Undergraduate Academic Affairs – UW News /news Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:06:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 UW recognized across all campuses with Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement reclassification /news/2026/01/12/carnegie2026/ Mon, 12 Jan 2026 15:00:17 +0000 /news/?p=90254 a tryptic of three college campuses
The UW has again earned a prestigious recognition for the impact and importance of the connections faculty, students and staff have with local, regional and global communities. All three UW campuses were recognized with the Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement reclassification. Photo: Ƶ

The Ƶ has again earned a prestigious recognition for the impact and importance of the connections faculty, students and staff have with local, regional and global communities.

All three UW campuses were recognized with the Carnegie Foundation Community Engagement reclassification, placing the university among nationwide. Officials with the American Council on Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, who award the designation, noted that these universities are deepening partnerships, centering community assets and addressing urgent societal challenges with clarity and distinction.

“This Carnegie reclassification affirms what I’ve long believed about the role of public universities: our work has to be rooted in partnership and focused on impact for all people,” said UW President Robert J. Jones. “Community engagement isn’t peripheral to our mission — it’s central to how we move the UW forward in service of the greater good. Being recognized again across all three campuses is a real point of pride and speaks to the shared commitment across the UW to working alongside our communities to drive meaningful change.”

The UW’s three campuses were first recognized in 2020 by the Carnegie Foundation as community-engaged campuses. This reclassification is an external acknowledgement of the growing scale and quality of community-engaged work, built on a decades-long foundation. In recent years, the UW has strengthened relationships, expanded partnerships, and launched a tri-campus effort — funded in 2022 by a $3.8 million donation — to strengthen community engagement practices across campuses, develop shared definitions of community engagement, and build a digital clearinghouse to track and facilitate community work. Much of that work is documented on the Community Engagement Knowledge Hub, a website with resources for the UW and community partners.

The UW works with more than 700 different community organizations, including nonprofit providers of health care and other services, local and regional governments, school districts, tribal nations, and small businesses as well as large multinational companies.

The Carnegie Classification for the UW in Seattle recognizes the meaningful and sustained work of faculty, staff and students to engage with the community in genuine partnership, said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

“These relationships enable students to take up community-informed, academically rigorous work in our civic spaces, leading to a more sophisticated understanding of the complex problems facing society,” Taylor said. “We are honored and humbled by this recognition of our work so far and inspired to continue to deepen our focus on addressing the most pressing needs of our campus and broader community. Sustaining these outcomes at scale requires dedicated infrastructure, student support, and long-term investment from partners.”

For example, via , the UW works with rural and tribal schools statewide. These programs are designed to enrich existing K-12 education, enhance STEM learning and provide opportunities for children in those schools to learn about higher education. UW undergraduates support curriculums, connect with students in communities, all while being guided by UW faculty and staff.

“Our programs work with all different grade levels at various tribal nations here in Washington state, which I think is cool and unique,” said Richard Alejandro Parra, who runs the program and is assistant director of Rural and Tribal Partnerships in the UW.

The Center is a leading coordinator at the UW for community-engaged learning, partnership development and student civic leadership. Each year, it supports thousands of students and hundreds of collaborations with community-based organizations and faculty to strengthen community-driven solutions to complex societal challenges.

“We have students that we’ve worked with since they were fifth graders, and we engage with them throughout their entire K-12 journey,” Parra said. “After graduating, some of those students have come to UW, and they return to their communities to mentor younger students through our programs.”

When the in Snohomish County was looking to expand its capacity to serve recent immigrants, leaders of the small nonprofit reached out to UW Bothell. During more than a decade of collaboration, a symbiotic relationship between LETI and the UW has blossomed, providing critical resources to support LETI’s growth and giving UW students from Bothell and Seattle real-world experience.

This year, more than 40 UW students are engaged in work-study and research at LETI, providing services in education, health and more.

“The community engagement effort that they have is one of the best that I have seen,” said Rosario Reyes, LETI’s founder and president. “I wish other schools would emulate it.”

Read more about how all three UW campuses are supporting community-engaged programs:

  • In Seattle, the UW engages thousands of students from all majors to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a thriving civic society.
  • At UW Bothell, is embedded in student engagement, curriculum, faculty research and scholarship, supporting reciprocal partnerships that contribute to the just and equitable development of the North Puget Sound region and Washington state.
  • At UW Tacoma, the is dedicated to fostering transformative relationships between the university and the broader community.

Employers, like LETI, view UW Bothell as a strong partner in regional workforce development, said UW Bothell Chancellor Kristin G. Esterberg.

UW Bothell faculty and students collaborate with hundreds of community organizations locally and globally. Since first gaining the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, UW Bothell’s commitment to collaboration has deepened. It is underpinned by new policies such as the addition of an undergraduate learning goal focused on community engagement and faculty legislation supporting community-engaged scholarship.

“We also engage with hundreds of nonprofit agencies, local governments and grassroots organizations year-round,” Esterberg said. “This reclassification by the Carnegie Foundation recognizes our community engagement and reinforces the value of this work.”

UW Tacoma is a vital part of building the future for the city of Tacoma, said Jacques Colon, the director of the city’s Equity, Strategy, and Human Rights office. In addition to bolstering the redevelopment of the city’s downtown by expanding and modernizing the university’s campus, UW Tacoma also contributes to economic development by training a desirable and highly skilled workforce. That, in turn, attracts more business to the area.

“If we can make that kind of synergy work, that’s exactly the kind of relationship that has the ability to set a trajectory for a city long term, over a decade,” Colon said. “To me, that’s incredibly exciting,”

That kind of community engagement is at the heart of UW Tacoma’s mission and the key to a more prosperous future for the region, said UW Tacoma Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange.

UW Tacoma has established itself as one of the region’s most community-engaged universities.

Over the past year, UW Tacoma faculty and students partnered with community organizations on a wide range of initiatives addressing pressing social, environmental and health challenges. These collaborations included restoring riparian forests to support salmon habitat, co-creating alternative and low-barrier pathways for youth to access evidence-based behavioral healthcare, co-designing food justice programming that connects labor, culture, and care, and developing mental health workshops for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth.

“Through our community-driven initiatives, our students give back while engaging in career-connected learning, and our faculty and staff work alongside our partners to solve some of society’s toughest challenges,” Lange said. “Together, with our hundreds of community partners, we’re making a lasting impact in the South Sound and beyond.”

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Seven UW students receive Fulbright exchange awards for study, research and teaching positions around the world /news/2025/06/26/seven-uw-students-receive-fulbright-exchange-awards-for-study-research-and-teaching-positions-around-the-world/ Thu, 26 Jun 2025 23:34:53 +0000 /news/?p=88485 collage of seven students
Seven UW students and recent alumni were selected for Fulbright exchange awards. Top row: Emily Bassett, Thomas Key, Vincent Da, Elana Skeers. Bottom row: Sabrina Prestes Oliveira, Jack Regala and Annabella Li. Photo: Ƶ

Seven UW students and recent alumni were awardedscholarships for the 2025–2026 academic year, joining about 2,000 students and recent graduates from around the country to pursue graduate study, conduct research and teach English abroad.

The Fulbright scholarship program is the largest U.S. international exchange opportunity for students to pursue graduate study, advanced research and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.

“These Fulbright awards reflect the exceptional caliber of our students and underscore the University’s commitment to fostering global citizens and scholars,” said UW Vice Provost for Global Affairs Ahmad Ezzeddine. ”As the nation’s flagship international exchange program, Fulbright offers transformative opportunities for the next generation of leaders to engage meaningfully with the world.

“We are deeply grateful for the State Department’s continued investment in this vital initiative — one of our nation’s most effective tools of citizen diplomacy,” Ezzeddine continued. “Through these prestigious fellowships, our students will pursue meaningful research, service and study abroad. They’ll also represent the best of American higher education while building lasting connections that will benefit both our University and our country for years to come.”

Among this year’s recipients are four UW undergraduate students or recent alumni. They plan travel to Europe, Central Asia and Mexico to take part in graduate study, research and teaching assistantships. Three graduate-level students plan to travel to Scandinavia, Southeast Asia and South America. This year’s finalists attended all three UW campuses.

The UW also had two students — one undergraduate and one graduate level — selected as alternates.

This year’sawardees are:

  • Annabella Li: Study and research, Germany
  • Sabrina Prestes Oliveira: English teaching award, Mexico
  • Jack Regala: English teaching award, Tajikistan
  • Elana Skeers: Trinity Laban Award in Music & Dance, United Kingdom

This year’s awardees are:

  • Emily Bassett: English teaching award, Norway
  • Vincent Flores Da: Study and research, Philippines
  • Thomas Key: Study and research, Brazil

Oliveira completed her undergraduate studies at UW Bothell and Da completed his undergraduate degree at UW Tacoma. The rest of the cohort received degrees for work on UW’s Seattle campus.

For the past several years, The Chronicle of Higher Education has ranked the UW a “Top Producer” of student awardees. The Fulbright program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides round-trip travel, health insurance, a housing stipend and visa assistance to awardees.

Read more about this year’s UW Fulbright Student Program Finalists and the projects they will pursue abroad at the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards and the Graduate School’s .

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ArtSci Roundup: May 2025 /news/2025/04/15/artsci-roundup-may-2025/ Wed, 16 Apr 2025 03:01:34 +0000 /news/?p=87939

From campus to wherever you call home, we welcome you to learn from and connect with the College of Arts & Sciences community through public events spanning the arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. We hope to see you this May.


Innovation Month

April 30 | An Evening with Christine Sun Kim (Public Lecture)

May 1 | (Public Lecture)

May 3 | (Meany Center)

May 6 | (Chemistry)

May 13 | (Physics)

May 14 | (Dance)

May 14 | (Music)

May 15 | (Music)

May 16 | (Linguistics)

May 19 | (Linguistics)

May 21 | (DXARTS)

May 21 | (Chemistry)

May 27 | (Music)


ArtSci on the Go

Looking for more ways to get more out of Arts & Sciences? Check out these resources to take ArtSci wherever you go!

