Opinion and analysis

Recent opinion and analysis pieces written by UW-affiliated experts. See The Conversation for only the analysis pieces.

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Full archive of opinion and analysis stories

• Opinion: The Supreme Court just rolled democracy back — you can measure how much | Politico23 hours ago
  "The Supreme Court’s ruling last Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade will have immense consequences for the lives and healthcare of Americans. But if you’ve followed the shifts in how American democracy works over the past few decades, the decision also signals another big wave coming for the nation: It’s likely to turbocharge the trend toward greater polarization in state policies, with significant consequences for American democracy," writes Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW.
• Opinion: 60% of Americans support continuing to make abortions legal | The Washington Post5 days ago
  "As our data shows, there are big differences between what the people in many states want and the laws that their legislatures have adopted. Many states with draconian antiabortion laws have strong pro-abortion rights majorities," write Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, and Christopher Warshaw of George Washington University.
• Analysis: Abortion and bioethics: Principles to guide US abortion debates | The Conversation1 week ago
  "The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide the fate of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that established the nationwide right to choose an abortion. If the court’s decision hews close to the leaked draft opinion first published by Politico in May 2022, the court’s new conservative majority will overturn Roe," writes Nancy Jecker, professor of bioethics and humanities in the UW School of Medicine.
• Opinion: 12 new Sea Mar doctors are ready to see you now | Everett Herald1 week ago
  "Friday, the third class of residents will graduate from our Sea Mar Marysville Family Medicine Residency Program, marking the fifth year of its successful implementation," writes Ricardo Jimenez, associate clinical professor of family medicine in the UW School of Medicine.
• Opinion: Expand Pell Grants to make the dream of college possible for more | The Seattle Times2 weeks ago
  "The Pell Grant program turns 50 on June 23. It works with other financial aid programs like the Washington College Grant to help students get into, stay in and complete education after high school," write Dr. Diane Timberlake, clinical professor emeritus of family medicine in the UW School of Medicine and Leihla Cummings, a student at Seattle University.
• Opinion: Human-like programs abuse our empathy – even Google engineers aren’t immune | The Guardian3 weeks ago
  "The Google engineer Blake Lemoine wasn’t speaking for the company officially when he claimed that Google’s chatbot LaMDA was sentient, but Lemoine’s misconception shows the risks of designing systems in ways that convince humans they see real, independent intelligence in a program. If we believe that text-generating machines are sentient, what actions might we take based on the text they generate? It led Lemoine to leak secret transcripts from the program, resulting in his current suspension from the organization," writes Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW.
• Opinion: UW bus tour helps faculty meet state | Yakima Herald-Tribune3 weeks ago
  The UW's Hilary Godwin, dean of the School of Public Health, and Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, write of UW Faculty Field Tour: "The purpose of the tour is to connect new faculty to one another and to our state. The pandemic kept us distant and sheltered for too long. The wellbeing of our citizens, landscapes and ecosystem will be at the top of our minds as we move through large and small cities, through mountains, farmlands, rainforests and desert."
• Opinion: The corrosive power of ageism | The Seattle Times3 weeks ago
  "Ageism, like sexism and racism, is often not overt, but baked into the structures in which people live and work. In the workplace, “working age” designates people under age 65. While overt sexism and racism is increasingly taboo, ageism is often downplayed and more than half of global companies do not include age diversity in their equity diversity and inclusion policies," writes Nancy Jecker, professor of bioethics and humanities in the UW School of Medicine.
• Analysis: Give this AI a few words of description and it produces a stunning image — but is it art? | The Conversation3 weeks ago
  "A picture may be worth a thousand words, but thanks to an artificial intelligence program called DALL-E 2, you can have a professional-looking image with far fewer," writes Aaron Hertzmann, affiliate professor of computer science and engineering at the UW.
• Opinion: We can’t wait to protect old forests | The Hill3 weeks ago
  "On Earth Day 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order for actions to capitalize on the ability of forests — especially mature and old-growth forests — to combat climate change. We applaud this action, but the Biden administration now needs to follow through and adopt durable, science-based forest conservation measures," write Jerry Franklin, professor emeritus of environmental and forest sciences at the UW, and Norman Christensen of Duke University.
