“Unbowed and Unbroken: The Battle for Civil Liberties and Minority Rights in Turkey” A conversation on Turkish minority rights between Garo Paylan and Burhan Sönmez
“Unbowed and Unbroken: The Battle for Civil Liberties and Minority Rights in Turkey” Garo Paylan, former Member of the Turkish Parliament and Burhan Sönmez, award winning novelist in conversation with UW Professor Asli Cansunar.
The UW Political Science Department, UW Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures and UW Turkish-Ottoman Studies Program welcomes former Member of Parliament and human rights defender Garo Paylan and award winning novelist and lawyer Burhan Sönmez to the stage with UW Professor Asli Cansunar for a discussion on Turkish politics today.
Registration: Registration is encouraged for this free event.
Speakers
Garo Paylan is a leading opposition voice and prominent human rights defender in Turkey, as well as a visiting scholar with the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. He served in the Turkish Parliament for eight years—from June 2015 to June 2023—first as a representative of Istanbul (2015–2018) and then of Diyarbakır (2018–2023).…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Hans Rosling Center for Population Health (HRC). Campus room: HRC room 155. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Tuesday, April 29, 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM.
WISIR Lunch Workshare Series presents Julia Wejchert (UW Political Science)
WISIR Lunch Workshare Series presents Julia Wejchert (UW Political Science).
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Smith Hall (SMI). Campus room: Smith Hall - SMI 40A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM.
CANCELLED - “Populist Power Plays: Erdogan’s Turkey, Trump’s USA, and the Future of Democracy” Mr. Garo Paylan, former Turkish Member of Parliament in conversation with UW Professor Asli Cansunar.
“Populist Power Plays: Erdogan’s Turkey, Trump’s USA, and the Future of Democracy” Garo Paylan, former Member of the Turkish Parliament in conversation with UW Professor Asli Cansunar.
The UW Political Science Department as part of their Democracy Discussions lecture series welcomes former Member of Parliament and human rights defender Garo Paylan to the stage with UW Professor Asli Cansunar for a discussion on populism and democratic politics in Turkey and the United States.
Registration: Registration is encouraged for this free event.
Speaker
Garo Paylan is a leading opposition voice and prominent human rights defender in Turkey, as well as a visiting scholar with the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C. He served in the Turkish Parliament for eight years—from June 2015 to June 2023—first as a representative of Istanbul (2015–2018) and then of Diyarbakır (2018–2023). During his tenure, he became internationally recognized for his dedication to…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Kane Hall (KNE). Campus room: KNE 110. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, April 30, 2025, 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM.
Social Media Regulation: European Approaches to Dangerous Online Content in International Perspective
Panel Discussion: How should governments think about and regulate social media content? | Open to the public
Every government in the world is grappling with questions about how and who should regulate social media content. Particularly in democracies, the challenge of balancing freedoms of expression and speech with countering the potential security risks of online content such as extremist content or harmful misinformation has become increasingly pressing. While each social media platform has its own internal content moderation policies, different countries have chosen different paths to deal with this problem. How should governments think about and regulate this content? The European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has come to be seen as a global model for regulating social media content. Speakers will discuss the DSA and contrast this approach with the US’s hands-off approach that is centered on Section 230 and the First Amendment.
Panelists John A. Albert is an associate researcher at the Institute…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Thomson Hall (THO). Campus room: 317. Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics. Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM.
UW Colloquium in Political Theory: Anna Parkhurst, UW, Ph.C. in Cinema & Media Studies
Discussant: Lauren Collins, Political Science Grad Student
"Post-Genre, Post-Utopia: YouTube Production Cultures Within the Limits of a Democratic Imaginary.".
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
TALK | Co-Designing the Future of Cultural Heritage: Interactive Technologies and Museum Collaborations in Northern Europe by Siiri Paananen, University of Lapland (Finland)
About the Talk:
What does cultural heritage mean today, and how can we shape its future together? My research explores interactive technologies in collaboration with Nordic museums, including Indigenous Sámi institutions. It focuses on creating new ways to experience heritage while addressing ethical concerns. From photogrammetry for detailed 3D models to virtual experiences of remote sites, digital tools reshape how people relate to the past. Heritage is not only about the past but also about shaping the future, and arts-based and speculative design approaches explore new possibilities for this. The talk considers how design and technology can support diverse cultural perspectives and recontextualize heritage in a changing world.