Zev J. Handel, “Chinese Characters Across Asia: How the Chinese Script Came to Write Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese”()

“Ways of Knowing” Podcast (College of Arts & Sciences)

Black Composers Project engages the School of Music faculty and students ()

Ladino Day Interview with Leigh Bardugo & MELC Professor Canan Bolel ()


Week of April 28

Thursday, May 1, 6:30 – 7:30 pm | (Public Lecture)

Afrofuturism began as a concept coined by scholar Mark Dery in 1993. It was his way of grouping ideas regarding how Black people used the technology of stories to deal with racial oppression, disrupted history, and the challenge of moving into a positive future. In recent years, we have seen an explosion of interest from various fields around the critical making space that we call Afrofuturism.

In this lecture, John Jennings will explore the major themes in the Afrofuturism movement, track the timeline of its growth, and posit future possibilities around this vibrant and ever-changing way of seeing the world.


Friday, May 2 to Saturday, May 3 | (American Indian Studies)

This symposium brings people together to share knowledge on topics such as traditional foods, plants, and medicines; environmental and food justice; food sovereignty/security; health and wellness; and treaty rights. This event serves to foster dialogue and build collaborative networks as we, Native peoples, strive to sustain our cultural food practices and preserve our healthy relationships with the land, water, and all living things. Save the Date for this year’s event. The theme is: “Generational Food Sovereignty.”


Friday, May 2, 5:00 pm | (Burke Museum)

Join the Burke Museum for an exclusive tour of the Burke’s extensive collection of oversized items at our Sand Point facility, followed by a reception, dinner, and auction.


Additional Events

April 30 | An Evening with Christine Sun Kim (Public Lecture)

May 1 | (Music)

May 1 | (South Asia Center)

May 1 | (Simpson Center)

May 2 | (Music)

May 3 | (Meany Center)


Week of May 5

Monday, May 4, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | ONLINE ONLY (Jackson School)

Join the Jackson School for Trump in the World 2.0, a series of talks and discussions on the international impact of the second Trump presidency.

This week: Mark Ward, U.S. Foreign Service (ret.) and Instructor in the Department of History, Philosophy and Religion at Oregon State University.


Tuesday, May 6, 4:00 – 5:00 pm | (Department of Chemistry)

“Mosquitoes, earwax, and bird baths”
Professor David Hu – School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech
Host: Sarah Keller

Wednesday, May 7, 5:00 – 7:00 pm | (Department of Scandinavian Studies)

There is a common misconception in literary publishing that books for children and young adults are “simple” and are, therefore, easy to translate. But translating literature for younger people is not simple at all.

Join the panel of three distinguished translators—Sawad Hussain (Arabic), Shelley Fairweather-Vega (Russian and Uzbek), and Takami Nieda (Japanese)—for an engaging discussion of these issues.


Thursday, May 8, 6:00 – 7:30 pm | (Henry Art Gallery)

The Henry is excited to welcome distinguished artist Carmen Winant as the 2025 Monsen Photography Lecture speaker. This annual lecture brings key makers and thinkers in photographic practice to the Henry. Named after Drs. Elaine and Joseph Monsen, the series is designed to further knowledge about and appreciation for the art of photography.

Thursday, May 8, 11:30 am – 12:00 pm | (Department of English)

Theodore Roethke taught at the Ƶ from 1947 until his death in 1963. The Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Readings began in 1964 to honor his memory by bringing notable contemporary poets to the UW campus to give a reading of their works and, when possible, to meet with students enrolled in the department’s advanced poetry writing courses. The annual Roethke Readings, co-sponsored by the Department of English, the UW Graduate School, and the Theodore Roethke Memorial Fund Committee. This event is free and open to the public and regularly attracts large audiences of poetry lovers from around the Pacific Northwest.


Saturday, May 10, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm | (Burke Museum)

Hear about groundbreaking research from the Burke and UW scientists, enjoy hundreds of specimens from the Burke’s collection, and celebrate all things fossilized with fossil digs, ancient animal identification, microfossil sorting, crafts, and more!


Additional Events

May 5 | (Music)

May 6 | (Simpson Center)

May 7 | (Jackson School)

May 7 | (Music)

May 7 | (Scandinavian Studies)

May 8 | (Chemistry)

May 8 | (Meany Center)

May 8 | (Simpson Center)

May 8 | (Simpson Center)

May 9 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)

May 9 | (Political Science)

May 9 | (Classics)

May 9 | (German Studies)

May 10 | (Music)


Week of May 12

Monday, May 12, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | ONLINE ONLY (Jackson School)

Join the Jackson School for Trump in the World 2.0, a series of talks and discussions on the international impact of the second Trump presidency.

This week: Vanessa Freije, James D. Long, Tony Lucero, and Christopher Tounsel.


Tuesday, May 13, 7:30 pm | (Department of Physics)

When we think of engineering materials, we often picture solid blocks such as steel or plastic with fixed properties—soft, lightweight, or strong. In contrast, granular materials such as sand or rice flow and shear. What if a material could do both? Polycatenated Architected Materials (PAMs) are a new class of structures that bridge the gap between solids and fluids. Made of interlocked particles forming intricate 3D networks—akin to modern-day chainmail—PAMs can switch from flowing like granular matter to behaving as solid elastic materials. Join the Department of Physics to discover how the geometry and topology of PAMs are redefining what’s possible in material science and engineering.


