Department of Geography – 91̽��News

ArtSci Roundup: November

Lauren Zondag — Tue, 14 Oct 2025 00:21:33 +0000

Come curious. Leave inspired.

We invite you to connect with us this November through a rich and varied schedule of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From chamber opera premieres and public lectures to Indigenous storytelling and poetry celebrations, there’s something to spark every curiosity. Expect boundary-pushing performances, thought-provoking dialogues on memory and identity, and cross-disciplinary collaborations—November is a celebration of bold ideas and creative energy.

As you plan for the end of the year, take a look at what’s coming up in the December ArtSci Roundup.

In addition, .

ArtSci On Your Own Time

Closing November 8 | (Art + Art History + Design)
This Fall MFA exhibition at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery showcases emerging artists’ work. Free.

Closing January 11 | (Henry Art Gallery)
A thematic exploration of the work of thirty-four Asian American and Asian diasporic artists, Spirit House asks the question, what does it mean to speak to ghosts, inhabit haunted spaces, be reincarnated, or enter different dimensions?

Book Club:��“The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah��( 91̽��Alumni)
Readers’ Choice! Author (and 91̽��alum – BA, Communication, ’83 ) Kristin Hannah highlights the struggles of the working poor during the Great Depression in this novel. Elsa is an awkward wallflower who is raising her two children on the family farm. As the Dust Bowl hits, she must choose between weathering the climate catastrophe in Texas or moving her family west to follow rumors of jobs in California.��Free.

Books, podcasts, etc: (91̽�� Magazine)
This spring, 18,883 degrees were conferred upon graduates of all three 91̽��campuses. We estimate there are just under 600,000 living alumni of the UW. And the 91̽��supports or sustains 100,520 jobs, making it the fifth-largest employer in the state. No wonder we’re always hearing about new books, music, podcasts, and film projects from the 91̽��community. Read on for a few recent accomplishments from Huskies in the media.

Week of November 3

November 1 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
A West Coast premiere of a chamber opera by composer Matthew Aucoin and director Peter Sellars, based on poems by Jorie Graham. The performance explores embodiment and identity in an age of transformation.

Ed Yong

Online Option – November 4 | Becoming a Birder (Graduate School Public Lectures)
This talk considers birding not only as a scientific and recreational practice but as a way of seeing and being—attuned to classification, memory, imagination, and care. Free.

November 4 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
A public lecture on the use—and misuse—of historical analogy in politics, focusing on Holocaust memory and the complexities of comparison in historical discourse. Free.

November 5 |(DXARTS)
Hum Under the Riverstone explores different forms of connection and dialogue that can unfold among various kinds of intelligences: human, natural, and machinic. The title of this project draws inspiration from Édouard Glissant and his concept of archipelagic thinking. Free.

November 5 | (Music)
A free lunchtime performance featuring 91̽��School of Music students in the North Allen Library lobby. Presented in partnership with 91̽��Libraries. Free.

Online Option – November 5 | (Jackson School)
What does it mean to commemorate a genocide? This is the overarching question governing this academic panel as its presenters ruminate over the mass killings that transpired in Indonesia between 1965 and 1966 which saw an estimated deaths of at least 500,000 alleged communists and their sympathizers, among others. Free.

November 6 – 16 | (Drama)
A new devised performance piece created under the direction of Adrienne Mackey with 91̽��students, set in a dystopian workplace where employees inhabit modular rooms and confront disconnection, routine, and possibility.

November 6 | (Political Science)
Bart Wilson is the Kennedy Endowed Chair in Economics & Law and the director of the Smith Institute for Political Economy & Philosophy at Chapman University, and author of Humanomics (with Vernon Smith), The Property Species, and Meaningful Economics. Free.

November 6 | (American Indian Studies)
A series to prepare for the Film Screening & 91̽��Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

November 6 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Part artist talk, part lecture-performance, this presentation by artist Chloë Bass will use the lens of public art today to explore feelings as a type of knowledge. RSVP encouraged. Free.

November 6 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Part of Burke’s Free First Thursday series, the museum opens its collections spaces from 4:30 to 7:30 PM. Visitors can explore behind‑the-scenes labs and storage, and speak with researchers, staff, and volunteers about their work. Free.

November 6 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Renowned pianist Jon Kimura Parker returns to Meany with a dynamic solo program featuring Mozart, Beethoven’s Appassionata, Ravel’s Jeux d’Eau, and an Americana‑inflected selection including works by Chick Corea, John Adams, and Oscar Peterson.

November 7 | (American Ethnic Studies)
Celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Department of American Ethnic Studies (AES) and honor the 449 Japanese American 91̽��students of 1941-42 whose education was interrupted and who were unjustly incarcerated during WWII. Pictures and memories will be shared from the families of The Long Journey Home honorees, followed by remarks from AES Chair Alexes Harris and faculty member Vince Schleitwiler. Free.

November 7 | (Political Science)
Megan Mullin, Faculty Director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, discusses how scientific expertise shapes public decisions in the aftermath of disaster, drawing on lessons from the 2025 Los Angeles fires. Hosted by the Center for Environmental Politics. Free.

November 7 | (Anthropology)
Anthropologist Tracie Canada draws from long-term ethnographic research to explore how Black college football players navigate and resist the structural harms of college athletics. Canada is the Andrew W. Mellon Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Duke University and director of the HEARTS Lab. Free.

November 8 | (Henry Art Gallery)
As part of the Spirit House exhibition, this reading explores grief, memory, and the porous boundary between life and death through storytelling across cultures. Free.

November 8 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
This special tribute celebrates Amadou’s musical legacy with Mariam’s iconic vocals, longtime band members, and new music from their forthcoming album L’Amour à la Folie. A legendary duo blending Malian blues with Afropop, disco, and rock influences.

Week of November 10

November 12 | ��(Drama)
In conjunction with the School’s upcoming production of OMMIA Break Room, this panel discussion centers on collaborative creation across multiple fields of study with notable faculty speakers from across the Seattle campus.

November 12 | ��(Honors)
As it becomes increasingly woven into our daily lives, public trust in science— or the lack thereof — matters more than ever. Join a dynamic conversation among 91̽��Interdisciplinary Honors faculty whose scholarship and teaching engage natural sciences, social sciences and the humanities, as they explore what happens when scientific research and scholarship are misunderstood, mistrusted or misused. Free.

November 12 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
A panel discussion on the new edited volume Spaces of Creative Resistance: Social Change Projects in 21st-Century East Asia, exploring how scholars, artists, and activists respond to inequality, environmental degradation, and social disconnection across Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Featuring Andrea Arai, Jeff Hou, and James Lin. Free.

