Social Sciences Division

Adrienne Russell, professor of communication at the University of Washington, examines in her new book how journalism, activism, corporations and Big Tech battle to influence the public about climate change.

Researchers from the University of Washington and Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture will be partners in the newly announced $30M NSF Center for Braiding Indigenous Knowledges and Science.  

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

The UW participated in its first Tribal Canoe Journey, with students, faculty, staff, and alums working together as a family — the Shell House Canoe Family, č̓away̓altxʷ ʔiišəd — to make it all happen.  

A new study from the University of Washington and Cornell University shows researchers more likely to write scientific papers with co-authors of the same gender, a pattern that can’t be explained by varying gender representations across scientific disciplines and time. Carole Lee, associate professor of philosophy, is quoted.

"Climate change has emerged as an important issue for the younger generation—that is, Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012) and Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996). Public opinion polls suggest that these cohorts are more worried about climate change and more supportive of climate policies," write the UW's Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science.

"While appeals to grievance have been used in presidential campaigns, never before in American history has a leading contender for a major party's nomination made their personal grievances related to criminal liability and payback the centerpiece of their presidential run," write the UW's political science professors James Long and Victor Menaldo.

Washington state has a unique connection to the period of time portrayed in the new Hollywood movie. Bruce Hevly, associate professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Amazon reported a slight drop in greenhouse gas emissions, but its total footprint remains millions of metric tons larger than past years, according to the company's sustainability report. Aseem Prakash, professor of political science and director of the Center for Environmental Politics at the UW, is quoted.

Calls to overhaul the police go back decades. But violent episodes of police enforcement continue. So do violent outpourings on the street. Magda Boutros, assistant professor of sociology at the UW, is quoted.

Identity - including race, sexual orientation, gender - have become lightning rod subjects of hundreds of bills in state legislatures across the country as Americans across the political spectrum seek to define the nation's values. Christopher Parker, professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

The decades-old government housing discrimination program commonly called redlining continues to shape which of Seattle's streets are most dangerous for pedestrians. James Gregory, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Three graduate students who earned doctoral degrees in spring 2023 received the Graduate Medal from the College of Arts & Sciences. 

As the world's best-known fictional archaeologist goes after what may be his last ancient mystery in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," new generations of real-life archaeologists are ready to dig in with 21st-century technologies and sensibilities. Sara Gonzalez, associate professor of anthropology at the UW, is quoted. Peter Lape, professor of anthropology at the UW, is referenced.

An analysis of foraging societies from around the world has found that women hunt in the vast majority of those looked at, confirming that the idea of gender division in providing food is a myth. Cara Wall-Scheffler, affiliate assistant professor of anthropology at the UW, is quoted.