May 13, 15, and 16 | (Department of Applied Mathematics)

The Frederic and Julia Wan Lecturer Prize aims to invite renowned mathematicians to visit the Department of Applied Mathematics. The lecturer delivers three lectures, ranging from technical talks to experts to expository talks. Additionally, the lecturer actively engages with members of the department and the broader UW community.

Tuesday, May 13, 4:00 pm:

Thursday, May 15, 4:00 pm:

Friday, May 16, 3:30 pm:


Thursday, May 15, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm | (Jackson School)

Join us for a retrospective reflection on the future of African women and football, followed by a Q&A featuring guest speaker Martha Saavedra, faculty and associate director of the Center for African Studies at the University of California in Berkeley. This event is part of the Global Sport Lab initiative.

This event is free and open to all.


Additional Events

May 12 | (Classics)

May 12 | (Simpson Center)

May 12 | (Biology)

May 13 | (Simpson Center)

May 13 to May 23 | (Art + Art History + Design)

May 13 | (Meany Center)

May 14 | (Dance)

May 14 | (Music)

May 14 | (Jackson School)

May 14 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)

May 14| (CSSS)

May 14 | (Burke Museum)

May 15 | (Music)

May 15 | (Simpson Center)

May 15 | (Speech & Hearing)

May 16 | (Political Science)

May 16 | (Linguistics)

May 16 | Undergraduate Research Symposium (Undergraduate Academic Affairs)

May 16 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

May 16 | (Classics)

May 16 | (Statistics)

May 17 | (Meany Center)

May 17 | (Burke Museum)

May 17 | (Henry Art Gallery)


Week of May 19

Monday, May 18, 5:00 – 6:20 pm | ONLINE ONLY: (Jackson School)

Join the Jackson School for Trump in the World 2.0, a series of talks and discussions on the international impact of the second Trump presidency.

This week: Scott L. Montgomery.


Monday, May 19, 5:00 – 8:00 pm | (Asian Languages & Literature)

This lecture, Recipes for the Life Politics of Domesticity in Global Korea with Hyaeweol Choi, takes food as an entry for understanding gender history and culture in general, and the politics of domesticity in particular, by focusing specifically on the gendered history of street food in South Korea, exploring its evolution through the forces of war, poverty, industrialization, and nation-branding in the age of globalization.


Wednesday, May 21, 7:30 pm | (DXARTS)

Composer John Chowning is considered one of the pioneers of Computer Music. His contributions to this field, such as the invention of FM Digital Synthesis, had a strong cultural impact on the worlds of both classical and popular music. His invention allowed the production of one of the most popular digital synthesizers, the Yamaha DX7, which sold millions of units in the 1980s and was used by virtually every band from that era. Revenues from the licensing of this technology to Yamaha Corporation allowed Chowning to create the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, one of the most important Computer Music research centers in the world.


Thursday, May 22, 7:30 pm | (American Indian Studies)

The Department of American Indian Studies at the UW hosts an annual literary and storytelling series. Sacred Breath features Indigenous writers and storytellers sharing their craft at the beautiful wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ Intellectual House on the UW Seattle campus. Storytelling offers a spiritual connection and a sharing of sacred breath. Literature, similarly, preserves human experience and ideals. Both forms are durable and transmit power that teaches us how to live. Both storytelling and reading aloud can impact audiences through the power of presence, allowing for the experience of the transfer of sacred breath as audiences are immersed in the experience of being inside stories and works of literature.


Thursday, May 22 to Sunday, June 1, Times Vary | (Drama)

THRIVE, OR WHAT YOU WILLtells the story of Jeanne Baret, a gender-nonconforming 18th-century herb woman, who embarks on an 11-year voyage around the world disguised as a(male)botanist’s assistant.Thefirst woman to circumnavigate the globe, Jeanne’s journey is depicted through a blend of historical fiction and contemporary issues. The play interrogates themes of “discovery,” survival, power, access, gender, and identity while highlighting the subjective nature of history and self. With a style that merges past and present, this epic tale is funny, gripping, poignant, and wild.


Additional Events

May 19 | (Music)

May 19 | (Linguistics)

May 19 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

May 19 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

May 19 | (Biology)

May 20 | (Music)

May 20 | (Music)

May 20 | (CHID)

May 21 | (Slavic Languages & Literatures)

May 21 | (CHID)

May 21 | (Chemistry)

May 21 | (Chemistry)

May 21 | Judge Joel Ngugi (Public Lecture)

May 21 | (Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies)

May 21 | (CSSS)

May 21 | (Communication)

May 21 | (Statistics)

May 21 | (Simpson Center)

May 22 | (Music)

May 22 | (Jackson School)

May 22 | (Asian Languages & Literature)

May 23 | (Political Science)

May 23 | (Music)

May 23 | (Music)

May 23 | (Statistics)

May 23 | (Simpson Center)

May 24 – June 15 | (Art + Art History + Design)

May 25| (Asian Languages & Literature)


Week of May 26

Thursday, May 29, 7:30 pm | (School of Music)

The University Singers, Treble Choir, and UW Glee Club present an eclectic program of music from around the world, folk tunes, and arrangements of popular music standards.


Thursday, May 29, 7:30 pm | (School of Music)

The UW Percussion Ensemble (Bonnie Whiting, director) and the UW Steelband (Gary Gibson, director) present an end-of-year percussion bash.


