UW Alumni Book Club

Sarah Faulkner, ’20
UW Department of English

Sarah Faulkner’s research focuses on Romanticism, 18/19C, Women’s Writing, Scottish Studies, and Book History. She holds a Certificate in Textual and Digital Studies. Her dissertation, “Jane Porter in the Margins: Paratext in the Romantic National Novel,” studies Jane Porter’s novel The Scottish Chiefs (1810) as a case study of Romantic female authorship in which Porter asserts women’s power to shape conceptions of national identity. Sarah argues that she uses paratext to assert authority over national and historical topics usually barred to female novelists, and that while critics have dismissed her novel as inaccurate and sentimental, this emotion is a key source of her political power as a female narrator of history. While Porter presented a modest feminine authorial persona to her public, Sarah’s archival and bibliographical study reveals a politically engaged woman writer seeking to serve her nation from the margins.

Sarah also studies 18th and 19th century women’s autobiographies, letters, manuscripts and afterlives, along with Romantic celebrity culture and authorship networks, focusing on Jane Austen, Jane Porter, Sydney Owenson, Germaine de Staël, Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Mary Hays and Lady Caroline Lamb.

Sarah has taught literature courses on the Age of Romanticism, British Literature 1700-1900, The Rise of the English Novel, as well as writing courses on Harry Potter, Jane Austen, and Witches & Monsters in Fiction. Beyond her teaching, Sarah is the Program Manager for Humanities Washington.

The Trickier Side of Free Speech

UW Impact, the UW Alumni Association’s legislative advocacy program, hosted a discussion that explores the contemporary issues and challenges associated with free speech. State Senator David Frockt, media litigator Caesar Kalinowski, ’17, and UW political science professor Victor Menaldo brought their insights and experience to the panel.

What parts of free speech are the least understood? What threats or rollbacks of this revered hallmark of American democracy might be on the horizon? Does the First Amendment create challenges in maintaining order during political or social unrest?

Senator David Frockt
46th Legislative District, D-Seattle

In the decade he has served in the Washington State Legislature, David Frockt has championed health care, higher education, a clean environment and firearm responsibility. Frockt currently serves as vice chair of the Ways & Means Committee and the Health & Long Term Care Committee.

Early in his Senate career, Frockt served in his party’s leadership in the Senate. Long considered an effective legislator even when his party was in the minority, he has served as the Senate’s lead capital budget writer. He has worked to alleviate homelessness, increase access to behavioral health services and build strong communities throughout Washington.

Frockt graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in political science and earned his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Caesar Kalinowski IV
Media Litigator at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Caesar Kalinowski, ’17, takes an expansive view of his clients’ First Amendment and intellectual property rights, regularly defending lawsuits targeting expression, religious practice, and fair use of artistic material.

Drawing on his background in global special operations and intelligence collection, Kalinowski loves working in small teams under demanding circumstances to push back on government overreach. He also regularly litigates issues related to press freedoms and fair reporting on matters of public concern, in addition to championing First Amendment and Section 230 protections for social media platforms and technology providers.

Kalinowski completed his bachelor’s degree in Intelligence Studies from the American Military University and earned his Juris Doctorate degree with honors at the UW School of Law.

Victor Menaldo
Professor of Political Science, University of Washington

Victor Menaldo specializes in comparative politics and political economy. His interests include property rights, industrialization, innovation, liberal democracy and development.

Menaldo is affiliated with the Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, Near and Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for Environmental Politics. He co-founded and co-leads the UW Political Economy Forum. His book “Authoritarianism and the Elite Origins of Democracy” examines what actually happens when democracy displaces authoritarian regimes, in terms of the lived experiences of citizens.

Menaldo graduated from Colorado College with an M.A. in philosophy. He went on to earn his M.A. in political science from Claremont Graduate University. He was awarded a Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University.