Historian Patricia Ebrey receives Association of Asian Studies’ top award for 2020

The Association of Asian Studies has given UW historian its 2020 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Asian Studies. The award, the highest the bestows, honors outstanding scholarship in the field.

Ebrey is the Williams Family Endowed Professor of History. She has written or edited many works on China and East Asia as well as a sourcebook on China for undergraduate teaching. She has written over 70 journal articles and book chapters and her works have been translated into several other languages.

Praising Ebrey for groundbreaking efforts in several areas, the association said in a news release: “By editing or co-editing volumes of scholarly work, and by providing translations and reproductions of primary materials, she has dedicated herself to developing the historical study of China both in terms of research and teaching.”

for the honor at the Association of Asian Studies website.

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UW political scientist Christopher Parker joins Cascade Public Media board of directors

, UW professor of political science, has been chosen to join the board of directors for Cascade Public Media, the nonprofit home of KCTS 9 television and Crosscut.

Parker has taught at the UW since 2006 and is the author of two books, “” (with Matt Barreto, 2013) and “” (2009). His next book, planned for this year, is “The Great White Hope: Donald Trump, Race, and the Crisis of American Democracy.”

Parker was one of two new named, along with Holly Mesrobian, a UW alumna who is a director of engineering at Amazon Web Services. The appointments were April 28. Also on the Cascade Public Media board is , UW professor of law.

“Not only is the world of media changing rapidly, the world itself is changing at a breakneck pace,” Robert Dunlop, CEO of , said of the two new directors. “Their insights will be extremely valuable as we continue to bring the people of our region news and programming that informs and inspires.”

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Terryl Ross receives 2020 social equity award from American Society of Public Administration

The American Society of Public Administration has given , assistant dean of diversity, equity and inclusion in the UW College of the Environment, its 2020 Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Award for 2020.

The recognizes lifetime achievement in the cause of social equity. Candidates are evaluated on the consistency, level and duration of their work on social equity as well as the impact of their efforts. The society’s 8,000-some members are practitioners, academics and students.

Ross came to the UW in 1992 as a doctoral student in the Educational and Communication Technology Program housed in the College of Education and later created the group Multicultural Organization of Students Actively Involved in Change, or MOSAIC.

“Ross continues to work in diversity and inclusion today as he collaborates with college stakeholders to envision diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the college,” the association wrote.

The award, established in 2003, is named for a longtime employee of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.

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David Montgomery honored by Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography

The Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography has awarded , UW professor of Earth and space sciences its 2020 for achievements in physical geography. He was honored his work in the field of geomorphology 鈥� the study of the origin and evolution of landforms.

Montgomery has written several popular science books as well as teaching materials and over 200 articles. The society praised his impact on the research community. His last book was “,” published in 2017.

“He has studied everything from the ways that landslides and glaciers influence the height of mountain ranges, to the way that soils have shaped human civilizations now and in the past,” the society wrote in its award announcement.

The was founded in 1878 and is supported mainly by the King of Sweden. Its objective is to promote the development of anthropology, geography and closely related sciences in Sweden and serve as a link between scientists in these disciplines, and the public.

The award, one of two informally referred to as the Nobel prize of geography, is named for the of Swedish explorer , who discovered the Northwest Passage in 1881.

Read more on the College of the Environment .

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In other faculty news:

Openness letter: , UW professor of urban design and planning in the College of Built Environments, was one of 31 scientists to sign an open letter to the journal Science calling for more openness in coronavirus modeling. “” was published in Science on May 1.

“A hallmark of science is the open exchange of knowledge, the cosigners wrote. “We strongly urge all scientists modeling the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its consequences for health and society to rapidly and openly publish their code 鈥� so that it is accessible to all scientists around the world.”

Seattle Channel meets Indigo Mist: The Seattle Channel recently filmed a visit with the UW School of Music faculty members who comprise the improvisational music group : professors , , and , the school’s director 鈥� , artist in residence (and longtime bassist). The school took note in its April newsletter.

“You just let go and let your creativity do its thing,” Vu said in the video, describing the group’s creative approach. Whatever art comes out of that, he said, is “going to make sense 鈥� and it’s going to be uniquely your expression.”

Watch the Youtube video:

A teacher discusses respectful world travel, a historian explores Silicon Valley鈥檚 evolution, a professor and violist plays the music of Robert Schumann and a late English faculty member’s meditation on Seattle returns 鈥�

Here鈥檚 a quick look at some gift-worthy books and music created by UW faculty in the last year 鈥� and a reminder of some recent favorites.

