Maya Angela Smith, an associate professor in the Department of French and Italian Studies, focuses on the intersection of racial and linguistic identity formations among marginalized groups in the African diaspora, particularly in the francophone world. She also researches how Blackness is constructed in francophone regions as well as how French studies can diversify and

Andy Meyer, a newly appointed assistant teaching professor in the Department of Scandinavian Studies, focuses on Norwegian and North American language and literature, with an emphasis on ecocriticism, poetry and poetics, and Arctic studies. His work and much of his teaching is engaged in questions about the relationship between literary imagination and the concept of

P. Joshua Griffin is an environmental anthropologist working at the intersections of Indigenous studies, political ecology, critical social science, and climate change. His community-engaged research focuses on Arctic Indigenous ecologies, climate change, environmental health, food sovereignty, hunting and fishing governance/rights, and environmental planning. More broadly, he is interested in approaches to “climate adaptation” that center

Mia Bennett is beginning at UW this fall as an assistant professor in the Department of Geography. As a political geographer with geospatial skills, through fieldwork and remote sensing, Mia researches the geopolitics of development in northern frontiers, namely the Arctic, Russian Far East, and the more remote corridors of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

“As you grieve the loss of Siôn*, let me assure you that I bring years, even decades of experience as a subject librarian!” Back when the SARS pandemic struck in the early 2000s, I was taking a bus in Toronto with my five-year-old daughter when she began regaling the passengers with her original song, “the

Richard Watts, faculty director of the Center and associate professor in French and Italian Studies, was recently awarded two grants for translation studies. The first grant constitutes the third year of support from the Simpson Center for the Humanities at UW for the activities of the Translation Studies Hub, a project Watts co-directs with Heekyoung

Ellen Ahlness, three-time recipient of a FLAS fellowship in the Inuit language, was awarded a doctorate in Political Science in August 2021. Her dissertation examines the political engagement of the Indigenous Permanent Participants in the Arctic Council. While the Permanent Participants received global attention in 1996 when they became the first Indigenous members of an international

After 14 years as the Canadian Studies Librarian, Siôn Romaine has stepped aside to focus on other duties at the Libraries. Theresa Mudrock will took over as Canadian Studies Librarian effective July 1, 2021. We are so grateful to Siôn for all he has done for the collection and on behalf of the Center during

Although my exchange at the University of Washington was short and online, I have learned a lot about American culture and history. I took interesting courses offered at the University of Washington that aren’t offered at my university, such as the Ancient Near East (NEAR E 101) and American Popular Song (MUSIC 162). Both courses

Treat Schubert and Vida Wang participated in the Canada-U.S. virtual internship program with the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle during summer 2021. Read about their experiences below. — Treat Schubert, International Studies and Linguistics The first time I was accepted to intern at the Consulate General of Canada in Seattle was winter 2021, a time