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Daniel R. Smith (Swinomish): Artist Talk on "Spot Reservation" Public Art Project

Spot Reservation, Swinomish artist Daniel R. Smith’s newest participatory public art project, is a free event he describes as an “Indigenous, celebratory occupation of the University of Washington.” Taking place Thursday, November 5, from 11:00am – 3:00pm, the project transforms UW Bothell's central plaza into an unexpected gathering place centered around participatory art making in a tiny forest, or “nanoforest,” of native plants growing from industrial oil barrels. Featuring photo portraits with costumes and wearable taxidermy in a tiny post-apocalyptic forest, fry bread tacos, live birds of prey demonstrations, and an open mic; all free and open to the public. Related events in Seattle and Bothell: October 26 — Daniel R. Smith Artist Talk, Seattle, October 30 — Spot Reservation, Seattle, November 5 — Spot Reservation, Bothell. Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: UW Bothell Library. Accessibility Contact: Indigenous Arts Sawyer Seminar, indigenousarts@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: "Spot Reservation" is the first of four Visiting Artist Residencies presented as part of Not Apart: Indigenous Knowledges and the Art of University-Community Repair, a collaboration between the Simpson Center for the Humanities, the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies; the Department of American Indian Studies; the Department of Comparative History of Ideas; UW Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences; and a constellation of artists, students, and communities gathering on Coast… Monday, November 2, 2026, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM. For more info visit simpsoncenter.org.

Virtual Public Lecture | Helen Hardacre | Shinto Shrines in Prewar and Wartime Japan

Join us for an afternoon online lecture with Dr. Helen Hardacre, "Shinto Shrines in Prewar and Wartime Japan," a discussion of the social position of Shinto shrines in prewar and wartime Japan, with a study of the activities of a wartime priest. Register in advance for this meeting: https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/XUWl-vxRQqOZvHTF0W-QFw After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Helen Hardacre is Reischauer Institute Research Professor of Japanese Religions and Society, Harvard University. Her publications include The Religion of Japan's Korean Minority (1984), Lay Buddhism in Contemporary Japan: Reiyukai Kyodan (1984), Kurozumikyo and the New Religions of Japan (1986), Shinto and the State, 1868-1988 (1989), Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan (1997), Religion and Society in Nineteenth-Century Japan (2002), Shinto, A History (2016), Constitutional Revision and Civic Activism in Japan (lead editor and contributor, 2021), and… Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: relig@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Center for Japan Studies Comparative Religion Program Jackson School of International Studies. Target Audience: Open to public. Registration required. Monday, November 2, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM. Register for Zoom link.

Cloud Drawing with Incendiary Traces Visiting Artist Hillary Mushkin - Burke Museum

In these gatherings for plein air drawing, participants look to the sky and give themselves over to the fluid flows of clouds. Mushkin will provide simple but specific drawing instructions at locations chosen for their connection to nuclear histories at UW. These “draw-ins” serve as a hands-on way to think together about what’s in a cloud and the atmospheric commons. Open to all. Please register for each session you will attend so we can plan accordingly. Materials provided. Dress to spend time outside; we have a plan in place in case of rain!   Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 3:00 – 4:30 pm, Meeting point: Burke Museum Artist Studio (museum admission free with Husky Card) Registration Link   Thursday, November 5, 2026, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm, Meeting point: Sakuma Viewpoint As the sky darkens, all attendees are invited to move inside to hang their drawings together for an “in conversation” session with artist Hillary Mushkin and students from Wastelanding: Place, Value, and Visuality, who will be participating as… Event interval: Ongoing event. Campus location: Burke Memorial-Washington State Museum (BRK). Campus room: Burke Museum Artist Studio. Accessibility Contact: burkevis@uw.edu. Event Types: Workshops. Special Events. Event sponsors: Burke Museum, College of Arts & Sciences Arts Division, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, contact: Sasha Welland, swelland@uw.edu. Target Audience: students, faculty, community members. Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM. For more info visit simpsoncenter.org.

"Spot Reservation" Public Art Project by Daniel R. Smith (Swinomish)

Spot Reservation, Swinomish artist Daniel R. Smith’s newest participatory public art project, is a free event he describes as an “Indigenous, celebratory occupation of the University of Washington.” Taking place Thursday, November 5, from 11:00am – 3:00pm, the project transforms UW Bothell's central plaza into an unexpected gathering place centered around participatory art making in a tiny forest, or “nanoforest,” of native plants growing from industrial oil barrels. Featuring photo portraits with costumes and wearable taxidermy in a tiny post-apocalyptic forest, fry bread tacos, live birds of prey demonstrations, and an open mic; all free and open to the public. Related events in Seattle and Bothell: October 26 — Daniel R. Smith Artist Talk, Seattle, October 30 — Spot Reservation, Seattle, November 2 — Daniel R. Smith Artist Talk, Bothell. Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: UW Bothell Central Plaza. Accessibility Contact: Indigenous Arts Sawyer Seminar, indigenousarts@uw.edu. Event Types: Performances. Special Events. Exhibits. Event sponsors: "Spot Reservation" is the first of four Visiting Artist Residencies presented as part of Not Apart: Indigenous Knowledges and the Art of University-Community Repair, a collaboration between the Simpson Center for the Humanities, the Center for American Indian and Indigenous Studies; the Department of American Indian Studies; the Department of Comparative History of Ideas; UW Bothell’s School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences; and a constellation of artists, students, and communities gathering on Coast… Thursday, November 5, 2026, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM. For more info visit simpsoncenter.org.

