UW Honors | Weekly Announcements

Week 3 – Winter 2024

Hi Honors Huskies!

We hope the first exams and projects of winter quarter have not perturbed you from experiencing some winter fun! It’s Thursday afternoon which means it’s time for our weekly announcements! Check out the many events happening soon and open positions to apply for, linked below.

Opportunities

Honors Events and Opportunities

Events

Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMFSA) and Honors Program Scholarship Search Party

Scholarship season is among us! Join the Honors Program and the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA) as we team-up to share scholarship search strategies, info on Honors scholarships, and ways to bring your strengths into your application materials. You’ll even hear from recent scholarship recipients as they share their experiences and tips for applying. We’ll also dedicate time to searching for scholarships together and answer questions as they pop-up.

This is a low-stress opportunity to get motivated and to encourage one another – let’s work in community and get ready for application season! Bring your laptop, water bottle and detective skills to this Scholarship Search Party!

Date/Time: Thursday January 18, 2024, 3:30-4:30 PM
Location: Honors suite, MGH 211

Peru: Exploring Human Rights in Practice Study Abroad Info Session

January 18th, 4:00-5:00 PM

Explore the Amazon while engaged in a grassroots approach to human rights in this three-week study abroad program in Peru. Students will have the opportunity to connect with faculty and students in the Department of Law at Catolica University in Lima as well as Peace and Hope International, to learn about the current enviro/economic challenges Peruvians face and to support projects to help to advance work by partner organizations. Students will examine the role of international advocates and volunteers and potential risks associated with volun-tourism while supporting those working in the field to advance human rights —  learning first-hand how projects are designed and implemented and how marginalized groups of peoples experience discrimination and exercise agency in asserting and defending their rights.   

Honors Peru Flyer
Honors Peru Flyer

Taking Flight: Engineering the Planes of the Future

Students will hear from faculty in four engineering departments (Civil & Environmental, Chemical, Industrial & Systems, and Materials Science) about how their work and research contribute and connect to aeronautics and aeronautical engineering. This event is co-hosted by CEE, MSE, ChemE, and ISE – all of which have capacity for additional students in our upcoming application cycle. We would love to talk to any interested student about finding a pathway to engineering at UW that fits their interests.  

This event is open to ANY interested student, but is particularly geared toward freshmen and pre-majors. 

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email me at laurcush@uw.edu. 

COE Joint Talks Taking Flight

Leadership Firesides Speaker Series

Over the next eight weeks, we’ll host one amazing community leader each Tuesday afternoon to share about their leadership journey, offer reflections on resilience, share advice for students and answer a few unscripted questions along the way!

Conversations happen on Tuesdays from 4:30-5:20pm in Guggenheim Hall, Room 218. No need to RSVP, simply drop in to any sessions that are of interest. (Prompt arrival is appreciated!) I’ve included the names and professional titles for our speakers below; you can also read more about each speaker on the CELE Center website.

  • January 23: Jeanie Lindsay, Legislative Reporter at KUOW and NW News Network
  • January 30: Nani Vishwanath, Senior Program Manager, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at REI
  • February 6: Bill Mack, (retired) Deputy Chief with East Pierce Fire & Rescue
  • February 13: Talya Gillman, Program Director at Citizen University
  • February 20: Felicia Ishino, Executive Director at Sankofa Impact
  • February 27: Heather Crandall, Volunteer Coordinator with White Center Food Bank
  • March 5: Megan Kennedy, Director at UW Resilience Lab

Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

The Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium has opened applications for 2024-25 Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP).

Eligibility

  • U.S. Citizen and Washington State resident
  • Currently enrolled in any WASG institution 
  • Available for the entire duration of the 9-week program, June 17 – Aug 16, 2024.
  • Priority is given to undergraduate students with little to no prior research experience.

Key Dates

  • Priority Deadline: March 4, 2024 @12pm
  • Application accepted on a rolling basis until April 1, 2024 @12pm
  • Selection notification will begin in late April. 
  • Info sessions via Zoom, @ 3 – 3:30pm

Program Schedule & Expectations

  • Program Dates: June 17 – Aug 16, 2024
  • Attend a minimum of 2 cohort meetings per week
  • Work with the research lead on your group’s specific lab or project hours 
  • Demonstration of learning:
    • Update resume or online professional profile 
    • Write a research abstract
    • Practice and deliver an elevator pitch for your project
    • Create an academic research poster
    • Present in the Student Research Poster Session on Aug 16, 2024 @ 10a-12p on UW Seattle campus. In-person attendance is required.

