Social Sciences Division

Meet the four graduating students selected by the College of Arts & Sciences as 2025 Graduate Medalists for their accomplishments. 

Meet the four new graduates honored as College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Medalists for 2025. 

From promoting punk bands to designing light festivals, Terry Morgan has shaped Seattle’s cultural landscape for over 50 years. As an African American studies major at the UW, Morgan, ’76, studied widely outside his major, learning video art from art faculty Bill Ritchie and electronic music from Glenn White.

In the spring of 1970, a group of Native American students brainstormed ways to prioritize Native studies at the UW. By fall, the American Indian Studies Center was formed, with faculty from across campus teaching anthropology, art, and history from a Native perspective. Five faculty from the department share their thoughts on 55 years of Native knowledge at the UW.

Carl Hagenbeck believed that animals should be housed in habitats that mimicked their natural environment. Earlier, hed followed the same guiding philosophy when exhibiting Indigenous people in human zoos. Karen S. Emmerman, affiliate instructor of philosophy at the UW, is quoted.

Brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, can help people with severe injuries or impairments regain the ability to communicate or move their arms and legs through robotic substitutes. The devices, which are about the size of a dime and are implanted on the surface of a persons brain, serve as a communication link between the brains neural...

The College of Arts & Sciences celebrates undergraduate and graduate students from across all four divisions, who are recognized for making the most of their time at the UW. 

Recent recognition of the University of Washington includes an EarthLab Innovation Grant, the Best Paper Award from American Political Science Association and honorable recognition mention from the American Society for Theatre Research. UW professor Richard Watts and team awarded EarthLab Innovation Grant Richard Watts, UW associate professor of French, is part of an interdisciplinary team...

A 2016 study from the UW that analyzed divorce filing data across the state from 2001 to 2015, found that they "consistently peaked in March and August." Julie Brines, associate professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Since 2014, The European Union has been crafting policy on the rights of disabled people with independent living as a key element. Officials noticed the law wasnt being followed in countries like Malta, so they moved these young people into their own apartments. But these were pretty much the only people in their 20s who...

Study abroad in Vietnam and Madrid. An internship with the State Department. International studies major Grace Kelly explored the world as a UW student.

As the five-year anniversary of George Floyds murder approaches, KING 5 is examining the current state of the Black Lives Matter movement. Alexes Harris, professor of sociology at the UW, is interviewed.

If you're reaching for a chatbot instead of a search engine or a trusted source, think twice before acting on the information it gives you. Katy Pearce, associate professor of communication at the UW, is interviewed.

"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.

When generative artificial intelligence, or AI, dropped into our lives two and a half years ago, educators around the world went into a panic. Suddenly there was a chatbot easily accessible to students that could help them cheat on tests and assignments and likely get away with it. Fast forward, and now students are complaining that teachers are using AI in their jobs, and they don't like it. Should they? Katy Pearce, associate professor of communication at the UW, is interviewed.