Additional Events

May 27 to June 6 | (Art + Art History + Design)

May 27 | (Music)

May 28 to May 30 | (Philosophy)

May 28 | (Jackson School)

May 28 | (History)

May 28 | (CSSS)

May 29 | (Indigenous Studies)

May 29 | (Simpson Center)

May 29 | (Philosophy)

May 30 | (Political Science)

May 30 | (Music)

May 30 | (Music)

May 30 | (China Studies)

May 30 | (Burke Museum)


Have an event that you would like to see featured in the ArtSci Roundup? Connect with Kathrine Braseth (kbraseth@uw.edu).

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Thirteen UW students receive Fulbright exchange awards for study, research and teaching positions around the world /news/2024/05/15/thirteen-uw-students-receive-fulbright-exchange-awards-for-study-research-and-teaching-positions-around-the-world/ Wed, 15 May 2024 21:31:23 +0000 /news/?p=85506 multiple headshots of students in a grid format
Thirteen UW students and recent alumni were selected for Fulbright exchange awards. Photo: Ƶ

Thirteen UW students and recent alumni were awardedscholarships this year, joining about 2,000 students and recent graduates from around the country to study and teach abroad.

The scholarship program is the largest U.S. international exchange opportunity for students to pursue graduate study, advanced research and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.

Five UW undergraduate students or recent alumni are among this year’s Fulbright Student Program recipients and plan travel to Asia, Europe, South America and the Middle East to take part in research and teaching assistantships. Eight graduate-level students plan to travel to the Middle East, Central America, Europe, and East and South Asia. The UW had three students — two undergraduates and one graduate level — selected as alternates.

This year’s awardees are:

  • Vecksle Drake: English teaching assistantship in Mongolia
  • Anna Feit: Study and research, Brazil
  • Lukas Metzner: Study and research, Germany
  • Lexi Rohrer: Study and research, Thailand
  • Ela Sezgin: English teaching assistantship, Turkey

This year’s at the UW are:

  • Aaron Barker, Doctoral student, Philosophy: Research grant to Germany
  • Rachel Andersen, Doctoral student, Nursing: Research grant to Jordan
  • Claudia Herrero Rapagna, Master’s student, Middle East Studies: English teaching assistant grant to Jordan
  • Nicolás Kisic Aguirre, Doctoral student, Digital Arts & Experimental Media: Creative arts research grant to Mexico
  • Kaya Mallick, Master’s student, International Studies: Research grant to India
  • Brian Park, Doctoral student, History: Research grant to Japan
  • Claire Rater, Master’s student, Epidemiology and Social Work: Research grant to Colombia
  • Frankie Leigh Shelton, Master’s student, Health Administration: Study grant to United Kingdom

For the past several years, The Chronicle of Higher Education has ranked the UW a “Top Producer” of student awardees. The Fulbright program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides round-trip travel, health insurance, a housing stipend and visa assistance to awardees.

Read more about this year’s student winners and the projects they will pursue abroad at the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards and the Graduate School’s.

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UW graduate receives prestigious Gates Cambridge scholarship /news/2024/02/28/uw-graduate-receives-prestigious-gates-cambridge-scholarship/ Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:57:55 +0000 /news/?p=84623 woman in library
Sonia Fereidooni will pursue doctoral work at the University of Cambridge, after receiving the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Photo: Jayden Becles/Ƶ

Sonia Fereidooni, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Ƶ, wasselected for the prestigious .

, 22, will receive a full-cost scholarship to pursue doctoral work in Digital Humanities at the University of Cambridge, England.

The highly competitive scholarship brings recognition of accomplishments and future promise. This year, 26 students from 20 institutions across the United States were selected.

Fereidooni was born in Eastern Canada and raised in rural Washington. While an undergraduate at the UW, she studied computer and data science in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering and sociology in the College of Arts & Sciences. She went on to earn a master’s in computer science and engineering from the Allen School. She was named a Mary Gates Research Scholar in 2022. The next year, she received the Allen AI Outstanding Engineer Scholarship for Women & Underrepresented Minorities.

Her research to date has focused on artificial intelligence, including bias, ethics, fairness and governance; commonsense reasoning and development; and she’s looked at ways to teach computer science more equitably.

In joining the inaugural class in Cambridge’s Digital Humanities program, she plans to research how to effectively legislate AI governance in protection of intersectional identities from the global south, especially the Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

“I hope to pursue fieldwork in critical areas that are most adversely affected by the recent accelerated developments of AI, and research how it is that AI can be universally-regulated to avoid such outcomes,” she said.

Established in October 2000 by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Cambridge scholarships are awarded on a student’s intellectual ability, leadership capacity, and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world by providing service to their communities and applying their talents and knowledge to improve the lives of others.

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ArtSci Roundup: UW Pandemic Project Radical Listening Session, National First-Generation College Celebration, and more /news/2023/11/02/artsci-roundup-uw-pandemic-project-radical-listening-session-national-first-generation-college-celebration-and-more/ Thu, 02 Nov 2023 22:01:12 +0000 /news/?p=83363 This week, attend the UW Pandemic Project’s Radical Listening Session to honor each individual’s lived pandemics experiences, head to Meany Hall for Garrick Ohlsson’s piano performance, celebrate Diwali with the Burke Museum, and more.


