Social Sciences Division

Mary Callahan, associate professor of international studies at the UW, says that there hasn’t been significant opposition to military leadership in Myanmar within the officer ranks in 50 years. [This is an NPR broadcast on KUOW]

Margaret O’Mara, professor of history at the UW, says too much screen time in the COVID-19 era may have led to the proliferation of conspiracy theories, especially among “QAnon yoga moms.” [This clip teases a later story in which O’Mara is not interviewed]

This week at the UW, attend the Katz Distinguished Lecture, the 2021 Biamp PDX Jazz Festival with Ted Poor and Cuong Vu, and more.

“Watching the second impeachment trial of Donald Trump, an epochal event in U.S. history, I could not take my eyes from the rostrum. Though attentive to the words being spoken, with their pointed meaning and sharp emotion, I could not unseize my view from the polished stone wall that framed every speaker. It was — and is — as arresting as anything said during this extraordinary, profoundly disturbing trial,” writes Scott Montgomery, lecturer of international studies at the UW.

Anand Yang, professor of history, and Patricia Shehan Campbell, professor of music education and ethnomusicology, have both authored new books.

The Cowlitz County Youth Services Center in Longview, WA — one of the last detention centers in the country that holds undocumented immigrant youth — has moved to terminate its contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Angelina Godoy, professor of law, societies and justice at the UW and director of the UW Center for Human Rights, is mentioned.

Google, Facebook and others promise more flexibility to work from home. But they’re charging ahead with plans for more offices. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

The Republican Party’s most-Trump and pro-Trumpism contingent and the forces in the party pushing its growing radical and antidemocratic tendencies are often not national Republicans, but those at the local and state levels. Jake Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

Of the two sides in the conflict over India's new farm laws, Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW, write, “Neither camp offers any solution to the most crucial challenge: ensuring that the Green Revolution belt farmers grow less rice, which is economically and ecologically problematic.”

There’s a sense of disbelief that a president could foment a riot at the Capitol to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power, and yet his party remains reluctant to hold him to account. Christopher Parker, professor of political science at the UW, isn’t the least bit surprised.

“Has a bloc of voters emerged that is not only alien to the American system of governance but toxic to it?” writes columnist Thomas B. Edsall. A study by Christopher Parker, professor of political science at the UW, and Rachel Blum of the University of Oklahoma is quoted.

Quintard Taylor, professor emeritus of history and the founder of Blackpast.org, discusses the life and legacy of Horace Clayton and his wife, Susie Revels.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was the top American philanthropist in 2020, giving away $10.1 billion to nonprofit efforts associated with climate change and education, according to a ranking released this week by The Chronicle of Philanthropy. MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Bezos, ranked second on the list with donations to a wide array of non-profits that totaled $5.7 billion. The UW's Ed Lazowska, professor of computer science and engineering, and Margaret O'Mara, professor of history, are quoted.

“How do we atone for the worst thing we’ve ever done?” That is the question at the heart of the podcast “Making Amends,” which features men serving time in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Steve Herbert, professor of law, societies and justice and of geography at the UW, brought together a group of men at the prison for a class on atonement with the goal of creating a podcast.

“If history is any guide, the next act of Jeff Bezos, the man who turned a crazy-at-the-time idea to sell books over the internet into a $1.67 trillion behemoth, could be more consequential than the last,” writes Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW.