Department of Mathematics – 91爆料 News /news Wed, 15 Apr 2026 00:02:23 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 ArtSci Roundup: May 2026 /news/2026/04/09/artsci-roundup-may-2026/ Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:24:24 +0000 /news/?p=91220

Come curious. Leave inspired.

The 91爆料 offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the 91爆料 community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. And you don’t have to wait until May: Take a look at everything still happening in April.

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ArtSci On Your Own Time:

Video | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Emily M. Bender’s talk on “AI” hype and resisting dehumanization, from a linguistic and humanities perspective, drew the largest crowd we have seen for a Katz Distinguished Lecture in years. For those who weren’t able to join us, and those who would like to revisit, you can now watch the full recording on our YouTube page. Free.

Podcast | (Biology)
This is a podcast centered around the humans who study the myriad biological processes that shape our world, specifically, the humans who are students and faculty in the Department of Biology at the 91爆料. They are scientists who study everything from the ways cells move through complex tissues to ancient communities of long-extinct mammals, from the ways plants interact with their surroundings to the ways bats fly and hummingbirds feed. Plunge into the vast world of biology, students sharing paths to becoming scientists and the lessons they have learned along the way. Free.

Online Events | See all events offered online.

EXHIBITIONS:

April 28 – June 5 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Celebrate the graduating seniors across the art programs: 3D4M, Photo/Media, Painting + Drawing, and Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA) during the 2026 BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrance Gallery. Opening nights: Group 1 – April 28, Group 2 – May 12, Honors – May 26. Free.

Through May 24 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Rodney McMillian (b. 1969, Columbia, South Carolina; based in Los Angeles, California) works with the social and political histories of the United States and how they shape our daily lives. Using existing texts and domestic materials—such as house paint on thrifted fabrics and bedsheets, or “post-consumer objects” as he calls them—he traces both the visible and invisible forces that shape civic life, particularly for the lives of African Americans. Inspired by the lush surroundings of the Henry, McMillian brings together sculpture, video, and painting that present an outdoor landscape overgrown with the lingering effects of physical, political, and social violence. Free.

May 16 – June 14 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
The Henry is pleased to present the 91爆料’s School of Art + Art History + Design Master of Fine Arts and Master of Design Thesis Exhibition. Throughout their programs, fine arts and design students work with advisers and other artists to develop advanced techniques, expand concepts, discuss critical issues, and emerge with a vision and direction for their own work. Henry staff conduct studio visits and work closely with the students to facilitate their projects and prepare them for exhibition at the museum. A digital publication will be produced in conjunction with the exhibition to highlight the students’ artistic endeavors and the Henry’s commitment to this exciting and important step in the students’ development as practicing artists and designers. Free.

picture of exhibition
Eric-Paul Riege: ojo|-|o?l?? [Installation view, Henry Art Gallery, 91爆料, Seattle. 2026]. Photo: Jueqian Fang.

Exhibition | (Henry Art Gallery)
ojo|-|o?l?? (pronounced oh-ho hol-ohn) is an exhibition of recent and newly commissioned work by Diné artist Eric-Paul Riege (b. 1994, Na’nízhoozhí [Gallup, New Mexico]) that includes sculpture, textile, collage, and video, activated by moments of performance. Across this work, Riege combines customary Diné practices of weaving, silversmithing, and beading with contemporary cultural forms, exploring Diné cosmology, the history of Euro-American trading posts in and adjacent to the Navajo Nation, and the notion of “authenticity” as a value marker of Indigenous art and craft. Free.


Week of April 27

Online – April 27 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Niki Akhavan, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Media and Communication Studies at The Catholic University of America. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Free.

April 28 | ?(School of Music)
Students of Dr. Stephen Price present a 91爆料 Organ studio spring recital. Dr. Price teaches Organ performance, Church music, and Keyboard Harmony courses. In addition, he leads ongoing initiatives to develop and revitalize the 91爆料 program, continuing the legacy of his predecessor, Dr. Carole Terry. Free.

April 28 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Celebrate the graduating seniors across the art programs: 3D4M, Photo/Media, Painting + Drawing, and Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA) during the 2026 BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrance Gallery. Ways of Becoming is split into three shows between April 28 – June 5, 2026. Free.

April 28 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Stephanie LeMenager, Professor of English and Environmental Studies, considers the role of fiction as a form of resistant truth-telling in an era of lies, bullish*t, propaganda, GenAI fakes, and conspiracy theory, and in the shadow of the climate crisis. In our media atmosphere filled with falsehoods, fiction becomes a means of capturing messy realities unassimilable to propaganda. Moreover, the flexibility of fictional imagination allows for social responses to radical uncertainties, via new genres of storytelling that call climate-change publics into being. In this talk, we’ll consider stories of megafire. Free.

Online option – April 28 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
This panel features talks on conducting research in the Peruvian Amazon by Justin Perez (UCSC) and Amanda Smith (UCSC). Perez will present “Queer Emergent: Scandalous Stories from the Twilight of AIDS in Peru” and Smith will present, “Situating Mothering in a Geography of Digital Colonialism: The Digital Biblioteca Amazónica,” a project to create an open-access digital archive of materials housed at the Biblioteca Amazónica in Iquitos, Peru. Free.

April 29 | (Philosophy)
The idea of space as the stage on which physical events play out dates at least as far back as the 5th century BC. The twentieth century saw a shift from theorising about space and time separately to thinking about spacetime, but the metaphor of spacetime as a stage or arena has continued. Twenty-first century physics looks likely to render this untenable – theories of quantum gravity do not appear to postulate spacetime as a fundamental container for physical contents. This talk examines an alternative way of thinking about spacetime based on the role that it plays in our physical theories – spacetime philosophy should focus on what spacetime does, rather than what it is. Free.

April 29 | (Psychology)
Presented by Maureen Craig, Associate Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, Duke University. Free.

April 30 | (School of Music)
The Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band (Erin Bodnar, director) presents “Scenes and Portraits,” featuring music by Gustav Holst, Martin Ellerby, and others.

April 30 |(Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture)
What does it mean to live well as wildfire and smoke season becomes more a part of life in the Pacific Northwest and many other places around the world? As much as we focus on preparedness and reducing materials that fuel wildfires, we must also reckon with the human dimensions of fire, which shape how we interact with it. “Fire Humanities” is a book project and an emerging field of study that draws on the humanities and arts to center stories, representations, collaborations, and values that promote adaptation, resilience, and justice as we adapt to a world with more fire.

This program will feature a panel discussion with five contributors to the book, who will share their approaches to this emerging field of research. After the panel, you’ll be invited to share your stories of fire and smoke with each other, speak with the panelists, and participate in hands-on activities connected to the Fire Humanities project. Free.

April 30 | ?(Jackson School of International Studies)
Panel discussion featuring Wang Feng, University of California, Irvine, and Yong Cai, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, along with 91爆料 faculty James Lin and Sara Curran.
Free.

May 1 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Writing history entails good editing—and accepting when material can’t make the final cut. Lengthy research projects require a command of sources but also analytical flexibility. Such flexibility can ensure rigor, sometimes at the expense of findings that, alas, must be shelved for some other future use. “The B-Sides of Unmaking Botany” will examine a set of sources that did not make it into the recently published monograph Unmaking Botany: Science and Vernacular in the Colonial Philippines (Duke University Press, 2025). The objectives of the talk are thus twofold: to provide a behind-the-scenes take on the production of a scholarly monograph and to offer a conceptual argument gleaned from the sources that nonetheless resonates with some of Unmaking Botany’s principal interventions. Free.

May 1 | (Political Science)
Presented by Rachel Krause, Professor, School of Public Affairs and Administration, University of Kansas. Free.

May 1-2 | (American Indian Studies)
Indigenous scholars, artists, community leaders, and practitioners come together to reflect on food sovereignty, wellness, cultural resurgence, and collective healing through land-based knowledge and practice. Keynote by Vina Brown (Haí?zaqv and Nuu-chah-nulth), a scholar, artist, and wellness advocate, whose work centers on Indigenous law, cultural healing, and community well-being. Raised in her Haí?zaqv homelands, Vina’s work is deeply grounded in cultural resurgence, ceremony, and Tribal Canoe Journeys. She is the founder of Copper Canoe Woman and co-founder of Rooted Resiliency, an Indigenous women-led nonprofit dedicated to community wellness, cultural healing, and reclamation. Across her work, Vina advocates for land, culture, and collective well-being, with particular attention to healing intergenerational and historical trauma through community, movement, and Indigenous knowledge systems.


Week of May 4

Online – May 4 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Teresa Mosqueda, Councilmember of the Metropolitan King County Council and Anita Ramasastry, Barer Chair and Professor of Law and the 91爆料. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Free.

May 4 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
The foundation of the Abe consensus — the LDP, together with Komeito, governing with large, stable majorities to promote growth as part of the global economy and develop Japan’s military power and international partnerships under the aegis of US leadership — has crumbled after little more than a decade. The LDP has lost public trust, its relationship with Komeito, and its large majorities. The US is in retreat and no longer defending the international order from which Japan had benefited. This talk will look at how this order crumbled and where Japan’s politics goes from here. Free.

May 4 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Tina Turner’s (1939–2023) successful recording career and electrifying stage performances earned her the moniker of “Queen of Rock and Roll.” At the same time, Turner was perhaps one of the most famous Black Buddhist celebrities. In this talk, I will highlight the ways that Turner’s Buddhist practice combined her Afro-Protestant upbringing, the trans-Atlantic flow of metaphysical religious ideas, and SGI Nichiren Buddhism. The talk will show how Turner’s combinatory religious sensibilities are indicative of trends in Black Buddhism. Free.

May 4 | (Chemistry)
Presented by Professor Maksym Kovalenko, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich. Hosted by 91爆料 Professor David Ginger. Free.

May 5 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
It seems like two separate realms. One is occupied by acclaimed dancers from Brooklyn’s world-renowned Mark Morris Dance Group, the other by people with Parkinson’s disease. CAPTURING GRACE is about what happens when those two worlds intersect. Filmed over the course of a year, Dave Iverson’s remarkable documentary reveals the hopes, fears, and triumphs of this newly forged community as they work together to create a unique, life-changing performance. There will be a post-screening discussion with Shawn Roberts, a Dance for PD? teaching artist? and Dr. Pravin Khemani, MD, Medical Director of the Movement Disorders Clinic, Swedish Neuroscience Institute, Providence Health & Services. Free.

Online option – May 5 | (Physics)
Dr. John Martinis, recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, presents “Prehistoric quantum bits: experiments testing the fundamental physics of superconducting quantum devices.” Quantum mechanics was developed to describe the physics of the small, for fundamental particles, atoms and molecules. But does it still work for macroscopic systems? Martinis’ PhD thesis experiment in 1985 tested this idea, showing the macroscopic current and voltages in a 1 cm chip obey the quantum phenomena of tunneling and energy-level quantization, proving that a superconducting circuit can behave as a single `artificial atom.’ Over the last four decades, many physicists around the world have continued research on quantum devices. The field has evolved from fundamental tests into a high-stakes effort to build quantum bits and a quantum computer. At Google, the ‘quantum supremacy’ experiment was the culmination of this system-level optimization, proving that a processor could outpace classical supercomputers by maintaining high-fidelity control over a huge computational (Hilbert) space. Now, at his startup Qolab, they are leveraging 300mm semiconductor fabrication to achieve the extreme uniformity and yield necessary to build a useful general-purpose quantum computer. Free.

May 6 | (History)
Presented by Angela Zimmerman, George Washington University. Zimmerman’s recent research has focused on the global history of the U.S. Civil War, Reconstruction, and the New South. She is the author of Alabama in Africa: Booker T. Washington, the German Empire, and the Globalization of the New South (Princeton, 2010) and the editor of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Civil War in the United States (International Publishers, 2016). Her first book, Anthropology and Antihumanism in Imperial Germany (Chicago, 2001), studied imperialism, science, and popular culture. Her next book, To Seek a Newer World, will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2027. Free.

May 7 | (Simpson Center for the Humanities)
Move beyond the headlines and hot takes for a deeper conversation on labor and identity within women’s hoops with Dr. Courtney M. Cox, author of Double Crossover: Gender, Media, and Politics in Global Basketball (University of Illinois Press, 2025). In her book, she considers how athletes maneuver their lives and labor across leagues and borders, whether in the NCAA, WNBA, Athletes Unlimited, or overseas leagues. Cox is Associate Professor in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies (IRES) at the University of Oregon. She previously worked for ESPN, Longhorn Network, NPR-affiliate KPCC, and the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. Free.

May 7 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Dredge Byung’chu Kang, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego. The aesthetics of K-Pop flower boy masculinity, the narratives of K-Drama cross-gender characters, and imagined Korean lesbianism have refashioned contemporary tom (Thai butch lesbian) gender presentation, partnership patterns, and sexual roles. Many Thai youth are “ba kaoli” (crazed for all things Korean), including young lesbians. In this talk, Kang examines how Korean media, consumer goods, and cultural assets are mobilized to imagine, enact, and embody Asian cosmopolitan identities. Kang describes a case in which Thai tom become “tom-gay,” by coupling with another tom. This masculine homogender pairing was previously considered inconceivable when tom-dee relationships between a lesbian and a “normal” woman were the heterogender norm. Kang argues that tom participation in K-pop fandoms, adoption of soft masculine style, and identification with female leads playing male roles in K-drama have allowed for the emergence of new lesbian sexualities. Kang thus shows how Korean Wave media has shaped Thai gender and sexuality. Free.

May 7 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presentations and discussions with:

  • Raymond Jonas (91爆料 History Dept), “France’s Five Republics and what they tell us about how republics are born and how they die”
  • Terje Leiren (Emeritus, 91爆料 Scandinavian Studies), “From Royal Absolutism to Parliamentary Government: Political Transition in Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden).”
  • James Felak (91爆料 History Dept), “The Perils of a Problematic Constitution: the Cases of Interwar Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia.”

Free.

May 8 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Hidden for decades in a locked cabinet at the Center for Asia Minor Studies in Athens, Eva Palmer Sikelianos’s love letters (1900-1910)—personal, creative, and revealing networks of desire and kinship—challenge expectations about what belongs in Greece’s archival record.?These scattered, stuttering papers sat uneasily within an institute dedicated to Orthodox Christian refugee history, raising new questions about whose lives and stories find a place in official memory. What happens when a collection resists straightforward histories—when archiving itself becomes an act of negotiation, improvisation, and listening for what’s unsaid? What can these fragments teach us about the possibilities of cultural memory, and how listening to stutters and silences might open new ways of understanding the past? In this talk, Artemis Leontis (University of Michigan) explores the process of archiving Palmer’s collection: the hurdles, improvisations, and acts of care involved in bringing these materials from secrecy to public view. Inspired by Patricia Keller’s idea of the “stutter in the archive,” she shows how gaps, interruptions, and incomplete stories invite us to rethink what archives can do, and how they respond to lives lived beyond conventional narratives. Free.

May 7 – 9 | (Meany Center for the Performing Arts)
Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with Dances to American Music: Soul of America, a captivating performance by one of the country’s leading dance companies. Choreographed by the legendary Mark Morris, this program blends jazz, classical and folk music by iconic American composers, including George Gershwin, Louis Moreau Gottschalk, James P. Johnson and John Luther Adams. Morris brings his unique creativity and musical precision to life, fusing dance and live music to honor the vibrant spirit and diversity of America’s artistic heritage.

May 10 | ?(School of Music)
Performance by John-Carlos Perea, chair of 91爆料 Ethnomusicology and Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist. He is joined by guests Marc Seales, piano, Gary Hobbs, drums, and Michael Brockman, saxophone. Free.


Week of May 11

Online – May 11 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Presented by Stéphane Mourlane, Senior Lecturer, Aix-Marseille University; Yvan Gastaut, Lecturer, University of C?te d’Azur; and Paul Dietschy, Professor, Marie and Louis Pasteur University. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Free.

May 11 | (Asian Languages & Literature)
What was the impact of colonialism on listening in nineteenth-century north India? How did conceptual vocabularies and explanations for emotional responses to music evolve? Did the way listeners processed their feelings about music dramatically change? In this lecture, Richard Williams, Reader (Associate Professor) in the Department of Music and South Asian Studies at SOAS University of London, explores the place of music in the history of the emotions. Williams begins in the early modern period, and consider theories of embodied response and systems for visualizing music through painting and poetry. He then explores how colonial-era authors writing in vernacular languages drew these older theories into conversation with modern ontologies of music and emotion, often inspired by developments in European understandings of the physics of sound and psychological models of emotion. Despite these developments, he argues that nineteenth and twentieth-century sources show that older concepts continued to shape the discourse in Indian music studies, and were not simply overwritten by new, European theories. Free.

May 12 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Celebrate the graduating seniors across the art programs: 3D4M, Photo/Media, Painting + Drawing, and Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA) during the 2026 BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrance Gallery. Ways of Becoming is split into three shows between April 28 – June 5, 2026. Free.

May 12 – 14 | ?(Mathematics)
Richard W. Kenyon, Erastus L. DeForest Professor of Mathematics at Yale University, will give a series of three lectures on “Dimers and webs,”

  • May 12 | Webs, multiwebs, traces. The main theorem statement
  • May 13 | SL3 case: reduced webs, scaling limits. Connection to the 4-color theorem
  • May 14 | Positive connections and generalizations

Kenyon received his PhD from Princeton University in 1990 under the direction of William Thurston. After a postdoc at IHES, he held positions at CNRS in Grenoble, Lyon, and Orsay and then became professor at UBC, Brown University and then Yale where he is currently Erastus L. Deforest Professor of Mathematics. He was awarded the CNRS bronze medal, the Rollo Davidson prize, the Loève prize, is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a Simons Investigator. His central mathematical contributions are in statistical mechanics and geometric probability. He established the first rigorous results on the dimer model, opening the door to recent spectacular advances in the Schramm–Loewner evolution theory. In his most recent work, he introduced new homotopic invariants of random structures on graphs, establishing an unforeseen connection between probability and representation theory. Free.

May 12 – 14 | (Stroum Center for Jewish Studies)

  • May 12 | Did ‘Men’ and ‘Women’ Always Exist? What the Talmud Can Tell Us
  • May 14 | Monsters, Hybrids, and Holy Images – Rethinking Bodies in Ancient Jewish Art

Rafael Neis is a scholar and artist. Neis is the Jean and Samuel Frankel Professor of Rabbinic Literature and is appointed in the Department of History and Frankel Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. As Faculty Director of Arts Learning at Michigan’s Arts initiative, Neis supports campus-wide art-integrated pedagogy. Their second book, When a Human Gives Birth to a Raven: Rabbis & the Reproduction of Species, was published in 2023 by University of California Press. Their artwork has been featured in shows and in many publications. Free.

Online option – May 13 | My Greatest Save with Briana Scurry (Public Lectures)
From winning two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship to enduring a career-ending concussion that left her “temporarily totally disabled” and forced her to pawn her Olympic medals, Briana Scurry delivers a raw and inspiring account of resilience. With unflinching candor, she guides audiences through the soaring highs and devastating lows of her journey—sharing a story of triumph, adversity, and ultimate redemption. Along the way, Scurry reflects on the global influence of soccer and the enduring significance of the World Cup, offering a deeply personal perspective on the sport that shaped her life and legacy. Free.

