Three new faculty books from the 91爆料 cover the recipes and culture of the world鈥檚 largest Syrian refugee camp, traditional ecological knowledge of Indigenous peoples and data science for neuroimaging researchers.
91爆料 News spoke with the authors to learn more.
Documenting history and rituals of Syrian cuisine
When was invited to Zaatari, the world鈥檚 largest Syrian refugee camp, she noticed that stories of the camp rarely included women鈥檚 voices. As she learned more about their lives, she had the idea to create a cookbook to counter the effects of domicide 鈥� the deliberate destruction of housing and basic infrastructure 鈥� and carve a space for the women to share their cultural knowledge with the world.
Published by Goose Lane Editions, 鈥�,鈥� brings to life stories and traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. Fisher wrote the book in collaboration with over 2,000 refugees. All royalties return to the people of Zaatari, which is located near Jordan鈥檚 border with Syria.
鈥淭he book was a way to increase global awareness about war and refugees, and to show how important food and other aspects of the culture are in human survival and in telling the human story,鈥� said Fisher, a 91爆料 professor in the Information School and an adjunct professor of communication.
The women in the camp were excited when Fisher approached them with the idea 鈥� even though many of them had never seen a cookbook.
鈥淧art of why our book is so fascinating is that it focuses on tacit knowledge and the social nature of cooking,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淵ou learn to cook by cooking alongside somebody else.鈥�
With over 130 recipes, some of which have never been written down before, the book documents the history and rituals of Syrian cuisine and how they have been adapted to life in a refugee camp. It also chronicles camp culture.
鈥淲e cannot lose our connections with humanity,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淛ust because someone is a refugee living in a camp halfway around the world, doesn’t mean that their lives don’t have value. They are important within the global world that we live in and are all part of the history of humanity. All of these things need to be preserved and supported.鈥�
Because they are war refugees, the people involved in the project were all credited with aliases. The photographs of the women were also taken from behind to protect their identities and as part of Islamic practice.
鈥淭he Zaatari book is just a powerful example of the 91爆料 community-engaged research, of working with a refugee community and agencies inside a high security closed refugee camp,鈥� Fisher said. 鈥淚t was just incredible what we were able to do.鈥�
For more information, contact Fisher at fisher@uw.edu.听
Collection highlights Indigenous environmental knowledge
In 鈥�,鈥� presenters from the discuss best practices for traditional ecological knowledge, or TEK, which refers to evolving knowledge acquired by Indigenous peoples through direct contact with the environment.
(enrolled Haliwa Saponi/descendant Eastern Band Cherokee), who is an associate professor and chair of Social and Historical studies in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the 91爆料 Tacoma, edited the book. She brought together speakers from the Indigenous Speakers Series and multigenerational Indigenous peoples to share how TEK aids in environmental justice efforts and why it should be adapted into Western sciences.
Launched by Montgomery in 2015, the Indigenous Speaker Series is a multi-purpose platform that promotes community partnerships, amplifies the voices of Indigenous people and dialogues about Indigenous people鈥檚 cultural and traditional lived experiences.
鈥淧art of the Indigenous Speaker Series is about bringing in multigenerational voices to talk about all sorts of topics that relate to sustainability, because sustainability isn鈥檛 just about ecosystems or STEM initiatives,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淚t’s also about culture, identity, all those sorts of things. This project is about me really being passionate about decolonizing and indigenizing the narrative.鈥�
As the founder and director of the Indigenous Speaker Series and 鈥渁 humble, forever student,鈥� Montgomery wanted to give back to the community by helping people share their stories.
鈥淐ulturally, I’m taught that my wealth is determined by how many people can say I contributed when asked,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淒id I give back? How many people did I uplift as I made it on the journey? Being an editor, it sounds like a position of unique power. But to me, it was a humbling opportunity to reach out to people and to say, 鈥業 believe in your voice. Let me create a platform so you can share it.鈥欌��
Storytelling is about empowerment and justice, Montgomery said. Published by University Press of Colorado, the book is a multi-tribal collection and a space for people from all walks of life to share interdisciplinary knowledge through their stories.
鈥淭he reason why it’s important for me to always uplift the voices and the storytelling of people is that I want people to feel comfortable in their identity and the walk that they walk,鈥� Montgomery said. 鈥淚f you save spaces to tell their story, erasure doesn’t happen.鈥�
For more information, contact Montgomery at montgm2@uw.edu.听
A new guide on data science for researchers
鈥�,鈥� recently published by Princeton University Press, serves as a guide to broadly relevant data science skills with specific application to neuroimaging research.
Written by , research associate professor of psychology at the 91爆料 and data science fellow at the 91爆料 eScience Institute, and , the book fills the need for an authoritative resource on data science for neuroimaging researchers.
鈥淲e鈥檙e both neuroimaging researchers and both of us painstakingly acquired data science skills by learning from mentors and peers and teaching ourselves,鈥� Rokem said. 鈥淲hat we wanted to do was make that process a lot easier, especially for early-career researchers in our field.鈥�
In 2016, Rokem and Yarkoni established a summer school focused on data science and neuroimaging. They鈥檝e received funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health since 2017 to run the course, which is now called . Over the years, they identified gaps in existing training and worked to fill them.
In June, The Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM) awarded Rokem the , which is given to an OHBM member who has made significant contribution to education and training in the field of neuroimaging. Rokem was recognized for the work that led to the book, among other accomplishments.
Formal training programs don鈥檛 typically cover topics like data management and programming topics in machine learning, Rokem said. The book provides a source that students, teachers and instructors can use to learn and teach about these skills.
鈥淣euroimaging and neuroscience research, much like many other fields, is inundated in data,鈥� Rokem said. 鈥淭he instruments that we use to make neuroimaging measurements and the datasets that we have available to us are all becoming larger, more complicated.鈥�
Researchers who are mentoring students don鈥檛 always have experience with the current magnitude of available datasets. 鈥淒ata Science for Neuroimaging: An Introduction鈥� helps bridge the gap.
There is also a growing concern about reproducibility in the neuroimaging field, Rokem said.
鈥淥ne of the ways to mitigate concerns about reproducibility is to automate everything, track the progress of the research and then make the research openly available in a way that others can inspect what we’re doing,鈥� Rokem said. 鈥淭his is part of a larger movement around open science and reproducible research that the eScience Institute has been advancing here at the 91爆料. Part of what we write about in the book is, what are the tools and techniques for making research accessible to and reproducible by others?鈥�
The book, which allows users to run code examples and experiment with them hands-on, is also openly.
For more information, contact Rokem at arokem@uw.edu.