O’Mara’s ‘Code’: History professor Margaret O’Mara provides a sweeping history of California’s computer industry titans in her book 鈥�,鈥� published by Penguin Press. Publishers Weekly wrote: “O’Mara’s extraordinarily comprehensive history is a must-read for anyone interested in how a one-horse town birthed a revolution that has shifted the course of modern civilization.” The New York Times called it an “accessible yet sophisticated chronicle.” 聽 for a 2020 Pacific Northwest Book Award.

Seattle stories: 天美影视传媒 Press is republishing UW English professor 鈥榮 well-loved 1976 reflections on his city, its history and its possible futures, 鈥�.鈥� Pacific Northwest Quarterly called the book 鈥渁n exhilarating critique of Seattle鈥檚 birth, growth, sickness, health, promise and fulfillment. Any serious student of Seattle or of recent urban history will now read Roger Sale, and with good reason.鈥� Sale, who taught at the UW for decades, died in 2017. The new edition has an introduction by Seattle writer Knute Berger.

Mindful travel: How can travelers respectfully explore cultures with lower incomes, different cultural patterns and far fewer luxuries? Anu Taranath, lecturer in English and the Comparative History of Ideas program, explores such questions in “,” published by Between the Lines. Taranath has led student trip to India, Mexico and other locations. “Mindful travel in an unequal world,” she says, is about “paying attention, and noticing positionality in relation to each other. It鈥檚 about understanding that we are all living in a much longer history that has put us in different positions of advantage and disadvantage, and equipped us with very few tools to talk about it.鈥�

Salish Sea fishes: , curator emeritus of fishes at the Burke Museum and a professor emeritus of aquatic and fishery sciences, teamed with James Orr of the Alaska Fisheries Center for “,” the first-ever documenting of all the known species of fishes that live in the Salish Sea. Published by UW Press, this three-volume set represents the culmination of 40 years of work and features striking illustrations by and details about 260 species of fish, complete with the ecology and life history of each species.

Watras plays Schumann: , professor of viola, offers new music and a masterwork by composer in “Schumann Resonances,” a CD released on Seattle’s Planet M Records. Schumann’s is the centerpiece and artistic jumping-off point for the CD, which is inspired by fairy tales and folklore, and features UW faculty colleagues and . The music and culture blog An Earful wrote: “Besides having a burnished tone and monster technique, violist Watras has a gift for contextualizing the music of the past 鈥� with ‘Schumann Resonances,’ Watras continues to prove herself a curator, performer and composer of unique abilities.”

Solo cello, Icelandic composers: Assistant professor of music and cellist has a new release on the Sono Luminus label titled “,” which features music for solo cello by several Icelandic composers and a return to an earlier composition, “Solitaire.” In liner notes, writes: “This project is a compilation of pieces by composers that not only share my mother-tongue and culture, in language and music, but also bring their unique perspective and expression in their compositions 鈥� I couldn’t have asked for more generous artists to come into my life and allow me to explore my voice through their music.”

Fanfiction examined: Fan fiction has exploded in popularity in recent years. In their book, 鈥�,鈥� and examine fanfiction writers and repositories and the novel ways young people support and learn from each other through participation in online fanfiction communities. Davis is an associate professor in the UW ; Aragon is a professor in the . Published by MIT Press.

Here are a few other notable 2019 titles from UW Press.

Seawomen, Icelandic waters: “ by Margaret Willson, affiliate professor of anthropology and a faculty member in the Canadian Studies Center has been released in a paperback edition. The book, first published in 2016, was a finalist for a Washington State Book Award.

Asian American voices: A new, third edition of “,” published in 1974 and co-edited by , UW professor of English. The New York Times Book Review : 鈥淭he stories are 鈥� strewn with new insights buried in the flesh of the narrative; they illuminate areas of darkness in the hidden experiences of a people who had been little more than exotic figments of someone else鈥檚 imagination.鈥�

Haag remembered: A paperback edition of 鈥�,鈥� which explores the career of the founder of the UW Department of Landscape Architecture, best known in Seattle for his . Written by UW architecture professor , who said Haag鈥檚 legacy is found in the places he designed, which 鈥渋nspire students to think beyond what they know 鈥� they ignite civic engagement and public service, for Rich鈥檚 most important work was in the public realm.”

