remember similar instances from West African seventh-grade students in Harlem, which guided me to draw on theoretical frames that align best with the Nigerian youth experience.

My research is truly about shifting the narrative about what it means to be Black, Nigerian and African. Why? Well, because Blackness is so rich, diverse and multifaceted. So is Nigerianness and Africanness. As I engage in my research to illustrate the rich diversity of Nigerian youth’s languages, literacies and identities, I also aim to contribute to dismantling rigid identity structures, creating greater freedom for all young people who find themselves in environments that are structured by prescribed identities that conflict with how they desire to be known.

My research is a contribution to freedom — a freedom that transcends into adulthood. My feet may be in the academy, but my heart and hands always have been and always will be in the communities that mirror mine. It’s truly an honor to do this heart work.

Afolalu (right, in purple) with her two sisters and one cousin visiting their grandmother’s house on Detroit’s west side. This picture was taken by the girls’ Uncle Keith, who was visiting from Atlanta, and who had called the girls inside so he could take a picture of them. Photo: Lakeya Afolalu/��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

I also want to touch on how I decided to pursue this career path. Growing up, I always wanted to play school and take on the role of the teacher. In fact, I cried whenever my sisters and cousins wouldn’t play school with me. For Christmas and my birthday, I would ask my mother to buy me dry-erase boards, markers and other office items so that I could set up my “classroom” in the house.

I fell in love with teaching because my early elementary teachers were some of the first people who made me feel seen. For instance, my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Schave, would let me choose and read books to the whole class on Fridays. My second-grade teacher, Mrs. Korn, at Fitzgerald Elementary on the west side of Detroit, would invite me to the writer’s table in the classroom whenever I finished my work early. At that table, I realized how powerful and freeing the art of writing is.

While I had these great school experiences, they were also starkly different from my cousins’ experiences. They lived and attended public schools in Auburn Hills, in the suburbs outside of Detroit. I often visited them on the weekends and noticed that they read the same books that I read at my elementary school, except that we had the abridged version in basal textbooks while they had the full chapter books. That struck something within me, and I realized very early in life that your ZIP code — where you lived — determined the quality of your education. It felt unfair. I didn’t have the words to describe it then, but I now know that it was an equity issue — not just educationally but also in terms of economic and social mobility.

So, I decided around the age of 7 that I wanted to become a teacher. I made an internal promise to myself, a commitment, that children who grow up in communities like mine — the beautiful west side of Detroit — would have access to a quality education no matter what. Since that commitment, I’ve taught elementary and middle school in Newark, New Jersey, Detroit, and Harlem.

Thinking back to the connection with my research on identity, I had many conversations with my Nigerian father, who wanted me to pursue a career in finance. In Nigerian culture, there’s often the idea that doctor, lawyer and engineer are the only three career choices, but I was less interested in the money and prestige. I was committed to a career in education.

Today, as an assistant professor and the founder of a that supports the identities and well-being of youth of color, I have small moments when I think back to little Lakeya and smile. I’m doing exactly what she set out to do and more. She would be proud.

What advice would you give to your younger self?��

It’s okay to be misunderstood. It’s okay not to fit in. In fact, not fitting in is what makes you beautifully unique. I know that none of your identity and educational experiences may make sense now, but they will later. Trust me, it will make sense — not just for you but for many youths who find themselves making sense of their identities. In fact, you’ll dedicate your career to speaking, writing and doing community-based work about these topics. Finally, I know you’re looking for that example like yourself, with your dreams and who lives between multiple cultural worlds, but in time, you will become the example you’re looking for. Hold on. It’s going to be a beautiful roller coaster of a ride.

For more information, contact Afolalu at lafolalu@uw.edu.

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Katya Cherukumilli Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Assistant professor, Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research group, the Safe Water Equity and Longevity Lab, aims to bridge gaps between scientific discovery, technology design and safe water provision. We integrate methods from human-centered design and environmental engineering to investigate barriers that limit safe water access and to develop usable water quality monitoring and treatment technologies. Specifically, we use data science, experiments, hardware prototyping and community-engaged research methods to design collaborative tools that improve safe water management and mitigate exposure to chemical contaminants in water supplies.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

From a young age, I always felt a deep connection to our planet. I loved spending most of my time outdoors exploring the natural world. I was very curious and talkative as a child, wanting to solve riddles, play games and learn about how everything worked. My curiosity led me down a winding path of research adventures that allowed me to study geology and supercontinents, climate change and alpine plant ecology, fuel-efficient cookstoves, wastewater irrigation and, eventually, safe drinking water.

From a young age, Cherukumilli enjoyed being outdoors in nature, and she often found herself drawn by some invisible force to the nearest body of water. Shown here is a seventh-grade Cherukumilli enjoying some water in California. Photo: Katya Cherukumilli/��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

When I reflect on how I ended up choosing to research access to drinking water, I think about the different places I have lived: south India, Florida, California and Washington. Each region has a uniquely different way of life, cultural traditions and natural environments. A common thread in each of the places I have called home was proximity to the coastline and easy access to fresh springs, rivers and lakes. I have always found myself drawn by an invisible force to the nearest body of water.

I am grateful that my career allows me to address environmental health challenges while also considering the human experience, to reflect on and reconcile inequities and injustices, and to collaboratively solve complex puzzles with brilliant students, colleagues and community partners.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t be scared to do what you love every day, follow your heart and never stop speaking your mind. You’ll eventually find your way and realize it was the journey that mattered in the end.

For more information, contact Cherukumilli at katyach@uw.edu.

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Stephen Groening Photo: Corinne Thrash

, Associate professor, Department of Cinema & Media Studies

What do you study at the UW?

I am a media historian who specializes in the sociocultural aspects of media technologies. This includes researching and writing about devices themselves, the implications of the introduction and widespread adoption of these devices and how people use them. For example, my first book was . I have also published research on cell phones, , 16 mm training films, and the use of television screens in the family minivan.

What made you fall in love with your research area? ��

I was 7 when I was stuck on a Pan Am 747 for five hours on the tarmac at London Heathrow and boy, was it exciting when they finally played the movie on the big screen at the front of the cabin!

After that, I lived in Poland under a military dictatorship, which profoundly shaped my media experience growing up. For example, we used to watch Hollywood films played on a 16 mm projector in our living room — both the films and projector were provided through the U.S. Armed Forces. The range of films could be odd. I remember watching “Sophie’s Choice,” “Heartbeeps,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Going Ape!,” “Sleeper,” “Fire and Ice,” “The Towering Inferno,” “City on Fire,” “When Time Ran Out,” “Three Days of the Condor,” “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Krull” — not exactly .

At the same time, we were watching Polish television (mostly the animated shows “Pszczółka Maja” and “Bolek i Lolek”). Occasionally, a Hollywood film would be aired on TV, over-dubbed in Polish in such a way that the English language dialogue was still audible. I have distinct memories of watching “The Poseidon Adventure” and hearing the first few words of a line in English before the Polish translation came in on top of the dialogue. It wasn’t until a decade or so later that I learned this is not the standard technique for making alternate language versions of films.