• Opinion: How to end mass school shootings — a proposal | Global Policy Journal1 month ago
  Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW, shares a satirical piece about how to end mass school shootings.
• Opinion: Will vandalizing the Mona Lisa bring climate progress? | Forbes1 month ago
  “Individuals undertaking climate protests should also ask the following question: how will this action change what others do about climate issues? Who is the target and why should they respond to my protests? What is the desired outcome?” write the UW's Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science.
• Analysis: The Asian Canadian gay activist whose theories on sexuality were decades ahead of their time | The Conversation1 month ago
  "Historians are rediscovering one of the most important LGBTQ activists of the early 20th Century – an Asian Canadian named Li Shiu Tong. You probably don’t know the name, but he was at the center of the first wave of gay politics," writes Laurie Marhoefer, associate professor of history at the UW.
• Opinion: An unintended consequence of mindfulness | The Washington Post1 month ago
  "Mindful meditation reduces anxiety, depression and stress; more pragmatically, it can also improve sleep, decision-making, focus and self-control. This helps to explain why so many companies have jumped on the mindfulness bandwagon ... But what if, in the course of your stressful day, you acted like a jerk toward a colleague at a meeting? Could all of that inward focus cause you to downplay the harm you caused that person, letting it float away like a leaf on a stream?" writes Andrew Hafenbrack, assistant professor of management and organization at the UW.
• WA will soon put a price on carbon emissions for its biggest polluters — here’s how it will work | The Seattle Times1 month ago
  A new program launching in January will put a cap on fossil fuel emissions and require nearly a hundred of the state’s biggest polluters to partake in a carbon trading scheme. The UW's Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science, are quoted.
• Analysis: 1 in 6 US kids are in families below the poverty line | The Conversation1 month ago
  "In the United States, children are more likely to experience poverty than people over 18. In 2020, about 1 in 6 kids, 16% of all children, were living in families with incomes below the official poverty line – an income threshold the government set that year at about US$26,500 for a family of four. Only 10% of Americans ages 18 to 64 and 9% of those 65 and up were experiencing poverty, according to the most recent data available," write the UW's Callie Freitag, a doctoral student in public policy and governance, and Heather Hill, professor of public policy and governance.
• Opinion: Nuclear threats in a criminal war | Global Policy Journal1 month ago
  The Russia-Ukraine war "has forced Europe to face its decades of ever-growing over-reliance on Russian energy exports. That its ambition to undo this as quickly as possible is bringing complexities and problems of its own will not prevent the goal from being achieved. Russia will lose its most valuable source of revenue and will find it difficult, at best, to replace by a quick 'pivot' to Asia," writes Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW.
• Opinion: UW’s use of ‘permatemp’ faculty is unfair to students and part-time faculty | The Seattle Times2 months ago
  "The employment of 'permatemp' faculty at the UW weakens undergraduate education and threatens the principle of equal opportunity in hiring. More fundamentally, it creates unfair and often intolerable working conditions for the individuals involved," writes Dan Jacoby, professor emeritus of interdisciplinary arts and sciences at UW Bothell. 
• Analysis: Fewer donors say they're willing to give to a charity when it supports immigrants – especially if they're undocumented | The Conversation2 months ago
  Overall, immigrants are slightly more likely to be low-income than other Americans, and many face discrimination. Also, many immigrants, especially those who are low-income, undocumented or have trouble speaking English, need help getting settled in the U.S. As a result, there are charities that support these newcomers ... We wanted to know whether the immigration status of the people a charity aids can influence the public’s willingness to donate to it," write Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, and the University of Maryland's Joannie Tremblay-Boire and Apolonia Calderon.
• Opinion: Attacks on abortion and gender-affirming care dismiss bodily autonomy | The Seattle Times2 months ago
  "Privacy is inextricable from the right to bodily autonomy, which the United Nations defines as the right to make decisions about our own lives and futures. Bodily autonomy emphasizes that control over our own bodies is a foundational personal freedom," write Arjee Restar, assistant professor of epidemiology at the UW, and Kellan Baker of the Whitman-Walker Institute.
• Opinion: Climate policy and partisan wars: Elon Musk and Twitter | Forbes2 months ago
  "Is Elon Musk a climate hero that the climate movement and its allies should embrace, or does his libertarian (or conservative) politics turn him into an object of scorn? Musk poses a deeper question that the movement must confront: should climate politics get subsumed under the broader liberal-versus-conservative conflict, or should it be guided by bipartisanship?" write the UW's Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science.
