Recent News
As a member of the “Voices of Maíz” collective, AES Professor Devon Peña helped to host an international gathering in Ek Balam, Yucatan, Mexico in December 2016. The meeting was held prior to the 13th Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancun. Peña helped to secure funding from the Swift Foundation that enabled him and others to convene a gathering concerning indigenous corn. The invitation for the gathering explained the meeting in this way: “The primary... Read more
The AES Fall Exploration Seminar has provided a remarkable opportunity for AES students to study the history and culture of southern China through a study abroad program crafted by Senior Lecturer, Dr. Connie So. Now in its third iteration, the program—titled “AES Finding Chinese American Roots: Exploring the Cantonese and Hokkien Diaspora with Dr. Connie So”—took students on a trip of six Southern Chinese cities over three weeks before the start of Fall Quarter 2016.
So started the program... Read more
AES congratulates Professor Rick Bonus on his editorial appointment to the Asian American History and Culture (AAHC) book series for Temple University Press. Bonus, who has worked in AES since 1998, steps into the editorial role with a focus on social sciences, while other editors for the series focus on the humanities and history.
According to the AAHC series website, since 1991, the series “has sponsored innovative scholarship that has redefined, expanded, and advanced the field of Asian... Read more
In September 2016, the University of Washington Press published Professor Erasmo Gamboa’s book Bracero Railroaders: The Forgotten World War II Story of Mexican Workers in the U.S. West. Gamboa’s new book serves as a follow-up to his 2000 book, Mexican Labor and World War II: Braceros in the Pacific Northwest, 1942-1947. Gamboa explains that “this book is less of a departure and more of a continuation, a fleshing out of the war period for bracero workers and their... Read more
AES congratulates Professor Lauro Flores on receiving the Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP) Distinguished Community Service Award. Flores received the award at the annual MAP Bridging the Gap Breakfast held on October 22. According to Flores, receiving the award was a bit of a shock: “There are so many people that serve the university and the community well that it came as a total a surprise to me.”
The record, however, shows that Flores’s continuing contributions to both the UW and the... Read more
On October 12th, the AES department hosted a reception for its new faculty at the UW Faculty Club. These new faculty members provide valuable perspectives across the fields of African-American, Asian-American, Chicano/Latino and Comparative Ethnic Studies. They also provide interdisciplinary perspectives that will prove to be incredibly helpful in widening the breadth of course offerings for AES students.
TaSha Levy, an Assistant Professor, will be teaching courses in African American studies... Read more
On September 19th, AES faculty and staff participated in a daylong departmental retreat at the Urban Horticulture Center to review and update the curriculum and to revisit and revise the department’s mission and goals. The retreat also served as an opportunity to familiarize four new faculty members with the range of work all AES faculty will be doing in the classroom over the coming academic year. Professor Juan Guerra, the department chair, moderated the first discussion on curriculum;... Read more
As I begin the second year of my term as AES Chair, there is much to look forward to despite the challenges—political and otherwise—that we will all be facing in the coming academic year. There is always a need to pause and take a look backwards to see how far we have come, but we also need to move forward into the future with an uncompromising commitment to the collective work of faculty, staff, students and community members allied with our department. As is always true, it is in the... Read more
As a result of last week’s presidential election, many of our undocumented students are experiencing a very high level of stress and angst from fear of an uncertain future for themselves and their families. Coping with personal and familial anxiety has clearly affected the ability of many of our students to concentrate fully on their coursework.
Recognizing that the University has rightfully opened its doors to all qualified students regardless of resident status, faculty and staff in the... Read more
KUOW asked some of America's leading scholars if Trump's election meant doomsday. Some said yes. But many also said this election will hopefully launch a liberal awakening. Read more here.