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UW Notebook

UW Notebook features stories of interest to the UW community — including projects and books by, and recognition of, UW faculty, students and staff. If you’d like to submit a story idea, email uwnews@uw.edu.


Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week. This week, attend gallery exhibitions, Dawg Daze events, and more. As the UW community returns to campus, consider taking advantage of campus perks available to UW employees and students: Free admission to the Henry Art Gallery and Burke Museum Discounted tickets to performances by Meany Center, School of Drama, Department of Dance, School of Music, and more September 20 – 29 | Dawg Daze, UW Campus Enjoy one of…

Recent recognition for the University of Washington includes Emily M. Bender and Yejin Choi on the TIME100 AI list, President Ana Mari Cauce receiving a Decrees Award and Jeff Hou’s election to the American Society of Landscape Architects’ Council of Fellows.

A University of Washington Video production, “Brainworks: Vision and the Brain,” won a 2023 Northwest Emmy Award this month in the Children/Youth/Teens category. “Brainworks” is a series that educates children about neuroscience. The episode was executive produced by Eric H. Chudler, research associate professor of bioengineering and executive director of the UW Center for Neurotechnology, and Cara Podenski, managing executive producer for UW Video. Podenski also wrote and directed. Dave Ris served as an editor. “Vision and the Brain,” hosted by Chudler, guides viewers through the…

Inside Hutchinson Hall, home of the University of Washington School of Drama, students work at tables as they learn to assemble patterns based on costume designs. They’re surrounded by dress forms, bolts of cloth, sewing machines and costumes in progress. This is the Costume Shop, the domain of Val Mayse, master dressmaker for the School of Drama.

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes the election of Andrew Meltzoff to the National Academy of Education, a lifetime achievement award for Dean of the School of Social Work Edwina Uehara and Ed Kolodziej selected as a Frontiers Planet Prize finalist.

This week and summer, honor the 2023 Awards of Excellence recipients, visit the newly renovated Jacob Lawrence Gallery to see the works of design students, add one of College of Arts & Sciences Dean Dianne Harris’ favorite books to your summer reading list, learn about the largest animals to ever roam the earth at the Burke Museum’s annual Dino Lecture and more. June 8, 3:30 – 5:30pm | 2023 Awards of Excellence recipients, Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater in Meany Hall…

This week, head to Meany Hall for music performances, get inspired by the fine arts and design student’s work at the Henry Art Gallery, hear Dean Dianne Harris’ favorite summer reads and more. May 27 – June 25 | 2023 University of Washington MFA + MDes Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Gallery North Galleries The Henry Art Gallery will present the UW’s School of Art + Art History + Design Master of Fine Arts and Master of Design thesis exhibition. Throughout their…

Polar scientist Eric Regehr studies polar bears on Wrangel Island, an island off Russia that is home to the highest concentration of polar bears in the world. Regehr and UW glaciologist Ian Joughin will field audience questions after screenings of “Arctic: Our Frozen Planet,” which focuses on the changing Arctic environment.

This week, head to Meany Hall for UW Sings presented by University Singers, Treble Choir and UW Glee Club, explore the CHID Thesis Symposium created by current undergraduates, enjoy Chamber Music performances and more.

Many of us are familiar with the hummingbirds that visit feeders, plants and gardens around us. But these small creatures are unusual in the ways they push the limits of biology, says Alejandro Rico-Guevara, UW assistant professor biology and curator of ornithology at the Burke Museum. He and his students study hummingbirds and other birds that drink nectar.  “I think what really caught my attention is their personality – how they can be so fierce and so bold despite being…

This week, attend the annual Schiedel Lecture, learn about the transactional relationship between mental health research and care, enjoy the Improvised Music Project Festival held by UW students and faculty and more. April 25, 6:00 – 7:30 PM | 2023 Scheidel Lecture: How We Create Time Through Communication with Dr. Dawna Ballard, Kane Hall A long-standing tradition since 1998, this event honors Professor Thomas Scheidel’s lifetime of scholarship, teaching, and academic leadership by bringing distinguished scholars to the UW Department of…

This week, explore the idea of reconstructed public universities with Christopher Newfield, engage with leaders from the Makah Nation in Washington State on exercising sovereignty, discover the singer in you by learning Korean through K-Pop, and more. April 18, 5:30 PM | HU Tai-Li Memorial Lecture and Film Screening with Scott Simon, Burke Museum The UW Taiwan Studies Arts & Culture Program is honored to host a memorial film screening and lecture honoring Dr. HU Tai-Li. In memory of Dr….

This week, head to Meany Hall for the Grammy-nominated Dover Quartet performance, learn about Seattle’s radical women’s liberation movement of the 60s and 70s from Barbara Winslow, celebrate Arab American Heritage Month and more.   April 4, 9:00 AM – 12:30 PM | Energy Security in Europe: Current and Future Challenges, Thomson Hall and Zoom As the European Union and member states create swiftly changing policies affecting clean energy initiatives, their energy decisions show significant variability. Recent events emphasize both…

The Homosaurus is a linked data controlled vocabulary used by libraries, museums and other cultural heritage institutions worldwide to describe LGBTQIA+ resources and aid in indexing and retrieving content. Marika Cifor, University of Washington assistant professor in the Information School, was awarded a 2023 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop a free-standing Spanish-language Homosaurus.

