Literature, Language, Culture Dialogue Series Archive
Amid the ubiquity of today's techno-futurist AI marketing campaigns, the importance of human writing and reading is being questioned by some scholars. For example, in a recent New York Times op-ed, Chair of the Williams College Philosophy Department Joe Cruz argued (to quote the headline), "Writing Isn’t as Important as We Think." (I've chosen not to link to Cruz's article, because it's clickbait. Nevertheless, it represents an increasingly vocal camp of anti-humanist thinkers in…
Rasheena Fountain, a PhD Candidate in English language and literature, is performing "Speculative Land Blues" on Thursday, February 19th at the Henry Art Museum as part of its Speculative Landscapes series. The show will take place in the Henry's Lower Level Galleries from 6pm-7:30pm…
Greetings from Padelford, during a time of year in Seattle that is sometimes referred to as the “Big Dark.” From the middle of October into spring, the days are short and gray. Nowadays, on work days, I can arrive on campus not long after the sunrise and leave well after sunset. I mention the seemingly endless stretch of Seattle gloom to remind us that there are ways to manage in times of darkness.Key among them is “cultivating connection,” to borrow Professor…
In 2025, the English Department welcomed three remarkable new faculty members: Rhema Hokama (Assistant Professor of English Literature), Hunter Little…
College of Arts and Sciences spotlights English PhD Anselma Prihandita's award-winning short fiction
Anselma Prandhita, 2025, a PhD in language and rhetoric, was profiled by the College of Arts and Sciences last summer. A scholar of speculative fiction and the English language, Prihandita completed a dissertation that explores writing challenges faced by historically marginalized students, while also producing short stories in the speculative fiction genre. One of her stories, "Negative Scholarship on the…
The UW Alumni Magazine, Viewpoint, published an article about the 50th anniversary of Shawn Wong's anthology, Aiiieeeee! along with 50 years of UW Press publishing Asian American writing, mentioning many English Deptment graduates who published books as well. To read the article click here:…
English department faculty Jesse Oak Taylor, Charles LaPorte, Habiba Ibrahim, and Chad Allan are featured in a new UW Humanities podcast titled “Ways of Knowing,” an eight-episode podcast connecting humanities…
Pimone Triplett and Charles LaPorte: Gwendolyn Brooks, Terrance Hayes, and “The Golden Shovel”
Laura Chrisman and Colette Moore on "Colonization in Reverse"
Professors Laura Chrisman and Colette Moore discuss the different ways literature and language studies can function together when reading and teaching historical and literary texts. In this episode, you will learn more about the poem, "Colonization in Reverse," its historical context, and how literature and language studies inform one another. Key texts include the poem, "Colonization in Reverse" by "Miss Lou" (Louise Bennett Coverley).…
Geoffrey Turnovsky & Anna Preus on Digital Humanities, Data Science and TEI
University of Washington professors Anna Preus (English) and Geoffrey Turnovsky (French and Italian Studies) discuss the value of the Digital Humanities, including how instructors and students make use of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) in their classrooms, their learning, and in the practice of archiving.
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