College of Arts and Sciences

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this June.

"Empathy can make people weaker both physically and practically, according to social scientists. Consider the phenomenon known as empathy fatigue, a major source of burnout among counselors, nurses and even neurosurgeons. These professionals devote their lives to helping others, yet the empathy they feel for their clients and patients wears them down, making it harder to do their jobs," co-writes Colin Marshall, associate professor of philosophy at the UW.

There is more to literature than the text itself. Anything that surrounds the text from the cover to chapter headings and author bios is known as paratext. This is what transforms text into a book.   Richard Wattss research focuses on this under-examined aspect of literature. In this episode, Watts, an associate professor...

English, philosophy and comparative literature arent typically subjects that come to mind when thinking about big datasets. But the intersection between literature and data analysis is exactly where Anna Preus works.   Preus, a University of Washington assistant professor of English and of data science, digitally streamlined the process of documenting the number of non-British...

Dont callChatGPTa chatbot. Call it a conversation simulator. Dont think ofDALL-Eas a creator of artistic imagery. Instead, think of it as a synthetic media extruding machine. In fact, avoid thinking that what generative AI does is actually artificial intelligence. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

"The Trump administrations cuts to the U.S. Agency for International Development and other aid funding for global health are cruel and catastrophic. One estimate just published in the journal Nature suggests that up to 25 million people could die over 15 years because of the cuts to TB, HIV/AIDS, family planning, and maternal and child health programs. Cancellations of National Institutes of Health funding for global health research contribute to the devastation," writes James Pfeiffer, professor of global health and of anthropology at the UW.

Graduation isn't the end of your Husky journey — here's how to keep the connections going wherever life takes you.

The Office of Global Affairs features Antonia Romana Zito for the Global Visionaries series. Antonia is a senior double-majoring in International Studies and History in the College of Arts & Sciences. Antonia was recognized as a 2025 Husky 100 and is passionate about advocating for migrants and refugees, being trilingual, and making a global impact.

The Office of Global Affairs celebrates Tony Lucero for the Global Visionaries series. Dr. José Antonio (Tony) Lucero, is Professor and Chair of the Comparative History of Ideas Department and a Professor in the Jackson School of International Studies. He describes his experience centering reciprocity in his research and teaching, and leading study abroad programs to Peru and Ecuador.

"Republicans in Washington have their sights once again on defunding public media," writes Matthew Powers, associate professor of communications at the UW.

Because of its unique status in the modern world, myths and misunderstandings about Chinese characters abound. Where does this writing system, so different in form and function from alphabetic writing, come from? How does it really work? How did it come to be used to write non-Chinese languages? And why has it proven so resilient? By exploring the spread and adaptation of the script across two millennia and thousands of miles, Chinese Characters across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese (University of Washington Press, 2025) by Dr. Zev Handel addresses these questions and provides insights into human cognition and culture. Written in an approachable style and meant for readers with no prior knowledge of Chinese script or Asian languages, it presents a fascinating story that challenges assumptions about speech and writing.

Seattle sees thousands mobilize on May Day each year to advocate for immigrant and worker rights, echoing traditions starting from labor protests decades ago. James Gregory, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Researchers in natural language processing tried to tame human language. Then came the transformer. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

Chatbots learned from human writing. Now its their turn to influence us. Emily M. Bender, professor of linguistics at the UW, is quoted.

Seemingly no international issue provokes as much heartbreak, consternation and demand for moral action for many right now as the fate of Palestinians and Israelis. And few academics have as much insight into the challenges and benefits of honest discussion and scholarship about that region as Liora Halperin, professor of history and international studies at the UW.