May 14 | ?(Political Science)
Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations was published 250 years ago and illustrated how prosperity is created by an invisible hand (specialization, competition, and a well-governed society). Was it a coincidence that sustained economic progress began shortly thereafter? Smith’s framework and his spirit remain a wise guide to modern betterment and a powerful antidote against today’s reflex for control, protectionism, and political allocation. Join us for a discussion of Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations and its continued relevance. Free.

Chop Fry Watch Learn bookcover May 14 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Fu Pei-mei (1931-2004), Taiwan’s beloved and pioneering postwar cook book author and television celebrity, was often called the “Julia Child of Chinese cooking.” Fu appeared continuously on television for forty years, wrote dozens of best-selling Chinese cookbooks, owned a successful cooking school and traveled the world, teaching foreigners about Chinese food. Women in her generation, which included both housewives and career women, turned to Fu because she taught them how to cook an astounding range of unfamiliar Chinese regional dishes, in ways their own mothers and grandmothers never could. Her cookbook also represents the transpacific journeys of thousands of migrants, as they carried her recipes in their suitcases, traveling far from home. Fu’s story offers us a window onto not just food, but also family, gender roles, technology, media, foreign relations, and cultural identity. This is not a story of timeless culinary tradition, but one of modern transformation– of self and family, of cuisine and society. Free.

May 15 | (School of Music)
William Dougherty is an American composer, sound artist, educator, and writer who joined the 91爆料 faculty in January 2025. Dougherty’s works have been performed internationally by ensembles including BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Glasgow), The Sun Ra Arkestra (Philadelphia), Yarn/Wire (New York), Ensemble Phoenix (Basel), TILT Brass (New York), Ensemble for New Music Tallinn(Estonia), JACK Quartet (New York), and Talea Ensemble (New York). His music has been featured in festivals such as Tectonics Glasgow (2023), IRCAM’s ManiFeste (2019), musikprotokoll (2018), Donaueschingen Musiktage (2017), New Music Miami (2017), Tectonics Festival New York (2015), the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (2015), the 47th Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt (2014), the New York Philharmonic Biennale (2014), and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. THEME: A colloquium of 91爆料 faculty and students of Theory, History, Ethnomusicology, and Music Education held on select Friday afternoons during the academic year. Free.

May 15 | (School of Music)
Faculty pianist Craig Sheppard is joined by current and former 91爆料 students in this concert celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

May 15 | (Political Science)
Presented by Daniel Krcmaric, Associate Professor of Political Science and Law, Northwestern University. Free.

91爆料 Biology Open House flyer. Click event link for more information.May 16 | ?(Biology)
Welcoming all families and science enthusiasts of all ages. The 91爆料 Department of Biology’s experts in the field whose research and teaching span cellular and molecular biology, global climate change, paleontology, and plant biology. Through experimentation and conversation, explore questions such as: How have penguins adapted to survive climate change? How is neuron fate decided during development? Why are mosquitoes attracted to us? Do plants really “defend” themselves against insect predators? How does the brain really work? And does the Greenhouse really have a stinky corpse plant and when will it bloom next? You’ll also be able to touch invertebrates, brains, fossils…and more! Free.

May 16 | (Henry Art Gallery)
As part of the U District Street Fair, Meet Me at the Henry is a twice-a-year celebration of contemporary art and ideas. Explore new exhibitions, catch captivating performances, get hands-on with an all-ages art-making workshop and museum bingo, and discover rarely seen works from the Henry’s collection. Free.

MFA Dance Concert poster Arts 91爆料 Tickets $12- $24 $5 TeenTix tickets available. Click through link for all details.May 14 – 17 | (Dance)
The MFA Dance Concert features original dances created by the current MFA Cohort, with over fifty undergraduate dancers. The artists explore humanity and community drawing from a variety of movement languages including contemporary modern, wh/aacking and punking, groove, body percussion, and more.


Week of May 18

Online – May 18 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Speakers TBD. The World (Cup) Comes To Seattle 2026 Lecture Series is an online series of talks and discussions hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Free.

May 18 | (School of Music)
91爆料 music students perform music from the Baroque era under the direction of Tekla Cunningham. Free.

Online option – May 19 | Five Ways to Watch the World Cup with Ron Krabill (Public Lectures)
As Seattle gears up to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the city finds itself at the center of a heated debate: Is the tournament an economic catalyst or a misuse of public funds? A celebration of Seattle’s cultural vibrancy or a distraction from pressing regional challenges? A thrilling chance to witness the world’s greatest athletes—or a calculated profit grab by global elites? This talk invites audiences to explore five distinct perspectives on the political and cultural impact of the tournament—offering a more nuanced, thought-provoking look at what the World Cup means for Seattle and the world.?Free.

May 19 | (Stroum Center for Jewish Studies)
Visiting author and scholar Jacob Daniels will discuss his new book, The Jews of Edirne: The End of the Ottoman Europe and the Arrival of Borders. At the turn of the twentieth century, the city of Edirne was a bustling center linking Istanbul to Ottoman Europe. It was also the capital of Edirne Province—among the most religiously diverse regions of the Ottoman Empire. But by 1923, the city had become a Turkish border town, and the province had lost much of its non-Muslim population. With this book, Jacob Daniels explores how one of the world’s largest Sephardi communities dealt with the encroachment of modern borders. Free.

May 19 | (School of Music)
91爆料 voice students of Thomas Harper and Carrie Shaw perform art songs and arias from the vocal repertoire. Free.

May 19 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
Thea Riofrancos is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Providence College, a Strategic Co-Director of the Climate and Community Institute, and a fellow at the Transnational Institute. She is the author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism (W.W. Norton, 2025) and Resource Radicals: From Petro-Nationalism to Post-Extractivism in Ecuador (Duke University Press, 2020), and the coauthor of A Planet to Win: Why We Need a Green New Deal (Verso Books, 2019). Free.

Historical Theodor Jacobsen Observatory
Historical Theodor Jacobsen Observatory

May 19 | (Astronomy)
Enjoy evening talks, interactive exhibits, and on clear nights, sky viewing through our historic 1895 telescope. Viewings are held on the first and third Tuesday evenings from April through September, rain or shine. A public talk followed by telescope viewing once the sky darkens. Explore the universe with the 91爆料! Free.

May 21 | (School of Music)
The master Javanese gamelan musician Heri Purwanto from Indonesia performs with his students in this evening of music from central Java, Indonesia.

May 21 – 31 | (School of Drama)
At “God’s” command, “Death” summons “Everybody” to go on the long and difficult journey to give a presentation to “God” on Everybody’s life and why they have lived it the way that they have. Everybody wants to bring along a friend, and Death says it’s fine if Everybody can find someone to volunteer. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins adapted the play from the 15th-century morality play Everyman. Professor Chi-wang Yang directs this production, in which each night the performers’ roles are determined by a lottery. Everybody reveals to us the value of our relationships and how to live with intention amid uncertainty.

sacred breath photoMay 21 | (American Indian Studies)
Sacred Breath features Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft at the beautiful w???b?altx? Intellectual House on the 91爆料 Seattle campus. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection, a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature. Free.

May 22 | (School of Music)
Guitar students of Michael Partington present their quarterly studio recital. Michael Partington is one of the most engaging of the new generation of concert players. Praised by Classical Guitar Magazine for his “lyricism, intensity and clear technical command,” this award-winning British guitarist has performed internationally as a soloist and with ensemble to unanimous critical praise. Audiences are put at ease by his charming stage manner and captivated by his musical interpretations. His innate rhythmic understanding and sense for tonal colour combine to form some of the most memorable phrasing to be heard on the guitar. Free.

May 22 | (School of Music)
The 91爆料’s graduate-student-led choral ensembles—the University Singers, 91爆料 Glee, and Treble Choir—present an eclectic year-end concert.

May 22 | ?(Political Science)
Presented by Valentina González-Rostani, Assistant Professor, University of Southern California. Free.

Through May 24 | (Henry Art Gallery)
Rodney McMillian (b. 1969, Columbia, South Carolina; based in Los Angeles, California) works with the social and political histories of the United States and how they shape our daily lives. Using existing texts and domestic materials—such as house paint on thrifted fabrics and bedsheets, or “post-consumer objects” as he calls them—he traces both the visible and invisible forces that shape civic life, particularly for the lives of African Americans. Inspired by the lush surroundings of the Henry, McMillian brings together sculpture, video, and painting that present an outdoor landscape overgrown with the lingering effects of physical, political, and social violence. Free.


Week of May 25

Through May 31 | (School of Drama)
At “God’s” command, “Death” summons “Everybody” to go on the long and difficult journey to give a presentation to “God” on Everybody’s life and why they have lived it the way that they have. Everybody wants to bring along a friend, and Death says it’s fine if Everybody can find someone to volunteer. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins adapted the play from the 15th-century morality play Everyman. Professor Chi-wang Yang directs this production, in which each night the performers’ roles are determined by a lottery. Everybody reveals to us the value of our relationships and how to live with intention amid uncertainty.

May 26 | (School of Art + Art History + Design)
Celebrate the graduating seniors across the art programs: 3D4M, Photo/Media, Painting + Drawing, and Interdisciplinary Visual Art (IVA) during the 2026 BA in Art Graduation Exhibitions at the Jacob Lawrance Gallery. Ways of Becoming is split into three shows between April 28 – June 5, 2026. Free.

May 26 | (School of Music)
The 91爆料 Percussion Ensemble (Bonnie Whiting, director) performs contemporary music of many genres composed for percussion ensembles ranging in size from trios to nonets and dectets. Free.

picture of benedetta mennucciMay 27 | (Chemistry)
Presented by Professor Benedetta Mennucci, Department of Chemistry, University of Pisa. Free.