Award 

Part-time participant (20 hrs/wk) $3,650 

Full-time participant (40 hrs/wk) $7,300

Award amount will be distributed over the 9-week program.

Application 

To submit an application, have your unofficial school transcript and five short essays prepared to copy and paste into our online application form. We are including our evaluation rubrics below. The review committee may reach out to you for additional information.

Undergraduate Application Link

More-than-human Worlds: The Poetics and Politics of Life, SIAH 2024

What becomes possible when we decenter the human in the arts and humanities? The 2024 Summer Institute in the Arts and Humanities (SIAH) aims to cultivate an appreciation of plants, water, rocks, and the broader more-than-human-world as agentive, animate, and entangled with human lifeworlds. To this end, the 2024 SIAH will introduce frameworks and methods from Indigenous epistemologies, critical animal studies, multispecies ethnography, and the environmental humanities to explore the human and non-human dimensions of racial formations, settler colonialism, extractive capitalism, captivity, war, and other forms of violence. Ultimately, SIAH students will be encouraged to cross disciplinary and species boundaries in crafting imaginative explorations of the expansive and resilient politics and poetics of life. 

In the initial weeks, the summer institute teaching team invites students to engage with texts and invited speakers that explore the crisis around conceptions of the human and the toll of human-centeredness, such as climate change and species extinction. With the conceptual tools and frameworks of Indigenous Studies and other critical intellectual traditions, students will explore the more-than-human entanglements at work in multiple forms and genres, like oral narratives, literary fiction and poetry, visual arts, cinema/time-based art, and other forms of storytelling, signifying, and witnessing. The second half of the course allows students to further explore those themes and develop, discuss, and produce in-depth research projects (which can include creative work) with the mentorship of the teaching team. A background in the arts and humanities is not what is most important; rather, it is your interest in joining a respectful, open, and at times difficult conversation about the role of the arts and humanities in reconceptualizing a world that holds many worlds.

More-than-human worlds summer 2024

Practices for Campaigning a Pedestrianization of The Ave Survey

Hello, my name is Jaykub Rafael! I am currently working on my senior capstone project for the Community, Environment, and Planning program. The project examines the practices for campaigning a pedestrianization of The Ave, in a way that fosters a sense of community ownership. 

The U District is, and will always be, constantly changing. I believe that much of the community is removed from the development of the U District. Whether it be projects like opening more outdoor seating or storefront improvements, community development authorities (like U District Partnerships) should strive to center the voices of all community members in the changes that are made to the neighborhood. The first step of my project is to better understand the best strategies for engaging with U District stakeholders– which includes UW Students! For my project to be successful I need to reach as many community members as possible, so I appreciate you taking the time to fill out my survey.”

And here is the survey link: https://forms.gle/5HXZzijTAaLTqYzk7 (additionally, I have a tinyURL: tinyurl.com/UDistrictOutreach)

Film Screening: El Houb (The Love)

Film Screening: El Houb (The Love)
Tuesday, January 23rd, 4:00-6:00 PM, Thomson Hall 101
El Houb<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/vimeo.com/709033471__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!knt5Iqm9B_IxeRlT29zfbCt6ucZuZ6fINZ3FotnGeMZi9oAXHljFqXIxVigPys65mO4bggTK5efSiFc$> (2022), directed by Shariff Nasr, follows Karim as he navigates coming out as gay to his Moroccan-Dutch Muslim family. This film screening will be introduced by Nicolaas P. Barr and Louisa Mackenzie (Comparative History of Ideas).
Note: current UW community members can also stream the film through the UW Language Learning Center<https://depts.washington.edu/llc/lr/media/view.php?id_file=26007> (login required).
A set of introductory materials is available in this folder<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12L3-nqCxmyyyjAdMo3grpH2Xku4ZEOoK__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!kDURaYaou9QWxv0jq-9lAzE9JLM8FGYWG4RYS4mFVFTwCFPeNr9V0D78xHvc-bpgoQpplQLURB2y2Q$>.