Staff discounts: UW Press is offering a 40% discount on all titles during the holidays. Staff and faculty get a 10% discount year-round when ordering through their website using the code WUWE.

• Joanne De Pue, School of Music communications director, assisted with this story.

UW Notebook is a section of the UW News site dedicated to telling stories of the good work done by faculty and staff at the 天美影视传媒. Read all posts here.

The Disklavier is an electromagnetic piano that 鈥� like the UW-created recently reported on by the Seattle Times 鈥� is played by brain waves alone, with the performer hooked up to an electroencephalogram (EEG).

UW audiences will get a look at, and listen to, this creative new technology in “,” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in Meany Hall.

This evening of all-digital music will include , professor and director of the School of Music, performing a piece on the Disklavier called “Human Subject” hands-free, via an EEG.

For the second piece in the program Karpen will be joined by School of Music professor emeritus and , UW associate professor of music and director of the Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media 鈥� called DXARTS for short. This piece, called “Cisternization.” is an improvisation for piano, trombone and live electronics using the virtual acoustics of the Dan Harpole Cistern at .

Closing the program is “Hemispheres” by Pampin, a piece for EEG and 3D sound projection, with Stuart Dempster as performer.

Music of Today is a concert series co-sponsored by DXARTS and the School of Music featuring modern classics and new works by faculty and guest composers.

are $10-$15, available through .

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For more information about music played via EEG, contact Pampin at 206-616-6258 or pampin@uw.edu.

The popular New York-based will perform two concerts in the Meany Hall Studio Theater on March 15.

The will feature compositions by , professor and director of the 天美影视传媒 School of Music; and , associate professor and director of the . The 7:30 p.m. show will feature the composers’ works; at 10 p.m., the quartet will perform improvisations with UW musicians.

JACK is a contemporary string quartet known for creating and performing new works. Its members 鈥� two violinists, a violist and a cellist 鈥� also are spending a weeklong residency at the School of Music, collaborating with the composers and rehearsing with musicians who will join them on stage.

Karpen and Pampin answered a few questions about the concerts and the importance of collaboration in presenting music at the UW.

Q: Contemporary music is complicated for many listeners. How do you help people understand the language of your compositions?

JP: There is a misconception that new music is hard to understand, but really it’s easier to understand than a lot of classical music. We work with perception, with the direct signal that goes into your brain. We are experimenting with ways of listening.

To experience the good pieces you have to get beyond what you like. There is a continuum of creation 鈥� if it’s experimental we are just doing what Beethoven, Haydn and Bach did with music in their time.

RK: As composers we are always thinking: What are you going to hear? What wll you experience? There is a direct sensorial path from our ears into the brain. Not understanding the sound is sometimes what makes it great.聽It’s a matter of people taking risks to go to something that they have never heard before. The experience itself is what it is.

Q: How will bringing the JACK Quartet to Seattle benefit the composition program at the UW?

RK: We are both artist researchers; bringing the quartet is part of the research process. In a way, the JACK Quartet is a scientific instrument for our music, like a living microscope that provides us feedback 鈥� particularly because I do not write for instruments; instead I write music for people playing instruments.

This is the quartet’s second trip here and we invited them because they are colleagues that we can do research with. Research is what artists have been doing for a long time. Beethoven did research, look at his manuscripts 鈥� half of it is scratched out. He was doing research.

Usually composers 鈥� like those of us on faculty聽鈥撀爃ave active international careers. We would normally travel聽abroad to work, but we are bringing musicians here to support our research, benefiting both students and faculty. They are able to experience our research process, which will ultimately lead to the concerts on March 15.

Q: Could you each talk about one unique aspect of a piece listeners will hear the JACK Quartet play?

RK: My piece involves the JACK Quartet and another trio, the Six Tones; what will be interesting is that they will be playing ancient Vietnamese instruments. These are two groups I have worked with separately and they have not worked together.

JP:聽My piece is called聽“Respiraci贸n Artificial.” It聽is for the JACK and player Mirta Wymerszberg. The piece is about breathing cycles. The bandoneon has a big bellows and is able to hold a note for a very long time. The timing of the inhale and exhale of the instrument was used to define the time structure of the piece.

The beginning of my piece is all in the very upper register. Your ear is not able to resolve what is happening with pitch, the notes tend to shimmer, it builds sensation. I am using a three-dimensional audio system and ultrasonic speakers we developed that can produce highly localized beams of sound 鈥� akin to spotlights 鈥� which can move around the audience and bounce off the architecture of the room.