Online Option – May 27 | Is A River Alive? Exploring the lives, deaths and rights of rivers with Robert Macfarlane (Public Lectures)
Across the globe, rivers are dying—choked by pollution, parched by drought, and shackled by dams. The prevailing narrative treats freshwater as a mere resource, water as a liquid asset, existing solely for human use. This lecture offers a different current: an ancient and urgent story in which rivers live, die, and even possess rights. It reimagines rivers as vital, sentient life-forces, intertwined with our own survival. Spanning Ecuador, India, Aotearoa New Zealand, northeastern Canada, and the speaker’s native southern England, the talk weaves together the voices of activists, artists, and lawmakers. Passionate and immersive, it promises to spark debate, shift perspectives, and invite listeners to recognize a profound truth: our fate has always flowed with the rivers. Free.

May 28 | (History)
Professor Matthew Sommer’s new book The Fox Spirit, the Stone Maiden, and Other Transgender Histories from Late Imperial China (Columbia UP, 2024) considers a range of transgender practices and paradigms in Late Imperial China, illuminating how certain forms of gender transgression were sanctioned in particular contexts and penalized in others. This talk will focus on the crime of “a male masquerading in female attire” (男扮女裝), which was prosecuted by applying the statute against “using deviant ways and heterodox principles to incite and deceive the common people” (左道異端煽惑人民). Anatomical males who presented as women sometimes took a conventionally female occupations such as midwife, faith healer, or even medium to a fox spirit — yet, suspected of sexual predation, they risked death for the crime of “masquerading in women’s attire,” even when they had lived peacefully in their communities for years. Free.

May 28 | (Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies)
Graduate and undergraduate students and Indigenous Knowledge Families present their original research in the field of Indigenous Studies. Free.

May 29 | (School of Music)
Students of John Popham present a chamber music showcase. Free.

May 29 | (School of Music)
The Modern Music Ensemble (Cristina Valdés, director) performs music from the mid-20th century and beyond, including world premieres of works by living composers. Free.

May 30 | (School of Music)
The Campus Philharmonia Orchestras (Robert Stahly, Zach Banks, conductors) present an end-of-quarter concert. Free.


Online Events:

Online option – April 28 | (Jackson School of International Studies)
This panel features talks on conducting research in the Peruvian Amazon by Justin Perez (UCSC) and Amanda Smith (UCSC). Perez will present “Queer Emergent: Scandalous Stories from the Twilight of AIDS in Peru” and Smith will present, “Situating Mothering in a Geography of Digital Colonialism: The Digital Biblioteca Amazónica,” a project to create an open-access digital archive of materials housed at the Biblioteca Amazónica in Iquitos, Peru. Free.

May 5 | (Physics)
Dr. John Martinis, recipient of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics, presents “Prehistoric quantum bits: experiments testing the fundamental physics of superconducting quantum devices.” Quantum mechanics was developed to describe the physics of the small, for fundamental particles, atoms and molecules. But does it still work for macroscopic systems? Martinis’ PhD thesis experiment in 1985 tested this idea, showing the macroscopic current and voltages in a 1 cm chip obey the quantum phenomena of tunneling and energy-level quantization, proving that a superconducting circuit can behave as a single `artificial atom.’ Over the last four decades, many physicists around the world have continued research on quantum devices. The field has evolved from fundamental tests into a high-stakes effort to build quantum bits and a quantum computer. At Google, the ‘quantum supremacy’ experiment was the culmination of this system-level optimization, proving that a processor could outpace classical supercomputers by maintaining high-fidelity control over a huge computational (Hilbert) space. Now, at his startup Qolab, they are leveraging 300mm semiconductor fabrication to achieve the extreme uniformity and yield necessary to build a useful general-purpose quantum computer. Free.

Live (not recorded) | (Jackson School of International Studies)
This lecture series is hosted by the Global Sport Lab, featuring local and global experts to discuss the geopolitical, local, and sporting implications of the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Seattle. Topics include:

  • April 27 | Iran and Seattle’s World Cup
  • May 4 | Workers’ Rights in Seattle during the World Cup
  • May 11 | Seattle’s World Cup: The View from Europe
  • May 18 | The Pride Match and LGBTQ+ Rights
  • June 1 | Egypt Comes to Seattle

Free.

May 13 | My Greatest Save with Briana Scurry (Public Lectures)
From winning two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup championship to enduring a career-ending concussion that left her “temporarily totally disabled” and forced her to pawn her Olympic medals, Briana Scurry delivers a raw and inspiring account of resilience. With unflinching candor, she guides audiences through the soaring highs and devastating lows of her journey—sharing a story of triumph, adversity, and ultimate redemption. Along the way, Scurry reflects on the global influence of soccer and the enduring significance of the World Cup, offering a deeply personal perspective on the sport that shaped her life and legacy. Free.\

May 19 | Five Ways to Watch the World Cup with Ron Krabill (Public Lectures)
As Seattle gears up to host the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the city finds itself at the center of a heated debate: Is the tournament an economic catalyst or a misuse of public funds? A celebration of Seattle’s cultural vibrancy or a distraction from pressing regional challenges? A thrilling chance to witness the world’s greatest athletes—or a calculated profit grab by global elites? This talk invites audiences to explore five distinct perspectives on the political and cultural impact of the tournament—offering a more nuanced, thought-provoking look at what the World Cup means for Seattle and the world.?Free.

May 27 | Is A River Alive? Exploring the lives, deaths and rights of rivers with Robert Macfarlane (Public Lectures)
Across the globe, rivers are dying—choked by pollution, parched by drought, and shackled by dams. The prevailing narrative treats freshwater as a mere resource, water as a liquid asset, existing solely for human use. This lecture offers a different current: an ancient and urgent story in which rivers live, die, and even possess rights. It reimagines rivers as vital, sentient life-forces, intertwined with our own survival. Spanning Ecuador, India, Aotearoa New Zealand, northeastern Canada, and the speaker’s native southern England, the talk weaves together the voices of activists, artists, and lawmakers. Passionate and immersive, it promises to spark debate, shift perspectives, and invite listeners to recognize a profound truth: our fate has always flowed with the rivers. Free.


ArtSci Roundup goes monthly!

The ArtSci Roundup is your guide to connecting with the 91爆料—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).uw.edu).

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91爆料’s graduate and professional programs highly ranked by US News & World Report /news/2026/04/06/uws-graduate-and-professional-programs-highly-ranked-by-us-news-world-report/ Tue, 07 Apr 2026 04:00:53 +0000 /news/?p=91184 Flowering cherry trees line the 91爆料 quad, taken from above.
The 91爆料’s graduate and professional degree programs again were recognized as among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Photo: 91爆料

UPDATE April 7, 2026:?The original version of this story omitted two 91爆料 programs that were included in the rankings: Occupational Therapy (Tied for 20th) and Physical Therapy (Tied for 31st).?

The 91爆料’s graduate and professional degree programs again were recognized as among the best in the nation, according to .

Topping this year’s list include programs at the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, the School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering in the College of Engineering and the College of Education. The College of Arts & Sciences and the College of the Environment also had top-rated programs.

In total, 81 graduate and professional degree programs across the 91爆料 placed in the top 35 in this year’s U.S. News rankings.

“These rankings highlight the strength and impact of the 91爆料’s graduate and professional programs,” said 91爆料 President Robert J. Jones. “These programs equip students with the skills and knowledge to meet critical workforce needs and serve society, while demonstrating the power of higher education to advance the public good. We are proud to foster an environment where students and faculty can thrive and have a real impact on the world around them.”

While the 91爆料 celebrates the success and impact of the programs recognized by U.S. News — and notes that many applicants use these rankings to help them select schools and discover potential areas of study — the University also recognizes shortcomings inherent in the ranking systems.

The 91爆料 School of Law and the 91爆料 School of Medicine withdrew from the U.S. News rankings in 2022 and 2023, respectively, citing concerns that some of the methodology in the rankings for those specific disciplines incentivize actions and policies that run counter to the schools’ public service missions.

91爆料 leaders continue to work with U.S. News and other ranking organizations to improve their methodologies, to the extent that the organizations are open to it. Schools, colleges and departments continually reevaluate the benefits and potential shortfalls of participating in specific rankings.

Excluding the School of Law and the School of Medicine, 29 91爆料 programs placed in the top 10, and 81 are in the top 35.

?The 91爆料 this year placed in the top 10 nationwide in public affairs, biostatistics,? nursing, computer science, education, psychology, speech and language pathology, statistics and Earth sciences.

The 91爆料’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance has maintained its top-10 ranking for more than a decade and tied for fifth in the nation this year. The Evans School’s environmental policy program was ranked second, while public finance and budgeting as well as leadership both ranked No. 10.

The 91爆料 School of Nursing’s doctor of nursing practice program tied for No. 1 among public institutions. The School of Public Health has maintained its top-10 ranking for more than a decade, coming in this year at No. 9. The school also had three programs in the top 10: biostatistics, environmental health sciences and epidemiology.?

The 91爆料’s programs in speech and language pathology tied for No. 6.? Two programs from the College of Education placed in the top 10. And the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering this year tied for seventh place overall with three programs ranked in the top 10, including artificial intelligence, programming language and systems.

U.S. News ranks biostatistics in two ways. 91爆料 ranked No. 3 as a science discipline that applies statistical theory and mathematical principles to research in medicine, biology, environmental science, public health and related fields. 91爆料’s School of Public Health ranked No. 7 in biostatistics as an area of study that trains students to apply statistical principles and methods to problems in health sciences, medicine and biology. At the 91爆料, biostatistics is a division of the School of Public Health.

In some cases, such as the College of Arts & Science and the Foster School of Business, U.S. News ranks several professional disciplines housed within academic units. Programs in dentistry are not ranked.?