November 13 | (American Indian Studies)
Composer Bruce Ruddell, Musicians Adia tsi sʔuyuʔaɫ Bowen (Upper Skagit) and
Ben Workman Smith (Tolowa), Conductors Ryan Dudenbostel and David Rahbee, with John-Carlos Perea (Mescalero Apache/German/Irish/Chicano) as discussant. A series to prepare for the Film Screening & 91̽��Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

November 13 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Philosopher Marshall Abrams challenges standard population-level views of evolution by emphasizing the unique role of individual organisms and their environments. Drawing from his book Evolution and the Machinery of Chance, Abrams explores how evolution unfolds within dynamic “population-environment systems.” Free.

November 13 – 14 | and (Music)
91̽��Jazz Studies students perform in small combos over two consecutive nights of original tunes, homage to the greats of jazz, and experiments in composing and arranging. Free.

November 14 | ��(Political Science)
PhD Student Ryan Reynolds presents, “Structurally Induced Anxiety and Anti‑War Voting: Military Social Networks and Presidential Elections.” Free.

November 14 | (Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures)
A multilingual poetry gathering celebrating the ghazal, a poetic form rooted in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, and more. Participants will recite ghazals in their original languages with English translations, reflecting on sound, translation, and the form’s enduring vitality. Free.

November 16 | (Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
Explore ancient technologies, identify animal bones, sort shells, and enjoy a flintknapping (stone tool‑making) demonstration. Burke archaeologists and community partners present hands‑on activities and share stories about artifacts and historical practices. Free with museum admission; free for Burke members.

Online Option – November 16 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
The Stroum Center for Jewish Studies brings together scholars and community members to discuss the meaning and impact of Spanish and Portuguese citizenship offers to descendants of Sephardic Jews. Featuring Rina Benmayor, Dalia Kandiyoti, and Professor Devin E. Naar. In-person registration required. Free.

Week of November 17

November 18 | ��(Chemistry)
The 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry recognizes the architects of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson, and Omar M. Yaghi. Professors Dianne Xiao and Doug Reed from the Department of Chemistry will introduce MOFs and discuss their importance.
November 18 | (Art + Art History + Design)
Join a Narcan training workshop followed by a pizza party and conversation focused on community care, harm reduction, and accessibility. Part of the year-long Liberation Book Club series exploring liberation through shared texts, art, film, music, and workshops. Free.

November 18 | (Music)
91̽��voice students of Thomas Harper and Carrie Shaw perform art songs and arias from the vocal repertoire. ��Free.

November 18 | (Jackson School)
Forty years after the US pulled out of South Vietnam, a Vietnamese martial arts master returns to the waters that claimed his wife and children during their escape in hopes of finding their grave. The screening will be followed by a virtual discussion with members of the GETSEA consortium. Free.

November 20 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Co-presented with the 91̽��School of Art + Art History + Design, this conversation will address the role of historical research in DeVille’s object-based and performance practice, as well as her alchemical way of transforming found materials into psychically charged paintings, sculptures, and installations. Free.

November 20 | ��(American Indian Studies)
A series to prepare for the Film Screening & 91̽��Symphony Performance: Healing Heart of the First People of This Land on February 6, 2026 ().��Free.

Online – November 20 | (Geography)
Alums share how their geography degrees have shaped careers in climate risk, procurement, and user experience design. Featuring Sadie Frank (CEO, N4EA), Nina Mesihovic (Enterprise Contracts Specialist, WA State), and Anirudh Ramanathan (Senior UX Researcher). Moderated by Professor Sarah Elwood. Free.

November 20 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Historian Edward Wright-Ríos explores the enduring and evolving practice of pilgrimage among Mexican Catholics, challenging common misconceptions and revealing why this tradition remains vital in modern life. Free.

November 20 | (Music)
The Campus Band (conducted by Solomon Encina) and Concert Band (conducted by Yuman Wu) present their Fall Quarter concert at Meany Hall—Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater. The program features works by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Steven Bryant, Clifton Williams, Richard Saucedo, Frank Ticheli, and others.

November 21 | (American Indian Studies)
As the days grow shorter, we gather in for a gathering with friends, family, and community to appreciate some long-form storytelling. Free.

November 21 | (Music)
The UW’s graduate-student-led choral ensembles—the University Singers, 91̽��Glee, and Treble Choir—present an eclectic end-of-quarter concert.

November 21 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
This symposium brings together global wetland scholars to propose four analytical interventions in wetland studies, namely: rethinking the undisciplined wetland; post-colonial/settler politics of the wetland; shifting spatial geographies and temporalities of the wetland; and finally (counter) mapping the wetland. Free.

November 23 | (Music)

91̽��music students perform music from the Baroque era under the direction of Tekla Cunningham. Free.

November 24 | (Music)
The 91̽��Studio Jazz Ensemble and Modern Band present a shared program featuring a mix of repertory selections, original compositions, and inspired arrangements. This performance offers a dynamic evening of jazz that highlights the talents of UW’s student musicians.

ArtSci Roundup goes monthly!

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the UW—whether in person, on campus, or on your couch.

Previously shared on a quarterly basis, those who sign up for the Roundup email will receive them monthly, delivering timely updates and engaging content wherever you are. Check the roundup regularly, as events are added throughout the month. Make sure to check out the ArtSci On Your Own Time section for everything from podcasts to videos to exhibitions that can be enjoyed when it works for you!

In addition, if you like the ArtSci Roundup, sign up to receive a monthly notice when it’s been published.

Do you have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: June 2025

Arts & Sciences — Fri, 23 May 2025 21:35:36 +0000

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this June.

ArtSci on the Go

Looking for more ways to get more out of Arts & Sciences? Check out these resources to take ArtSci wherever you go!

Zev J. Handel, “Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese”��()

Black Composers Project engages the School of Music faculty and students ()

Ladino Day Interview with Leigh Bardugo & MELC Professor Canan Bolel ()

Back to School Podcast ��with Liz Copland ()

Featured Podcast: “Ways of Knowing” (College of Arts & Sciences)

This podcast highlights how studies of the humanities can reflect everyday life. Through a partnership between and the 91̽��, each episode features a faculty member from the 91̽��College of Arts & Sciences, who discusses the work that inspires them and suggests resources to learn more about the topic.

Episode 1: Digital Humanities with assistant professor of English and data science, Anna Preus.

Episode 2: Paratext with associate professor of French, Richard Watts.

Episode 3: Ge’ez with��associate professor of Middle Eastern languages and cultures, Hamza Zafer.

Closing Exhibits

: Christine Sun Kim: Ghost(ed) Notes at the Henry Art Gallery

Week of June 2

Prof. Daniel Bessner

Monday, June 2, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | ONLINE ONLY: (Jackson School)

Join the Jackson School for Trump in the World 2.0, a series of talks and discussions on the international impact of the second Trump presidency.