This week, join fellow art lovers at the Henry Art Gallery for new spring exhibits, watch as The Motherboard Suite brings to life music, and much more. March 31, 7:00 – 9:00 PM |Public Opening: Spring Exhibitions, Henry Art Gallery New art is waiting to be enjoyed at the Henry Art Gallery. Join in celebration of the Henry’s latest exhibitions: Sarah Cain: Day after day on this beautiful stage and Taking Care: Collection Support Studio. Thick as Mud will also…

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes the Bloomberg Law 2022 Law School Innovation Program “Top Legal Education Program” for the UW Tech Policy Lab, 2023 Seattle Aquarium Conservation Research Award for Vera Trainer and 2023 Chambliss Astronomical Writing Award for Emily Levesque.

Start the spring season by listening to Strings for Peace, explore how mud animates relationships at the Henry Art Gallery, attend the anticipated University Faculty Lecture and more.   March 24, 8:00 PM | Strings for Peace, Meany Hall A Concert with Amjad Ali Khan, Sharon Isbin, Amaan Ali Bangash & Ayaan Ali Bangash. Amjad Ali Khan is an undisputed virtuoso of the sarod and one of India’s most celebrated classical musicians. Performing with his talented sons, this first family…

This week, listen in to the “Health and Houselessness in Seattle” conversation, head to the Burke Museum for some cherry blossom activities, witness Angela Hewitt’s famous piano talent, and more.   March 14, 7:30 PM | “Health and Houselessness in Seattle” with Josephine Ensign and Anna Patrick, The Wyncote NW Forum Home to over 730,000 people, with close to four million people living in the metropolitan area, Seattle has the third-highest homeless population in the United States. In 2018, an…

This week, attend a Modern Music Ensemble performance, learn how creating great urban neighborhoods and environmental justice go hand in hand, witness percussionist Jeff Busch in a concert of Brazilian music, and more.   March 7, 7:30 PM | Modern Music Ensemble, Meany Hall Cristina Valdés leads the UW Modern Music Ensemble in performances of works from the mid-20th century and beyond. Program includes pieces by Patricia Alessandrini, Kaija Saariaho, Christian Wolff, Huck Hodge, Sarah Hennies, and Huang Ruo. $10 tickets…

Attend lectures, performances, and more!   February 22, 7:30 PM | DXARTS Winter Concert, Meany Hall 2023 marks the 75th year of musique concrète with the premiere of Pierre Schaeffer’s Cinq études de bruits (Five Studies of Noises), composed and premiered in 1948. In celebration, the Department of Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS) is pleased to host Annette Vande Gorne, who will present a program of recent work from the pioneers of this art of spatial sound crafted for…

Attend lectures, performances, and more! January 18 – February 15, 7:30 PM |History Lecture Series: Medieval Made Modern, Kane Hall The medieval period has always occupied a paradoxical position in our cultural memory. An age of fantasy unimaginably distant from historical reality, it is also an era onto which writers and artists—and now moviemakers and gamers—have long projected their fears and desires. Why do cultures remake certain figures from the past—but not others–in their own image? Join Professor Emerita Robin…

Attend lectures, performances, and more! January 18 – February 15, 7:30 PM |History Lecture Series: Medieval Made Modern, Kane Hall The medieval period has always occupied a paradoxical position in our cultural memory. An age of fantasy unimaginably distant from historical reality, it is also an era onto which writers and artists—and now moviemakers and gamers—have long projected their fears and desires. Why do cultures remake certain figures from the past—but not others–in their own image? Join Professor Emerita Robin…

Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the University of Washington, found multiple connections between Sudan and Seattle while researching his upcoming book. The most prominent was the late Andrew Brimmer, a UW alum who in 1966 became the first Black member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Attend lectures, performances, and more! January 18 – February 15, 7:30 PM |History Lecture Series: Medieval Made Modern, Kane Hall The medieval period has always occupied a paradoxical position in our cultural memory. An age of fantasy unimaginably distant from historical reality, it is also an era onto which writers and artists—and now moviemakers and gamers—have long projected their fears and desires. Why do cultures remake certain figures from the past—but not others–in their own image? Join Professor Emerita Robin…

Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more! January 24, 7:30 PM |Behzod Abduraimov, Meany Hall Since winning the London International Piano Competition in 2009, Behzod Abduraimov’s passionate and virtuosic performances have dazzled audiences around the world. His “prodigious technique and rhapsodic flair” (The New York Times) have defined his career as a recording artist, recitalist, chamber musician and soloist with major orchestras worldwide. The Tashkent, Uzbekistan native presents a program specifically crafted for his Meany debut, featuring Uzbek…

Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more! January 18, 6:30 PM | Democracy and the 2022 Midterm Elections, Part II, Kane Hall Join UW Professor Jacob Grumbach for the second and final lecture on the 2022 midterm elections. In this talk, he will address the election results as well as ways we can protect and improve American democracy through reforming the Constitution, updating election laws, and revitalizing the labor movement. Free | More info. January 19, 3:30 PM…