November 7, 4:30 – 6:00pm | Communications Building

This presentation by Sharon Stein asks how universities can navigate the complexity of confronting the colonial foundations of higher education and enabling different futures. This discussion approaches reparations as a potentially regenerative process of enacting material redistribution and restitution, (re)building relationships grounded in respect and reciprocity, and repurposing our institutions to be more relevant and responsible.

Free |


November 7, 6:00 – 8:00pm | Kane Hall

The Pandemics – COVID 19 and the worldwide racial reckoning – forever changed how people work, live, go to school, and interact as a community. Come listen to a recorded dialogues about the pandemics, and engage in dialogue with the UW community. Together the session will remember and honor each individual’s lived pandemics experiences.

Free |

 


November 8, 7:00 – 8:30pm | Burke Museum

Join the Burke Museum to celebrate Spirit Whales & Sloth Tales: Fossils of Washington State, by Elizabeth A. Nesbitt, Burke curator emerita of invertebrate and micropaleontology, and David B. Williams, Seattle-based author, naturalist, and historian.

From primitive horses on the Columbia Plateau to giant bird tracks near Bellingham, fossils across Washington state are filled with clues of past life on Earth. With abundant and well-exposed rock layers, the state has both old and “young” fossils, from Ice Age mammals dating only 12,000 years old back to marine invertebrates more than 500 million years old.

Free |


November 8, 7:30pm | Meany Hall

Seattle favorite Garrick Ohlsson has established himself as a pianist of masterful interpretive and technical skill. He commands an enormous repertoire ranging over the entire piano literature. He brings a full program of Chopin, Schubert, and Beethoven, along with an evocative work by Ursula Mamlok. Ohlsson’s brilliant stage presence and easy connection to audiences amplifies his well-earned reputation for bringing piano masterpieces to life with virtuosic firepower and resonant interpretations.

Buy Tickets |


November 8 | National First-Generation College Celebration

The UW proudly supports the experiences of first-generation students. For the sixth-straight year, the UW Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma campuses are joining colleges and universities throughout the nation to participate in the on November 8.

Led by the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE) and the NASPA Center for First-Generation Student Success, the day is intended to celebrate the success and presence of first-generation college students, faculty, and staff on campuses across the country.

Free | More info


November 9, 6:00 – 8:00pm |

Different disciplines, cultures, and individuals have distinct approaches to gathering information, interpreting it, and forming beliefs. This begs the question: “How do we know things and where else should we be looking for answers?”

UW Honors’ annual Global Challenges/Interdisciplinary Answers conversation, led by Polly Olsen (Yakama), director of DEI & Decolonization and tribal liaison at the Burke Museum; Tony Lucero, Professor and Chair in the Department of Comparative History of Ideas; and Katie Davis, Associate Professor in the iSchool, consider questions cultivated by students in the University Honors Program. This conversation will be moderated by Samantha-Lynn Martinez, a rising junior marine biology major.

Free |


 

November 12, 11:00am – 12:00pm | Burke Museum

Burke Museum education partner Hindi Time Kids has planned an exciting all-ages event to teach visitors about the meaning and traditions of Diwali, a South Asian annual festival of lights celebrated in many parts of the world. The word ‘Diwali’ derives from Sanskrit language and means “a row of lights.” Diwali is a time for gathering with loved ones, celebrating life, and enjoying the illumination of lights.

Free |


November 12, 1:30 – 2:30pm | Henry Art Gallery

Meet curator Nina Bozicnik for a tour of Sophia Al-Maria: Not My Bag. Born in Tacoma, Washington and now based in London, Al-Maria is a Qatari-American artist, writer, and filmmaker. Not My Bag brings together, her recent trilogy of films. In this exhibition, Al-Maria interrogates histories of colonial authority in contemporary culture. During the tour, Bozicnik will share insights into the concepts, ideas, and artworks within the exhibition as well as take time for questions and conversation.

Free |

 


October – November | “Ways of Knowing” Podcast: Episode 4

“Ways of Knowing” is an eight-episode podcast connecting humanities research with current events and issues. This week’s episode is with Louisa Mackenzie, associate professor of Comparative History of Ideas at the UW, will describe how human’s view of nature has evolved over decades, from fear to appreciation.

This season features faculty from the UW College of Arts & Sciences as they explore race, immigration, history, the natural world—even comic books. Each episode analyzes a work, or an idea, and provides additional resources for learning more.

More info

 

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From Botswana to Taiwan, a dozen UW students receive Fulbright exchange awards /news/2023/05/26/from-botswana-to-taiwan-a-dozen-uw-students-receive-fulbright-exchange-awards/ Fri, 26 May 2023 20:16:19 +0000 /news/?p=81749 images of students
A dozen UW students or recent graduates were named 2023 Fulbright Scholars. Photo: Ƶ

Twelve UW students and recent alumni were awardedscholarships this year, joining about 2,000 students and recent graduates from around the country to study and teach abroad.

The scholarship program is the largest U.S. international exchange opportunity for students to pursue graduate study, advanced research and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide.

