All Stories

"Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write UW Professors' Nives Dolšak and Aseem Prakash.

"How a society handles disasters says a lot about its resilience, character and governance capacities. Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW.

Smoke and fog shrouded the Puget Sound region as fires continued to burn throughout the West Sunday morning, adding a new layer of anxiety and distress to a summer of pandemic, civil unrest and economic decline. Jane Simoni, professor of psychology at the UW, is quoted.

A National Science Foundation survey found that in 2016, scholars who identified as Black or African American were awarded just 6% of all doctorates in life sciences, and less than 3% of doctorates in physical and Earth sciences. Overt harassment and subtle intimidation during fieldwork compound the discrimination that Black scientists and those from other underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds already feel in academic settings. Christopher Schell, assistant professor of interdisciplinary arts and sciences at UW Tacoma, and Scott Freeman, principal lecturer emeritus in biology at the UW, are quoted.

Washington and Oregon rarely feature in presidential races. But as demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism have continued across the country, the Pacific Northwest — the site of some of the country’s largest and most persistent protests — has taken on a narrative role in the national campaign even as it remains an electoral backwater. Jacob Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

As a kid growing up in Kennewick, Danielle Reed (BA, Psychology, 1984), was drawn to eating kale, dandelion and other sharp-flavored greens—but their bitter taste repelled most of her friends. That made her wonder why. When she was a student at the UW in the 1980s, she learned about the study of physiological psychology, or the biological explanations for how our minds work. Next came the opportunity to conduct research that examined animals’ food intake and what drove their approach to food.

Sven Haakanson Jr., a curator at the Burke Museum and faculty member in Anthropology and American Indian Studies, is interviewed in the films "A Kayak To Carry Us: Lived Knowledge" and "Stories in Stone" about his efforts to preserve the past on Kodiak Island, a place where he grew up.

After 9/11, "Americans grew more suspicious of and outwardly hostile to Muslims. Research shows that these views increased in the years that followed. Our recently published paper in the Public Administration Review shows that — even 19 years later — public officials in the United States discriminate against Muslims," write Steven Pfaff, professor of sociology at the UW; Charles Crabtree of Dartmoth College; Holger L. Kern of Florida State University; and John B. Holbein of the University of Virginia.

Muslims and atheists in the United States are more likely than those of Christian faiths to experience religious discrimination, according to new research led by the University of Washington.

Emeritus Professor Eric Adelberger, Professor Jens Gundlach, and Professor Blayne Heckel are the recipients of the 2021 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics.