Department of Comparative History of Ideas

This week, attend the UW Pandemic Project’s Radical Listening Session to honor each individual’s lived pandemics experiences, head to Meany Hall for Garrick Ohlsson’s piano performance, celebrate Diwali with the Burke Museum, and more. November 7, 4:30 – 6:00pm | Sharon Stein, “The University and Its Responsibility for Repair: Confronting Colonial Foundations and Enabling Different...

Centuries ago, writers depicted the natural world as terrifying and dangerous, no place for humans. But that fear, in the decades to come, gradually turned to appreciation, awe and joy, for poets and artists, sightseers and backpackers. This episode features Louisa Mackenzie, associate professor of Comparative History of Ideas.

_{“Ways of Knowing” is an eight-episode podcast connecting humanities research with current events and issues. This season features faculty from across the humanities as they explore race, immigration, history, the natural world – even comic books. Each episode analyzes a work, or an idea, and provides additional resources for learning more.} 

"As a transfer student, I was in a situation where I would not have been admitted to UW Seattle as a high school applicant. I needed that additional foundation at a community college to prepare me for the University and show the UW I was capable of academic achievement. After two years at the UW, I just felt like I wasn’t 'done' — so being here, belonging and becoming a staff member means being an example and showing how the differences in a diversity of backgrounds is what strengthens our entire community here at the UW." - Andrea Pardo (B.A., Comparative History of Ideas, 2006), Graduate Program Manager for Biology

"I researched what I did not find in academia. I sought out scholars already in the academy who practiced pedagogies that were aligned with my philosophy and understanding of the world.  With their work as a foundation, I have become more comfortable with the soundness of my own teaching/learning relationships and practices." - Jeanette M Bushnell (Ph.D., Women Studies, 2010; B.S.N., 1975; M.N., 1979), Faculty Instructor: Department of Comparative History of Ideas; Interdisciplinary Honors

In the College of Arts & Sciences, we are proud to celebrate our first-generation community through a collection of stories! We honor our faculty and staff, and their many contributions to our university community and beyond.

In the College of Arts & Sciences, we are proud to support the success of first-generation students, faculty, and staff, and celebrate their many contributions to our university community.

"Mostly, it's just comforting to meet others who have navigated similar obstacles. In terms of professional norms, knowledge, and expectations, I feel like it's taken me a few decades to catch up with my colleagues for whom higher education, and professional identity in general, was modeled in the family. Just the mechanics of an academic career, like applying to grad school, or even knowing the difference between an MA and a PhD, were all things I had to learn as I did them." - Louisa Mackenzie, Associate Professor, Department of Comparative History of Ideas 

Kick off the Autumn quarter and celebrate a return to campus with these can’t-miss recommendations from the College of Arts & Sciences.

Max Hunter is an academic, a teacher, an activist, a father, a UW alum, and now, an author. At a recent University Book Store event, Hunter celebrated the release of his book, titled “Speech Is My Hammer: Black Male Literacy Narratives in the Age of Hip-Hop.” Read writer Chaitna Deshmukh's recap of the event and author.

Start the new year with lectures, performances, and more.

Through public events and exhibitions, connect with the UW community every week! Highlights of current exhibitions:  Until April 16 | Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest, Burke Museum (Free admission for UW students, faculty and staff) Until January 8 | everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt., Henry Art Gallery (Free admission for UW students,...

Dr. Anu Taranath, teaching professor with a joint appointment in UW’s Departments of English and the Comparative History of Ideas, shares her experience advancing conversations on diversity, racial equity, social justice, and global consciousness.

Study abroad programs are back, and with them comes the opportunity to become studious explorers in a new location. To see what adventures might await you on your own trip, join photographer Claire McCreery as she walks us through her time in the Czech Republic with the Comparative History of Ideas program, "History, Memory, and Human Rights in Central Europe.”

Will Sanchez (BA, Comparative History of Ideas, 2022) has developed connections to build on — with leaders in nonprofit, tech, and political circles.