May 2022 Newsletter
Featured Stories This Month
In Ukraine, Language is Political
Ukraine's national language is Ukrainian, but many citizens grew up speaking Russian. Does that matter? Professor Laada Bilaniuk studies language and Ukrainian identity.
In Classics, a Different Take on Race
A new Classics course looks at conceptions of race in antiquity and how ancient racial categories “put the arbitrariness of race as we know it into relief.”
Connecting through Challenges
With a gift to Speech & Hearing Sciences, Lacey Berns is creating community for those caring for children facing communication challenges.
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Volume on Gender-neutral Language Sheds Light on Controversy in France
A book co-edited by Professor Louisa Mackenzie explores how nonbinary French speakers are changing their language to reflect their identity.
Opportunities to Explore
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Momix: Alice
May 12 -13, 8:00 pm
May 14, 2:00 pm & 8:00 pm
Meany Hall
MOMIX creates surreal and fantastic worlds with light, shadow, props and the human body. Their latest work, Alice, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s beguiling tale, creates a magical wonderland that grows “curiouser and curiouser.” $10 - $70. -
MFA Dance Concert
May 18 – 21, 7:30 pm
May 22, 2:00 pm
Meany Hall
Department of Dance MFA students, each with at least eight years of professional dance experience, have composed six conceptually and aesthetically diverse works of original choreography to be performed by undergraduate students. $10 - $18. -
Generating High-Intensity, Ultrashort Optical Pulses
May 19, 7:30 pm
130 Kane Hall
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Donna Strickland (University of Waterloo) co-developed a laser capable of knocking the electrons off of their atoms. In this “Frontiers of Physics” lecture, Strickland will discuss her work and applications made possible by this new understanding of laser-matter interactions. Free. RSVP required. -
Of the Meaning of (Scientific) Progress: How Science Continues to Get Race Wrong
May 20, 1:30 – 2:30 pm
Online
How has Science progressed regarding the question of race? How far does it still need to go to get race “right”? In this 2022 Anthropology Distinguished Lecture, Oliver Rollins, UW assistant professor of American Ethnic Studies, explores recent attention to systemic racism in the biomedical and technoscientific fields and how to move toward an anti-racist science, beneficial for all in society. Free. -
UW Gospel Choir
May 23, 7:30 pm
Meany Theater
Phyllis Byrdwell, director of the UW Gospel Choir and minister of music at Mount Zion Baptist Church of Seattle, leads the UW’s 100-voice gospel choir in songs of praise, jubilation, and other expressions of the Gospel tradition. $10.
In The News
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Heavens need environmental protection just like Earth, experts say
Space urgently needs special legal protection similar to that given to land, sea, and atmosphere to protect its fragile environment, write a team of scientists including Meredith Rawls, research scientist with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the University of Washington’s DiRAC Institute.
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Opinion: The everyday creativity of mothering
“In recent years, the relationship between motherhood and work, including creative work, has clearly become a topic of interest…but much less attention has been paid to the essential creativity of mothering itself,” writes Maya Sonenberg, UW professor of English and creative writing.
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Massive study seeks to help dogs live longer and healthier
The Dog Aging Project seeks to understand how genetics, environment, and lifestyle affect longevity and the risk of disease in dogs, and how we can ensure our beloved companions stay healthy and active as long as possible. Initiative co-founder Daniel Promislow, UW professor of biology and of laboratory medicine and pathology, is quoted.
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What does it mean to 're-Indigenize' contemporary diets?
Charlotte Coté, associate professor of American Indian studies, discusses her book A Drum in One Hand, a Sockeye in the Other: Stories of Indigenous Food Sovereignty from the Northwest Coast, in a radio interview.
Editor
Nancy Joseph
nancyj@uw.edu