This week: Daniel Bessner; Anne H.H. and Kenneth B. Pyle Associate Professor in American Foreign Policy at the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies.

Monday, June 2, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | (Jackson School)

Mediha Sorma, Ph.D

This talk discusses the unconventional forms of care that emerge out of Kurdish resistance in Turkey, where mothering becomes a powerful response against necropolitical state violence. By centering the stories of two Kurdish mothers who had to care for their dead children and mother beyond life under the violent state of emergency regime declared in 2015; the talk examines how Kurdish mothers “rescue the dead” (Antoon, 2021) from the necropolitical state and create their necropolitical power through a radical embrace of death and decoupling of mothering from the corporeal link between the mother and the child.

Monday, June 2, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | (The Ellison Center for Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies)

Prof. Masaaki Higashijima

Why do some protests in autocracies attract popular participation while others do not? Masaaki Higashijima’s, University of Tokyo, paper argues that when opposition elites and the masses have divergent motivations for protesting, anti-regime mobilization struggles to gain momentum. Moreover, this weak elite-mass linkage is further exacerbated when autocrats selectively repress protests led by opposition elites while making concessions to those organized by ordinary citizens.

Tuesday, June 3, 5:00 – 6:30 pm | (Communications)

A conversation with local public media leaders about current challenges–including federal funding cuts–and pathways forward for sustaining public service journalism.

Speakers include:

Rob Dunlop, President and CEO, Cascade PBS
David Fischer, President and General Manager, KNKX
Tina Pamintuan, incoming President and CEO, KUOW
Matthew Powers, Professor and Co-Director, Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy

Wednesday, June 4, 3:30 – 4:30 pm | (Psychology)

Prof. Hadas Okon-Singer

Cognitive biases — such as attentional biases toward aversive cues, distorted expectations of negative events, and biased interpretations of ambiguity — are central features of many forms of psychopathology. Gaining a deeper understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying these biases is crucial for advancing theoretical models and clinical interventions.

In this talk, Prof. Hadas Okon-Singer will present a series of studies exploring emotional biases in both healthy individuals and participants diagnosed with social anxiety, major depressive disorder, and generalized anxiety disorder.

Wednesday, June 4, 12:30 – 1:30 pm | (Center for Statistics & Social Sciences)

Prof. Tyler McCormick

Many statistical analyses, in both observational data and randomized control trials, ask: how does the outcome of interest vary with combinations of observable covariates? How do various drug combinations affect health outcomes, or how does technology adoption depend on incentives and demographics? Tyler McCormick’s, Professor, Statistics & Sociology, 91̽��, goal is to partition this factorial space into “pools” of covariate combinations where the outcome differs across the pools (but not within a pool).

Friday, June 6, 7:30 pm | (School of Music)

David Alexander Rahbee leads the 91̽��Symphony in a program of concerto excerpts by York Bowen, Keiko Abe, and Camille Saint-Saëns, performed with winners of the 2024-25 School of Music Concerto Competitions: Flora Cummings, viola; Kaisho Barnhill, marimba; and Sandy Huang, piano. Also on the program, works by Mikhail Glinka, Richard Wagner, and Giuseppe Verdi.

Saturday, June 7 & Sunday, June 8, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm | (Burke Museum)

Artist Stewart Wong

Stewart Wong will share knowledge and personal experiences about working with Broussonetia Papyrifera. He will talk about the history, uses, and cultivation of the paper mulberry plant. In addition, Stewart plans on dyeing, drawing on, and printing kapa. Stewart will have printed information and material samples to supplement the talk.

Saturday, June 7, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm | On Our Terms with Wakulima USA (Burke Museum)

Join the Burke Museum for a short screening from “,” plus a conversation with co-producer Aaron McCanna and Wakulima USA’s David Bulindah and Maura Kizito about food sovereignty and community building.

Additional Events

June 2 | (Music)

June 2 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

June 2 – June 6 | (Astronomy)

June 3 | (Music)

June 4 | (Music)

June 4 | (Psychology)

June 5 | (Music)

June 5 | (Speech & Hearing)

June 5 | (Labor Studies)

June 5 | (Art + Art History + Design)

June 6 | (Dance)

June 6 | (Geography)

June 7 | (Music)

Week of June 9

Wednesday, June 11 to Friday, June 27 | (Jacob Lawrence Gallery)

At the end of the spring quarter, the academic year culminates in comprehensive exhibitions of design work created by graduating students. The 91̽��Design Show 2025, showcasing the capstone projects of graduating BDes students, will be held from June 11 to June 27 in the Jacob Lawrence Gallery.

Additional Events

June 11 | (Henry Art Gallery)

June 11 | (Art + Art History + Design)

June 12 & June 13 | (DXARTS)

June 13 | (Art + Art History + Design)

Events for the week of June 23

June 24 | (Information Sessions)

June 25 | (Information Sessions)

June 26 | (Information Sessions)

June 27 | (Information Sessions)

Commencement

June marks the end of many College of Arts & Sciences students’ undergraduate experience. Interested in attending a graduation ceremony? Click here to find information on ceremonies across campus.

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Kicking the school year off with gallery exhibitions, a faculty comedy show, filming screening, and more!

Arts & Sciences — Fri, 20 Sep 2024 17:51:42 +0000

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the 91̽��community every week. This week, attend gallery exhibitions, and more.

As the 91̽��community returns to campus, consider taking advantage of campus perks available to 91̽��employees and students:

Free admission to the and
Discounted tickets to performances by Meany Center, School of Drama, Department of Dance, School of Music, and more

September 23, 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM | , Suzzallo Library

Join the Simpson Center for the Humanities, Center for American Indian & Indigenous Studies, and the Geography Department for a workshop centering on the politics of Native communities as they emerge on the ground, and through Indigenous theorizing and conceptualizations. Questions about the environment are often at the core of Native community politics and scholarship, and this collective is interested in that critical intersection. This workshop aims to ground this work in Coast Salish territories and the community questions of each participant.

Free |

September 26 – October 19 | , Jacob Lawrence Gallery

This exhibition will showcase the works of eight students entering their second year in the Master of Fine Arts program. Highlighting the artwork these artists have been working on this summer, A Regular Profusion of Certain Unidentified Roses invites visitors to consider the push and pull of place and identity, their relationships with the natural world, and the life force that can be found within static objects. Working across varied media, these artists come together to form a cohort marked by experimentation and free exploration making exciting strides in their respective practices. Thinking through major changes in their respective practices, this exhibition highlights the mid-point of their time in the MFA program and the risks and experiments they have engaged with this summer.

