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This week, attend the annual Schiedel Lecture, learn about the transactional relationship between mental health research and care, enjoy the Improvised Music Project Festival held by UW students and faculty and more.

The UW hosted its first Sephardic art symposium, likely the first anywhere in the U.S. The event was called "Muestros Artistas," which means "Our Artists." It featured six Sephardic artists -- a mix of musicians, writers and painters from all over the U.S. Devin Naar, associate professor of history and of Jewish studies at the UW, is quoted.

The Department of Economics interviews Grace Du, a senior studying Economics and Law, Societies and Justice.

In 1932, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis applauded the role of experimentation within the states, calling them "laboratories of democracy" that could inspire reforms at the national level. Today, that dynamic is inverted, as some red states have become laboratories of authoritarianism, experimenting with the autocratic playbook in ways that could filter up to the federal government. Jake Grumbach, associate professor of political science at the UW, is mentioned.

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is facing renewed scrutiny, but don't expect the lifetime appointee to face any real repercussions, experts said. Scott Lemieux, assistant teaching professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Peter Ward, a UW professor of earth and space sciences and of biology, is an expert on one of the oldest and least understood animals on earth -- the nautilus.

Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the UW, explains the reasons behind the violence and what it means for the chances of democracy being restored in Sudan.

The UW's Nancy Allbritton, dean of the College of Engineering and professor of bioengineering; Kai-Mei Fu, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and of physics; and Charles Marcus, professor of materials science and engineering and of physics, are quoted.

A pair of studies published April 14 in the journal Science paint a new picture about apes, ancient Africa and the origins of humans. Many scientists had once hypothesized that the first apes to evolve in Africa more than 20 million years ago ate primarily fruit and lived within the thick, closed canopy of a nearly continent-wide forest ecosystem. Instead, the new research indicates that early apes ate a leafy diet in a more arid ecosystem of varyingly open woodlands with abundant grasses.

"Republican leaders are now adopting increasingly autocratic measures, using the police powers of government to impose moralized regulations, turning private citizens into enforcement officers and expelling defiant elected Democrats just as county Republican parties, particularly in Western states, are electing militia members, Christian nationalists and QAnon believers to key posts," writes New York Times columnist Thomas B. Edsall. Jake Grumbach, associate professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.