Social Justice

As a group, Asian Pacific Islander Americans contain multitudes: East Asians, South Asians, Polynesians, Micronesians, Melanesians. We come from wildly different regions and distinct cultural backgrounds. How did we get grouped together in the first place? And will we always remain this way? Rick Bonus, professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is quoted.

Many people across the country felt relief Tuesday as former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges brought against him for the murder of George Floyd. But many also felt conflicted about what the moment meant to them. Christopher Parker, professor of political science at the UW, is interviewed.

The UW's womens studies program has celebrated its 50th anniversery. Professor and department chair Shirley J. Yee and Mary Logan Rothschild, the first acting director of the program, discuss.

Two Yup'ik engineers, Christopher Egalaaq Liu and Lonny Alaskuk Strunk, who recieved his masters in computational linguistics from the UW, have worked on a new advanced Yugtun translation tool.

Research from the UW Center for Human Rights has confirmed disturbing human rights violations at the Northwest Detention Center. 

This article, written by geography PhD candidate Lauren Drakopulos, discusses unique maps made by Julian Barr, geography graduate student, and Jin-Kyu Jung, adjunct associate professor of geography.

Victor Fonseca is one of three detainees making great sacrifices to protest the conditions forced on them. ICE officials deny the strikes are taking place. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice at the UW and director of the UW Center for Human Rights, is quoted.

"The past week carried a heavy tone that continues to add to the incremental accumulation of collective psychological trauma. As news seeped into my digital media feeds, I prepared myself for that cyclical pattern that many of us undergo when we encounter repeated instances of violence. We are made aware of our otherness and, in turn, feel the paranoia that follows," writes Oscar Rosales Castañeda, a lecturer in American ethnic studies at the UW.

Although LGBTQ+ nightlife venues have existed in Seattle since the 1920s, many of them operated in the shadows amid threats from police and government, and bigoted strangers. Today, these spaces operate more openly but face new threats: increasing property taxes and rents, gentrification, a rise in hate crimes and now, of course, the closure of bars and restaurants due to the coronavirus pandemic. Kemi Adeyemi, assistant professor of gender, women and sexuality studies at the UW, is quoted.

Tami Hohn, assistant teaching professor of American Indian Studies, has helped to create a new street sign for a newly renamed campus road.

"Without the knowledge of [James] Webb’s silence at State and his participation in making psychological warfare a tool of the military industrial complex, perhaps our gratitude for his work was sufficient. With that knowledge, we think it is time to rename JWST [James Webb Space Telescope] because the name of such an important mission, which promises to live in the popular and scientific psyche for decades, is a reflection of our values," write Sarah Tuttle, assistant professor of astronomy at the UW; Chanda Prescod-Weinstein of the University of New Hamphsire; Lucianne Walkowicz of the Adler Planetarium; and Brian Nord of the University of Chicago.

When two University of Washington researchers asked people to draw two women — one likely to be sexually harassed, and one who would never find herself in such a position — the results were clear: Looks are everything. The UW's Cheryl Kaiser, professor of psychology, Bryn Bandt-Law, a doctoral student in psychology, are quoted. Jin Goh, a former postdoctoral researcher at the UW now at Colby College, is mentioned.

A new zine from the Henry Art Gallery features the writers, poets, and artists from the Washington Corrections Center for Women.

“How do we atone for the worst thing we’ve ever done?” That is the question at the heart of the podcast “Making Amends,” which features men serving time in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Steve Herbert, professor of law, societies and justice and of geography at the UW, brought together a group of men at the prison for a class on atonement with the goal of creating a podcast.

Cowlitz County Superior Court’s judges are ending the last contract in the U.S. to house unaccompanied immigrant youth in a facility for more than 72 hours. The judges’ decision, announced Feb. 5, ends the county’s controversial contract with Immigration Customs and Enforcement to hold juveniles at the local youth facility. A report by the UW's Center for Human Rights is referenced.