Join the School of Art + History + Design for the Jacob Lawrence Gallery opening reception on September 26, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Free |

91̽��in the Community: September 26, 7:30 PM | , 18th & Union

Crash Course: Where Smart meets Funny is Seattle’s first night-class/comedy-game show mashup that brings in brilliant Seattleites to share their ideas and expertise. Hosted by comedian Marcus Van Valen and scientist Caroline Duncombe, this interactive experience presents informative, wacky, and inspiring topics across all disciplines. After a night of intellectual shenanigans, one burning question will remain: Are you smarter than a comedian?

Tickets |

September 27, 4:00 – 6:00 PM | “Bad Ass Women Doing Kick Ass Shit,” Screening + Panel Discussion, Kane Hall

Join the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies for a screening of Bad Ass Women Doing Kick Ass Shit, a feature-length documentary that won Best Director in 2024 at the Cannes 7th Art Awards. This compelling film spotlights the unique experiences of former Washington State Senator Mona Das and seven other BIPOC women as they ran for political office in the United States.

Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion with this 12-time award-winning film’s creators and the women whose experiences they document. Learn more about what it takes to challenge the status quo of politics as usual and produce an independent film.

Free | More info

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

In the Field: Understanding the impact of Arctic militarization on Indigenous communities

Lauren Kirschman — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 18:35:20 +0000

Mia Bennett, a 91̽�� assistant professor of geography, was one of 20 scholars selected for the Fulbright Arctic IV Initiative. Photo: Mia Bennett

, 91̽�� assistant professor of geography, will spend a week this month in Norway as part of the orientation for the .

Bennett is one of 20 scholars selected to collaborate on multi-disciplinary research over the next 18 months. The Fulbright Arctic Initiative focuses on research and community engagement concerning policy issues in the Arctic region, such as security, energy and climate change.

The scholars will first convene in Tromsø, the largest city in northern Norway, to visit institutions including the and the . Then, they will travel to the interior of northern Norway, where there are many Indigenous communities. They’ll visit the municipalities of Alta, Kautokeino and Karasjok, meeting with people at ��á�� Parliament, ��á�� University College and more.

Bennett is a political geographer who researches the geopolitics of infrastructure development in the Arctic and orbital space, with a focus on Indigenous empowerment, the influence of Asian political powers, and satellite observations.

As a Fulbright Arctic Scholar, Bennett will work with Indigenous and local northern communities in Norway to understand the impact of Arctic militarization in the face of renewed tensions with Russia. She’ll return to Norway with the initiative in 2025.

Have you visited this site before?

Mia Bennett: I’ve spent a fair amount of time in and around Tromsø, the biggest city in northern Norway, for work, travel, and volunteering. I’ve attended an annual conference on the Arctic in Tromsø every few years since 2013, and I also spent a month working on a horse farm an hour south of the city in 2022.

Follow along with Bennett’s trip on her blog,

These experiences have allowed me to witness how much northern Norway has changed in the past decade or so, especially as tensions in the Arctic between the U.S. and Russia have ratcheted upwards, and as the Arctic has become more of a global tourism destination. However, I’ve never been to Alta, Kautokeino and Karasjok, where our program will also take us, so I’m very much looking forward to that.

What do you hope to learn?

MB: I hope to learn from the ��á�� people, who we will meet on their traditional lands in northern Norway, about both their history and where they see the future is headed.

��á�� reindeer herders are engaged in an ongoing struggle against the wind power industry since turbines take up a great amount of land that could otherwise be used for herding. Global conversations often overlook the impacts of the green transition on Indigenous communities and lands, but in the Arctic, the issue is front and center.

What’s something you really enjoy about doing this field work — especially something that might not occur to most people?

MB: Northern Norway is far warmer and less remote than equivalent latitudes in Alaska or Canada. Its cities and small towns have incredible universities, museums, restaurants, and all sorts of amenities more associated with cities down south. What I really enjoy, though, is that once you get outside of town, you’re suddenly thrust into the tundra or on top of a fjord, and all you can see are glacially carved landscapes that only the ��á�� and their reindeer truly know how to cross.

More generally, is there anything you find surprising or enlightening about doing field work?

MB: What I always find eye–opening about traveling in the Arctic is seeing how the region is connected to the rest of the world — even in the remotest settlements. Buying Ecuadorian bananas in Siberia or eating kimchi with maktak (whale skin and blubber) in Alaska offer reminders that while the region is far from the world’s political and economic centers, humanity’s drive towards connection, exchange and encounter has linked even the most distant corners of the Earth.

At the same time, for the Arctic, being brought into global circuits through extraction, colonization and imperialism has often greatly harmed local cultures and ecologies. Spending time doing fieldwork in the Arctic makes it possible to learn from people and places in the region the consequences of connectivity, both good and bad.

For more information, contact Bennett at miabenn@uw.edu

ArtSci Roundup: Global Sport Lab, Art Honors Graduation Exhibition, Interconnected Worlds with Henry Yeung and more

ArtsUW — Thu, 16 May 2024 23:00:04 +0000

This week, join the Global Sport Lab for a conversation about what the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup means for Seattle, check out the BA in Art Honors Graduation Exhibition, attend the lecture on Interconnected Worlds with Henry Yeung and more.

May 20 – 26, 91̽��Innovation Month��

Innovation Month is a campus-wide celebration of the innovative work that happens everywhere at UW, every day, across disciplines. It highlights students and researchers who are entrepreneurs, designers, engineers, scientists, artists, and other leaders who are constantly imagining new heights in their fields. Join events to gain insights into the latest trends in academia and industry and build your network with others who share your passion and drive for impact.

Free | More info

May 20, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

Phyllis Byrdwell leads the 91̽��Gospel Choir in songs of praise, jubilation, and other expressions of the Gospel tradition.

Ticket |

May 21, 4:00 pm | Kane Hall

Students of Thomas Harper and Carrie Shaw perform works from the vocal repertoire.

Free |��

May 21, 11:30 – 12:30 pm | Bagley Hall

Join the Global Sport Lab for a conversation with 91̽��Men’s Soccer Head Coach Jamie Clark��and 91̽��Bothell Professor��Ron Krabill��to talk about the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, what it means to Seattle as one of the host cities for the tournament, and��ways in which it could impact the 91̽��.

Free |

May 21 – 31��|��Jacob Lawrence Gallery

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery and the School of Art + Art History + Design present Departing Figures: BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions, featuring the work of the 2024 graduating class in the BA in Art programs: 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture, Interdisciplinary Visual Arts, Painting + Drawing, and Photo/Media. Students work closely with the gallery’s curatorial team to present their senior capstones in one of three group shows that run for two weeks each.

