Social Sciences Division

A 6,600-word internal memo from a fired Facebook data scientist details how the social network knew leaders of countries around the world were using their site to manipulate voters — and failed to act. Katy Pearce, associate professor of communication at the UW, is quoted.

Statistics and Sociology Professor Adrian Raftery is lead author on a guide to understanding COVID-19 data, for those making public health decisions.

Washington and Oregon rarely feature in presidential races. But as demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism have continued across the country, the Pacific Northwest — the site of some of the country’s largest and most persistent protests — has taken on a narrative role in the national campaign even as it remains an electoral backwater. Jacob Grumbach, assistant professor of political science at the UW, is quoted.

"How a society handles disasters says a lot about its resilience, character and governance capacities. Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write Nives Dolšak, professor of marine and environmental affairs at the UW, and Aseem Prakash, professor of political science at the UW.

"Disasters can foster paranoia or encourage solidarity. They can bring the country together or tear it apart," write UW Professors' Nives Dolšak and Aseem Prakash.

Sven Haakanson Jr., a curator at the Burke Museum and faculty member in Anthropology and American Indian Studies, is interviewed in the films "A Kayak To Carry Us: Lived Knowledge" and "Stories in Stone" about his efforts to preserve the past on Kodiak Island, a place where he grew up.

Muslims and atheists in the United States are more likely than those of Christian faiths to experience religious discrimination, according to new research led by the University of Washington.

After 9/11, "Americans grew more suspicious of and outwardly hostile to Muslims. Research shows that these views increased in the years that followed. Our recently published paper in the Public Administration Review shows that — even 19 years later — public officials in the United States discriminate against Muslims," write Steven Pfaff, professor of sociology at the UW; Charles Crabtree of Dartmoth College; Holger L. Kern of Florida State University; and John B. Holbein of the University of Virginia.

It’s been almost two decades since the events of 9/11, yet we still live in their shadow. That era-defining terrorist assault on the United States prefigured a new age of military interventions abroad and surveillance powers and security protocols at home. The advent of the “war on terror” saw U.S. forces deployed across a wide arc of the planet, from West Africa to the Middle East, in an avowed worldwide campaign against Islamist militancy. Daniel Bessner, associate professor of international studies at the UW, is quoted.

Margaret O’Mara, professor of history, discusses the relationship between science, technology, and the national defense.

The Department of English has introduced its new "Literature, Language, Culture" Dialogue Series, a series of podcasts and YouTube videos, and Devin Naar, UW professor of history and Jewish studies and chair of the Jackson School’s Sephardic Studies Program was a guest on two podcasts.

The Department of English has introduced its new “Literature, Language, Culture” Dialogue Series, a series of podcasts and YouTube videos in which UW humanities faculty discuss their research and teaching — “including the ways our work contributes to how we experience and seek to understand this time of global crisis.”

UW students, alumni, and faculty explain how COIVD-19 has disrupted Black life.

Daniel Bessner, assistant professor of international studies, explains how COVID-19 has affected the American University.

In a paper published July 23 in Population and Development Review, Daphne Liu, a doctoral student in statistics at the UW, and Adrian Raftery, a UW professor of statistics and sociology, explore two nuanced questions: Is increasing contraceptive use or reducing demand more effective in family planning? And, is it the number of years girls attend school or the overall enrollment of children in school that makes education a factor in fertility?