Humanities

Come curious. Leave inspired. The UW offers an exciting lineup of in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University. And you don’t have to wait until June: Take a look at everything still happening in May. Sign up to receive a monthly notice when the ArtSci Roundup has been published. ArtSci On Your Own Time: Through July...

Humanities 103, part of the Humanities First program for first-year students, emphasizes place-based learning through thoughtfully designed field trips. 

“[Castalia is] a wonderful space for us to celebrate the hard work that we're all doing,” Em Beckert, a second-year MFA student, said. “On the first level, it was really hard to get into this program, and on the second level, it's really hard to be here and to keep writing and to move your life, in some cases across the country, and to find your voice and just to celebrate all of that.”

Anis Bawarshi, professor of English, was recently honored by the Conference on College Composition and Communication for representing “the highest ideals of scholarship, teaching, and service to the entire profession."

The benefits of learning more languages go far beyond the positive classroom experience; there are substantial advantages in your career and personal life. Previous scholarship has demonstrated that bilingual job candidates have up to a 35% increase in job opportunities.

Pulitzer-Prize winning editorial cartoonist David Horsey tells stories in long hand with his novel “Beach of Stars.”

While February might be just 28 days, the UW College of Arts & Sciences offers an exciting lineup of more than 40 in-person and online events. From thought-provoking art and music to conversations on culture, history, and science, the UW community invites you to explore, learn, and connect across disciplines throughout the University.

Upper Skagit elder Vi Hilbert's legacy in language and culture preservation lives on through archival records collected in the Vi Hilbert Collection, first curated and digitized by retired longtime UW Ethnomusicologist Laurel Sercombe and now housed through UW LIbraries, and through a documentary film and symphony she commissioned, Healing Heart of the First People of This Land," staged at the UW in February 2026 by the UW Symphony and soloist (and School of Music alumna) Adia S. Bowen.  

“This Is Native Land” is a permanent, 3,000-square-foot exhibition at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma that weaves the stories of Indigenous peoples into the fabric of the 30-year-old institution. Co-curated by Associate Professor Danica Sterud Miller (Puyallup) and Todd Clark (Wailaki), tribal liaison for the Washington State Historical Society, the project engaged more than 100 Native contributors from more than 60 tribes. 

Key collaborators include elder Philip H. Red Eagle, ’83, ’87 (Dakota and Puget Sound Salish); artist Joe Feddersen, ’83, (Colville); Owen Oliver, ’21 (Quinault); current UW museology student Markus Teuton, ’24 (Cherokee); and museum staff, including head of collections Maggie Wetherbee, ’00, and director of audience engagement Mary Mikel Stump, a former UW student. Viewpoint spoke with Miller, who is on faculty at UW Tacoma, for a look at the making of “This Is Native Land.”

With the recent arrival of generative AI programs that can write conversationally, produce vivid imagery, and perform myriad tasks for us, some technologists believe the superintelligent machines of science fiction are right around the corner. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted. This story was originally published in National Geographic.

Historian Coll Thrush researches the dark history of Pacific Northwest shipwrecks in "Wrecked." Thrush, who earned his master’s degree and Ph.D. in history at the University of Washington, spent six years combing through archives, oral histories and ship logs to unearth tales of sinking and survival, exploitation and tragedy. But in the process, he discovered a deeper narrative—an exploration of how people, place and power collided along the Northwest coast, and how nature always won.

Welcome to our second Halloween installment, where we ask movie buffs Champ Ensminger and Ungsan Kim what movies they recommend if you like a scary fix for the holiday. Kim, assistant professor of Asian cinema at the UW, is interviewed.

Come curious. Leave inspired. We invite you to connect with us this November through a rich and varied schedule of more than 30 events, exhibitions, podcasts, and more. From chamber opera premieres and public lectures to Indigenous storytelling and poetry celebrations, theres something to spark every curiosity. Expect boundary-pushing performances, thought-provoking dialogues on memory and...

Are Asian horror films scarier than their American counterparts? What makes them so chilling? And which ones should you check out this year and every year? Ungsan Kim, assistant professor of Asian cinema at the UW, is quoted.

Several Asian countries adapted the Chinese writing system—the oldest writing system still in use—for their own languages. In a new book, Professor Zev Handel shares how that happened.