Zoom Panel: Queerness Beyond Whiteness in Europe: A Conversation on El Houb (The Love)
Wednesday, January 24th, 9:30-11:00 AM PST

In “‘Gays who cannot properly be gay’: Queer Muslims in the neoliberal European city” (2013), Black queer studies scholar Fatima El-Tayeb shows how dominant white European narratives of “coming out” normatively frame queer freedom in contradistinction to racialized Others–particularly Muslim men, who are rendered threatening, if straight, and inadequately liberated, if queer without abandoning Islam. How is this narrative being challenged by queer Muslims themselves while grappling with the challenges of being queer within ethnic communities that are already minoritized in Europe? This virtual panel about the award-winning Dutch film El Houb(The Love, 2022) will feature Moroccan-Dutch author and screenwriter Tofik Dibi and lead actor Fahd Larhzaoui in conversation with Nicolaas P. Barr and Louisa Mackenzie(Comparative History of Ideas).
Zoom registration required: https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pcOGtpz0sGNx0xO8uRQOP8dQgtgT_Ti3E<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0pcOGtpz0sGNx0xO8uRQOP8dQgtgT_Ti3E__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!knt5Iqm9B_IxeRlT29zfbCt6ucZuZ6fINZ3FotnGeMZi9oAXHljFqXIxVigPys65mO4bggTKNWApWds$>

Fahd Larhzaoui is a Dutch dramatist and actor who has starred in plays, films, and television series in Europe and beyond. He played the protagonist Karim in El Houb, receiving nominations for Best Male Lead in several Dutch and international film festivals.

Tofik Dibi is a former Member of Parliament (2006-2012) in the Netherlands. He is the author of the coming-out memoir Djinn<https://urldefense.com/v3/__http:/ypress.edu/Books/D/Djinn__;!!K-Hz7m0Vt54!knt5Iqm9B_IxeRlT29zfbCt6ucZuZ6fINZ3FotnGeMZi9oAXHljFqXIxVigPys65mO4bggTK-4sHxjM$> (Uitgeverij Prometheus, 2015; SUNY Press, 2021), translated by Nicolaas P. Barr, and the novel Het Monster van Wokeness (The Woke Ness Monster, Uitgeverij Prometheus, 2020). He is one of the screenwriters for El Houb.

El houb

War in the Middle East Lecture Series

A series of talks and discussions on the aftermath of Oct. 7, the war in Gaza and responses worldwide. 

Moderator: Reşat Kasaba, Jackson School Professor of International Studies and Middle East expert

When: Weekly from Jan. 16 to Feb. 27, 2024 from 5:00-6:20 p.m.*

Location: Lecture locations vary by session. Click here for session descriptions

RSVP here

*Note: The Jan. 22 lecture will be held from 7:00-8:30 p.m.

This lecture series is free and open to the public. 

war in the middle east

Domestic Study Away Opportunity, Summer 2024: Honors American South: Foundations of Black Culture, Social Movements, and Collective Liberation.

  • Students will travel through ten states–from Houston, TX to Washington, DC! In addition to visiting historical sites and memorials to significant moments in American history, students will meet with foot soldiers from the civil rights movement and community leaders who continue to push forward conversations about racial justice and reconciliation. 
  • The program is designed to meet several general education requirements for any UW undergraduate. It will meet elective requirements for the American Ethnic Studies major, Leadership minor, and Interdisciplinary Honors requirements.

Information Sessions: Students can learn more via our website or this intro video

  • Wednesday, Jan 17th, 3:00 pm. Mary Gates Hall, Room 258
  • Wednesday, Jan 24th, 3:00 pm. Mary Gates Hall, Room 258

Deadline: Wednesday, January 31st, 2024. If you would like more information, you can visit here.

Inside Admissions at the UW School of Medicine

Tuesday, February 27 | 5–7 p.m.

You are invited to join LeeAnna Muzquiz, MD ’00, Res. ’03, associate dean for admissions, online for an information session about the UW School of Medicine’s admissions process.   Dr. Muzquiz will share her perspective on the experience and personal qualities that the admissions committee looks for in applicants. There will be time for questions, and you can also submit your questions in advance on the registration page. Please submit your questions to Dr. Muzquiz by February 20, ahead of the presentation.

Zoom instructions for joining the presentation will be sent to you in advance. This event is open to all, so please help us spread the word and feel free to invite a guest!   If you have questions about the event or would like more information, contact medalum@uw.edu or 206.685.1875. We look forward to you joining us!        

RSVP BY 2/20

2024 Diversity Career Fair

JOBS! INTERNSHIPS! FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS!

What:  43rd Annual Diversity Career Fair (In-Person)

When:  Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Where: Husky Union Building (HUB) Ballroom – UW Seattle 

Time:  3:00 P.M. – 6:00 P.M.