The rankings below are based on preliminary data and may be updated. relies on both expert opinions and statistical indicators.

TOP 10:

Library and Information Studies (overall): Two-way tie for 1st (ranked in 2025)

Public Affairs (environmental policy): 2nd

Library and information studies (digital librarianship): Two-way for 2nd (ranked in 2022)

Library and Information Studies (information systems): 2nd (ranked in 2022)

Biostatistics: 3rd

Physics (nuclear): Two-way tie for 3rd (ranked in 2024)

Nurse practitioner (doctor of nursing practice): Four-way tie for 4th

Evans School of Public Policy & Governance (overall): Four-way tie for 5th

Library and Information Studies (library services for children and youth): Two-way for 5th (ranked in 2022)

Computer science (systems): Tied for 6th

Education (elementary education): 6th

Psychology (clinical): Three-way tie for 6th

Speech-language pathology: Five-way tie for 6th

Statistics: Four-way tie for 6th

Public Health (biostatistics): 7th

Computer science (overall): Three-way tie for 7th

Computer science (programming language): Tied for 7th

Education (secondary education): 7th

Nursing (midwifery): Five-way tie for 7th

Public Health (environmental health sciences): 7th

School of Social Work (overall): 7th (ranked in 2025)

Public Health (epidemiology): 8th

Computer science (artificial intelligence): 9th

Earth sciences: Tied for 9th?

Geophysics: Three-way tie for 9th (ranked in 2024)

Public Affairs (nonprofit management): 9th

School of Public Health (overall): Tied for 9th

Public Affairs (public finance and budgeting): 10th

Public Affairs (public management and leadership): 10th

TOP 25:

Biological sciences: Five-way tie for 16th

Business (accounting): 10-way tie for 16th

Business (entrepreneurship): Five-way tie for 17th

Business (information systems): Three-way tie for 15th

Business (part-time MBA): Three-way tie for 11th

Business (full-time MBA): 20th

Business (management): Five-way tie for 25th

Business (marketing): Eight-way tie for 25th

Chemistry (analytical): Four-way tie for 16th (ranked in 2024)

Chemistry: Seven-way tie for 22nd

Chemistry (inorganic): Three-way tie for 22nd (ranked in 2024)

Computer science (theory): Tied for 11th

College of Education (overall): Tied for 24th

Education (administration): Tied for 11th

Education (curriculum/instruction): Tied for 12th

Education (policy): Tied for 14th

Education (special education): Tied for 12th

College of Engineering (overall): Three-way tie for 22nd

Engineering (aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical): Tied for 17th

Engineering (biomedical/bioengineering): Five-way tie for 12th

Engineering (civil): Four-way tie for 13th

Engineering (computer): 12th

Engineering (electrical): Three-way tie for 22nd

Engineering (industrial/manufacturing/systems): Seven-way tie for 24th

Engineering (materials engineering): Five-way tie for 25th

Library and Information Studies (school library media): Two-way tie for 11th (ranked in 2022)

Mathematics (applied math): 21st (ranked in 2024)

Nursing master’s (overall): Tied for 12th

Nurse practitioner (adult gerontology acute care): Tied for 11th

Nurse practitioner (family): Tied for 15th

School of Pharmacy (overall): Tied for 14th

Physics (overall): Tied for 20th?

Public Affairs (public policy analysis): 14th

Public Affairs (social policy): Tied for 13th

Public Affairs (urban policy): Three-way tie for 21st

Public Health (health care management): Three-way tie for 16th?

Public Health (health policy and management): 11th

Public Health (social behavior): 13th

Sociology (overall): Two-way tie for 22nd (ranked in 2025)

Sociology (population): Two-way tie for 15th (ranked in 2022)

TOP 35:

Business (analytics): Seven-way tie for 32nd

Business (executive MBA): Three-way tie for 29th

Business (finance): Nine-way tie for 31st

Business (international MBA): Tie for 32nd

Business (production & operations): Five-way tie for 27th

Engineering (chemical): Tied for 28th

Engineering (mechanical): 34th

English: Two-way tie for 34th (ranked in 2025)

Fine arts: 15-way tie for 34th

History: Three-way tie for 31st (ranked in 2025)

Mathematics: Four-way tie for 26th

Occupational Therapy: Tied for 20th

Physical Therapy: Tied for 31st

Political science: Five-way tie for 33rd (ranked in 2025)

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Faculty/staff honors: Lifetime achievement award, Plyler Prize, Rome Prize fellowship /news/2026/03/09/faculty-staff-honors-lifetime-achievement-award-plyler-prize-rome-prize-fellowship/ Mon, 09 Mar 2026 21:28:47 +0000 /news/?p=90895 W statue in front of Memorial Way sycamore trees
Recent recognition of the 91爆料 includes the Kenneth S. Norris Lifetime Achievement Award, the Earle K. Plyler Prize for Molecular Spectroscopy & Dynamics, the inaugural Trevisan Prize in the Theory of Computing, the John Gaus Award from the American Political Science Association, the Washington Governor’s Award for Outstanding Leadership, and the Rome Prize Fellowship in Environmental Arts & Humanities.
Affiliate professor of biology receives 2026 Kenneth S. Norris Lifetime Achievement Award?

, a research scientist and affiliate professor in the in the Department of Biology at the 91爆料, was honored with the ?from the?. The award recognizes exemplary lifetime contributions to science and society through research, teaching, and service in marine mammalogy.?

Over a 40-year career, Moore’s research has focused on cetacean ecology, acoustics, and natural history, particularly in the Arctic. A prolific researcher, she is widely recognized as a pioneer in using marine mammals as ecosystem sentinels in this rapidly changing region. Over decades of studying whales, Moore has helped scientists understand the health of ocean environments and how they are changing over time. Her work provides critical insight into the impacts of climate change in the Arctic and how marine ecosystems are responding. Her contributions to Arctic science have also been recognized with the??from the International Arctic Science Committee and the 2023??from the Alaska SeaLife Center; she is also a science adviser to the Washington State Academy of?Sciences,?and was appointed Commissioner?of the? in 2022.

Natt-Lingafelter professor of chemistry awarded 2026 Earle K. Plyler Prize?

,?professor of chemistry at the 91爆料,?was?awarded the 2026? from the American Physical Society for her impactful contributions to the anharmonic vibrational spectroscopy and dynamics of molecular radicals, ions, and clusters. Established in 1976, the prize honors pioneering spectroscopist Earle K. Plyler and is sponsored by the Journal of Chemical Physics. The prize will be presented at the APS Global Physics Summit, the world’s largest physics research conference, in March 2026.

McCoy’s research focuses on theoretical chemistry, where she develops methods to understand how molecules move, vibrate, and exchange energy. Her work has helped scientists better understand the fundamental behavior of molecules—providing insight into how chemical reactions occur and how energy flows through molecular systems. Much of her recent work has focused on hydrogen-bonded systems and, specifically, proton transport. She is also interested in exotic molecules, like CH5+ and H5+, which have been proposed to exist in the interstellar medium. These advances help lay the groundwork for progress in areas ranging from atmospheric chemistry to materials science.

91爆料 joint professor of mathematics and computer science awarded inaugural Trevisan Prize?

91爆料 professor ?has received the? for his breakthrough contributions to the study of optimization problems.?Rothvoss?holds joint appointments in the Department of Mathematics and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering and was honored in the mid-career category—a recognition of his impactful work over the course of his career.

for outstanding work in the theory of computing is sponsored by the Department of Computing Sciences at Bocconi University and the Italian Academy of Sciences. Awardees receive a one-time monetary prize and a medal and are invited to give public lectures at Bocconi University. The award ceremony and lectures took place in January 2026.

Rothvoss?has built a distinguished record of contributions to theoretical computer science and discrete optimization. He shares that “over the years my focus has changed a bit…I worked on approximation algorithms, which deal with finding provably good solutions to NP-hard problems in polynomial time.” His work has since shifted toward discrepancy theory and the theoretical foundations of linear and integer programming.?In simple terms,?Rothvoss?studies?the mathematics?behind making?optimal?decisions?in?highly complex?systems. His research helps reveal when efficient solutions are?possible and optimization problems can be solved.?

Political?science?professor?receives John Gaus Award?

,?professor of?political?science at the 91爆料,?received the??from the American Political Science Association?(APSA).?

The John Gaus Award is presented annually to honor a lifetime of exemplary scholarship in the joint tradition of political science and public administration. Prakash was selected unanimously for the award in recognition of a career devoted to advancing scholarship at the intersection of political science and public administration. A nomination letter noted that Prakash’s research, particularly on environmental issues, has helped bring environmental concerns into public administration in a variety of ways, including examining how businesses and NGOs can fill governance gaps. At the same time, the letter highlighted how his work explores the risks of these nontraditional governance mechanisms, including potential issues such as regulatory capture and accountability deficits.?

Prakash’s research spans environmental governance, public policy, and global political economy. Over the course of his career, he has published eight scholarly books and more than 130 articles in peer-reviewed journals, with his work cited more than 18,000 times across the field. As part of the honor, Prakash presented the Gaus Lecture at the APSA Annual Meeting in September 2025.

Washington Sea Grant?interim?director?receives?governor’s?leadership?award?

, interim director of Washington Sea Grant, received the?, which recognizes exemplary leadership and service to the state of Washington.

Little was honored for her work supporting the state’s coastal communities through Washington Sea Grant’s research, outreach, and partnership-driven initiatives.?

Little has dedicated more than 15 years to strengthening Washington’s coast through strategic vision, inclusive practices, and sustained investment in community-centered programs. Under her leadership, Washington Sea Grant delivered nearly $250 million in services and economic benefits statewide between 2021 and 2024, reflecting the program’s broad impact across coastal and maritime communities.?

