News | October 29, 2019
‘I belong in this community.’ A new museum tells the Pacific Northwest history of Latinx identity
It’s 2 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon and the crowd at a new Mexican American cultural center in South Park is at capacity. Bailadores de Bronce, Washington’s oldest Mexican folkloric dance group, takes the stage to present two distinct traditional dances that reveal the variety within Mexican culture. “I think when I was growing up I had…
News | July 22, 2024
A week of nonstop breaking political news stumps AI chatbots
Reported by Heather Kelly For The Washington Post In the hour after President Biden announced he would withdraw from the 2024 campaign on Sunday, most popular AI chatbots seemed oblivious to the news. Asked directly whether he had dropped out, almost all said no or declined to give an answer. Asked who was running for…
Course | HSTAA 426
American Urban History Since 1870
Development of American cities for the past century. Topics include physical development, immigration, politics, and changes in society and culture.Scholar
Andrea Gevurtz Arai
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Angelina Godoy
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Arbella Bet-Shlimon
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Center for Southeast Asia and Its Diasporas (CSEAD)
The University of Washington Center for Southeast Asia & its Diasporas (CSEAD) is a National Resource Center for Southeast Asian Studies funded by the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to Title VI of the Higher Education Act (HEA). Established in 1986, the Center and the Southeast Asia Studies Program are a source of information on…
Visit lab websiteCourse | HSTAS 460 / SISEA 46
Cities in China: Past and Present
Economic, political, social, and cultural functions of the city in modern Chinese history. Changes in China's urban system. The city as cultural center and focus of literary and cinematic representation. Attention to architecture, commerce, urbanization, the role of capital cities in the power of the state.Course | GEOG 303, JSIS A 304
Contemporary European Migration
Provides a theoretical and empirical understanding of contemporary migration processes and patterns in Europe. Introduces the different migration regimes and integration practices of selected European states. Analyzes the impact of globalization, the ever-changing role of the European Union, and the importance of international, national, and urban policy on immigrant lives.Course | JSIS A 464, SOC 464
Contemporary Society in the People’s Republic of China
Separate development of rural and urban social institutions in the People's Republic of China since 1949 from a sociological perspective. Family and marriage, social control, educational institutions. Dilemmas of contemporary China and reasons for institutional change.Course | JSIS 202
Cultural Interactions in an Interdependent World
Introduces a critical approach to governance, violence, and development. Students will learn key concepts of cultural theory to understand how the world is socially constructed. Learning how to use interpretive methods, students will acquire new understandings of the varied approaches through which social scientists confront global challenges.Course | ART H 211 / JSIS A 211
Fashion Systems: Europe-Asia
Introduces the historical development of fashion systems in early modern and modern Europe and Asia. Explores topics including: Fashioning the Body; Gender and Fashion; Fashion as Conspicuous Consumption; Fashion as Urban Spectacle; the Politics of Fashion.Course | GWSS 333 / JSIS B 333
Gender and Globalization: Theory and Process
Theoretical, historical, and empirical analysis of how current processes of globalization are transforming the actual conditions of women's lives, labor, gender ideologies, and politics in complex and contradictory ways. Topics include feminist exploration of colonialism, capitalism, economic restructuring policies, resistance in consumer and environmental movements.Course | GEOG 335, JSIS B 335
Geography of the Developing World
Characteristics and causes, external and internal, of Third World development and obstacles to that development. Special attention to demographic and agricultural patterns, resource development, industrialization and urbanization, drawing on specific case studies from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.Course | HSTAS 235 / JSIS A 235
History of Modern Taiwan
Social, cultural, political, and economic history of modern Taiwan from approximately 1600 to the present. Places Taiwan within global historical changes and explores Taiwan-centric issues in depth. Covers migration, colonialism, race and identity, urban and rural development, the Cold War, capitalism and industrialization, science, religion, labor, and gender.News | March 8, 2017
Honoring Women Collaborators at Urban@UW
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are highlighting just some of UW’s brilliant female professors, scholars, and and change-makers with whom Urban@UW is proud to collaborate. Click on their names to explore their work. Leadership: Thaisa Way, Executive Director, Urban@UW; Department of Landscape Architecture Executive Committee: Margaret O’Mara, Department of History Susan P….
Course | JSIS B 380
Immigration and Cultural Memory in the Pacific Northwest: The Role of Film and Cinema
Explores immigration and culture through the development of the film industry in relation to the immigrant flows into Seattle at the turn of the 20th century. The rise of cinema helped immigrants to assimilate into mainstream society. In turn, immigrants turned films into a major American industry.Course | CHID 280 / JSIS A 280
Indigenous Encounters: Politics, Culture, and Representation in Latin America
Explores the contemporary cultural and political transformations advanced by indigenous groups and their advocates in Latin America. Examines the concept of indigeneity, the cultural politics of indigenous mobilization, and the effects of international development policies on indigenous communities.Degree Program
International Studies (BA, minor, MA, MA in Applied International Studies, PhD)
The International Studies Program combines social sciences and humanities to examine international problems and change. Using a diverse, multidisciplinary approach, the Program encourages students to look at our increasingly interdependent world in order to learn how to study it and understand its politics, societies, economies, and cultures.
Visit program websiteCourse | GEOG 123 / JSIS 123
Introduction to Globalization
Provides an introduction to the debates over globalization. Focuses on the growth and intensification of global ties. Addresses the resulting inequalities and tensions, as well as the new opportunities for cultural and political exchange. Topics include the impacts on government, finance, labor, culture, the environment, health, and activism.Course | HSTAS 440/540, JSIS A 440/539
Japanese History in Ecological Perspective
Survey of Japanese history in ecological perspective, from early times to the present. Topics include ancient Japanese lifeways; climate and history; agriculture, population, and resources; Buddhist and animist views of outer and inner nature; urbanization from ancient capitals to megacity Tokyo; industrialization and energy; and future visions. Readings include influential scholarly works and Japanese sources in English translation.Scholar
Jonathan Warren
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Kam Wing Chan
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Ken Tadashi Oshima
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Madeleine Yue Dong
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Manish Chalana
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Mary D. Fan
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Modern Korean Society
Social organization and values of twentieth-century Korea. Changes in family and kinship, gender relations, rural society, urban life, education, and industrial organization since 1900. Differences between North and South Korea since 1945.Course | ANTH 316, JSIS A 316
Modern South Asia
Twentieth-century history and society of Indian subcontinent. Topics include nationalism, rural and urban life, popular culture, gender, and environmental politics.News | March 29, 2024
Muslims observing Ramadan at Tacoma ICE center aren’t receiving timely meals, immigration advocates say
Originally published by KUOW Written by Diana Opong The month of Ramadan is a time of holy celebration, but some Muslim people held at the privately run Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma say they aren’t being given clean clothes daily, nor timely meals before and after fasting. Naeem, a 52-year-old man being held at…
News | August 11, 2021
New UW collaboratory to support equitable and just climate action
An interdisciplinary group of University of Washington researchers has teamed with Front and Centered to create an innovative Collaboratory to promote just and equitable climate action. The Collaboratory aims to respond to climate change impacts with attention to equitable mitigation and adaptation solutions. It will feature three linked platforms to achieve this goal through a…
News | November 16, 2016
NYC, Chicago mayors join Seattle’s Ed Murray is support of “sanctuary cities” for immigrants
SEATTLE — Democratic mayors of major U.S. cities that have long had cool relationships with federal immigration officials say they’ll do all they can to protect residents from deportation, despite President-elect Donald Trump’s vows to withhold potentially millions of dollars in taxpayer money if they don’t cooperate. New York’s Bill de Blasio, Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel…
Course | ARCH 458, ART H 494, JSIS A 433
Paris: Architecture and Urbanism
Spans the architectural history of Paris, from its Gallic, pre-Roman origins in the second century BCE through the work of twenty-first century architects. Focuses on changing patterns of the physical fabric of the city and its buildings, as seen within the context of the broader political, social, economic, and cultural history.Course | JSIS D 435 / SOC 432
