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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.


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…

Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more! January 9, 7 PM |Feelin Book Event: Bettina Judd in Conversation with Dian Million, Elliott Bay Book Company University of Washington Professors Bettina Judd and Dr. Dian Million gather in support of the former’s new book Feelin: Creative Practice, Pleasure, and Black Feminist Thought (Northwestern University Press, December 2022). In the book, the poet, artist, and scholar Bettina Judd argues that Black women’s creative production is feminist knowledge production produced by…

Dianne Xiao, a University of Washington assistant professor of chemistry, has been awarded a 2022 Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering for her research on creating new materials to make chemical reactions that are compatible with renewable energy sources and raw materials.

New Directions in Public Gardens, a speaker series created by the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, will conclude in September with the final speaker and a town hall. Past guests addressed topics like engaging with local Indigenous populations and opportunities for public land to support urban food systems and engage with BIPOC communities.

Denise Wilson, a University of Washington professor of electrical and computer engineering, is working to end the prevalence of sexual harassment in engineering. She and her colleague Jennifer VanAntwerp of Calvin University are co-authors of “Sex, Gender, and Engineering: Harassment at Work and in School,” published in April by Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

This year, the School of Music’s Improvised Music Project focused on audio recording, inviting acclaimed recording engineer David Boucher for a weeklong workshop. The new format allowed students and faculty to gain experience with UW’s new mobile recording system while teaching fundamental recording and audio skills.