Race and Equity

UW Drama professor Valerie Curtis-Newton (MFA, 1996), who will present the University Faculty Lecture on May 3, has been stirring up "good trouble" and courageously unmasking uncomfortable truths for decades. 

A new study by the University of Washington and Indiana University finds that the growing use of anti-racist terms shows how Black Lives Matter has shifted the conversation around racism, raising awareness of issues and laying the foundation for social change.

Thanks to a UW internship, students are contributing content about Black leaders in the sciences on BlackPast.org. 

Generations of scientists have tried to identify biological predictors of violence. Professor Oliver Rollins has concerns about their research.

Through testimonios, graduate student Olivia Orosco explored the COVID experience of Latinx caregivers. 

Through the Math Alliance, UW departments and programs provide mentoring and networking to encourage diversity in STEM fields.

Biology PhD student Ashely Paynter has created a podcast/organization that reflects her interests in science and activism. 

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month this September 15 through October 15 by exploring work by College of Arts & Sciences faculty, students and alumni.

"I was born in a small port town in Japan and moved to Eugene, Oregon, when I was 5 years old, where I lived until I graduated college. I’m half-Asian — my mom is Japanese, and my dad is white — but that was enough to be mostly treated as Asian growing up in a town that’s around 83% white and only around 4.5% Asian," writes The Seattle Times' Jade Yamazaki Stewart. Connie So, teaching professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is referenced.

An executive producer of a Bainbridge-made documentary, Gina Corpuz, is also the daughter of an aboriginal woman who survived an Indian residential school in Canada. She made a documentary to reveal the untold stories of the Indipinos with help from the Bainbridge Island community. Rick Bonus, professor of American ethnic studies at the UW, is quoted.

Chanhee Choi, a doctoral student in digital arts and experimental media at the UW, started work on her video game "Pandemic" after being verbally attacked last year.

“I’ve spent my time preparing for a career in telling stories like mine that are still untold,” says Lindsey Muszkiewicz, Dean's Medalist in the Humanities

House Bill 1016 will make Juneteenth a legal Washington state holiday starting next year. This Saturday, June 19, will mark the first Juneteenth since Gov. Jay Inslee signed the bill into law. Work by Quintard Taylor, professor emeritus of history at the UW, is quoted.

This week, President Biden signed a law making Juneteenth a national holiday. But there are myths and omissions surrounding the telling of this day and that period in history, according to LaTaSha Levy, an assistant professor of American ethnic studies at the University of Washington, and it’s critical to understand the past and present need to fight for, and celebrate, Black freedom.

KUOW presents a special statewide broadcast on Asian and Pacific Islander identities and experiences in America today. Douglas Ishii, assistant professor of English at the UW, is interviewed.