Free |

May 23, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Thomson Hall or Online via Zoom

The 91̽��Taiwan Studies Program welcomes Henry Yeung (National University of Singapore) to discuss his book Interconnected Worlds: Global Electronics and Production Networks in East Asia. His book offers key empirical observations on the highly contested and politicized nature of semiconductor global production networks since the US-China trade war and the COVID-19 pandemic. The book examines the need for strategic partnerships with technology leaders toward building national and regional resilience in the US, Western Europe, and East Asia.

Free |

May 23, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | Hans Rosling Center

This event will celebrate the release of Linh’s new book, Displacing Kinship: The Intimacies of Intergenerational Trauma in Vietnamese American Cultural Production, and she will have another author joining her to share their book and connect with 91̽��faculty, staff, students, and the broader community.

Free |

May 23, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

The University Singers, Treble Choir, and 91̽��Glee Club present an eclectic program of music from around the world, folk tunes, and arrangements of popular music standards.

Tickets |

May 23, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

The 91̽��Percussion Ensemble, led by Director Bonnie Whiting, performs music by Caroline Shaw, Elena Rykova, and Qu Xiao-Song. The performance will also have open scores by Pauline Oliveros, George Lewis, and Stacey Bowers and feature first-year undergraduates in ragtime arrangements for xylophone and marimba.

Tickets |

May 23 – June 2, 2:00 or 7:30 pm | Floyd and Delores Jones Playhouse

In this unique adaptation of “The Adding Machine,” the unremarkable Mr. Zero, an accountant, is unexpectedly replaced by an adding machine. What follows is a series of remarkable events during and after his life that are outside of his control–or are they? In this devised adaptation, Director Ryan Purcell and student artists will examine the present-day emergence of artificial intelligence in the context of Rice’s prescient expressionistic classic of the 1920s.

Tickets |

May 24, 1:30 – 3:00 pm | Husky Union Building

For this 91̽�� International Security Colloquium, PhD candidates Jessica Sciarone and Jihyeon Bae come together to discuss “Dark Visions for Society: The Spread of Extremist Ideas.”

Free |

May 24, 3:30 – 4:30 pm | Smith Hall

Professor Henry Yeung is invited to the Geography Colloquium to speak on “Theory and Explanation in Geography.”

Free |

May 24, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

In preparation for 91̽��Choirs’ Summer 2024 tour of Czechia, Austria and Hungary, the Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers) and University Chorale, led by Director Giselle Wyers, present “Wonderful World,” featuring works spanning the globe and the diverse styles of the American Songbook.��

Tickets |

May 29, 7:00 – 9:00 pm | Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI)

The 91̽�� is home to one of the earliest Black Student Unions in the country. Learn the strategies for cross-cultural organizing that led to their success and how this can be applied to liberation struggles today. Join Professor Marc Arsell Robinson, author of��, to understand how solidarity spread across camps and beyond.

Free |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Improvised Music Project Festival, Modern Abortion Around the World Panel, Taiwan’s Pop Music and more

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 22:07:03 +0000

This week, join the Jackson School for International Studies for a panel on Modern Abortion Around the World, head to Meany Hall for the Improvised Music Project Festival, celebrate Taiwan’s pop music, and much more.

April 22, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Thomson Hall

The Jackson School of International Studies invites Research Scholar Kim Brandt, Columbia University, to discuss the significance of the Hiroshima Maidens.

“Hiroshima Maidens” loosely translates to “genbaku otome”, a phrase used to refer to young women who were scarred by injuries during the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ten years later, 25 such women were flown to New York to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery. The “Maidens” received wide publicity in the U.S. and Japan, where the story resonated with growing anxiety about nuclear weapons, public fascination with new forms of beauty culture, and the potential of postwar technology.

Free |

April 23 – May 3 | Jacob Lawrence Gallery

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery will feature the work of students graduating from one of the School of Art + Art History + Design’s Bachelors of Art in Art concentrations: 3D4M: ceramics + glass + sculpture, Interdisciplinary Visual Art, Painting + Drawing, and Photo/Media.

Free |

April 24, 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Communications Building

The 2024 Stephanie M.H. Camp Memorial Lecture by Jennifer L. Morgan, professor at New York University, explores the connections between domestic space, the idea of privacy, and the presence of enslaved women in the early modern world. Drawing on court cases, legislation, and the growth of slavery, Morgan revisits questions of the public/private divide to consider the impact of slavery in the early modern period upon the development of racially marked notions of private life.

Free |

April 24 – May 28 | Allen Library North Lobby

In partnership with the��, the 91̽��Taiwan Studies Arts & Culture Program welcomes everyone to celebrate Taiwan’s pop music through the “Music, Island, Stories: Taiwan Calling!” pop-up exhibition on the 91̽��campus.

Free |��

April 25, 3:00 – 4:30 pm | Husky Union Building

Join The Jackson School of International Studies for Modern Abortion Around the World, a panel discussion on the history of abortion in Bolivia, China, Kenya, South Asia, and the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands over the past 60 years, and��what those histories reveal about technopolitical developments, reproductive governance, and transnational social movements.

Free |

April 25, 5:30 – 7:00 pm | Kane Hall

The 2024 Griffith and Patricia Way Lecture will interrogate two sets of fourteenth-century hell paintings owned by the temples Gokurakuji in Hyōgo Prefecture and Konkaikōmyōji in Kyoto, which both posit the possibility of early escape from the infernal realms, albeit in seemingly contradictory ways. This talk will uncover the ways people in premodern Japan transformed hell from a place solely retributive in nature into one that had liberating powers.

Free |

April 25, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

The 91̽��Wind Ensemble, led by Director Timothy Salzman, and Symphonic Band, led by Director Shaun Day, present “Spotlight,” performing music by Nancy Galbraith, Michael Daugherty, Henk Badings, and others. This performance features winners of the 2024 Winds Concerto Competition: Devin Foster (tuba), Kelly Hou (harp), and Cole Henslee (tuba).

Tickets |

April 26, 12:00 – 1:30 pm | Suzzallo Library

Guest speaker Dr. Melvin Rogers, professor of political science at Brown University, is invited to speak about “The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought.”

Free |

April 26, 3:30 pm | Denny Hall or Online via Zoom

The Department of Classics invites Glynnis Fawkes, cartoonist and archaeological illustrator, who will analyze the way a cartoonist adapts history. Fawkes will specifically look into Eric H. Cline’s 1177BC: A Graphic History of the Year Civilization Collapsed? to describe the process of interpreting Cline’s text in comic, an exercise where Fawkes repeatedly asks: how might she tell this story visually, and how can she put Eric’s words into the mouths of characters involved in the story?

