UW and the Community

A new study led by the University of Washington uses cellphone location data to estimate the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants in 20 U.S. cities during the first year of the pandemic. The study finds that despite the "Black-owned" labelling campaign launched by companies such as Yelp, the number of visits to Black-owned restaurants dropped off after an initial spike and was inconsistent around the country.

In a new book, Jake Grumbach writes that states are no longer looking at each other to see what works and what doesn’t to improve the lives of their residents. Rather, he says, they’re looking to the national political parties for guidance on policy, ideology and objectives.

"UW professors and alumni are at the forefront of the arts, culture, philosophy and literature. They attract speakers and performers who contribute to the vibrancy of this culturally diverse community."

Rod Crawford has discovered nearly 200 species that hadn’t been described before, many of which proved to be new to science. Of the nearly 190,000 Washington specimens in the Burke’s spider collection, Crawford contributed about half.

Recent and upcoming books from University of Washington faculty include those from the Jackson School of International Studies, the Department of Psychology and the Runstad Department of Real Estate.

Maya Sonenberg, professor of English at the University of Washington, highlights common feelings that are often silenced due to shame and societal expectations in her new short story collection, "Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters."

“Seattle is perfectly positioned to have a thriving fringe theater scene,” said Nikki Yeboah, who last year became the University of Washington School of Drama’s new assistant professor of playwriting, the school’s first full-time faculty hire in playwriting since 1993. “That’s an amazing opportunity for artists to make works that are nontraditional or challenging or different.”

After leaving a job as a television news producer in 1990, Dr. Sheila D. Brooks (Communication, ’78) started her own company producing news stories and documentaries. 

Study abroad programs are back, and with them comes the opportunity to become studious explorers in a new location. To see what adventures might await you on your own trip, join photographer Claire McCreery as she walks us through her time in the Czech Republic with the Comparative History of Ideas program, "History, Memory, and Human Rights in Central Europe.”

The 1998 drama graduate receives the nation's highest poetry honor.

Ada Limón, a UW School of Drama alum, is the 24th U.S. poet laureate.

Ada Limón, a UW School of Drama alum, is the 24th U.S. poet laureate.

Federalism, queer history, the impact of the Russian Revolution on Jewish communities, and the evolution of Filipinx American studies are among the subjects of recent and upcoming books by UW faculty.

University of Washington undergraduate Zoe Hana Mikuta made waves in the young adult (YA) book community last summer when she released her Sapphic sci-fi epic “Gearbreakers.” The novel — already optioned for a movie when it was published — features star-crossed lovers fighting on opposite sides of a robot war and was a staple on LGBTQ+ reading recommendation lists last year.

Fresh off the June 28 release of the book’s sequel, “Godslayers,” Mikuta, 22, spoke with The Seattle Times about the mecha, Sapphic duology.

New research led by University of Washington professors James Krieger and Melissa Knox found that sweetened beverage taxes redistributed dollars from higher- to lower-income households.