Spring is the time we look back at all our faculty, staff, and students have accomplished in the previous six months and think about all we have to do to finish up the academic year and prepare for the new academic season.
One high point to date was our annual History Lecture Series (HLS), Speaking Truth to Power: Protest and Dissent in Modern History, held in late January and early February 2018. As a first-timer—my presentation traced the development of Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas and practice… Read more
Because History Matters
The events of 2017-18 made it abundantly clear that history matters. Historians have been asked time and time again to dissect and help explain our current political, economic, and social moment, which at times can feel overwhelming and unprecedented. Over the course of the year, the Department of History used its platform to speak to this moment in many important ways: from classes designed to help students reflect and think critically about the present to community… Read more
Undergraduate Honors Program Students Present Work
The Honors in History program is designed to give undergraduates a taste of what a career in history looks like, by beginning to prepare them for the historian’s life outside of the classroom. Honors students engage in intense individual research on a specific subject of their choosing and are asked to build a thesis from the ground up over three quarters of focused study.
All this hard work culminates in the presentation of their research—… Read more
Serafin Divina and Kum Cha (Tina) Vicente, outstanding custodians
In winter quarter each year, the University of Washington accepts nominations for the Distinguished Staff Award (DSA). The staff, students, and faculty of Smith Hall wanted to recognize Serafin Divina and Kum Cha (Tina) Vicente for the outstanding work they do in keeping our building safe, clean, and well-maintained.
Josh Apfel, administrator of the Department of History, who headed the nominating team, described the pride… Read more
It’s already shaping up to be a golden year for our faculty
We’re only in April, but it has already been another award-winning year for our faculty. In March, Professor Emeritus Quintard Taylor was awarded a lifetime achievement award from the Washington State Historical Society. He received the society’s Robert Gray Medal for 2017 in recognition of his “far-reaching commitment to researching, preserving and promoting the history of African-Americans in the Pacific Northwest.”
Professor… Read more
Using the PhD for great things.
Today, the potential and exciting pathways that can be opened with a PhD in history are often overlooked because it feels like society is more focused than ever on encouraging students to think about degrees outside of the humanities. In this climate, the Department of History is especially delighted to highlight the successes of our recent PhD recipients and current graduate students who are collectively engaged in exciting and innovative work and research… Read more
Hannah Fumiko Takemori receives prestigious accolade
The Department of History is celebrating again this spring because one of our undergraduate majors, Hannah Fumiko Takemori, has been selected as a member of the University of Washington’s Husky 100 for 2018. This distinguished group of students is recognized annually for the students' commitment to their studies and their drive to go above and beyond at the UW, truly making the most of the… Read more
Arbella Bet-Shlimon, professor of the history of the modern Middle East, first joined the University of Washington in 2013 after receiving her PhD from Harvard in 2012. She decided she wanted to be a historian while completing an interdisciplinary master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies.
“I quickly realized that history was the approach I wanted to use to understand the Middle East, especially Iraq, and help others understand it too.”
Since coming to UW, Bet-Shlimon has helped hundreds of… Read more
Department of History faculty in the news:
The Seattle Times - John Findley, reflects on Cold War Seattle.
PBS KCTS9 - Documentary on Vietman featuring Proffesor Christoph Giebel and recent PhD Huong Nguyen.