Free |

April 26, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | ��Smith Hall

Dr. Keston K Perry, who researches race, reparations, and climate change for the University of California, Los Angeles Department of African American Studies, is invited to speak for the Geography Colloquium on “Beyond Repair? The Crisis of Ecological Imperialism and Reparative Ecologies in the Caribbean.”

Free |

April 26, 7:30 pm | ��Meany Hall

David Alexander Rahbee conducts the 91̽��Symphony and winners of the 91̽��Concerto Competition—Kai-En Cheng, violin; Rachel Reyes, flute; and Ella Kalinichenko, piano—in a program including winning concerto excerpts. This performance will feature a 91̽��student composition by graduate student Yonatan Ron, Silvestre Revueltas’s Sensemayá, and Overture to Le roi d’Ys,��by��Éduard Lalo. ��

Tickets |

April 27, 7:30 pm | ��Meany Hall

Renowned bassist Todd Sickafoose headlines this special performance as a part of the 2024 Improvised Music Project Festival (IMPFEST). Sickafoose will be performing sets with 91̽��Jazz Studies students and 91̽��faculty Cuong Vu, trumpet, Ted Poor, drums, and Steve Rodby, bass.

Free |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: DXARTS Time and Time Again Exhibition, Meany Hall Concert, Colloquium Lectures and more

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:22:41 +0000

This week, head to the Henry Art Gallery for the Freedom in Failure: “That’s how the light gets in” program, learn how virtual reality platforms can advance personalized treatment options for patients, visit the DXARTS gallery for Time and Time Again,��and more.

April 3, 12:30 pm | ��North Allen Library Lobby

Students of the 91̽��School of Music perform in this lunchtime concert series co-hosted by 91̽��Music and 91̽��Libraries.

Free |

April 3, 12:30 – 1:30 pm | ��Husky Union Building

Join the Jackson School of International Studies for a talk featuring Colonel Nate Strohm, 91̽��US Army War College Fellow 2023-2024 on the evolution and future of Security Force Assistance Brigades in the military. This talk will be followed by a discussion with Colonel Nate Strohm.

Colonel Nathan “Nate” Strohm is a career logistician who has served in multiple tactical logistics units, brigade combat teams, command positions, and in strategic staff positions on both the Army Staff and the Joint Staff.

Free |

April 3, 3:30 – 4:20 pm | ��Kincaid Hall or Zoom

The Department of Psychology invites Associate Professor Benjamin Suarez-Jimenez from the University of Rochester to speak about his research on understanding the brain mechanisms underlying discrimination of threat, safety, and reward within a context.

Suarez-Jimenez’s research specifically focuses on developing and validating innovative virtual reality (VR) tasks to study brain mechanisms of complex behavior.

Free |��

April 3, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | Jacob Lawrence Gallery

The Jacob Lawrence Gallery presents the Jacob Lawrence Legacy Residency exhibition featuring the 2024 resident artist Simon Benjamin. A Bolt from the Blue is an exhibition curated as a living space of temporal contemplation that continues Simon Benjamin’s research of the sea and coastal areas as connected sites of colonial legacy. Through video installation, painting, sculpture, and photography we are immersed in the artist’s visual, sound, and material vocabularies on relational community histories alongside objects of inquiry.

Free |

April 3, 7:00 – 8:30 pm | ��Kane Hall

The Department of Asian Languages and Literature invites professor Zev Handel to explain how the building blocks of the Chinese script were adapted to represent the words and sounds of Japanese via their transformation into the scripts known as kanji and kana.

Through this lecture, the audience will learn the similarities and differences between the Chinese writing and alphabetic writing, what happened to Chinese-character writing in Korea and Vietnam, and why today Japanese is the only one of these languages that still uses Chinese characters in its writing.

Free |

April 4 – 26 | DXARTS Gallery

Time and Time Again is a collaborative installation by artists Leo Nuñez and Juan Pampin. The work is a playful exploration of the cyclical and catastrophic aspects of the Argentine economy. Organized into four interrelated pieces, the installation invites visitors to immerse themselves in a chaotic world of data-driven flashbacks, monetary bicycle rides, and circular financial ruins.

Free |

April 5, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Smith Hall

The Department of Geography invites Charlotte Coté, professor in the Department of American Indian Studies, to speak at this Geography Colloquium.

In her new book, A Drum in One Hand, A Sockeye in the Other, Coté shares many stories from her personal life and stories shared with her about Tseshaht and Northwest Coast Indigenous food traditions. Through these stories, Dr. Coté wants readers to understand why her community of Tseshaht, and Indigenous peoples worldwide, are revitalizing their foodways and reconnecting with their haʔum, cultural food, by enacting food sovereignty.

Free |

April 5, 1:30 – 3:00 pm | Gowen Hall

Associate Professor Sheena Chestnut Greitens at the University of Texas, Austin, will speak on internal security and Chinese grand strategy for this 91̽�� International Security Colloquium.

Free |

April 6, 3:00 – 4:30 pm | Henry Art Gallery

Inspired by the process of regeneration and rebirth embodied in��Raúl de Nieves: A window to the see, a spirit star chiming in the wind of wonder…, currently on view at the Henry Art Gallery, the gallery will conjure the power and possibilities of imminent failure in an experimental combination of poetry craft talk, courageous conversation, community freestyle, improv music, and facilitated dialogue.

Free |

April 6, 8:00 pm | Meany Hall

An evening length concert experience with dance, poetry and music, Carnival of the Animals is an intentional response to the January 6 insurrection written and conceived by Marc Bamuthi Joseph. It navigates the reality of the political jungle by embodying shifting societal values and our relationship to democracy. Choreographed and directed by Francesca Harper and anchored in the words of Joseph and the transcendent movement of Wendy Whelan (New York City Ballet).

Tickets |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Calder Quartet, Psychology Colloquium, Black Girls (Re)Creating Space through Digital Practice and more

Arts & Sciences — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 20:52:25 +0000

This week, attend the Psychology Loucks Colloquium, visit the Henry Art Gallery for Martine Gutierrez’s Monsen Photography Lecture, hear from Ashleigh Greene Wade on “Where Can We Be? Black Girls (Re)Creating Space through Digital Practice” and more.

March 27, 12:30 – 1:30 pm | ��Husky Union Building

Join the Jackson School of International Studies for a talk with Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Hamilton, a 91̽��U.S. Army War College Fellow 2023-2024. Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Hamilton will be joined by Nadine Fabbi, 91̽��Director, Canadian Studies Center and Arctic and International Relations, and Chair, Arctic Studies Minor, at the UW.

Free |

March 27, 3:30 – 4:20 pm | Kincaid Hall or Zoom

The Department of Psychology, led by faculty host Ariel Rokem and student host Mckenzie Hagen, invites Dr. Emily Jacobs, Associate Professor of the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of California Santa Barbara, to speak at the Psychology Loucks Colloquium.