About the Speaker:
Siiri Paananen is a University Teacher in Design and a doctoral researcher in the Lapland User Experience Design group (LUX) at the University of Lapland, Faculty of Art and Design. She specializes in Human-Computer Interaction, focusing on designing…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Thomson Hall (THO). Campus room: 317. Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
Center for Environmental Politics: Maura Allaire, University of California-Irvine, “Water Governance Disparities and Utility Performance: Evidence from California”
Center for Environmental Politics: Maura Allaire, University of California-Irvine, “Water Governance Disparities and Utility Performance: Evidence from California”
Friday, May 16, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 2, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Severyns Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics: Jaimie Bleck, University of Notre Dame: "Associational Membership, Deliberation, and Public Goods Provision: Neighborhood-level Civic Engagement in Mali"
Severyns Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics: Jaimie Bleck, University of Notre Dame
"Associational Membership, Deliberation, and Public Goods Provision: Neighborhood-level Civic Engagement in Mali
Friday, May 2, 2025 - 1:30pm to 3:00pm
The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A
Gradudate Student Discussant: Minji Jeong, UW.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 2, 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
TALK | Finland: Scandinavian, Nordic, and Baltic Positioning by Sonya Amadae of the University of Helsinki (Finland)
About the Talk
How is it that Finland has ranked first on the World's Happiness Report for seven consecutive years? Although typically identified as either a Scandinavian or Nordic country, Finland has its own unique history, culture, and language. Historically, Finland was under the rule of both Sweden and Russia. Culturally, Finland looks West but has the longest NATO border with Russia. Linguistically, the Finnish language is Finno-Ugric, sharing a language group with Estonia and Hungary. This talk discusses Finland's unique cultural heritage and its contemporary expression as a new NATO member and an important collaborator with the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO).
About the Speaker
S.M. Amadae is the Director of the Global Politics and Communication MA degree program and an Adj. Prof. in Politics at the University of Helsinki. Her research focus is at the intersection of global political economy and international security studies and concentrates on existential risk and nuclear deterrence, as…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Allen Library (ALB). Campus room: G81L (Allen Auditorium). Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, May 7, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
WISIR Lunch Workshare Series presents Anna Nguyen (UW Political Science)
WISIR Lunch Workshare Series presents Anna Nguyen (UW Political Science)
Friday, May 9, 2025 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Smith 40A, Smith Hall (Ground Floor).
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Smith Hall (SMI). Campus room: Smith Hall - SMI 40A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 9, 2025, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM.
UW International Security Colloquium (UWISC): “A Triadic Counterinsurgency Framework to Unpack Government – Non State Armed Actor – Constituency Relations”
Efe Tokdemir, Bilkent University: UW International Security Colloquium (UWISC): “A Triadic Counterinsurgency Framework to Unpack Government – Non State Armed Actor – Constituency Relations”
Friday, May 9, 2025 - 2:00pm to 3:30pm
The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 9, 2025, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.
TALK | Ten Paradoxes of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership by Tuomas Forsberg, Tampere University (Finland)
About the Talk
Basing on a forthcoming book, NATO's Northern Enlargement: Finland and Sweden's Road to the Alliance (co-authored with Magnus Christiansson, Bristol University Press 2025), the talk will focus on Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO and the repercussions that this has had on the two countries as well as on NATO and European security, particularly in the precarious Baltic-Arctic area in Russia’s vicinity. NATO’s northern enlargement can be understood in terms of multiple paradoxes. For Finland and Sweden, NATO membership represented both change and continuity. For the region, NATO’s northern enlargement has both increased stability and heightened tensions. For Russia, NATO's enlargement to Finland and Sweden was both expected and a major surprise. Yet, the greatest paradox of all can be that Finland and Sweden joined the alliance just before its entire logic was challenged by a new NATO-skeptical US administration.
About the Speaker
Dr. Tuomas Forsberg is Professor of International…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Thomson Hall (THO). Campus room: 317. Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, May 14, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
UW Colloquium in Political Theory: Patrich Co UW, Ph.D. "Libertarian Modalities of Anti-Capitalist Struggle"
UW Colloquium in Political Theory: Patrich Co UW, Ph.D. "Libertarian Modalities of Anti-Capitalist Struggle"
Thursday, May 15, 2025 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm
The Olson Room, Gowen Hall room 1A.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, May 15, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Political Economy Forum presents Clair Yang
Clair Yang
Social Structure and Political Dynamics in The Long Run.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 16, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
TALK | Changing Security Dynamics in the North: A View from Finland by Hiski Haukkala, Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs
About the Talk
The war in Ukraine is reaching a culmination point while the Transatlantic relations are being recalibrated. What does the security situation look like in the European North? Does Russia pose a threat beyond Ukraine? What does a small country like Finland bring to the table? How can we ensure that we move together in lock-step over the Atlantic?