• Analysis: What is 'personhood'? The ethics question that needs a closer look in abortion debates | The Conversation2 months ago
  "While a final ruling is not expected before June 2022, the decision will not put to rest controversy over abortion. Why does the legalization of abortion continue to be hotly contested, nearly a half century after Roe v. Wade? This question is of great interest to me, as a philosopher and bioethicist, since I study philosophical problems that lie just beneath the surface of contemporary controversies like abortion," writes Nancy Jecker, professor of bioethics and humanities in the UW School of Medicine.
• Opinion: Look behind the curtain — don’t be dazzled by claims of ‘artificial intelligence’ | The Seattle Times2 months ago
  "We are presently living in an age of 'artificial intelligence' — but not how the companies selling 'AI' would have you believe," writes Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW.
• Opinion: Our bodily autonomy is a human right, and abortion is essential health care | The Seattle Times2 months ago
  "The leaked initial Supreme Court decision confirmed what advocates have been saying for years: Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned. Currently, abortion is still legal in all 50 states and will remain legal in Washington after the decision is final. To confront this decision and a nationwide abortion ban already in the works, accurate information about abortion and the crisis of its criminalization is necessary, followed by action to support reproductive health equity and justice," write the UW's Taylor Riley and Yasaman Zia, doctoral students in epidemiology, and Dr. Emily Godfrey, associate professor of family medicine and of obstetrics and gynecology.
• Opinion: An unprecedented view inside a hurricane | Eos2 months ago
  "If we are to continue improving hurricane intensity forecasts, we will need further advancements in our knowledge and understanding of the processes that affect hurricane intensification. We will also need expanded measurements of the ocean and the atmosphere ahead of and within hurricanes, as well as improvements to hurricane forecast models," write Dongxiao Zhang, a research scientist with the UW Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean and Ecosystem Studies and NOAA's Gregory Foltz, Chidong Zhang and Jun Zhang.
• Analysis: Billions spent on overseas counterterrorism would be better spent by involving ex-terrorists | The Conversation2 months ago
  "For decades, the U.S. government has sent aid to countries plagued by terrorism, believing that the money could help other nations tackle extremism. Money matters, but it alone isn’t enough to prevent terrorism," writes Bernard Loesi, a doctoral student in international relations at the UW.
• Opinion: How to write thoughtful recommendations for remote students | Inside Higher Ed2 months ago
  "Just as faculty members have updated their practices to become effective remote teachers, they can rethink how to approach letters of recommendation and references for remote students," write UW Tacoma's Libi Sundermann, associate teaching professor of historical studies; Jeremy Davis, associate dean of programs and operations; Chris Lott, digital learning designer.
• Analysis: Some funders are embracing ‘trust-based philanthropy’ by giving money without lots of obligations | The Conversation2 months ago
  "With most foundations, the board of directors and top executives set all funding priorities. Nonprofits seeking money from those funders, in turn, must demonstrate an intention to do work that conforms to those priorities," writes Emily Finchum-Mason, doctoral candidate in public policy and governance at the UW. "I’m studying the growing number of foundations bucking this traditional model. Instead of calling all the shots, these funders are embracing what’s known as trust-based philanthropy."
• Opinion: Advice to Ph.D.s for obtaining a community college position | Inside Higher Ed2 months ago
  "How can doctoral education more effectively prepare humanities Ph.D.s for careers in two-year colleges? We’ve explored that question since 2015 from our respective positions in a community college and a research university. And our collaboration — a cross-institutional partnership made possible with the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation — has yielded important insights into it," write Rachel Arteaga, assistant director of the Simpson Center for the Humanities at the UW and North Seattle College's Cristóbal Borges and Jim Jewell.
• Opinion: The everyday creativity of mothering | The Seattle Times2 months ago
  "In recent years, the relationship between motherhood and work, including creative work, has clearly become a topic of interest — even more so since the pandemic has shined a light on the difficulties mothers face shouldering domestic tasks and child-rearing as they attempt to hold on to careers or simply earn enough to support their families — but much less attention has been paid to the essential creativity of mothering itself," writes Maya Sonenberg, professor of English at the UW.

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