Free |

March 27, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | Communication Building

The Communication Department invites Ashleigh Greene Wade, assistant professor of Media Studies and African American Studies at the University of Virginia, to discuss: “Where Can We Be? Black Girls (Re)Creating Space through Digital Practice.”

Through this lecture, Wade will answer the question of how Black girls can carve out spaces for themselves within sociocultural contexts that encourage their silence and erasure. Wade shows how Black girls deploy digital content creation as a way to (re)structure their spatial realities, thereby expanding places where they can simply be.

Free |��

March 27, 5:00 – 9:00 pm | ��Kane Hall

Join the Korea Economic Institute of America (KEI) in partnership with the Center for Korea Studies (CKS) for a two-part panel series that examines trilateral cooperation in several key areas. Bringing together experts from all three countries, the two panels will explore, respectively, trilateral security cooperation in regard to North Korea and the broader Indo-Pacific region as well as trilateral cooperation on economic security, emerging technologies, and development finance.

Free |

March 27, 7:00 – 8:30 pm | Kane Hall

Can an early modern religious Hebrew poet remain relevant to contemporary audiences? Join the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies to hear from Professor Edwin Seroussi why Rabbi Najara’s poetry of hope and redemption has persisted in synagogues, in Jewish homes, and on Israeli pop stages to this very day.

Free |

March 28, 7:00 – 8:30 pm | Kane Hall

“Ruins” are the remnants of past civilizations that modern people objectify, manipulate, reproduce, reconstruct, and sell as artifacts. As sites of remembrance, “ruins” are also visual constructions of the past that can be visited and experienced in the present.

Drawing on his forthcoming book, Sonic Ruins of Modernity: Judeo-Spanish Folksongs Today, musicologist Edwin Seroussi will examine the “ruinization” of a repertoire of Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) folksongs, transmitted by Sephardic Jews.

Free |

March 28, 7:30 pm | ��Meany Hall

The Calder Quartet joins choreographer and Deaf advocate Antoine Hunter for an imaginative and joyful collaboration of chamber music and dance. Developed by the Quartet and Hunter, and featuring dancers Hunter and Zahna Simon,��The Mind’s Ear��draws inspiration from the collaboration between Merce Cunningham and John Cage, as well as the musical interchange between Julius Eastman and Cage. The program also offers a poignant insight into Beethoven’s Quartet No. 13, written when his deafness had a profound impact on his life and work.

Tickets |

March 29, 12:30 – 1:30 pm | Denny Hall

The Department of Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures invites Busra Demirkol, PhD student studying Near and Middle Eastern Studies, to give a lecture for the Turkish & Ottoman Studies Program Talk series.

Free |

March 29, 3:30 – 5:30 pm | ��Livestream

Arthur Obst, Allen Thompson, Emma Maris are invited to speak at the Department of Philosophy’s colloquium.

Free |

March 29, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

Acclaimed new music group the Mivos Quartet, dubbed by the Chicago Reader as “one of America’s most daring and ferocious new-music ensembles,” will perform works by Joël-François Durand and other 91̽��faculty composers in this guest artist performance.

Tickets |

March 30 – July 28 | Henry Art Gallery ��

Martine Gutierrez is a transdisciplinary artist, performing, writing, composing, and directing elaborate narrative scenes that subvert pop-cultural tropes in the exploration of identity. Through works created in diverse media—music videos, billboard campaigns, episodic films, photographs, live performance artworks, and publications —Gutierrez investigates identity as both a social construct and an authentic expression of self. These complex intersections are innate to Gutierrez’s own multicultural upbringing as a first-generation artist of Indigenous descent and as an LGBTQ ally.

Tickets |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

ArtSci Roundup: Spring Faculty Panel, Producing Artist Lab, Indigenous Foods Symposium, and more

Arts & Sciences — Fri, 28 Apr 2023 15:57:08 +0000

This week, listen to a leading voice in the women’s movement, watch the 91̽��School of Drama’s student directed play “In The Blood”, attend the Indigenous Foods Symposium, and more.

May 1, 5:00 – 6:30 PM |Online

Free |

May 1, 6:30 PM | May Day: Women and Equality, Kane Hall & Recorded

As a leading voice in the women’s movement, Ai-Jen Poo will talk about the status of today’s labor movement and its impact on women.

Ai-jen Poo is an award-winning organizer, author, and a leading voice in the women’s movement. She is the President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, Director of Caring Across Generations, Co-Founder of SuperMajority, Co-Host of Sunstorm podcast and a Trustee of the Ford Foundation. Ai-jen is a nationally recognized expert on elder and family care, the future of work, and what’s at stake for women of color. She is the author of the celebrated book, The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.

Suggested Ticket Price $5 | More info and Registration

May 2, 7:00 – 9:30 PM & May 4, 7:00 – 8:30 PM | Kane Hall

For this year’s Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies, Anthony Mordechai Tzvi Russell, a classically trained and internationally acclaimed vocalist, composer and arranger specializing in music in the Yiddish language, will perform with accompanist Dmitri Gaskin. Through oration and art music, they will take us on a melodic journey through a variety of elements come together to shape Russell’s unique genre of Jewish musicality.

Free |

May 2 & May 4��| Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre and Online

This lecture series and colloquium advance crucial conversations on world language and literature study on the 91̽��Seattle campus through an interdisciplinary, multi-departmental speaker series focused on issues of race, identity, colonialism, and migration within a broad European context. These trans- or postnational, transcultural, and multilingual approaches to national literatures offer effective frameworks for undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty to grasp the intersectional complexity of power configurations in literary and visual cultures.

Free |

May 3 – May 7 | Glenn Hughes Penthouse Theatre

The Producing Artist Laboratory is a recent development in the 91̽��School of Drama’s production structure. Student-artists require many outlets to practice their craft from their first year to graduation. The Producing Artists Lab is an opportunity to share some of these exciting exploratory or developmental projects with the public. Audience members may see a wider range in the levels of production and often more vigorous artistic risk-taking in these Lab productions.

In the Blood was directed by graduate directing students Kate Drummond and Nick O’Leary. In this modern-day riff on The Scarlet Letter, a homeless mother of five lives with her kids on the tough streets of the inner city. Her eldest child is teaching her how to read and write, but the letter “A” is, so far, the only letter she knows. Her five kids are played by adult actors who double as five other people in her life. While Hester’s kids fill her life with joy—lovingly comical moments amid the harsh world of poverty—the adults with whom she comes into contact only hold her back.

Content Warning: The play contains mature subject matter and themes, including explicit language, violence, and sexual content.