We sometimes had access to U.S. television shows from other American diplomats who would return from home leave. They would bring videotape recordings, so I got to watch “Hogan’s Heroes,” “M*A*S*H” and “Gilligan’s Island” months after air date, complete with commercials (which I found both profoundly perplexing and compelling — As I type right now, I am singing the ). I even got to see “Roots” and “The Day After” on Betamax (we did not have what was then thought of as the inferior VHS format).

I would say that those media experiences — in-flight film, 16mm home exhibition, watching films on television in multiple languages — sparked my interest in our mediated mass culture. Until relatively recently, film studies was marked by a bias toward theatrical exhibition of feature films (with the occasional nod to experimental films shown in art galleries) and media studies was concerned with the effective transmission of messages to audiences. The forms of media encounter that are unforeseen and often unintended at the moment of production often get treated as accidental and inconsequential and yet, for many people that is the primary mode of encounter. Because of my experience, I know that all media forms, devices and their contents are contingent on a particular and fortuitous set of circumstances. So I find myself curious about those circumstances and their history.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

If I had known I would become an academic, I might have told my 8-year-old self to take better notes and told my undergraduate self to spend more time in faculty office hours asking about academia. Knowing what I know now, I would have told myself 10 years ago to stop worrying what others might think and just write the damned book.

For more information, contact Groening at groening@uw.edu.

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June Lukuyu Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Assistant professor, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research centers on using transdisciplinary approaches to develop solutions for creating sustainable, inclusive and integrated energy solutions for underserved communities. My expertise supports policymakers and practitioners seeking equitable, community-centered energy transitions that combine technical and socioeconomic perspectives.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I grew up in a small community outside Nairobi, Kenya. From an early age, I saw firsthand the challenges of unreliable power: frequent outages, power surges and a system that did not always meet the needs of the people it served. When the lights went out, my family, like many in the area, was often left scrambling to preserve our food or finish homework assignments in candlelight. It was not just an inconvenience — it was a reminder of how something as essential as electricity could hold communities back. I knew from then that I wanted to do something about it, but at the time, I did not quite know how.

When I was in high school, I applied to colleges in the U.S. and was accepted to Smith College on a full scholarship. There, I pursued engineering science, but what really sparked my love for the field was not just the technical challenges — it was how energy systems intertwined with society. At Smith, I was not just solving equations. I was also exploring how power affects everything from education to health care to human development. My engineering courses were paired with courses in psychology, economics and sociology, and that blend of disciplines opened my eyes to a new way of thinking: Energy wasn’t just a technical problem to solve, it was a societal one.

The more I learned, the more I realized that fixing energy systems in underserved communities couldn’t be as simple as just adding more power or building bigger grids. It had to be about understanding the people who needed that power. I wanted to create systems that responded to real needs, that didn’t just drop in solutions, but considered the community’s culture, environment and existing infrastructure. After graduating, I had a job developing software to estimate the cost of power systems, but I kept thinking about how we could rethink energy to make it more sustainable, more inclusive and more connected to the social fabric of the places it served.

That thinking led me to pursue a master’s in renewable energy systems at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom and then a doctorate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where my research focused on finding ways to develop energy systems that were as much about community as they were about technology. I didn’t just want to create another power system that might fail because it didn’t align with how people lived or how societies worked. Instead, I wanted to design systems that were responsive to local contexts and to the needs of communities they intended to serve, systems that people could rely on for the long haul.

In 2023, I joined the ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý as an assistant professor, where I founded the IDEAS (Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society) research group. Our work is all about creating energy systems that work for the people who use them. It’s a mix of developing sustainable technology, social understanding and deep collaboration with communities. We’re working on projects in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands and even here in the U.S., always with the goal of creating solutions that are both sustainable and tailored to the specific needs of each community.

What I love most about my research is that it’s not just about the science — it’s about the people. Every project is a chance to dive into a new community, understand its challenges and design solutions that truly fit. I’m passionate about making sure that when we think about energy, we’re thinking about people, not just power. And now, teaching and mentoring the next generation of engineers at UW gives me a chance to pass on that mindset — to inspire others to think beyond the technical and ask, “How does this system help the people who need it most?”

It’s been a winding journey, from a small town outside Nairobi to researching sustainable and inclusive energy solutions at a major university. But the core of it has always been the same: a desire to make a difference, to solve real-world problems with technology and to ensure that everyone, no matter where they are, has access to the energy they need to thrive.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I’d tell my younger self not to worry so much about fitting into a mold or following a traditional path. Every experience, even the ones that seem unrelated or uncertain, contributes to your journey. Embrace the uncertainty, because it often leads to the most interesting places.

I’d also remind myself to be patient and kind with the process. Progress isn’t always linear. There were times when I felt overwhelmed or unsure of my next step. It’s okay to feel that way — it’s part of learning and growing. The setbacks, the challenges and even the moments of doubt are just as important as the successes. They shape you and teach you valuable lessons.

Finally, I’d tell myself to take more risks — to seek out the scary opportunities, the ones that seem daunting or unfamiliar. You never know where a seemingly small decision or unexpected twist in the road might take you. Sometimes, the things that seem out of reach are the ones worth pursuing most. So, trust yourself, stay curious and keep pushing forward, even when the path isn’t always clear. The journey will be worth it.

For more information, contact Lukuyu at jlukuyu@uw.edu.

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Jennifer Nemhauser Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Professor, Department of Biology

What do you study at the UW?

We use plant, yeast and human cells to understand and engineer the molecular interactions that allow organisms to process information during development and stress responses.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

When I was a little girl, I attended a Montessori school in Los Angeles. This was the 1970s, and the teachers embraced the philosophy of letting a child’s interest direct their learning. I had one teacher that I really bonded with, named Dr. Pillai. He introduced me to the process of science research, rewarding my seemingly insatiable curiosity with thoughtful responses and sharing just the right book or model or experiment to help me dig deeper into any topic that caught my interest. He made me feel like asking a million questions was a wonderful quality (something not everyone agreed with, then or now!).

The pure joy of learning about the natural world through experimentation struck a deep chord. While the road was quite twisty between those early years and my decision to pursue science as a career, I am sure that I would not be here today without that early encouragement.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Be nicer to your dad when he is helping you with your math homework!

For more information, contact Nemhauser at jn7@uw.edu.

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Zoe Pleasure Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Doctoral student, Department of Health Systems & Population Health, School of Public Health

What do you study at the UW?

My research focuses on understanding how people make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health care while navigating the multi-level influences that shape our current societal structure. In my research, I use mixed methods to analyze more traditional data sources, such as qualitative interviews and surveys, and newer data sources, such as TikTok videos, Reddit posts and electronic health record notes, to understand what type of information people seek out about sexual and reproductive health, their motivations behind decision-making and their care interactions with providers. I seek to examine how people with different lived experiences (for example: chronic disease, young people, veterans) may have different decision-making motivations and informational needs to make autonomous reproductive health decisions.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I first became passionate about sexual and reproductive health while taking the class Sex, Gender and the Brain as a neuroscience undergraduate at Emory University. My final project focused on how anti-choice groups attempted to limit reproductive autonomy by promoting erroneous interpretations of neuroscience data to argue that oral contraceptives are dangerous. The class demonstrated to me how scientists could meld science with feminist theory and, more specifically, how the intentional distribution of misinformation online provides another tool to limit bodily autonomy.

