Department of History

Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT and image generator Dall-E, is set to testify before Congress on Tuesday. His appearance is part of a Senate subcommittee hearing on the risks artificial intelligence poses for society, and what safeguards are needed for the technology. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

On May 5, 1945, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded over Oregon and killed six Americans -- the only mainland civilian causalities from enemy attack during WWII. Ross Coen, a PhD graduate in history and instructor at the UW, is interviewed.

All the ways Saudi Arabia's cash powers tech startups and venture capital. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

"The sight of diplomats fleeing Sudan amid chaotic scenes reflects the gravity of the situation, but also the extent of international interest in the strife-torn nation. Days into fighting that has left at least 400 people dead, governments from across the Middle East, Europe, Asia and the Americas evacuated nationals - teachers, students and workers, as well as embassy staff - from the capital, Khartoum," writes Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the UW.

The Husky 100 recognizes 100 UW undergraduate and graduate students who are making the most of their time at the UW.

Duplexes, fourplexes or sixplexes will soon be legal in nearly every neighborhood in nearly every city in Washington, after the state Legislature passed ambitious legislation last week overriding cities' power to restrict land to single-family homes only. The UW's James Gregory, professor of history, is quoted.

Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the UW, explains the reasons behind the violence and what it means for the chances of democracy being restored in Sudan.

After Alice Ball died -- and just a year after her discovery of a treatment for leprosy -- another scientist took credit for her work. It would be more than half a century until her story resurfaced. Quintard Taylor, professor emeritus of history at the UW, is quoted.

This week, learn more about Japan's response to climate change, attend the talk on Yoko Ono and the Art of the Breakdown, enjoy music performances at Meany Hall and more.

Start the spring season by listening to Strings for Peace, explore how mud animates relationships at the Henry Art Gallery, attend the anticipated University Faculty Lecture and more.

Start the spring season by listening to Strings for Peace, explore how mud animates relationships at the Henry Art Gallery, attend the anticipated University Faculty Lecture and more.

James Gregory, UW professor of history, knows the subject of racism in housing well. For roughly two decades, he’s been unearthing the ugly, racist underpinnings of racial disparities in wealth and homeownership seen to this day across Puget Sound.

The City of Kirkland was counting on Google to be the “catalyst project” in its proposed Station Area Plan, a reimagining of the area around a planned rapid transit bus station into a higher density community of housing and businesses. But suddenly and without warning to the outside world, the plans went away last month. The City of Kirkland issued a surprising press release: Google, which on the same day announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs globally, no longer planned to be the tech centerpiece in the city’s development plan. The company’s move to back out of the project — even with $113 billion in the bank and $60 billion in profits last year — highlights the surprisingly fleeting relationship between big tech companies and the cities they’ve reshaped, and the mixed feelings and uncertainty left behind. Chuck Wolfe, affiliate associate professor of urban design and planning at the UW, and Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, are quoted.

More than 40,000 property deeds containing racially discriminatory language have been uncovered in Western Washington by the Racial Restrictive Covenants Project. Director James Gregory, professor of history at the University of Washington, and his team aren't finished yet.

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