All Majors (Arts & Sciences, Business, STEM)

All Class Levels (Freshmen – PhD)

Dress: Business Casual 

Participating Employers: https://www.nsbeuw.com/students

Diversity Career Fair

Social Entrepreneurship in India: Study Abroad

The Foster School has a fantastic Early Fall Start (8/24-9/14) study abroad opportunity and ALL UW undergrads are encouraged to apply! The deadline to apply is February 15. We would appreciate your help spreading the word!

Social Entrepreneurship in India: Study Abroad

Are you an undergraduate student interested in traveling abroad and exploring the intersection of social issues, culture, and entrepreneurship? Travel with a cohort of UW students to immerse yourself in Indian history, culture, cuisine, art, and architecture. Through company and cultural visits, students will learn about India’s unique sociopolitical and economic context and how non-profits are addressing social issues. Watch the promo video and a vlog made by former participants!

Application Due: February 15

Program Dates: August 24-September 14 – a great way to fit in study abroad without missing summer internships or fall quarter!

Cost: $5875 covers 5 credits + ALL in-country transportation, housing, activities, insurance, and meals. Credits applied to fall quarter, so students can use their scholarships and financial aid! Additional scholarships may be available.More Info: foster.school/businessindia or email Eileen Guo eilguo@uw.edu

Study abroad india 1
study abroad india 2

Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) Admissions Support Events

BLA applications will open February 1 and will be announced again in the quarterly email that has our other usual course announcements.  

Additionally, applications for our summer study abroad programs are still open until January 31 and are open to all students. All courses taken with our study abroad programs can be applied towards the UED Minor, and a select few can apply towards the BLA Major. Take a look on our study abroad page for further details.

BLA Info Session – 2/9 @ 2:30PM

If you are interested in this STEM Accredited program, join us on February 9 at 2:30 PM for an informative session on what to expect from a landscape architecture program! We will spend some time briefly reviewing the program, hearing from a current BLA who will share his BLA admissions application, and take a tour of Gould and drop by the first year studio. Folks interested in either the Urban Ecological Design Minor or the Bachelor’s of Landscape Architecture are welcome to join.

Register Here

BLA Admissions Portfolio Review – 2/15 @ 6PM
The UW Student Chapter of ASLA will be hosting a peer led Portfolio Review for prospective BLA Applicants on February 15! Bring your current CV, draft portfolio, and any other work you’d like to showcase, to Gould Hall at 6 PM for peer feedback from students in the program. Use the link below to register for this event.

Register Here

Questions? Coco Alarcon (cocoa84@uw.edu) or Rebeca Bachman (rbachman@uw.edu)

Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF)

Applications for the Teaching Assistant Program in France (TAPIF) have been extended until Thursday, February 15, 2024. This extra month to apply should allow any newly interested candidates enough time to submit their dossiers and potentially begin a new life in France this October.  

WHY SHOULD GRADUATING SENIORS APPLY FOR TAPIF? 

After their teaching experience in France, TAPIF alumni report that they have gained fluency in French and an enhanced global perspective. Our alumni go on to pursue a wide range of careers, both in the United States and abroad. TAPIF partners with Fulbright to provide extra financial support for selected teaching assistants (this yearly deadline is in October) as well as the option to apply for TAPIF to Teacher and gain a free graduate certificate from the Université de Nanterre while working as an Assistant de langue. 

MORE INFORMATION OF INTEREST: 

  • It’s possible for your students to enroll in an online MA program while working in France on a TAPIF visa, as long as their role as an Assistant de langue remains their top priority.  
  • Application fees are waived for all TAPIF Alumni at 14 TAPIF-Partnered US universities.Selected applicants receive yearly full and partial scholarships for these MA & PhD programs. 
  • It’s possible to stay in France after TAPIF! Discounts and scholarships for MA, PhD, Business School, and Language Intensive programs in France are available for program alumni. Assistants may repeat the program up to 3 times, consecutively or otherwise (within the age limit of 20-35).
  • In 2023 we launched the TAPIF Alumni Association which will connect our 30,000-strong TAPIF network to local francophone events and job fairs throughout the US. 
TAPIF Teach in France

Honors Huskies in the News

The Chicago Tribune recently delved into profound takeaways from the recently published book: “Grandmothering While Black,” by Honors Hanauer Professor LaShawnDa Pittman (Sociology; American Ethnic Studies). Students might remember Dr. Pittman from our 2022 Global Challenges event on “The Power of Place and Care.” Or you may have connected with LaShawnDa in her Honors class, or at a casual social event. Dr. Pittman has promised to do a book talk with the Honors community this spring. In the meantime, take a few minutes to read about her work. “Grandmothering While Black” is in the Honors Library in MGH 211.