Earlier in my educational career, teachers often framed my biology, chemistry and physics classes as apolitical or unbiased by societal structures. I now know that is not true. This class was one of the first classes where we were asked to name the specific orientation or lens of a research paper or study and describe who and what was left out.

I quickly dropped my neuroscience focus after this class and instead focused on policy-relevant, public –health-informed research that aims to improve access to and the equity and quality of sexual and reproductive health care and information. While earning a master’s of public health, I started working at the Guttmacher Institute, a leading sexual and reproductive health policy and research organization based in New York City. There, I started working on research projects that directly studied ways to improve access to sexual and reproductive health services.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I would advise my younger self to think critically about the lessons that are available in all academic classes, including English, dance, and history, and to think about how these lessons can be used to become a better public health researcher and writer.

For more information, contact Pleasure at zoep2@uw.edu.

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Kira Schabram Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Assistant professor of management, Foster School of Business

What do you study at the UW?

My two primary topics of inquiry are meaningful work and employee sustainability. My research examines how to support employees who want to make a positive difference through their work in ways big and small, ranging from employees who view work as a calling — not just a paycheck but as a source of personal, social or moral significance — to those engaging in everyday acts of helping, kindness and compassion. I study the challenges that impede these activities to determine how employees can conduct their work more sustainably.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I fell into academia. In 2007, I was working for the largest animal shelter in North America and I enrolled in a part-time master’s program in business because I had aspirations of one day rising into a leadership position in animal welfare.

Schabram originally worked at an animal shelter and started taking master’s classes as a way to prepare for a leadership role in animal welfare. Photo: Kira Schabram/��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

In 2008, the Great Recession hit and I lost my job, but I also learned that professors in my master’s program did research (who knew!). At the time, research on meaningful work was in its infancy and focused primarily on the positive aspects (for example: showing that employees doing meaningful work have greater engagement and satisfaction). I saw this among my co-workers in the animal shelter, but I also saw so much frustration, burnout and resignation. Every day, employees who wanted to save animals’ lives were in the corner crying because of their inability to do so.

I applied to 10 doctoral programs and got into one, where I was lucky that my supervisors encouraged me to join the burgeoning wave of research looking at meaningful work as a double-edged sword and what to do about it. The rest is history.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

This is less advice for my younger self and more gratitude to all the people who helped me along the way. Early in your career, you do not yet know how anything works: how research works, what journals are appropriate outlets, how to develop the ability to know where to dedicate our efforts: what research projects are not only novel but important. Until then, senior mentors are invaluable guides. What makes for a successful career is all the people who generously offer their time and guidance along the way. I did many, many things wrong in my early career, but one thing I did right was to seek out and show my appreciation for any and all help. I would not be here if it wasn’t for the thousands of hours invested in me by others in the field and I hope I am paying that forward in a small part.

For more information, contact Schabram at schabram@uw.edu.

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Bára Šafářová Photo: Christa Holka

, Assistant professor, School of Urban Studies, UW Tacoma

What do you study at the UW?

��My research is primarily on housing segregation, but I have also become an expert on the overlap of and its relationship with the greening of cities in times of climate change and rising inequality.

What made you fall in love with this new research area?

��I happened to fall into this area in the middle of the night a couple months into my architecture doctoral program. It was early spring. I had moved to College Station, Texas, and was living in a relatively old timberstick house. It was about 1 a.m. when I jumped into my bed and then yelped out from a sharp pain in my lower back.

My first thought: a snake bite?! I leapt up, squeezed my back as if I could prevent any poison from getting in, turned on the light and scanned the bed for a snake. Nothing. Instead I saw a bug — a flat dark bug, not even an inch long. I scooped it up in a jar, let go of my “poisoned skin” and sighed in relief.

Then I thought, could this be a risky bug? I had just moved to the U.S. from Europe and I didn’t know the local fauna at all. To resolve this in a rational way, I settled on eliminating worst-case scenarios. I Googled: “most dangerous insects in Texas.” I checked the bug in the jar for unique characteristics and compared it to a ranking of… JESUS! The third bug on the list was exactly the same bug that was staring at me from the jar: A Kissing bug… a bite from which can lead to Chagas disease… Deadly… No cure… Organs disintegrate in several decades.

My heart was pounding. My hand was back on the bite site. I was skimming the internet frantically. It was so late, and I had no one to call at that hour. I thought of calling people in Europe, but what would they know? I forced myself to read slowly and make a plan.

The message became clear: There is no cure for Chagas disease and the only symptom (sometimes) occurs the following morning: the swelling of one eyelid on the side closer to the bite site. Even if I went to the hospital, this seemed to be an under-studied disease and tests were limited. I resolved to just sleep it off and go to the doctor in the morning.

I woke up early. My face was symmetrical. Phew. I took the jar to the clinic right as they opened. Someone in the waiting room told me about getting bit by a brown recluse. “Oh well,” I thought, giving up on life a little.

The doctor took one look at the bug and said “Yes, that is a Kissing bug. There’s no cure. No test. Just move on, sorry!”

Perplexed, but also assured by the lack of urgency, I left the clinic. Over the next few days, my worries slowly faded as there apparently was nothing to do about this. I tossed the bug.

Two weeks later I saw an announcement on the university homepage from , then a doctoral student studying biomedical sciences. She was asking about any Kissing bug sightings and .

I immediately wrote to Rachel and reported what happened. She was super excited and asked me to bring her the bug. I said I threw it out, but had photos and I found a similar one — I had lots of bugs in my old house. We met over coffee. Rachel informed me that the bug was NOT a Kissing bug and that I should not worry. She could test me, but it was not necessary.

Šafářová collecting data in the colonias for the pilot project inspired by her encounter with a bug. Photo: Bára Šafářová/��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

She explained the science of how the parasite behind Chagas disease, Trypanosoma cruzi, . It’s quite the process: After the bug bites you, it poops. The parasites are in infected bugs’ poop, which means that the poop has to get smudged into the bite site for you to get infected.

Then Rachel asked about my doctoral research and I told her I was studying housing in the colonias that line the border of Texas and Mexico. Her eyes lit up because she was looking to get samples from there. Thanks to the bug bite and my coffee with Rachel, a whole team formed and we started a pilot project that combined our research interests. This study became my master’s thesis, and six years later in the prestigious Habitat International journal.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Talk to doctoral students from many more disciplines!

For more information, contact Šafářová at bsafar@uw.edu.

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Adam Summers Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Professor, Department of Biology and School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences

What do you study at the UW?

I am a natural historian who applies physics, math and engineering concepts to living systems to understand how they work. My research is driven by both the evolutionary implications of function and the possibility of bio-inspired design.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

From my earliest childhood I spent three seasons in downtown Manhattan and summer in the north woods of Ontario, Canada. The contrast between the most urban environment and a place without utilities or indoor plumbing was formative. Fishes, whether in tanks, on lines, or through my SCUBA mask, were my constant and most interesting companions. No detail was too obscure, and no species too drab to escape my attention.

