Social Sciences Division

A new UW report raises questions about adequate janitorial services at Tacoma’s immigration detention center. The report includes internal emails among ICE staff, noting concerns about cleanliness at the facility. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies and director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

Over 100 people participated in a hunger strike last week at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, known colloquially as the Northwest Detention Center. The strike ended on Feb. 5 after four days, according to detention abolitionist group, La Resistencia. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice and of international studies and director of the Center for Human Rights at the UW, is quoted.

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.

Three University of Washington experts have provided quotes in response to the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on Monday morning.

Philosopher Arthur Obst, a UW doctoral student, thinks that wild places can thrive — if we adjust our definition of wilderness and embrace the idea of letting go. 

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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Christopher Tounsel, associate professor of history at the University of Washington, found multiple connections between Sudan and Seattle while researching his upcoming book. The most prominent was the late Andrew Brimmer, a UW alum who in 1966 became the first Black member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

Ever wonder what the world would be like without planes, computer software and online shopping? Thanks to progressive Seattle innovators and change-makers, the world is a much better place to live, work and play. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

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

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

Community and mentorship made all the difference to Sherri Berdine (2008) as an Alaska Native (Aleut & CIRI Descendent) UW student. Now she's the University's Director of Tribal Relations.

Katy Pearce, an associate professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Washington (UW), is dedicated to advancing research in the field of social and political uses of technology, while also supporting students and colleagues. With a focus on digital divides and inequalities and the use of information and communication technologies for marginalized people and social movements in non-democratic states, Pearce is passionate about bridging the gap between the theoretical and lived experiences of people around the world.

"Americans spend more than half a billion dollars annually on 150 million units of imported Christmas lights. U.S. News & World Report ranks the best Christmas light displays. And ABC’s reality TV show “The Great Christmas Light Fight” recently premiered its 10th season. Christmas lights, in short, are not only ubiquitous but also central to American culture. But that has not always been the case. The man credited with popularizing Christmas lights in the early 20th century, Albert Sadacca, had never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he was a Jew from the Muslim world," writes Devin Naar, associate professor of history and Jewish studies at the UW.