“A big thank you to the team at Washington Sea Grant for the nomination,” Little said.?“I’m?deeply grateful to work alongside such thoughtful colleagues, who are so dedicated to our shared work.?I’m?so honored by this recognition from the?governor. This award really is a testament to the impact of Washington Sea Grant’s work in serving the state’s coastal communities.”

Biology?professor?awarded Rome Prize Fellowship in Environmental Arts & Humanities?

, professor of biology?at?the 91爆料,?was awarded?the prestigious in the new Environmental Arts & Humanities category by the?. This pilot fellowship supports collaborative projects that explore how human beings relate to, experience, and interpret the natural world.

In partnership with Katharine Ogle, lecturer?of?English at?the University?of Southern California, Summers will pursue a project titled?“Piscis Romana.”?Their work draws on?natural history?research conducted at the Friday Harbor Laboratories to investigate the links between marine life,?ecology,?and poetic expression.?

“This?award will allow?Katie Ogle and?me to?further explore the links between poetry and natural history that have been developed by a group of us at Friday Harbor Labs,”?Summers said.?

Summers’ biological research spans marine and aquatic systems with a strong emphasis on understanding organismal form,?function,?and the broader natural-history context in which?species?evolve and interact. Partnering?with Ogle, he will extend that scientific inquiry into the realm of arts and humanities, looking at how the natural world inspires literary forms,?metaphors,?and cultural narratives.?

With this Rome Prize fellowship, Summers joins a competitive cohort selected from?nearly 1,000?applicants and will spend several?months in?residence at the Academy in Rome, working among scholars and artists from around the world.?

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‘Ways of Knowing’ Episode 5: Abstract Pattern Recognition, or Math /news/2025/06/05/ways-of-knowing-episode-5-math/ Thu, 05 Jun 2025 21:26:36 +0000 /news/?p=88276 Imagine an art class where you only did paint by numbers, or a music class where you weren’t allowed to play a song until you practiced scales for 20 years. This is often what it’s like to take a math class, where students spend most of their time learning to solve problems that have already been figured out. But while the basics are important in any subject, so is creativity.

Ways of Knowing

The World According to Sound

Season 2, Episode 5

Abstract Pattern Recognition … or, Mathematics

Sam Harnett: In any math class you take, regardless of the subject, you’ll probably spend most of your time doing the exact same thing: learning how to solve problems that someone else figured out a long time ago.

Jayadev Athreya: Every problem you work on, up to, basically through college, you know that someone knows the answer to it.

SH: Jayadev Athreya, professor of mMath and the comparative history of ideas, at the 91爆料.

JA: It would be like, for instance, if the only thing we did in English classes was only sort of regurgitate stuff that was already done. Never get a chance to write an essay. Never get a chance to express your own thoughts in a creative way. Or if in an art class, you only did paint by numbers. Or you only did music class, you were never allowed to play a piece of music until you played scales for 10, 20 years.

SH: These are examples from an essay about math education by Paul Lockhart. His point was that basics are valuable in math, just as they are in art and music. But so is creativity. You have to learn how to approach a problem in counterintuitive, novel ways. That’s what mathematicians spend their lives doing and to be good at it takes practice. Practice that Jayadev thinks should start far earlier in math education. So in his courses, Jayadav sometimes gives students problems that he doesn’t know the solution to or problems that no one has figured out yet.

JA: To be creative, you do have to have some kind of proficiency and build that. But I think what Lockhart and many mathematicians would argue is that you have to allow people a glimpse of the creative and a glimpse of the unknown, a glimpse of the fact that they can contribute something new to motivate them, to build that proficiency.

SH: He doesn’t expect students to solve the problems. It’s about freeing them to think more expansively, to search unexpected places for solutions.

JA: Mathematicians are actually very comfortable in a space of not knowing something, about being confused about things, about feeling like they are kind of at a loss. And math for a mathematician, doing math research, isn’t about, ‘Oh, I want to find the one right answer.’ It’s about trying to find the patterns that underlie, well, the world around us but also the worlds we create in mathematics.

[instrumental music plays]

SH: There is a common perception that math is the ultimate rational endeavor, even the opposite of creativity. It’s all about precision and calculation, being good at following rules. Again, this is what most people spend their time doing in math classes. That’s not how mathematicians like Jayadev think of it.

JA: So, one definition of math that I kind of like — of course it’s not perfect, no definition is — is mathematics is the language of abstract pattern recognition.

SH: Mathematicians are searching for patterns in whatever they’re studying, be it algebra, topology or number theory, and then trying to explain those patterns in an elegant and insightful way. To do that, they often turn to another thing that, like pattern recognition, may not feel very mathematical: metaphors.

JA: And the way you are often able to solve such a problem is to say, ‘Oh, what are the new patterns? Are there some deeper underlying patterns beyond the patterns we’ve observed?’ It’s to try to make a metaphor with some other piece of math or a piece of physics. And say, ‘Hey, these things kind of look like they fit together the same way these things fit together.’

SH: If you look back at major discoveries in the history of math, there are many examples where the revelation came from making a comparison or metaphor. Take calculus. It is built in part on the idea of treating a curve as if it was made up of an infinite number of tiny straight line segments. This comparison of two unlike things — a line and a curve — opened up a whole new way of understanding and calculating things.

JA: I think this is a really, really excellent way of thinking about mathematics. It’s a way of making these comparisons or these metaphors between things by observing their structures. So, it’s metaphors at kind of a structural — at a deep structural level.

[instrumental music ends]

SH: To people who say they can’t do math, Jayadev would point out that we are practicing finding patterns and using metaphors all the time.

JA: Everyone is recognizing patterns all the time, all right? This is what we do as humans. We are trying to create and recognize patterns.

SH: So many people who could be really good at math are driven away from it through math classes that present the subject just as memorization and repetition. Dull. Confining. Often punishing for those who tend to think more abstractly. Early on in education, there’s a tendency to divide kids into those who are good at art and the humanities, and those who are good at science and math. In some ways, math has much more in common with the humanities instead of the sciences, especially in terms of how problems are approached. In math, there isn’t the kind of testing that is essential to the scientific method.

JA: If you see us, we’re sitting with pieces of paper and notebooks and laptops and maybe some chalkboards. We don’t need million-dollar labs, and we’re doing stuff in our heads a lot of the time. We’re trying to find these patterns and tell compelling stories and develop compelling narratives about these patterns.

SH: And just like in the humanities, aesthetics are a major part of math. It’s not just about solving problems, but finding beautiful or elegant solutions.

JA: The adjectives that mathematicians will use about pieces of research are “beautiful” or “elegant.” Or sometimes they’ll be like, you know, I proved this but I don’t feel great about how it looked. I got to the end but I don’t like how I got there, so I’m still looking for a better way to get there. So, the aesthetics are something that are really important to us.

SH: The view that math is completely divorced from the humanities and creativity doesn’t just drive away people who don’t fit a certain profile. It also slows research and breakthroughs by discouraging approaches that don’t conform to a preconceived notion of what math is.

JA: One of the big things that we have to reckon with as a profession — that some of the humanities fields are way ahead of us on —, is reckoning with the role of power and the practice of mathematics: who gets to tell their stories, who gets to count as a mathematician and what counts as mathematics.

[instrumental music plays]

SH: Mathematical breakthroughs can come from all kinds of people working in all kinds of ways. A great example is the recent discovery of the “Einstein Tile.” For decades, mathematicians have been searching for a shape that could make an infinitely non-repeating pattern. This one shape could be used to tile a bathroom that stretched on forever, and would never repeat the same pattern. Many mathematicians had tried and failed to find this shape. Some believed it doesn’t exist. But in 2022, the problem was solved. A man named David Smith devised a 13-sided shape that looked from some angles like a goofy hat. Smith was not a professional mathematician, but a hobbyist. The 64-year- old had recently retired from working as a printing technician, and in his spare time, he liked to fool around with shapes, cutting them out of paper and messing around in a geometry computer program. That play led to the discovery of the famed “Einstein Tile” that had been eluding mathematicians for decades.

[instrumental music fades]

SH: Jayadev is a big proponent of messing around with pieces of paper. It was part of his process on a recent breakthrough of his own.

JA: The question that I worked on with my friends, one way we framed it is we called it the anti-social jogger program. Which is, if you live on one of these spaces of shapes with corners, like a cube, a. And you start at one of the corners — t,. There’s a house at each of the corners, let’s say — . Yyou start at one of the corners and you want to go for a run. But you’re grumpy in the morning, so you don’t want to see anyone else. You also, like, you can’t really think so you want to follow a straight path and come back home. If you’re on a sphere, it’s pretty easy to do this. No matter what direction you go in, if you go straight, you’re going to come back home.

SH: There are no corners to pass through, so you just run straight and you’ll end up back where you started. Jayadev and his colleagues wanted to see if it was possible on a dodecahedron, which has 12 pentagonal faces.

JA: With the dodecahedron, the question was actually open.

SH: No one had been able to prove it was possible or not. With all its faces and corners, the dodecahedron is a complex shape to try and navigate. Jayadev and his colleagues tried to take a different approach to a shape —– to simplify it down from three dimensions to two.

JA: How we thought about it is we kind of flattened everything out.

SH: Using pieces of paper, they experimented with different ways of cutting open and unfolding the dodecahedron. As they fooled around, they were reminded of a different area of math.

JA: What we realized was this was actually connected to something all of us had worked on before, which was something like playing Pac-Mman.

[Pac-Mman noises play]

JA: If you go off the right side of the screen, you come out the left. If you go off the top of the screen, you come up the bottom.

SH: It’s as if the left and right of the square are connected, as are the top and bottom.