I left fish behind when I got to college. Instead, it was a constant joy of mathematics and engineering, with a liberal arts sprinkling of art history, economics and German. After college I tried many things: I started a business, taught in the NYC public school system and attempted a career in photography. But I wasn’t willing to persist when things were hard or no fun. Then I went to Australia to become a SCUBA instructor. There I met my first biologist. I was smitten with the idea of making a living trying to understand animals.

On my return to New York, I immersed myself in biology, particularly the natural history of fishes, reptiles and amphibians. Spending hours in the field closely observing animals and their environment was one avenue of inspiration. The other was investigating animals’ shape, or morphology, with an electron microscope. The link between form and function was how my weeks passed — looking at microstructure, then wading in temporary ponds for larval salamanders. I fell completely in love with both areas and have made my career at that interface.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Treasure your mentors in the moment. They are gone too soon and you will never feel like you made it clear enough how much they affected you and your career.

For more information, contact Summers at fishguy@uw.edu.��

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Timeka Tounsel Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Associate professor, Department of Communication

What do you study at the UW?

I am a critical-cultural studies scholar who focuses on race, gender, and sexuality in the media. Specifically, I study how Black people negotiate mass media as marginalized subjects whose status as citizens is always precarious. I’m especially interested in the stories that circulate about Black women, both external narratives and the stories that Black women craft about themselves.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

I sometimes think of myself as an accidental academic. I pursued a degree in magazine journalism and international relations in college with the intention of becoming a magazine editor. But everything changed the summer I landed an internship at my dream magazine, . At the time, many publications were closing their doors or downsizing their staff in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. All of a sudden, pursuing a career in magazines began to feel like a much larger risk than I was comfortable with. Aside from the industry woes, I also realized that I had just as much fun studying magazines (and other media) for class projects as I did working for one.

At Essence, the assignments that my editor gave me reflected a particular image of Black womanhood and assumptions about Blackness, femininity and masculinity that were key to the magazine’s brand. When I returned to school for my last year of college, I took a Black feminist theory course where I wrote essays exploring the questions that had popped into my mind during my internship – questions that I couldn’t shake, questions that played in the background of my mind whenever I was walking through the magazine aisle at the grocery store, or watching television or a movie. This taste of how deeply satisfying a life of the mind could be was a turning point. By the end of the feminist theory course I had decided to apply to graduate school.

My first book, “,” was a full-circle moment. In the book I offer a cultural history of Essence magazine and position it as a predecessor to contemporary commercial representations of Black womanhood realized in the 2010s through hashtags like #BlackGirlMagic and advertising campaigns, such as Proctor and Gamble’s “.” It was an amazing feeling to follow my curiosity and return to the questions that first captivated my mind as an intern. During the writing process I realized that the seeds of these questions had started even earlier, when I was a little girl sitting in a Black beauty shop with dozens of issues of Ebony, Jet and Essence magazines. Long before I was old enough to fully comprehend the articles, the images in these magazines captivated me, beaconing me to explore further.

The thing that most fills my heart about the scholarly path that I’ve chosen is being able to document and amplify the brilliance and beauty of Black women. There’s so much that’s problematic in the stories that society tells about Black women, but the brightest moments in my teaching and research are connected to the dope narratives that Black women craft about themselves.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

Lean into the questions that captivate you and the subject areas that awaken your passion and curiosity. This will point you in the direction of your most fulfilling research projects and your very best writing.

For more information, contact Tounsel at timeka@uw.edu.

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Kendall Valentine Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Assistant professor, School of Oceanography

What do you study at the UW?

��I’m a coastal ecogeomorphologist, which means I study how ecology, geology and physics change the landscape on the coast. A lot of my work focuses on how biology (plants, microbes) alters how mud moves around coastal systems and changes what our coastlines look like. I am particularly interested in marshes and mudflats. I go into the field to measure what is really happening on the coast, and then develop numerical computer models to predict how these processes will change in the future.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

When I was 5 years old, my family went on vacation to Cape Cod National Seashore. We attended an educational program at the Salt Pond Visitor Center, and I knew I was in love. The stinky, muddy marsh felt like home to me immediately, and I still remember talking to the volunteer scientist about how marshes work. At that time, however, I had no idea that you could study marshes and mud as your job!

That formative memory never left me, even though, as I continued in school and focused on science, I intended to become a medical doctor. In my world, if you were good at math and science, the logical career path was to become a medical doctor.

Valentine fell in love with marshes on a trip to Cape Cod National Seashore when she was five years old, but she had no idea that you could have a career studying marshes and mud. Shown here is five-year-old Valentine on the beach at Cape Cod National Seashore. Photo: Kendall Valentine/��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

I went to college at Boston University, where I planned to major in chemistry. But for every class project, I ended up focusing on oceans and coastlines. I had a wonderful TA who noticed this trend and mentioned to me in passing that my university had a marine science program and that maybe I should consider taking a class in that program to see if I liked it. I enrolled in a class called “Estuaries” and I’ve never looked back. The first week of the class, we took a field trip to collect data in a marsh and I was instantly transported back to my 5-year-old self, loving the marsh. I was the first student who jumped into the mud to collect data, and I didn’t want to leave. Within a few weeks I was working in that professor’s lab, and I really haven’t left the marsh since.

I also started developing so many questions about how things worked — and how everything tied together, from the mud to the birds — that I quickly realized that research and teaching in the field was what I needed to do with my life. My research has expanded a lot since then to encompass many different types of coasts, but my love for the rotten-egg-smelling, squelching mud drives a lot of what I choose to do. Being out in nature and seeing the processes happen in real time inspires me to understand coastal systems and help make a more resilient future for our planet and for people.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I am incredibly lucky to have a job that I absolutely love, and I would encourage my younger self to pursue what makes me happy. Sometimes my work hardly feels like work because I am so engaged and excited by what I am discovering and the students I get to work with. While every day isn’t always amazing (I have bad work days too!), at the end of the work week I’m always thankful for what a great job I have. I hope that everyone is able to find something they are passionate about in their life.

I would also say: Believe in yourself and don’t compare yourself to others. Just keep doing what you love and what you think is important and helpful to others, and everything will work out okay.

For more information, contact Valentine at kvalent@uw.edu.

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Navid Zobeiry Photo: ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý

, Associate professor, Department of Materials Science & Engineering

What do you study at the UW?

My research team integrates materials science, data science and advanced manufacturing with primary applications in aerospace. We focus on three main areas:

Smart material testing methods, using physics-informed machine learning to control the testing parameters.
Smart manufacturing that leverages automation, sensing and machine learning. The goal is to develop AI for autonomous and self-aware manufacturing systems.
Smart engineering approaches to accelerate aerospace design and certification. We use a combination of machine learning, automated testing and physics-based numerical simulations techniques.

What made you fall in love with your research area?

According to my parents, my first word was “hot.” Looking back, it seems like a fitting start to a life deeply intertwined with the principles of heat transfer. My fascination with heat and materials began early and found a natural outlet in my love for cooking. I enjoy experimenting with different cooking techniques, all of which benefit immensely from an understanding of heat transfer. This passion even led me to publish a cookbook a few years ago.