Population and Modernization
Examines role of demographic factors in the process of social modernization and economic growth. The approach is both historical, focusing on populations of developed countries since 1700, and analytic, stressing the attempts made by different disciplines to model demographic relationships, with attention to less-developed regions.News | May 7, 2016
Reading List for Patricia Romero Lankao Visit 5/11
In anticipation of Patricia Romero Lankao’s visit we thought you might enjoy these pieces to get a feel for her research and thinking. Water in Mexico City: What Will Climate Change Bring to Its History of Water-Related Hazards and Vulnerabilities?—This research paper delves into the history and evolution of water related risks and crises in…
Scholar
Resat Kasaba
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Robert Pekkanen
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Sara Curran
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Seattle port could play key role in race to rule the Arctic
In the 1890s, Seattle was the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush. As countries eye the warming Arctic in a 21st century rush to establish maritime trade routes and exploit natural resources, Puget Sound is once again poised to serve a vital support role. That, at least, is the vision that U.S. Sen. Patty Murray of…
Course | ANTH 449, JSIS A 405
Social Transformation of Modern East Asia
Comparative study of social change in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam since 1945. Concentration on small-scale social units in rural and urban areas under both communist and capitalist political systems.Course | ANTH 412, JSIS A 412
South Asian Social Structure
Examines caste, class, and community in modern India. Transitions from colonial typology to analysis of social change, diversity, stability, and caste hierarchy in rural society. Current debates on class and community in Indian society, rural and urban, explored through themes of identity, structure, and mobility.Scholar
Stephen Meyers
Visit scholar websiteCourse | JSIS 535
Technology, Society, and the Future
Provides understanding of how technology is changing society. Enables students to articulate the risks and opportunities associated with rapid technological change. Students formulate and evaluate the motivations, agendas, and stakeholders shaping technological change, including corporations, civil liberties groups, advocacy groups, NGOs, donors, and government leaders.Course | JSIS B 351
The Global Environment
Explores the environment in international perspective emphasizing the social implications of living in an economically globalized and environmentally interconnected world. Examines these implications through examples of toxics and the human body, biodiversity conservation, climate change, disease, and environmental problems.Course | JSIS 537
Trends in International Migration
Explores the causes, mechanisms, and consequences of contemporary global population movements, with a focus on migration to the United States and Europe from the top sending world regions. Topics include the relationship of persecution, conflict, and poor economic prospects to migration; the extent to which state policies can control migration.News | April 3, 2024
Urban@UW announces second cycle of Research to Action Collaboratory projects
Urban@UW is excited to announce the project teams selected for the second Research to Action Collaboratory (RAC) cohort. Throughout the next 18 months, Urban@UW will work with these teams to provide seed funds, dedicate time to building team cohesion and collaboration skills, and foster opportunities for peer support, shared resources, and learning. These two project…
Scholar
Vanessa Freije
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WA Gen Z voters excited, but turnout still a toss-up
Reported by Paris Jackson for Cascade/PBS There’s a surge in interest among young voters, those considered Generation Z, this election cycle. They’re outspoken, savvy and civically engaged. Gen Z’ers are those born between 1997 and 2012, according to Pew Research. They’re touted as the generation that grew up with the internet as an integral part…
Course | GWSS 345 / ANTH 345 / JSIS B 345
Women and International Economic Development
Questions how women are affected by economic development in Third World and celebrates redefinitions of what development means. Introduces theoretical perspectives and methods to interrogate gender and development policies. Assesses current processes of globalization and potential for changing gender and economic inequalities.Course | JSIS B 365