UW Libraries Special Collections Open House

Check out this “open house” at UW Libraries Special Collections on Wednesday, Jan 31, 2024, 5:30 – 7:45 PM: https://www.lib.washington.edu/about/news/calendar?mkt_tok=NTI3LUFIUi0yNjUAAAGQtrRVkJ1J7sK29RFXftyVtP_K4t_tUYAYwpn0-QWMEMGEE6cdlPpRgmxJHdkqfJHWTF1vvH5_5f8MoetDOM7MjcTewiA4nSIrWDLgEc8MxFg&trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D171581999

Description:       

Special Collections is excited to host our first open house post COVID-19 lockdown! This year’s theme is Mise en Place to correspond with our year long exhibit in the Special Collections lobby, Breaking Bread: Foodways and Cuisine in Print. Join us for an exhibit walk through of our reading room exhibit, Magick and Mystery: Exploring the Supernatural in Special Collections, a special look behind the scenes through a stacks tour, and handle some of our new and food related treasures from the collections.

A great opportunity to explore UW Libraries’ unique holdings, and perhaps even inspiration for a CHID thesis!

Carbon Sovereignty: Coal, Development and Energy Transition in Navajo Nation

Please join us for a talk by Dr.  Andrew Curley (Diné) in a Geography Colloquium with generous support from the Center for American Indian & Indigenous Studies on Friday, January 26, from 3:30 – 5:00pm in Smith 304.

The colloquium will be followed by an outdoor reception at Big Time Brewing, all are welcome!

For almost fifty years, coal dominated the Navajo economy. But in 2019 one of the Navajo Nation’s largest coal plants closed. In this talk, Andrew Curley, a member of the Navajo Nation, examines the history of coal development within the Navajo Nation, including why some Diné supported coal and the consequences of doing so. Dr. Curley explains the Navajo Nation’s strategic choices to use the coal industry to support its sovereignty as a path forward in the face of ongoing colonialism. Carbon Sovereignty demonstrates the mechanism of capitalism through colonialism and the construction of resource sovereignty, in both the Navajo Nation’s embrace and its rejection of a coal economy.

For the people of the Navajo Nation, energy sovereignty is dire and personal. Thanks to on-the-ground interviews with Diné coal workers, environmental activists, and politicians, Curley documents the real consequences of change as they happened. While some Navajo actors have doubled down for coal, others have moved toward transition. Curley argues that political struggles ultimately shape how we should understand coal, capitalism, and climate change. The rise and fall of coal magnify the nuance and complexity of change. Historical and contemporary issues intermingle in everyday life with lasting consequences.

Andrew Curley is an Assistant Professor in the School of Geography, Development & Environment at the University of Arizona in Tucson, located on the territories of the Tohono O’odham, Yaqui and Apache peoples. He is Diné and a member of the Navajo Nation. Building on ethnographic research, his publications explain how Indigenous communities understand “resources,” infrastructure, and development in an era of energy transition and climate change. In 2018, he presented his research to the House Committee on Natural Resources as it considered the fate of the Navajo Generating Station. His book, Carbon Sovereignty, was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2023.

For any access needs, please write to Megan Ybarra at mybarra@uw.edu

Carbon Sovereignty with Andrew Curley

Huskies on the Hill Lobbying Day

the Office of Government Relations (OGR) annual Huskies on the Hill Lobbying Day! We invite you to be part of an interactive day filled with dialogue, advocacy, and the opportunity to build a strong community with fellow students interested in legislative affairs. This unique event empowers students to actively address statewide issues during the legislative session. Additionally, we’ll be providing lunch and transportation for all participants.

Legislators want to hear student voices, so let’s work together to get more Huskies on the Hill. 

Additional Information

What: Lobby skills training and virtual meetings with Washington State legislators to express support for bills impacting students.

When: Friday, January 26th at 5 pm or Saturday, January 27th at 10 am (Training) & Monday, January 29th (Lobbying)

Who: All students! REGISTER NOW! The last day to register is Saturday, January 20th, at https://forms.office.com/r/y9XcFMqMgU. If you have any questions or require additional information, please contact Maya atasuworgc@uw.edu.

Huskies on the Hill