After earning my doctoral degree, I began working at a research center in Canada, where I collaborated with various companies to solve their manufacturing challenges. Over time, I worked with a wide range of materials — concrete, wood, polymers, metals and composites. As I delved deeper into manufacturing, I started noticing fascinating parallels between it and cooking. Both require precise control of variables like temperature and pressure to transform materials into something new.

For instance, making aerospace composite parts in an autoclave is essentially pressure-cooking a layered material. Similarly, tempering chocolate to achieve its perfect microstructure, texture and snap is strikingly similar to controlling the crystallinity of thermoplastics to optimize their performance. Recognizing these connections allowed me to combine my personal passion for cooking with my professional love for materials science and engineering.

This love for exploring the science behind materials was paired with my lifelong interest in mathematics, which naturally led me to integrate machine learning and AI into my research. These tools provided a way to unlock deeper insights and bring innovation into material design and manufacturing. For example, my very first project as a professor at the ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý was a collaboration with Boeing, where we developed AI for manufacturing aerospace composites. It was akin to creating a smart oven that can monitor the temperature of various parts and autonomously adjust the controls — a direct parallel to advanced cooking techniques.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

As you explore different options for your career, focus more on what you truly love to do. Don’t be afraid to combine your personal passions with your professional goals — start doing this earlier. The joy and fulfillment you’ll find in aligning your personal interests with your career will open doors to creative opportunities and unique solutions you might not have imagined. Trust the process and follow what excites you most.

For more information, contact Zobeiry at navidz@uw.edu.

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ArtSci Roundup: February 2025

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:26:23 +0000

Featured Events: Topics in Social Change

February 4 | (Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas)

February 5 | (Communication)

February 6 |�� (Art + Art History + Design)

February 10 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)

February 19 | (Stroum Center for Jewish Students)

February 21 | (Political Science)

February 21 | (East Asia Center)

February 26 | (American Ethnic Studies)

Week of February 3

February 4, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm | (Center for Southeast Asia and its Diasporas)

In February 2021, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing led a military coup that ousted Myanmar’s democratically elected government, headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had won a historic landslide in the November 2020 elections.��Since late 2023, the Myanmar military has suffered one unprecedented battlefield humiliation after another, as it faces the nationwide uprising of hundreds of armed, anti-state groups committed to a revolution to remove the army from political power for the first time in history.

Join Associate Professor��Mary Callahan��as she explores the evolving crisis in Myanmar four years after the coup.

Free

February 4, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm |�� (Department of Chemistry)

The Amazing Lives of Defects in Crystals

Professor Daniel Gamelin — Department of Chemistry, ��Ӱ�Ӵ�ý
Recipient of the Paul Hopkins Faculty Award

In the spirit of the Hopkins Award, this talk will explore a few historical examples and our group’s research of defects in inorganic materials used to express interesting and (sometimes) impactful physical properties. It will illustrate the role of basic science in driving the development of next-generation technologies.

February 5, 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm | (Department of Communication)

Social media has reshaped how Americans consume news. As content creators rise as primary sources of information, they are overtaking traditional journalists for younger audiences. This shifting landscape brings critical questions: What does this mean for journalism? What does this mean for news consumers? How can we navigate news literacy in a digital world? And what role do these voices play in shaping the media ecosystem?

February 6, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm | (School of Art + Art History + Design)

There exists a pervasive illusion that journalism embodies truth and objectivity, yet it is fundamentally entrenched in a Eurocentric perspective that has long exacerbated social polarization. What ideological forces underpin this medium, enabling it to perpetuate such divisions?

February 7, 7:30 pm |�� (School of Music)

David Alexander Rahbee leads the UW Symphony in “With Love, from Scotland,” a program of works by Thea Musgrave, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Felix Mendelssohn. With faculty guests Carrie Shaw, soprano, and Frederick Reece, narrator.

Additional Events

February 3 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)

February 5��| (School of Music)

February 5 | (Stroum Center for Jewish Students)

February 5 | (History)

February 6 | (Burke Museum)

February 7��| (School of Music)

February 7 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)

February 7 | (Linguistics)

February 7 | (Burke Museum)

Week of February 10

February 10, 3:30 pm – 6:00 pm | (Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)

Recent years have seen the proliferation of cop cities, limits on free speech, and the gutting of governmental safety nets. In this context, trans and intersex people have been the casualties of a fascist agenda that seeks to outlaw abortion and to erase and further marginalize oppressed communities.

Join Dr. Sean Saifa Wall in a conversation that asks questions, speaks truths, and offers a way forward through these troubled times.

February 11, 6:30 pm | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)

In the��Analects, Confucius compares someone who has not adequately studied the classic��Book of Odes to a person standing with their face to a wall—unable to see, unable to act. In this talk, Edward Slingerland, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Distinguished University Scholar, and Professor of Philosophy at the University of British Columbia, unpacks scattered and vague references in the Analects��to construct a coherent account of how the Book of Odes��was used in early Confucianism as a tool for virtue ethical self-cultivation, as well as how the��Analects��itself, as a piece of literature, was meant to help train moral-perceptual expertise.

Free

February 12, 7:30 pm | (Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media)

Digital Arts and Experimental Media presents Daniel Peterson’s latest music composition, Into the Air, which explores the ephemeral nature of sound and the paradox of being. Inspired in part by Jorge Luis Borges’��Everything and Nothing, the 80-minute piece embodies both presence and absence, holding within it the traces of countless influences while remaining transient and��unimaginable; idiosyncratic and universal. The piece fuses Parmegiani’s��De Natura Sonorum��with Beethoven’s��Piano Sonata No. 32��through custom algorithms written in the audio programming language, SuperCollider.��The stereo piece will be diffused in real-time across 20 speakers.

February 13, 7:30 pm| (School of Drama)

The Winter’s Tale��by William Shakespeare centers on King Leontes of Sicily, who becomes irrationally jealous and falsely accuses��his best friend��and his wife, Hermione, of infidelity.��Tragedy��immediately��befalls his family and the kingdom. Sixteen years later,��Leontes’ lost daughter��Perdita, falls in love with��Florizel,��the Prince of Bohemia.��Leontes repents, and a “miracle” is revealed��leading to reconciliation and renewed relationships.��

: $10 – $20

February 13 through April 18 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)

Opening: Thursday, February 13

Working to emulate the interdisciplinary artistic environment Jacob Lawrence experienced in his formative years, this exhibition explores a legacy of collaboration between artists and poets.��artists & poets is a part of the re-grounding of the Jacob Lawrence Gallery in its mission of education, experimentation, and social justice. The show and space of the gallery will be split into two parts. The Cauleen Smith’s Wanda Coleman Songbook��will function as the contemporary example of this great legacy of exchange between artists and poets. The other half of the exhibition will focus on Dudley Randall’s��Broadside Presswhich began in Detroit in 1966 and will pull from archives to capture the press’s history and output.