Six UW undergraduate students or recent alumni are among this year’s Fulbright Student Program recipients and plan travel to Asia, Europe, Scandinavia and Africa to take part in research and teaching assistantships. Six graduate-level students plan to travel to the Middle East, Asia, Scandinavia and the South Pacific. Four UW students were selected as alternates.

This year’s awardees who are at the UW are:

  • Jessie Cox: English teaching assistantship award to South Korea
  • Mia Filardi: Study award to Finland
  • Auden Finch: Study award to Germany
  • Jennifer Ha, UW Bothell: English teaching assistantship award to Taiwan
  • Kennedy Patterson: English teaching assistantship award to Botswana
  • Lillian Williamson: English teaching assistantship award to Spain

This year’s at the UW are:

  • Jacob Beckert, Doctoral student, History: Research grant to Israel
  • Eliyah Omar, Doctoral student, Anthropology: Research grant to Japan
  • Larisa Ozeryansky, Doctoral student, Individual interdisciplinary doctoral student: Research grant to Norway
  • Rachel Shi, Master’s student, Bioengineering: Research grant to Germany
  • Camille Ungco, Doctoral student, Education: Research grant to the Philippines
  • Nick Andrews, Doctoral student, Aeronautics & Astronautics: Research Grant to Norway

For the past several years, the UW has been named atop producerof Fulbright students and scholars, ranked by The Chronicle of Higher Education each February. The Fulbright program, funded by the U.S. Department of State, provides round-trip travel, health insurance, a housing stipend and visa assistance to awardees.

Read more about this year’s student winners and the projects they will pursue abroad at the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awardsand the Graduate School’s.

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UW’s Daniel Chen, ’22, named prestigious Marshall Scholar /news/2022/12/12/uws-daniel-chen-22-named-prestigious-marshall-scholar/ Mon, 12 Dec 2022 15:00:33 +0000 /news/?p=80232 profile image
Daniel Chen, class of 2022, was selected as a Marshall Scholar. Photo: Ƶ

Ƶ alumnus Daniel Guorui Chen, Class of 2022, has been named a, one of the highest honors available to college graduates in the U.S. Chen plans to attend the University of Cambridge.

“I was so surprised when I learned I was awarded. This is such an honor,” Chen, 19, said. “The Marshall Scholarship is a great example of taking U.S. and U.K. perspectives and putting them together to work and discover and push for better health, not just for these two countries, but for the world at large.”

Founded by an act of the British Parliament in 1953, the awards pay all expenses for up to three years of study at a British university of the student’s choice. Marshall scholarships finance young Americans of high ability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. This year, 40 scholars were selected to pursue graduate study in any field at a UK institution.

Chen, a Sammamish, Wash., native, graduated with majors in informatics (data science) and microbiology. He plans to pursue a Master of Philosophy degree at Cambridge, delving deeper into biological sciences and genomic medicine. Eventually, Chen hopes to earn an M.D. and a Ph.D., to become a physician-scientist and professor conducting research while practicing in clinic.

profile shot
Daniel Chen Photo: Ƶ

Chen is the first UW student to achieve this honor since Havana McElvaine was selected in 2018. Prior to that, UW’s Jeffrey Eaton was selected in 2008. This year, 951 students from across the United States applied for the scholarship. Only four candidates from the San Francisco region, which includes Washington, Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Northern California and most of Nevada, were selected.

“Daniel’s rigorous undergraduate scholarship on topical and complex medical issues is exemplary,” said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. “This recognition will provide a wonderful opportunity for Daniel, who is already dedicated to the medical sciences, to deepen and extend his scholarship.”

 

Read more about Chen here.

 

Chen arrived at the UW when he was 14, through the Early Entrance Program. During his undergraduate career, he conducted research at UW and at some of the most prestigious research labs in the Puget Sound region, including the, Institute for Systems Biology and the. Chen’s research examines how and why some people contract long COVID and what’s happening at the cellular level. He also conducted single-cell research on pancreatic cancer and COVID-19 patients, and gained experience in bacterial cloning and genetic engineering while working in a medical microbiology lab.

“Daniel is an amazing young scientist,” said James R. Heath, president of the ISB and one of Chen’s mentors. Chen was the second author out of more than 50 on a research paper, “,” published in 2020 in Cell.

 

For media: B-roll and soundbites of Chen available .

 

Greg Hay, an assistant teaching professor in the Information School, asked Chen to be a teaching assistant after he exceled during an introductory class. Later, Hay tapped Chen to lead a project supervising both undergraduate and graduate students.

“Daniel has a superpower processor,” Hay said. “His mind is always active, engaged and blasting forward at double-speed. He is fearless, focused and curious.”

While in Britain, Chen plans to study with of the to acquire an understanding of the computational biology toolkit. He said he’s looking forward to immersing himself in British culture and learning from people who are different from him. He believes that a diversity of thought is what “drives knowledge forward.”

“When we come from different backgrounds and perspectives, we can work together to chip away at the truth,” Chen said. “Together we can figure out rich solutions.”

Chen was the recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Microbiology Undergraduate Research Award and Levinson Emerging Scholar Award. He received the Microbiology Erling J. Ordal Award for best senior thesis, a Washington Research Foundation Fellowship and a Microbiology Summer Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship. In 2022, he was named to the Husky 100. Chen, who identifies as LGBTQIA+, also co-founded , a student group that promotes visibility and acceptance of neurodiversity at the UW and beyond.