[Pac-Mman noises fade]

JA: If you imagine the screen just like a piece of paper, it’s like if the left and right de sides are glued, you get a tube. And if you glue the top and bottom, it looks like a doughnutnut. That’s called a torus. If you do this with more complicated shapes, you get more complicated surfaces. And it turns out, by making a connection to these kinds of surfaces, we were able to solve our original problem.

SH: Jayadev and his colleagues applied this gluing of sides idea to their flattened dodecahedron. That allowed them to devise a search query in a computer geometry program, which crunched through all the different possible pathways. The search showed them the answer is yes —, it is possible to be an anti-social jogger on a dodecahedron. There isn’t just one running path that satisfies the conditions, but at least 31.

JA: This was this combination of abstract math, abstract geometry, a procedure called unfolding and then a really serious, deep computer search. So it brought together a bunch of different pieces of math. I don’t think we would’ve been able to do this problem a 100 years ago. It was posed 100 years ago by a couple of German mathematiciansmathematics. But we literally have both the math and computational technology to do it. It was incredibly fun because it brought together lots of sophisticated ideas, and in the end, the theorem —– we could just draw something on a piece of paper.

[instrumental music plays]

SH: Math, like the humanities, requires one to learn how to identify patterns, and then come up with a compelling story about them. There is creativity both in how one searches for patterns, but also how one explains and communicates about them. It’s an endeavor that often requires mathematicians to draw on the power of comparison, of metaphor.

SH: Here are five sources that will help you learn more about abstract pattern recognition in mathematics as a way of knowing.

“A Mathematician’s Lament” by Paul Lockhart

SH: A seminal critique of the way math is taught and the possible alternatives.

“Mathematics as Medicine” by Edward Doolittle

SH: In this essay, Doolittle recounts his experience in mathematics as a Mohawk Indian and the relationship between Indigenous thought and contemporary math.

“Weapons of Math Destruction,” by Cathy O’Neil

SH: A book about how big data is increasing inequality and threatening democracy … which shows the danger when we don’t think critically about how we approach problems, especially when numbers are involved.

Piper Harron’s Ph.D. thesis on the Lattice Shapes of Rings of Integers of Cubic, Quartic, and Quintic Number Fields

SH: In her Ph.D. thesis, Harron combined mathematics and narrative in quite unusual ways.

“Mathematicians Report New Discovery About the Dodecahedron”

SH: An article in Quanta Magazine about the work Jayadev Athreya and his colleagues did on the dodecahedron.

SH: Ways of Knowing is a production of The World According to Sound. This season is about the different interpretive interpretative and analytical methods in the humanities. It was made in collaboration with the 91爆料 and its College of Arts & Sciences. Music provided by Ketsa, Nuisance, and our friends, Matmos. The World According to Sound is made by Chris Hoff and Sam Harnett.

Jayadev Athreya

In this episode, discusses mathematics as the language of abstract pattern recognition. A 91爆料 professor of mathematics and of the comparative history of ideas, Athreya argues for introducing creativity earlier in students’ careers. This allows them to think more expansively, he says, and search in unexpected places for solutions.

This is the fifth episode of Season 2 of “Ways of Knowing,” a podcast highlighting how studies of the humanities can reflect everyday life. Through a partnership between The World According to Sound and the 91爆料, each episode features a faculty member from the 91爆料 College of Arts & Sciences, the work that inspires them, and suggested resources for learning more about the topic.

 

Next | Episode 6: Sound Studies

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ArtSci Roundup: June 2025 /news/2025/05/23/artsci-roundup-june-2025/ Fri, 23 May 2025 21:35:36 +0000 /news/?p=88071

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 91爆料, each episode features a faculty member from the 91爆料 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)

Mary Gates Hall

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, 91爆料, 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 91爆料 Symphony in a program of concerto excerpts by York Bowen, Keiko Abe, and Camille Saint-Sa?ns, 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 91爆料 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).

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ArtSci Roundup: Journeys of Black Mathematicians, Circa Performance, Building Scyborgs Lecture, and more /news/2024/02/08/artsci-roundup-journeys-of-black-mathematicians-circa-performance-building-scyborgs-lecture-and-more/ Fri, 09 Feb 2024 00:04:20 +0000 /news/?p=84365 This week, head to Kane Hall for the film screening of Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience, attend K. Wayne Yang’s discussion on scyborgs and decolonization, enjoy next level circus by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa, and more.


February 12, 3:30 – 5:00 pm | ?Smith Hall

As part of the History Colloquium, Professor La Tasha Levy will discuss “Black Soldiers and the Racial Debilitation of Slavery and the Civil War.” Levy is a Black Studies scholar who currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of American Ethnic Studies

The History Colloquium aims to encourage greater intellectual exchange within the 91爆料 community by discussing works in progress from faculty members and graduate students.

Free |?


February 12, 5:30 – 7:30 pm | Thomson Hall

Join the Department of Asian Languages & Literature for a series of films exploring diversity and inclusion in Japanese society. “Whole” is a short drama created by Writer Usman Kawazoe and Director Bilal Kawazoe depicting Haruki, a biracial student who decides to quit college and travel to Japan, and Makoto, a construction worker raised in the projects of Kansai who is also biracial. Haruki and Makoto grow closer and begin their journey from “Half” to “Whole.”

The film is in Japanese with English subtitles and will be followed by a brief discussion.

Free |


February 12, 7:30 pm | Meany Hall

Dynamic duo Cuong Vu and Cristina Valdés straddle the worlds of contemporary classical music and free improvisation, premiering works for trumpet and piano by Oliver Schneller, Wang Lu, and Skúli Sverrisson, and performing music by Huck Hodge and Eva-Maria Houben.

Tickets |


February 13, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | Architecture Hall

Join the Jackson School of International Studies for a Middle East Lecture Series with Marc Lynch, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University, on Regional Repercussions of the War.?

This event is part of?War in the Middle East, a series of talks and discussions on the aftermath of October 7, the war in Gaza, and responses worldwide.

Recordings of past lectures are available on the .

Free |


February 13, 6:30 pm | Building Scyborgs. An evening on decolonization, Town Hall Seattle & Livestream

Join scholar, organizer, and co-conspirator K. Wayne Yang as he shares stories about decolonizing endeavors from past, present, future, and speculative somewheres. Yang will discuss monsters, machines, mortals, and how people are the objects of colonization and agents of decolonization.

The livestream of this lecture will be accompanied by an ASL interpreter and include CART captioning.

Free | More info & Registration


February 14 & 15, 11:00 am – 3:00 pm | Husky Union Building Street/Lyceum

The Makers Fair showcases the creative talents and uniquely made crafts and creations of 91爆料 students, faculty, and staff. The quarterly fair is sponsored by the Husky Union Building and Housing & Food Services.

Free |


February 15, 6:00 – 8:30 pm | Kane Hall

The Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute is joined by the Departments of Applied Mathematics, Mathematics, and Statistics for the film screening of Journeys of Black Mathematicians: Forging Resilience.

The film, by George Csicsery, traces the cultural evolution of Black scholars, scientists, and educators. Follow the stories of prominent pioneers, and the challenges and accomplishments reflected in today’s working Black mathematicians. Their mathematical descendants are now present day college and K-12 students across the US, learning they belong in mathematics and STEM.

The screening will follow with a Q&A with Director George Csicsery.

Free |


February 15 – 17, 8:00 pm | Meany Hall

A symphony of acrobatics, sound, and light, Humans 2.0 is next level circus by the Australian contemporary circus group Circa. Ten bodies appear in a flash of light. They move in harmony for a fleeting moment and then descend into a sinuous trance. Created by circus visionary Yaron Lifschitz, with pulsing music by composer Ori Lichtik and dramatic lighting by Paul Jackson, Humans 2.0 is intimate, primal, and deeply engaged with the challenge of being human.

Tickets |


February 15, 4:00 – 5:30 pm | Thomson Hall

The 91爆料 South Asia Center invites Elora Shehabuddin, professor of Gender & Women’s Studies and Global Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, to present a unique and engaging history of feminism as a story of colonial and postcolonial interactions between Western and Muslim societies.

Stretching from the eighteenth-century Enlightenment era to the War on Terror present, Sisters in the Mirror shows how changes in women’s lives and feminist strategies have consistently reflected wider changes in national and global politics and economics.

Free |


February 15, 7:30 pm | Brechemin Auditorium

Craig Sheppard, Robin McCabe, and Cristina Valdés lead students from the 91爆料 piano studios to perform works from the piano repertoire.

Craig Sheppard is Professor of Piano and Head of Keyboard at the 91爆料 School of Music. He is also Professor of the Advanced Innovation Center at the China Conservatory in Beijing.

Celebrated pianist Robin McCabe has established herself as one of America’s most communicative and persuasive artists. McCabe’s involvement and musical sensibilities have delighted audiences across the globe.

Pianist Cristina Valdés presents innovative concerts of standard and experimental repertoire, and is known to “play a mean piano.” A fierce advocate for new music, she has premiered countless works, including many written for her.

Free |


February 16, 3:00 pm | Brechemin Auditorium

91爆料 Strings students perform concerto movements for outside judges, competing?for a chance to perform with the 91爆料 Symphony.

Free |


February 20, 1:00 pm | Husky Union Building South Ballroom

The College of Arts & Sciences welcomes the 91爆料 community of faculty, staff, and students to participate in the second annual “Big Read.”

Tune into the conversation with Dr. Joy Buolamwini, founder of the Algorithmic Justice League and author of Unmasking AI: My Mission to Protect What is Human in a World of Machines and?Dr. Emily M. Bender, 91爆料 Professor of Linguistics and Director of the Master’s Program in Computational Linguistics.