Q: These concerts are presented jointly by the UW School of Music, Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media and World Series. How was this collaboration formed?

JP:聽Usually these pieces would be presented in New York or Europe and our artists would travel far away to create their work. This collaboration is setting a precedent, and shows that the UW has decided to prioritize the arts on campus.

The directors of these arts departments and the UW World Series are willing to experiment, which is how we can work together to present exciting new music. The priorities of the departments have aligned and now the organizations are willing to take risks. The JACK residency is for the students, for the faculty, and for the audience.

• This was edited from a posted at the UW World Series website.

The first order of business for the 天美影视传媒’s new degree in musical theater is not greasepaint, sheet music or tap shoes, its organizers say 鈥� but public outreach and finding talented, committed students.

The degree is a pilot program with three years of funding from the College of Arts & Sciences. As interdisciplinary as any at the UW, it involves faculty from the , and .

“Our first imperative is to grow,” said , dance professor and divisional dean of arts. “To grow this program and get the word out. And recruit like crazy.”

The idea arose a couple of years back, Cooper said, in a conversation over a glass of wine at the UW Club with and , directors, respectively, of the schools of music and drama.

“I felt strongly that if we were going to do any sort of musical theater production, we needed to have a good curricular base,” she said. Musicals had been undertaken at the UW in the past, of course, but without that academic foundation, she said. “I did not want to return to that model.”

As they knocked the idea around, two things were clear, Cooper said: Talented students were leaving the state because they could not study musical theater here, and some at the UW were already trying to create their own musical theater experience. “They were expressing the need, but of course weren’t getting faculty mentorship.”

It’s meaningful that the program offers a bachelor of arts degree rather than the more exclusively performance-focused bachelor of fine arts. Scott Hafso, drama lecturer and program co-organizer, said drama does the same with its undergraduates.

“It’s in the very best tradition of a liberal arts education,” he said. “And that’s very intentional, so we can foster as well-rounded an individual as possible.”

Planning has been focused on curriculum, with required classes in theory, history and technical matters as well as performance.

“Not everybody is going to be a performer,” Cooper said. “We want to show them enough of the world so they have some choice in the direction they want to take their passion.”

Hiring Wilson Mendieta as program coordinator was a big step. A dancer and actor seen on Broadway in the 2001 revival of “Man of La Mancha” and featured in a national touring company of “Chicago,” Mendieta had just completed his master’s of fine art in dance at the UW when the job came his way. He oversaw auditions for the new program, held just two days before the school year began.

So, what were the directors looking for as nervous auditioners took turns singing, dancing and acting?

Energy, commitment 鈥� and a certain something more.

“One thing that’s hard to teach is the hunger,” Mendieta said. “I think it was important for them to demonstrate that they are willing to try things outside their comfort zone and just throw themselves in.”

Hafso said he looks for those with “a sense of presence” who enjoy “taking the space not only without apology, but with a little bit of joy.”

Two or three students joined the program through those auditions, Cooper said, and more will be brought in to form a first-year cohort of 10 to 15 people.

There won’t be any full-blown musicals this year, though some scenework may be performed publicly in the spring. Outreach and fundraising are necessary to any new program coming of age, including publicizing the new degree path to high schools statewide.

Are there jobs? Absolutely, the directors say. Mendieta said musical theater training “really opens doors” for聽 students to work in all of the performing fields. Cooper said performers must be talented and highly trained, but jobs are available in Seattle as well as in California and New York.

In fact, Seattle is “one of the most prominent and alive areas for musical theater in the country,” Gates said. “Both the Village Theatre and the 5th Avenue Theatre are energetically fostering new work and helping the young artists, craftspeople and technical artisans of the region.” Those theaters may also serve as “professional partners” to the program, she said, taking UW students for internships.

“It’s part of our mission to increase the kinds of opportunities for students to engage in the performing arts at the UW, and this program helps us do just that,” said Karpen of the School of Music.

And so, a new performance program begins with planning and outreach now 鈥� call it a rehearsal phase 鈥� and greasepaint and spotlights to come a bit later.

“This is an indigenous American art form, a great American art form, and it speaks to our times and it speaks to our history,” Cooper said. “And so we start here, to train the people the way they should be trained 鈥� and then put on a show.”

Hafso summed up, “This will hopefully set students on a good and healthy path, with many answers 鈥� and, even more important for me, a whole lot of questions 鈥� that their own work in the profession will help to answer.”

Learn more about this new degree program .

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