For more information, contact Jackson Holtz at jjholtz@uw.edu.

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25th-annual Undergraduate Research Symposium celebrates undergraduate discovery /news/2022/05/17/25th-annual-undergraduate-research-symposium-celebrates-undergraduate-discovery/ Tue, 17 May 2022 15:33:47 +0000 /news/?p=78503 Mary Gates Hall
The Undergraduate Research Symposium, shown here in 2019, is one of the largest showcases of undergraduate research in the country. The symposium returns online and to Mary Gates Hall on Friday. Photo: David Ryder/Ƶ

The 25th annual Ƶ Undergraduate Research Symposium returns this year on May 20 with a hybrid format including both online and in-person presentations, following two years of online only events due to the COVID pandemic.

Hosted by the Undergraduate Research Program, part of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, the event is one of the largest symposia for undergraduates in the country. This research showcase covers student contributions, demonstrating the diversity of undergraduate research from scholarly to creative, crossing disciplines and addressing pressing critical issues of our time.

Read more about this year’s participants in the Undergraduate Research Symposium and learn about the program’s history.

“The Ƶ ecosystem is on full display at the Undergraduate Research Symposium: Deep learning, mentorship, discovery, innovation, problem solving and the application of knowledge for the greater good are all articulated by students right before our eyes,” said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

More than 700 undergraduates are expected to present their research during the day, including lightning talks online, in-person oral and poster presentations in Mary Gates Hall and visual arts and design exhibitions in Odegaard Library. More than 1,000 faculty, post-doctorate researchers, research staff and graduate student mentors will be supporting the student researchers. In 2020, in the midst of the COVID pandemic, 8,299 students worked with UW faculty research mentors devoting about 1.5 million hours, more than 6,000 years of research, across the university’s colleges, schools, departments and research centers.

The event is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Taylor and UW Provost Mark Richards are scheduled to speak at an in-person welcome at 11:00 a.m. in Mary Gates Hall. For more information and a detailed schedule, click here.

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‘2020: The Course’ ponders the meaning of this unusual year /news/2020/10/30/2020-the-course-ponders-the-meaning-of-this-unusual-year/ Fri, 30 Oct 2020 22:48:34 +0000 /news/?p=71348

For a time unlike any before, the Ƶ has developed “2020: The Course,” a new online class for UW students that helps contextualize this year’s extraordinary events and societal upheaval. “2020: The Course” gives students an opportunity to hear from UW professors and special guests who will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic, race in the United States, the state of the environment, the economic recession, civic participation, citizenship and this election season and outcomes.

This course, much of which is now available to the public, probes what national thought leaders are doing to meet the imperatives of this particular moment through their research, scholarship and service.

Among the featured speakers are UW President Ana Mari Cauce; UW Provost Mark Richards; Hillary Godwin, dean of the UW School of Public Health; Bob Stacey, dean of the UW College of Arts & Sciences; UW sociology professor Alexes Harris; UW history professor Margaret O’Mara; and writer and UW English professor Shawn Wong. A complete list of the invited experts is here.

Ed Taylor Photo: Ƶ

“2020 has been a year like no other. It will be a year that will be remembered for the ways in which our university, nation, communities and world have been impacted,” said Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and lead instructor for the course. “We must also look at 2020 as a year in which we contributed to the betterment of our world and society.”

About 600 UW students, including from UW Bothell and UW Tacoma and including both undergraduate and graduate students, are engagingwitha series of talks, lectures and conversations with scholarsrepresenting colleges and schoolsacross all three UW campuses. Studentsare also documentingtheirown experiences in such a way that a time capsule can be created for future generations of UW teachers and learners.

Taylor noted that being a student at the UW means being invited into the spheres of ideas and lines of inquiry to which UW’s teachers and researchers dedicate their lives– and continuouslybringing clarity of thought to the following questions:

  • How doweknow whatweknow?
  • How doweknow whatwedon’tknow?
  • How dowedecidewhat’simportant to learn?

Thiseducationalvisionand these questions areexpressed throughout the UW’s curriculum, butmost oftenin implicit ways, Taylor said. The purpose of this course is to animate this vision more explicitly through the presentation of and engagement withresearchers and teachers whose work ismeeting the moment – namely, 2020.

Joseph Janes Photo: Mary Levin

“How shall this moment be remembered?” asked UW Information School professor Joseph Janes, one of the nearly 20 public scholars presenting during the course. Janes, known for his podcast, “,” came up with the idea to include a time capsule.

The time capsule will consist of contributions from students and faculty, including a poem by Wong, and others associated with “2020: TheCourse.” The capsule will be sealed and stored for safekeeping at UW Libraries, to be opened againin 20 years in partnership with the UW Alumni Association.

“2020 will be a year we will never forget, yet we will not be eager to remember,” said Janes. “By creating a time capsule, students will be part of creating an indelible legacy, recalling this remarkable year.”

The course began asynchronously on Sept. 30 and continues until the end of the quarter in mid-December. Videos of the lectures will be made available here, and typically will contain three parts: an introduction, a lecture and then follow-on conversation between Taylor and the other scholar.

For more information, contact Victor Balta, balta@uw.edu.

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