Free |


February 22, 4:00 pm | Climate Crisis: Our Response as Artivists, Walker Ames Room, Kane Hall

Appearing onstage at the 91爆料’s Meany Center in February, “Small Island Big Song” is an immersive concert experience that celebrates the seafaring cultures of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and features Indigenous musicians from the frontline of the climate crisis.

The 91爆料AA and Meany Center are excited to gather a 91爆料 College of the Environment alumna, a current student (Majoring in geography) and creators of “Small Island Big Song” to talk about issues of climate change, advocacy, art and culture. Our panelists each come to these topics from different vantage points and will share their reflections on how these topics all impact one another.

As the climate crisis quickly rises to the top of world concerns, different sectors — including artists — scramble to figure out ways to respond to its impending pressures. We all have a vital role to play. Join the conversation as we explore ways we can use our voices to push the needle on political, economic, social and cultural questions at the root of this global concern.

91爆料AA hosted reception to follow.

Free | More info & Registration


 

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

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91爆料 immunologist, mathematician among newly elected National Academy of Sciences members /news/2023/05/05/nas-2023/ Fri, 05 May 2023 22:38:26 +0000 /news/?p=81481 Two 91爆料 faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences:

  • Dr.?, professor of medicine and of immunology at the 91爆料, as well as the Rona Jaffe Foundation Endowed Chair at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and head of the Program in Immunology in its Clinical Research Division
  • , the Robert R. and Elaine F. Phelps Endowed Professor in Mathematics at the 91爆料

Greenberg and Uhlmann are among 120 new members and 23 international members elected “in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research,” May 2 by the academy. Chartered in 1863, the National Academy of Sciences provides policy advice and input to governmental, nonprofit and private organizations.

Philip Greenberg

Greenberg’s laboratory is internationally respected for its work on T-cell therapies for cancer and chronic infections. A type of white blood cell, T cells are part of the body’s defenses. His team is identifying tumor antigens — or substances that provoke immune responses — that could be targets for T cells and the basis of anti-cancer therapies. Clinical trials of T-cell therapies are currently underway for patients with small cell lung cancer, malignant melanoma and acute leukemia — along with preclinical research for ovarian and pancreatic cancers. Greenberg’s research also focuses on developing techniques to monitor T-cell infusions for potential obstacles to immune therapy. Other work includes seeking ways to erase immune “memory” in T cells and reprogram them with another immune response. He is also testing strategies to activate natural killer cells — another immune system component — against cancer.

Greenberg earned a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.D. from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University. He was a medical resident, and later a postdoctoral researcher, at the University of California, San Diego, before joining Fred Hutch as a clinical and research fellow in oncology. Greenberg was recently named president of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Gunther Uhlmann

Uhlmann is a world-renowned expert in inverse problems, which involves calculating the causal factors behind a set of observations. Among other applications, Uhlmann has explored identifying an object by how it scatters light and other electromagnetic waves. As part of these efforts, he has formulated theories for certain types of cloaking technologies, some of which have been realized. He has also worked on partial differential equations, imaging and microlocal analysis.

Uhlmann earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Chile in 1973 and a doctoral degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1976. Beginning his academic career at MIT, he joined the 91爆料 faculty in 1984, and held the Walker Family Endowed Professorship in Mathematics from 2006 to 2022. Since 2014, Uhlmann has been the Si Yuan Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He has also held chairs and professorships at Cambridge University, the University of Helsinki, the Paris Mathematical Science Foundation and the University of California, Berkeley. Among other honors, elected fellow of the American Mathematical Society in 2012 and fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics in 2010.

With this year’s additions, the National Academy of Sciences now has 2,565 active members and 526 international members.

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91爆料 computer scientist and mathematician named Sloan Fellows /news/2023/02/15/uw-computer-scientist-and-mathematician-named-sloan-fellows/ Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:06:27 +0000 /news/?p=80667 two head shots, a woman and a man
91爆料 computer scientist Leilani Battle and 91爆料 mathematician Jonathan Zhu were named Sloan Fellows. Photo: 91爆料

Two 91爆料 faculty members have been awarded early-career fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The new Sloan Fellows, announced Feb. 15, are , an assistant professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering, and?, an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics.

Open to scholars in eight scientific and technical fields — chemistry, computer science, Earth system science, economics, mathematics, neuroscience and physics — the fellowships honor those early-career researchers whose achievements mark them among the next generation of scientific leaders.

The 126 were selected in coordination with the research community. Candidates are nominated by their peers, and fellows are selected by independent panels of senior scholars based on research accomplishments, creativity and potential to become a leader in their field. Each fellow will receive $75,000 to apply toward research endeavors.

This year’s fellows come from 54 institutions across the United States and Canada, spanning fields from evolutionary biology to data science.

Battle is an assistant professor of computer science and co-leads the . Her research investigates the interactive visual exploration of massive datasets and stands at the intersection of several academic disciplines, including healthcare, business and climate science.

“What piqued my interest in data science was the juxtaposition of the incredible power of existing tools and their underutilization by the vast majority of data analysts in the world,” Battle said. “Why are we not making better use of these tools? This sparked a multi-year journey to better understand why people use or don’t use various data science tools and how those tools could be made accessible to and effective for a wider range of users.”

Zhu is an assistant professor in mathematics. His research explores the theory and geometry of surfaces governed by their curvature, and how these surfaces interact with the space around them. Mathematical notions of curvature form the language by which many natural phenomena are described, cell membranes, soap films, and the structure of spacetime via general relativity.

“Mathematics, and especially geometry, is all around us,” Zhu said. “By carefully studying seemingly everyday phenomena — such as soap bubbles — we are able to develop profound mathematical theories, which have applications to phenomena that are otherwise impossibly out of reach, such as black holes. In doing so, we create completely new concepts by which to understand the world we live in.”

For more information, contact Battle at leibatt@cs.washington.edu or Zhu at jonozhu@uw.edu.

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91爆料 is No. 6 in the world, according to US News Best Global Universities /news/2022/10/26/uw-is-no-6-in-the-world-according-to-us-news-best-global-universities/ Wed, 26 Oct 2022 16:17:48 +0000 /news/?p=79914 university of washington sign
The 91爆料 is No. 6 in the world, according to US News & World Report’s Best Global Universities ranking. Photo: Mark Stone/91爆料

The 91爆料 rose from No. 7 to No. 6 on the?, released on Tuesday. The 91爆料 maintained its No. 2 ranking among U.S. public institutions.

U.S. News also ranked several subjects, and the 91爆料 placed in the top 10 in 10 subject areas, including immunology (No. 4), molecular biology and genetics (No. 5) and clinical medicine (No. 6).

In another ranking out this week, Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2023 by Subject, six subject areas at the 91爆料 placed in the top 25.

“As a global public research university, the 91爆料’s mission is to create and accelerate change for the public good,” 91爆料 President Ana Mari Cauce said. “I’m proud that these rankings reflect the outstanding and wide-ranging work of our faculty, staff and students to expand knowledge and discovery that is changing people’s lives for the better, particularly in the health sciences.”

The U.S. News ranking —? based on Web of Science data and metrics provided by Clarivate Analytics InCites — weighs factors that measure a university’s global and regional research reputation and academic research performance. For the overall rankings, this includes bibliometric indicators such as publications, citations and international collaboration.

The overall Best Global Universities ranking, now in its ninth year, encompasses the top 2,000 institutions spread across 90 countries, according to U.S. News.?American universities make up eight of the top 10 spots.

Here are all the top 10 91爆料 rankings in U.S. News’ subject rankings:

  • Immunology – No. 4
  • Molecular biology and genetics – No. 5
  • Clinical medicine – No. 6
  • Geosciences – No. 7
  • Infectious diseases – No. 7
  • Public, environmental and occupational health – No. 7
  • Social sciences and public health – No. 7
  • Biology and biochemistry – No. 8
  • Microbiology – No. 10

In the rankings, 91爆料’s programs in these areas placed in the top 25:

  • : No. 15
  • (includes agriculture and forestry, biological sciences, veterinary science and sport science): No. 16
  • (includes medicine, dentistry and other health subjects): No. 17
  • (includes communication and media studies, politics and international studies — including development studies, sociology and geography): No. 18
  • (includes mathematics and statistics, physics and astronomy, chemistry, geology, environmental sciences, and Earth and marine sciences): No. 19
  • (includes education, teacher training, and academic studies in education): No. 23

The subject tables employ the same used in the overall?; however, the methodology is recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields.

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Rankings: 91爆料 among best in world for health and life sciences /news/2021/09/16/rankings-uw-among-best-in-world-for-health-and-life-sciences/ Thu, 16 Sep 2021 18:59:04 +0000 /news/?p=75801 building
Life Sciences Building on the 91爆料 campus Photo: Kevin Scott

The 91爆料 is among the best universities in the world for the studies of health and life sciences, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2022.

The rankings, released , looked at four overall disciplines: , , and .

In physical sciences, the 91爆料 ranked No. 21 in the world, third among U.S. public institutions. Physical sciences includes mathematics and statistics; physics and astronomy; chemistry; and geology, environmental, earth and marine sciences.

The 91爆料 was among 107 debut institutions this year on the life sciences list, coming in at No. 18, or third place among U.S. public universities. This topic includes agriculture and forestry; biological sciences; veterinary science; and sports science.

For the psychology ranking, the 91爆料 placed among the top 10 U.S. public institutions, and No. 31 in the world. Psychology includes psychology; educational/sport/business/animal psychology; and clinical psychology.

And, finally, for the clinical & health rankings, the 91爆料 placed No. 21, or third among U.S. public institutions. This discipline includes medicine and dentistry; and other health subjects.

The rankings included 1,523 universities from 98 countries and regions. The subject tables employ the same range of??used in the overall?, however, the overall methodology is recalibrated for each subject, with the weightings changed to suit the individual fields.

 

 

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