Additional Events

February 12 | (Asian Language & Literature)

February 12 | (History)

February 13��| (South Asia Center)

February 14 | (School of Music)

February 14 | (Meany Center for Performing Arts)

February 14 | (Simpson Center)

Week of February 17

February 19, 4;30 pm – 6:00 pm��| (Stroum Center for Jewish Students)

Guest lecturer Naomi Seidman will take us inside�� “the Freud craze” to explore the impact Freud’s work had on Eastern European Jews.

The Austrian journalist Karl Kraus reportedly quipped, “Psychoanalysis is the disease of assimilated Jews; Eastern European Jews make do with diabetes.” And yet, Eastern European Jews were fascinated by Freud and psychoanalysis, flocking to lectures on the subject and following Freud’s life and career with curiosity and enthusiasm. This lecture will trace “the Freud craze” in the burgeoning Hebrew and Yiddish press of the interwar period when readers eagerly sought information about “the most famous Jew in the world,” and journalists and others were compelled to actively translate psychoanalytic terminology from German into Jewish languages.

February 21, 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm��| (Department of Political Science)

Christina Schneider – “International Financial Institutions and the Promotion of Autocratic Resilience”

February 21 | (East Asia Center)

Politicians and political parties make promises during electoral campaigns. However, achieving a policy goal can sometimes hurt them electorally, and a party can be better off not pursuing what its supporters want. This study empirically demonstrates that Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been gaining an electoral advantage by not achieving its stated goal of revising the constitution.

February 21, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm | (Department of Political Science)

Center for Environmental Politics: David Konisky, Indiana University Bloomington, “Disparities in Disconnections: Utility Access in the Age of Climate Change”

February 21, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm | (German Studies)

Prof.��Dorothee Ostmeier��will deliver a lecture in honor of beloved UW Prof.��Diana Behler.

In literary Romanticism to AI tales, portals mediate change between concrete and virtual, human and non-human realities. This lecture straddles the fringes of reality shifts in the Brothers Grimm and ETA Hoffmann’s tales, inserting literary German discourses on the imaginary into the vibrant questions asked by anthropologists and cultural critics, and engineers of digital virtuality.�� All diversely investigate possible futures beyond our anthropocentric minds and psyche.

February 22, 4:00 pm | UWAA Movie Night: Singles (UW Alumni Association)

Get ready for a night of nostalgia, laughter, and love at this special screening of “Singles,” the classic rom-com set against the backdrop of Seattle’s iconic grunge scene. Filled with awkward first dates, unpredictable connections, and the kind of romantic chaos that only young adulthood can bring, this movie is the perfect blend of romantic misadventures and the energy of ’90s Seattle. SIFF Executive Director Tom Mara, ’88,��will introduce the film.

Additional Events

February 19��| (School of Music)

February 20 | (School of Music)

February 20��| (School of Music)

February 20 | (Jackson School)

February 21 | (Meany Center for Performing Arts)

February 22 | (Classics)

February 22 | (Center for Child & Family Wellbeing)

Week of February 24

February 24, 6:00 – 7:00 pm | (Slavic Languages & Literatures)

Please join us on Monday, February 24, at 6:00 pm, for a reading and a conversation with an award-winning Polish poet Krzysztof Siwczyk, and his translator Prof. Piotr Florczyk, moderated by Prof. Agnieszka Jeżyk.

February 26, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm��| (Department of Chemistry)

Weston and Sheila Borden Endowed Lecture in Theoretical Chemistry

Professor Abraham Nitzan��–��Department of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania
Host: David Masiello

February 27, 6:00 – 7:00 pm | (School of Art + Art History + Design)

Join us for this year’s Kollar Lecture in American Art featuring Colby College’s Tanya Sheehan. This talk explores how Black life could and could not be represented on the walls of Harlem Hospital by Jacob Lawrence in 1937, and how a commitment to the publicness of Black care took shape in Lawrence’s private images.

Free

Additional Events

February 24��| (School of Music)

February 24 | (University Faculty Lecture)

February 25 | (Meany Center for Performing Arts)

February 26 | Provost Town Hall (Provost Office)

February 27 through March 1 | (Meany Center for Performing Arts)

February 27 through March 2 |�� (Dance)

February 27 | Can the Subaltern Sweat? Race, Climate Change, and Inequality (Public Lectures)

February 28 | (Political Science)

February 28 | (Classics)

February 28��| (Linguistics)

February 28 | (German Studies)

Closing Exhibits

March 1 |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Election Events, Meany Hall Performances, Artist Panel and more

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 23:06:18 +0000

This week,��attend the��Conversation on Race, Gender, & Democracy��lecture at Kane Hall, check out performances at Meany Hall, learn from a panel of artists at Henry Art Gallery, and more.

Election & Democracy Events

October 14, 6:30 – 8:00 pm | , Kane Hall

The Washington Institute for the Study of Inequality and Race (WISIR), in conjunction with the Department of Political Science, welcomes award-winning scholar and NPR co-host Professor Christina Greer to the stage with UW Professor Megan Francis for a discussion on race, gender, and democracy in the context of the elections.

October 15 – 29 | Democracy in Focus lecture series , UW Seattle Campus��& Online

Leading up to the 2024 election, UW faculty members will share their expertise through a public lecture on an election-related topic. The series spans UW partners, including the College of Arts & Sciences, the Evans School, the School of Law, and the Information School, with support from the Office of the Provost.
Oct. 15 | Zooming Out: 2024 Elections in Historical, Social, and Cultural Contexts
Oct. 22 | Presidential Power
Oct. 29 | Who Votes and Why Voting Matters

October 17 | , Husky Union Building & Livestream

Join faculty from across the Jackson School of International Studies as they explore the United States election from the perspective of China, India, Taiwan, the Middle East, European Union, and Mexico. Featuring professors David Bachman, Vanessa Freije, Sunila Kale, Reşat Kasaba, Sabine Lang, and James Lin.

October 17�� | , Alder Hall

As part of the Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture, Dr. Sara Curran will discuss past and present ways in which demographic diversity has been measured and why, and also the intersectional complexities of measuring demographic diversity. She will discuss the history, politics, and statistics of changing demographic diversity in the U.S. and in Washington State.

October 22 | , Online

What is the current level of trust in our electoral system? What do Washingtonians see as the top priorities for their elected officials? How do they view candidates running for state and federal office? The Seattle Times’ Claire Withycombe joins Danielle Lee Tomson from the UW Center for an Informed Public to analyze key findings from the WA Poll.

October 24 | ��, Online

In recent years, American democracy has bent but not broken. What are the threats facing American democracy, and what are its sources of resilience? In this talk, Dr. Jake Grumbach will investigate trends in three areas of American democracy: the rule of law, majority rule, and political equality.

November 7 | , Town Hall Seattle & Livestream

Shortly after the General Election, three Washington Secretaries of State discuss the history and evolution of voting in our state—from the various systems in place to the complex and polarized climate we now operate in.

November 12 | , Kane Hall

After the 2024 election, hear from Jessica Beyer (Jackson School of International Studies), Victor Menaldo (Political Science), and Scott Lemieux (Political Science) for a discussion on what happened and what happens next as part of the Democracy Discussions Series.