$10 – $20 Tickets |

May 4, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall

Violist and composer Melia Watras presents a celebration of the viola with an evening of world premieres composed by 91̽��faculty, students, and alumni. The program includes 91̽��faculty composer Joël- François Durand’s Geister weider… pour alto solo (written for Watras), a collaborative composition by Watras and her former student Madeline Warner, and four pieces commissioned by Watras especially for this event, by 91̽��students and alums Sandesh Nagaraj, Jonathan Rodriguez, Breana Tavaglione, and Wei Yang. Watras in joined onstage by vocalist Carrie Henneman Shaw and violinist Michael Jinsoo Lim.

$10 – $20 Tickets |

May 5 – May 6 | Intellectual House

This symposium brings people together to share knowledge on topics such as traditional foods, plants and medicines; environmental and food justice; food sovereignty/security; health and wellness; and treaty rights. This event serves to foster dialogue and build collaborative networks as Native people strive to sustain cultural food practices and preserve healthy relationships with the land, water, and all living things.

This year’s theme is “Health, Healing & Resilience”.

Free for 91̽��Students |

May 6, 7:30 PM | Meany Hall

From visionary theater and opera director Peter Sellars comes his most personal work to date, a staging of Orlando di Lasso’s Lagrime di San Pietro (The Tears of Saint Peter). This profoundly moving Renaissance masterpiece depicts the grief and remorse of the Apostle Peter after he disavows knowledge of Jesus Christ on the day of his arrest and crucifixion. Sung by 21 a cappella singers of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, Lagrime is refracted through Mr. Sellars signature contemporary lens, suggesting a powerful allegory about facing our past head-on in order to forge a more fulfilling future.

Free |

Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Lauren Zondag (zondagld@uw.edu).

Q&A: Managing Washington’s gray wolf population – through fear

Kim Eckart — Mon, 21 Nov 2022 16:18:44 +0000

The high-profile reintroduction of gray wolves to Yellowstone National Park in 1995 is generally considered a conservation success: Gray wolf packs inside and outside the park gradually established new populations. In Washington, wolves were largely absent for decades until in the northeastern part of the state in 2008.

But wolf recovery also has been controversial. Over time, various federal and state protections have been , , then . Conflict often arises when wolves return to rural landscapes that are also used for grazing, where they sometimes attack and kill livestock, and where anti-wolf sentiment is often high. In northeast Washington in February, six gray wolves were found dead, and an investigation later found . Earlier this fall, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife killed two wolves from a pack that had preyed on cattle, and .

Such instances in Washington are relatively rare, but they underscore the very specific challenges between humans and wolves, explains , who studied this issue as part of his doctorate in geography from the 91̽��. He is lead author of a on nonlethal wolf management tactics recently published in , with co-authors including Alex McInturff, a 91̽��assistant professor of environmental and forest management.

“While other states in the American West have been much more aggressive about allowing killing wolves, the state of Washington has made a major effort to minimize lethal management,” said Anderson. “That really puts the emphasis in Washington on the nonlethal techniques for, as they often say, ‘changing wolf behavior,’ which is where fear comes into the picture.”

Anderson, who is now a research associate at Boston University studying deer management in suburban Massachusetts, spoke about wolves in Washington with 91̽��News.

People might think that any way to manage wolves, short of violence, would be reasonable.�� What are some considerations in managing by fear?

Rob Anderson: In one sense, what needs to be “managed” is not wolves themselves, so much as wolf-livestock conflict. That’s done in a range of nonlethal ways, many of which are essentially to use wolves’ fear of people, or fear of being persecuted by people, to reduce attacks on livestock. That can include fencing, lights or sirens – or even just human presence on the range — to keep wolves away. There are also other approaches to reducing wolf conflict, such as adapting how livestock behave to reduce their vulnerability, or changing how people manage livestock, in terms of where and when they allow them to graze in territory where wolves also live. But in Washington, a lot of efforts have really focused on the approaches that use wolves’ fear of people to try to prevent conflict. And yes, many people would agree that using fear is reasonable, and wolf conservation advocates would certainly say it’s preferable to lethal control. So my point is not to say that manipulating wolves’ fear is a bad thing, but to acknowledge that that’s what people are trying to do, and to better understand how it works and what it means.

For instance, there are a lot of ideas tossed around about “sending a message” to the wolves, whether it’s by using nonlethal tools, or by killing a wolf that has attacked livestock. But there’s not a lot of evidence about whether and how wolves are actually getting the message. So I would suggest that wildlife managers, and livestock producers, and anyone invested in this issue, carefully examine what they’re aiming to accomplish with these fear-based techniques. People’s ideas about what it means to change wolf behavior vary widely, and it can lead to misunderstanding and greater social conflict over an already-tense issue.

Q: Does management by fear change animal behavior, long-term?

RA: That’s one of the questions I aim to raise in this research! Based on my conversations with wildlife managers, such as the staff at the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, most would say that the goal isn’t long-term change. When they talk about “changing wolf behavior,” they are usually just talking about getting a particular wolf, or wolf pack, to stop coming after livestock. But they also will often talk about how wolf fear is “innate,” suggesting that it’s hard-wired into the wolf to be afraid of humans. There’s a tension there, between what kinds of behaviors can be changed through human intervention, and what is instinctive and unchangeable. Many wolf biologists will say that wolves’ fear of people is an evolutionary adaptation: Because people persecuted wolves for so long, and killed off the more aggressive (or just curious) wolves, more fearful wolves survived to pass on their genes, and to teach their offspring how to survive.

It’s certainly possible to imagine that contemporary management interventions could also have those kinds of longer-term consequences on the so-called “nature” of wolves. In that sense, this emblematically “wild” animal is responding to, and ends up changed by, human actions and activities. That’s a real challenge to how we tend to think about wildlife conservation.

Q: How can stakeholders, such as landowners, environmental advocates, policymakers and the like, incorporate these ideas into decision-making?

RA: Wolf conservation is already a very divisive issue, especially when it comes to lethal wolf removal. Some people really want to see the state taking more action to address wolf attacks on livestock, but many others are fiercely opposed to lethal removal – and the conflict over this issue has escalated pretty far, to the point that some people are even out there poisoning wolves. The state of Washington has made an important investment in nonlethal approaches, but there’s still a great deal of confusion around how they work, and what it means to change wolf behavior, whether that’s through lethal or nonlethal methods. I don’t think there is any single solution to the problem, and people hold very different ethical values and positions, which may not always be possible to resolve. But in light of the level of social conflict and controversy around this issue, I hope that decision-makers can use our research to be as clear as possible about what the various approaches on the table are aiming to accomplish.

For more information, contact Anderson at roanderso@gmail.com.

��