Students walking across UW quad on autumn day

Perspectives Newsletter

January 2025 Newsletter

Perspectives is a monthly newsletter that highlights the accomplishments and latest news from the College of Arts & Sciences community. Learn about unusual courses, student projects, faculty research, alumni careers, and more.

Featured Stories This Month

Tessa Olmstead portrait photo

From Dancer to Doctor

Alumna Tessa Olmstead (BA, BS, 2013; MD, 2022), now completing a medical residency, shares how her dance major has helped her succeed as a medical student. 

Group of Muslims in Myanmar in prayer, photographed from above.

An Award-Winning Photojournalist, in Focus

David Ryder's photographs have been published in major US publications, including TIME magazine and The New York Times. Ryder (BA, 2006; MA, 2011) got his start at the UW, working at The Daily. 

Paulo Pontemayor outside the White House, with the AIDS Memorial Quilt spread out on the lawn behind him.

Advocating for Better Health Care

As director of government relations for the Catholic Health Association, Paulo Pontemayor (BA, 2005) is dedicated to increasing equity and access to healthcare in the US.

  • Sara Jerger stands in a classroom with colorful posters on the wall behind her.

    Helping Kids — and Teachers — Succeed

    Throughout her journey from preschool teacher to speech and language pathologist to a special education administrator, alumna Sara Jerger (BA, 2014; MA, 2016) has helped students thrive. 

    UW News

Opportunities to Explore

  • Red, white & blue election buttons with "2024" on them.

    Autopsy of an Election: What We Lost, What We Won, and How to Fight for the Future

    January 15, 6:30 pm
    Town Hall Seattle (1119 8th Avenue)
    How should we make sense of this last presidential election? Who are the winners and losers? Megan Francis, Delsman Associate Professor of Political Science and associate professor of law, societies & justice, will reflect on the lessons of the 2024 election and point to possibilities to reimagine a more just future. Presented by The Graduate School.

  • Dancer leaping, holding a red metal stool

    UW Dance Presents

    January 17 - 18, 7:30 pm
    January 19, 2:00 pm
    Meany Hall – Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater
    The UW Dance Presents concert, featuring new works by the Department of Dance faculty, promises a rich tapestry of contemporary dance, mesmerizing techniques of video mapping, evocative play with light and shadow, whimsical characters that evoke childlike wonder, and the vibrant rhythms of Amapiano from South Africa. 

  • Silhouette of a person in canoe on a calm river,

    History Lecture Series: River Histories

    Wednesdays, January 22 – February 12, 7:30 pm
    Kane Hall, Roethke Auditorium
    Explore some of the world’s most monumental rivers and the unique human histories entwined with them in the 50th anniversary History Lecture Series, featuring UW Department of History faculty.

    January 22  River of the Gods: The Nile and Ancient Egypt (Joel Walker)
    January 29  Ganges: The Many Lives of an Indian River (Anand Yang)
    February 5  Rio Grande: Boundaries and Borderlands (Raymond Jonas)
    February 12  The Columbia: Where the Internet Lives (Margaret O’Mara)

    Free, but registration is required.

  • Large group of dancers from the group Kodo, standing with their drums.

    Kodō

    January 31 and February 1, 7:30 pm
    Meany Hall – Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater
    Celebrating more than 40 years, Kodō ​ returns for a thrilling this family-friendly performance that revisits the ensemble’s early repertoire. These highly athletic drummers, bearers of a centuries-old Japanese tradition, create a universe of sound and emotion through thunderous percussion and polished theatricality. Presented by Meany Center for the Performing Arts.

  • Conductor raising baton with musicians in front of him during a UW Symphony rehearsal.

    UW Symphony Orchestra

    February 7, 7:30 pm
    Meany Hall – Katharyn Alvord Gerlich Theater
    David Alexander Rahbee leads the UW Symphony in "With Love, from Scotland," a program of works by Thea Musgrave, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Felix Mendelssohn, with faculty guests Carrie Shaw, soprano, and Frederick Reece, narrator. Presented by the School of Music.

Looking for more events? Visit ArtsUW and the UW Alumni Association website. 

In The News

  • Climate advocates finally won in WA. How? By not talking about climate

    Midway through the 2024 political campaign to defend Washington’s far-reaching climate change law, Aseem Prakash, UW professor of political science, noticed that while climate change was the purpose of the law, the campaign wasn’t focusing on that. “It’s a big evolution in how to wage climate politics,” Prakash said. “It worked spectacularly.”

    The Seattle Times

  • From classrooms to KEXP, UW lecturer shares love of Indigenous music

    When he isn’t lecturing at the University of Washington or pursuing his doctoral studies at the University of California, Davis, Tory Johnston (Quinault) co-hosts a global Indigenous radio show, Sounds of Survivance.

    UW News

  • Longevity pills for dogs could help humans live longer too

    New scientific advancements suggest that our canine friends might offer more than love and loyalty. Dogs may ultimately hold the power to potentially extend both their lives and ours. Daniel Promislow, UW professor of biology and of laboratory medicine and pathology, is quoted

    Earth.com

  • Bendy bills allow hummingbirds to down nectar at lightning speeds

    Some animals extract nectar using tongues or bills specially designed for the task. A recent study discovered that hummingbirds are a rare of example of an animal using both, with special adaptations for speed and efficiency. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, UW assistant professor of biology and curator of ornithology at the Burke Museum, led the study.

    The Seattle Times

Editor

Nancy Joseph
nancyj@uw.edu

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