December 3 | , Kane Hall

In this talk, James Gregory, professor of history at the UW, will explore the history of West Coast radicalism and factors that have made it influential beyond what is common in other regions, including those with blue state traditions.

October 14, all-day | , Radio Broadcast

Tune into KEXP to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day. All day, the station will share music from people and communities who have been actively resisting histories of colonization since time immemorial.

Hosted by Sounds of Survivance co-hosts Tory J (American Indian Studies Lecturer and Native American Studies Ph.D. Candidate) and Kevin Sur, along with more KEXP DJs and special guests. If you can’t listen live, make sure to listen back on KEXP’s .

Free |

October 15, 10:00 – 11:00 am | Annual President’s Address, Livestream

Join President Ana Mari Cauce for her annual address where she will share her vision for how the UW will create the greatest possible impact in the world for the good of students, the public, and future generations.

Free | More info

October 16, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | , Kane Hall

Join the UW Department of Communication and the journalism community to learn about the changing lives of orcas in the Puget Sound from Lynda V. Mapes, an environment reporter for The Seattle Times. She will discuss the process of reporting the story of a mother orca who carried her dead calf around the Salish Sea for 17 days and more than 1,000 miles. Mapes also will discuss the dangers orcas continue to face as a species and the potential ways their population could recover.

Free |

October 16, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

This collaboration of three like-minded and powerhouse virtuosos, each carving out their own niche in American music, delivers an innovative program including the music of J.S. Bach and the world premiere of a new string trio by seven-time Grammy winner Edgar Meyer. Dynamic performers, Lark, Roman, and Meyer promise to bring fancy fiddling on the violin, cello, and bass.

Ticketed |

October 17 – 19, 8:00 pm | Meany Hall

In this Meany Hall performance, the boundaries of gravity and creativity blur, offering an intimate window into the essence of creativity itself with Pilobolus’s re:CREATION. In re:CREATION the company brings their celebrated collection of repertory to delighted audiences. re:CREATION is a transformative odyssey of reinvention where both audience and artists rediscover, redefine, and recreate timeless narratives through new visions of history, myth, and the innate human need for expression.

Ticketed |

October 18, 1:00 – 3:00 pm | , Denny Hall

Join the UW Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures Department alongside its Persian & Iranian Studies Program to welcome California-based, Iranian American artist, Yasmeen Abedifard, to the campus for a book talk and Q&A session about her newly published comic collection: When to Pick a Pomegranate. This event is co-hosted by MELC student and artist, Amelia Ossorio.

Free |

October 18, 11:30 am – 1:00 pm | , Communications Building

Wendy Call (she/ella), co-founder and co-editor of the annual anthology Best Literary Translations, and translator of three trilingual books by Mexican Binnizá poet Irma Pineda, will speak about translating poetry written in Mexican languages, its unique challenges and cariños.

In his translations, Hamza Ahmad (doctoral student in English) embraces the transmodal ghazal and revels in what he feels are possibilities for affecting audiences. Given that the vast majority of people already approach poetry through music, Ahmad explores digital object creation as a translational strategy.

Free |

October 18, 7:00 – 9:00 pm | , Henry Art Gallery

Join the Henry in celebration of the museum’s fall exhibitions: A.K. Burns: What is Perverse is Liquid, Lucy Kim: Mutant Optics, Tala Madani: Be flat, and Christine Sun Kim: Ghost(ed) Notes. Be among the first to see the new exhibitions, meet the artists, and enjoy music by KEXP DJ Abbie.

Free |

Beginning October 19 | , Burke Museum

Immersing guests in the world of bats, bees, birds, and butterflies, this all-ages exhibit demonstrates the ways humans are an inextricable part of the environment and offers strategies — big and small — to slow or reverse the threats to these winged creatures. This exhibit is based on the book RARE AIR: Endangered Birds, Bats, Butterflies & Bees, with additional stories, research, and collections created by the Burke Museum and project collaborators.

Tickets |

October 19, 2:00 – 3:30 pm | , Henry Art Gallery & Livestream

Moderated by Berette Macaulay, this panel brings together three of Henry’s current artists, A.K. Burns, Lucy Kim, and Tala Madani. Their work challenges and redefines notions of power, control, and agency through contemporary art.

This conversation promises to be both thought-provoking and inspiring. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear firsthand from the artists about their creative processes and the ways in which they confront and subvert control in their work, with time for questions at the end.

Free |

October 19, 6:30 pm | An Evening with Raymond “Boots” Riley,��Kane Hall

Spend an evening with film director and writer Raymond “Boots” Riley, of Sorry to Bother You, and I’m a Virgo, fame and UW Assistant Professor in Cinema and Media Studies, Dr. Golden M. Owens, for a conversation on making movies, rapping, storytelling, and activism.

Free |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Psychology Edwards Seminar, Democracy in Focus lecture series, First Wednesday Concerts and more

Arts & Sciences — Fri, 27 Sep 2024 19:46:03 +0000

This week, attend the Psychology Edwards seminar, check out the First Wednesday Concert Series in the Allen Library, tune into the first lecture of the Democracy in Focus Lecture Series, and more.

September 30, 12:00 – 1:20 pm | ,��Kindcaid Hall

Can you recognize two written words simultaneously? Join the UW Department of Psychology for the Psychology Edwards seminar with Alex L. White, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neuroscience & Behavior at Columbia University, as he shares updates from the field. Alex will examine the questions around processing multiple words in parallel – a question that has been investigated with many approaches that have yielded inconsistent answers. Hear his summary of recent experiments that use two psychophysical paradigms to test quantitative models of parallel and serial processing.

Free |

October 1, 4:00 – 6:00 pm | Democracy in Focus Series: Polarization, Persuasion, and Talking Across Difference, Husky Union Building & Livestream

Join the College of Arts & Sciences Social Sciences Division for a talk on Polarization, Persuasion, and Talking Across Difference as part of the UW Democracy in Focus Lecture Series. This first lecture of the series will feature Mark Smith from Political Science; and Ralina Joseph and Carmen Gonzalez from Communication and the Center for Communication, Difference & Equity.

Every Tuesday leading up to the 2024 election, UW faculty members will share their expertise through a public lecture on an election-related topic. The series spans UW partners, including the College of Arts & Sciences, the Evans School, the School of Law, and the Information School, with support from the Office of the Provost.

Free |

October 2, 12:30 – 1:00 pm | Allen Library

Students of the UW School of Music perform in this lunchtime concert series co-hosted by UW Music and UW Libraries.

Free |

October 2, 6:30 pm | Public Lectures | I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Time, Town Hall Seattle & Livestream

Join��UW Public Lectures��for a moderated conversation between Senior Fellow for Public Practice at Braver Angels and author of “I Never Thought of it That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times,” Mónica Guzmán and writer, broadcaster, interviewer, and UW Department of Communications faculty member Steve Scher.��Learn together how to remain curious and courageous during our upcoming presidential election season.

Free |

October 4, 7:30 pm | , Meany Hall

Led by Congolese guitarist and singer Niwel Tsumbu, a prominent figure in Ireland’s music scene, Ko Tonga Cheol exemplifies the contemporary identity of Irish music and the positive impact of migration on culture. With the influx of diverse nationalities in Ireland, a new collective consciousness is emerging through the universal language of music. The musicians of Ko Tonga Cheol find common ground in defining a new Irish sound. Curated by Artistic Partner Rhiannon Giddens.

Tickets |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Katz Distinguished Lecture, DXARTS Spring Concert, MFA Dance Concert and more

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 09 May 2024 21:08:31 +0000

This week, attend the Katz Distinguished Lecture Series with Winnie Wong, check out the DXARTS Spring Concert, be wowed away from the MFA Dance Concert, and more.

May 13 – 17, UW Innovation Month

Innovation Month is a campus-wide celebration of the innovative work that happens everywhere at UW, every day, across disciplines. It highlights students and researchers who are entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists, artists, and other leaders who are constantly imagining new heights in their fields. Join events to gain insights into the latest trends in academia and industry and build your network with others who share your passion and drive for impact.

Free | More info

May 13, 3:30 – 4:30 pm | Smith Hall or Online via Zoom

For this History Colloquium, Alika Bourgette, PhD Candidate, will present their paper “A Constellation of Care: Ka’ākaukukui Reef, Squattersville, and the Native Hawaiian Anti-Eviction Movement in Urbanizing Honolulu.” Professor James Gregory will serve as the respondent.

Free |

May 14, 11:30 am – 12:50 pm | ��Kincaid Hall

For the Psychology Cross-Area Clinical Seminar, Dr. John J. Curtin, professor of Psychology & Scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will be giving a talk on “Smart Digital Therapeutics for Alcohol Use Disorder: Algorithms for Prediction and Adaptive Intervention.”

Free |

May 14, 6:30 pm | Kane Hall

For this Katz Distinguished Lecture in the Humanities, Associate Professor of Rhetoric at University of California, Berkeley, Winnie Wong, is invited to introduce the Chinese painters of the global maritime trade, based in the port of Guangzhou (Canton), circa 1700-1850. These painters produced thousands of artworks for European and American buyers, but even today their historical identities remain purely speculative. Examining the art market, historical archives, and collecting enterprise which have named and unnamed them, Wong explores artistic identity, anonymity, and the rise of signature authorship in its global modern form.

Free |��

May 15, 3:00 – 4:20 pm | ��Electrical and Computer Engineering Building

Attend this Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies panel that brings together Washington state legal professionals to discuss the variety of ways in which they work in and with the law. Representing a range of demographic backgrounds and lived experiences, the panels will talk about the paths that brought them to careers in the law, as well as how they view their work in the current legal, social, and political moment.

Free |

May 15, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Communications Building

Debra Hawhee, Professor of English, Communication Arts and Sciences, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Pennsylvania State University, will give a lecture analyzing the extinction art of Andrea Bowers and Elizabeth Turk, two artists whose work finds presence in the face of species extinction. Bowers’ “Eco Grief Extinction Series” (acrylic paintings of birds and humans) and Turk’s “Tipping Point: Echoes of Extinction” (a set of sculptured bird vocalizations) meet extinction by foregrounding mood and silence, respectively. They do so by—and help to theorize—the aesthetic and modal possibilities of mood and of silence, materializing presence in the context of decay, loss, and absence.

Free |

May 15, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

An evening of software performances and human-machine communions, drawing lines between the worlds of immersive sound, performing arts, and experimental extended reality. The familiar, the bearable chaos and illusions of��order unfold across technologically mediated hyper-realities, temporalities, and mnemonic worlds. Performances where interactions and reactions occur across choreographies and spatial arrangements, binding the virtual with the real in unexpected knots and impossible behaviors.

Free |

May 16, 2:30 – 3:30 pm | Kane Hall

UW faculty member Shirley J. Yee (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies department) will be in conversation with UW Women’s soccer coach Nicole Van Dyke, Courtney Gano (UW Softball ’16) and Amy Griffin (UW Women’s Soccer and Executive Director of the Seattle Reign Academy). This event is part of the Jackson School’s new Global Sport Lab.

Free |

May 16 – 19, 2:30 or 7:00 pm | Meany Hall

The UW MFA candidates in dance invite everyone to the premiere of eight diverse dance works, created for 70 undergraduate dancers. Join the Department of Dance for an evening of dance in styles drawn from contemporary modern, ballet, Chinese dance, hip-hop, street, and club dances, to explore themes about humanity, homogeneity, community, and support.

Learn about the program to support the development of educators in any dance form.

Tickets |

May 16, 12:00 – 1:30 pm | Gowen Hall

Becca Peach, a Political Science Ph.D. candidate, will lecture on “Replacing the Welfare State As We Know It: Neoliberal Welfare Policy & Development of the Religious Right’s Institutional Capacity Under Charitable Choice” for the Political Theory Colloquium.

Free |

May 16, 7:30 pm | Kane Hall

Join paleontologist Dr. Jingmai O’Connor for a trip back in time to learn how birds became birds and the adaptations that helped them thrive. Dr. O’Connor will share a new fossil discovery that tells more about the earliest birds and the dinosaurs they evolved from.

Free |

May 16, 5:00 – 7:30 pm | Husky Union Building

Join the UW Center for Human Rights for a very special 15th-anniversary edition of the annual Spring Symposium & Awards Celebration featuring stories from those deported through Boeing Field.

This year’s event features a storytelling project collaboration between UW students, immigrant rights group La Resistencia, and Hinton Publishing, showcasing stories of those held in deportation proceedings in Washington state.

Free |

May 16, 7:30 pm | Brechemin Auditorium

Students from the UW��piano studios perform works��from the piano repertoire.

Free |

May 16, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

Boka Kouyaté comes from a family of traditional music specialists in Guinea. A ��ó�� player, singer, and multi-instrumentalist, he is a well-known figure in both traditional culture and West African popular music.��He is joined by his UW students and special guests in this end-of-quarter performance.

Tickets |

May 17, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | ��Communications Building

Thanks to its soothing sound and the unique visual appearance of the instrument, alphorn music is enjoying growing popularity, interestingly also in the Seattle region. Dr. Yannick Wey and Co-presenter Gary Martin demonstrate historical and new alphorn music and get to the bottom of questions such as: What music can be played on a wind instrument that has no valves, finger holes, or keys? What function does the alphorn have in the rituals, customs, and traditions of the Alpine region? How is its musical history connected to the natural environment of the Alpine region and to the purely vocal call of the Swiss yodel? The themes will be richly illustrated with live music from four centuries.

Free |

May 17, 6:00 – 7:30 pm, Henry Art Gallery

The Henry Art Gallery will welcome Martine Gutierrez as the 2024 Monsen Photography Lecture speaker. This annual lecture brings key makers and thinkers in photographic practice to the Henry. Named after Drs. Elaine and Joseph Monsen, the series is designed to further knowledge about and appreciation for the art of photography.

Free |

May 17, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

Faculty pianist Marc Seales is joined by UW colleague Steve Rodby (bass) and special guests Thomas Marriott (trumpet)��and Moyes Lucas (drums) for this concert��of original tunes and unique arrangements of jazz and pop classics.

Tickets |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).