About the Speaker
Dr. Hiski Haukkala is the Director of the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at the Faculty of Management and Business, Tampere University, Finland, and a Senior Research Associate at RAND Europe. Before joining FIIA in November 2024 he was a Professor of International Relations at Tampere University. Until spring 2024 he was the Secretary General and Chief of the Cabinet at the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland. Previously he has held positions at the Universities of Turku and Tampere, the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Finnish Institute…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Kane Hall (KNE). Campus room: 225. Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Thursday, May 22, 2025, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM.
Political Economy Forum presents Mark Smith
Mark Smith
Humanity's Swiss Army Knife: Religion and its Alternatives.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 23, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
Severyns Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics: Nathan Lane, University of Oxford
Severyns Ravenholt Seminar in Comparative Politics: Nathan Lane, University of Oxford
Friday, May 23, 2025 - 1:30pm to 3:00pm
The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A
Gradudate Student Discussant: Brian Leung, UW.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 23, 2025, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM.
TALK | The Geopoliticization of Critical Raw Materials: Undermining a Just Global Green Transition by Anni Kangas, Tampere University (Finland)
About the Talk:
This public talk is based on Dr. Anni Kangas's ongoing research into the politics and political economies of critical raw material (CRM) extraction and value chains, focusing on the collaboration between the European Union and Central Asia. Kangas's point of departure is the idea of a CRM paradox: while these materials are essential for the green transition, their mining comes with considerable ecological and social costs, the brunt of which is borne by mining communities, while most of the benefits accumulate at the end of the value chains in the Global North. This emphasizes the importance of steering the green transition to a more just and sustainable direction globally. However, with the current geopoliticization of critical raw materials, achieving this is increasingly difficult.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Anni Kangas is a University Lecturer in International Relations at Tampere University. She has a versatile research profile that includes Finnish-Russian relations, Finnish foreign and…
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Thomson Hall (THO). Campus room: 317. Accessibility Contact: cweseuc@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.
Workshop: Christopher Wild (U. Chicago), "Theater and theoria in Hannah Arendt’s Late Thought"
In her last work, the posthumously published Life of the Mind, Hannah Arendt develops a phenomenology of the activities that make up mental life, specifically thinking and willing (the section on judging remained largely unwritten). In order to elucidate thinking (and to a certain extent willing) in its constitutive invisibility she frames it within a phenomenology of what she calls the “world of appearances.” The workshop will examine the role of theoria (the Greek word for contemplation), theater, and theatricality in this phenomenology by closely reading selected excerpts from the Life of the Mind and her Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy,” in order to mine it for a generalized theory of theatricality.
Generously supported by the
Simpson Center for the Humanities,
with sponsorship from the Departments of
German Studies,
Drama,
Philosophy, and
Political Science, .
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Denny Hall (DEN). Campus room: DEN 359. Accessibility Contact: uwgerman@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics. Workshops.
Thursday, May 29, 2025, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM.
Political Economy Forum
TBD.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Gowen Hall (GWN). Campus room: The Olson Room, Gowen Hall 1A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 30, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM.
University of Washington International Security Colloquium (UWISC): “Invocation of International Law and Regime Types”
University of Washington International Security Colloquium (UWISC): “Invocation of International Law and Regime Types”
Friday, May 30, 2025 - 1:30pm to 2:30pm
Smith Hall - SMI 40A
Jihyeon Bae - “Invocation of International Law and Regime Types”.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Smith Hall (SMI). Campus room: Smith Hall - SMI 40A. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars.
Friday, May 30, 2025, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM.
2025 Political Science Convocation
The Political Science Convocation celebrates B.A. M.A. and Ph.D. recipients from Summer 2024 through Summer 2025! The celebration will include departmental undergraduate awards, a speech by an undergraduate, and a speech by the recipient of the Department's Distinguished Alumni Award. Each graduating student will have their name read as they cross the stage and will receive a letter of congratulations from the Department Chair.
Student registration will open in Spring 2025.
Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Student Union Building (HUB). Campus room: HUB Ballroom. Accessibility Contact: polisci@uw.edu. Event Types: Ceremonies. Special Events.
Thursday, June 12, 2025, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM.
For more info visit www.polisci.washington.edu.