Social Sciences Division

"Black History Month is a chance to recognize that Black history is American history. It’s an important time to reflect on the ways in which Black people, their stories and their impact have so often been elided and erased from our shared understanding of ourselves as a nation and a people," writes UW President Ana Mari Cauce.

UW theater student Jarrett Johnson is among an entire class of emerging theater artists — fresh from drama programs, hustling between part-time jobs and busy audition schedules, or about to make their big breaks — whose careers have been stalled by the COVID-19 pandemic. The UW's Odai Johnson, professor of theater history, and Stefka Mihaylova, assistant professor of theater theory and criticism, are quoted.

This week at the UW, attend Fermented Face with Candice Lin, the School of Drama's dis/re/connection, and more.

Dig a little, and Seattle’s scrubby past inevitably pops up. We might be all high-tech now, all digital wizards, but back there are the city’s ancestors. They could be rough. Really rough. John Findlay, professor emeritus of history at the UW, is referenced.

After months of deserted streets and shuttered storefronts, the businesses, institutions and individuals that depend on downtown Seattle are desperate to see it come back to life, but have little certainty whether or when it can regain its earlier vitality. Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, is quoted.

Aseem Prakash, professor of political science, explains why the United States will need to expand its transmission capacity.

A nationwide study is delving deep into the beliefs and attitudes of self-described Trump supporters. Christopher Parker, professor of political science at the UW, and his team surveyed hundreds of people in the Make America Great Again movement, both before and after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Science Friday producer Christie Taylor talks to legal scholar Veena Dubal, and Margaret O'Mara, professor of history at the UW, about a rise in union activity, and the way tech companies have impacted our lives — not just for their customers, but also for their workers.

Facebook’s “fight with Australia is again raising debate around social media networks’ enormous control over people’s access to information ... My research in the history of international media politics has shown that a handful of rich countries have long exerted undue influence over how the rest of the world gets its news,” writes Vanessa Freije, assistant professor of international relations at the UW.

Ian Kretzler, a Ph.D. anthropology graduate, and Samson Jenekhe, professor of chemical engineering and chemistry, have been recently awarded honors.

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.