College of Engineering

Each year, UW Honors freshmen select a complex issue, and our community tackles their biggest questions, together. The event joins speakers from (seemingly) unconnected disciplines to closely examine a problem that appears insurmountable to our students. You are invited into challenging conversations where differences are not only respected, but valued and absorbed into evolving perspectives.

Responding to student fears surrounding civic discord, an engineer,  a civic leader, and a historian will lead a community discussion on:

• This moment in the broader context of current and historical global trends.
• The complicated, constantly evolving role of technology in how people learn and connect.
• Why journalists, artists and educators hold society and each other accountable.
• How artistic practice builds tolerance for risking discomfort and embracing uncertainty.
• What our audience wonders about most: drawn from questions you offer when you RSVP.

The Emerging Capacities of Mass Participation (emCOMP) Laboratory, directed by Starbird, investigates how news and social media enable crowd participation and interaction. Recent analysis demonstrates how information networks exploit our psychological vulnerabilities, promoting rifts in society and undermining trust.

Resat Kasaba, Stanley D. Golub Chair and Director
Jackson School of International Studies

Well-versed in economic history, state-society relations, migration, ethnicity and nationalism, world history, and urban history in the Middle East, Dr. Kasaba is often quoted in the news on pressing international issues. He cites global instances of political upheaval to underscore the vital role of media and educational institutions in democracy.

Randy Engstrom, Director
Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle

Now responsible for the office that steers and supports more than 500 of our city's vital creative forces, Engstrom cut his teeth establishing grassroots, youth-led, community-building organizations. He believes that art disrupts narratives and generates possibility, often bridging differences and changing society in the process.