Cloud Drawing with Incendiary Traces Visiting Artist Hillary Mushkin - Sakuma Viewpoint

In these gatherings for plein air drawing, participants look to the sky and give themselves over to the fluid flows of clouds. Mushkin will provide simple but specific drawing instructions at locations chosen for their connection to nuclear histories at UW. These “draw-ins” serve as a hands-on way to think together about what’s in a cloud and the atmospheric commons. Open to all. Please register for each session you will attend so we can plan accordingly. Materials provided. Dress to spend time outside; we have a plan in place in case of rain!   Wednesday, November 4, 2026, 3:00 – 4:30 pm, Meeting point: Burke Museum Artist Studio (museum admission free with Husky Card) Registration Link   Thursday, November 5, 2026, 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm, Meeting point: Sakuma Viewpoint As the sky darkens, all attendees are invited to move inside to hang their drawings together for an “in conversation” session with artist Hillary Mushkin and students from Wastelanding: Place, Value, and Visuality, who will be participating as… Event interval: Ongoing event. Campus room: Sakuma Viewpoint. Accessibility Contact: burkevis@uw.edu. Event Types: Workshops. Special Events. Event sponsors: Burke Museum, College of Arts & Sciences Arts Division, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, contact: Sasha Welland, swelland@uw.edu. Target Audience: students, faculty, community members. Thursday, November 5, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sakuma+Viewpoint,+Seattle,+WA+98105/@47.6516668,-122.3174027,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x549014ee19b97509:0x8c2999fcbd6e66cd!8m2!3d47.6516729!4d-122.3148894!16s%2Fg%2F11bytf3m2b?entry=tts&g_ep=EgoyMDI2MDkzMC4wIPu8ASoAS. For more info visit simpsoncenter.org.

Environmental, Indigenous, and Pacific Northwest Studies Meet & Greet

Registration recommended. The Simpson Center invites current UW faculty, students, and staff working in the fields of environmental studies, Indigenous studies, and Pacific Northwest studies to a fall meet & greet to make connections and learn about upcoming events, workshops, and ongoing projects. Attendees are welcome to bring event flyers, brochures, and listserv signup sheets to display. Refreshments provided.   Featured projects and organizations include: Not Apart: Indigenous Knowledges and the Art of University-Community Repair , Fire Humanities – Climate Futures Initiative Award from the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes  Arts of Atomic Accountability – Simpson Center Collaborative Research Award Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest EarthLab Program on the Environment. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: 206. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Event Types: Information Sessions. Friday, November 6, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Global Antiquities & Early Modernisms Lightning Talks

RSVP Required. Join us for an informal meet-and-greet and lightning talk roundtable featuring scholars from across the University of Washington and Washington state whose research engages the ancient, medieval, and early modern worlds. Designed to spark conversation and new collaborations across disciplines, regions, and traditional period boundaries, the event will feature short presentations on current and emerging research in literature, history, religion, performance, material texts, and cultural exchange. Topics range from Sanskrit court and temple poetry, Roman slavery and emotional labor, Dante and the manuscript roots of print culture, and medieval German and Yiddish literature to premodern Scandinavia in global perspective, shipboard Shakespeare, classical reception, and East Asia in the Renaissance world. Featuring scholars from Asian Languages & Literature, Classics, English, French & Italian Studies, German Studies, Scandinavian Studies, and Central Washington University, the roundtable will… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Monday, November 9, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Mother Tongue in Other Tongues: Life in Translation; Public talk by translator Aron Aji

Aron Aji cannot recall a time when he was not translating. Growing up in Turkey among Ladino, Hebrew, and French used at home and then, from elementary school on, in Turkish—and studying in English later—he learned to move between languages long before he began translating Turkish literature. In this talk, Aji asks what that lifelong experience brings to the page. What happens when English meets a Turkish text on its own terms? How might the text stretch English’s rhythms and expressive habits, rather than simply fit into them? Aji calls his approach “acoustic translation”: an act of close listening that draws on memory, sound, and the senses to recreate the experience of a work in another language. Translation, in this account, is a way of hearing a text—and of finding one’s way back to the languages of one’s life. About the speaker: Aron Aji has published ten book-length translations of modern and contemporary Turkish literature, alongside numerous translations of poetry and prose. His translation of Bilge… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: 120. Accessibility Contact: UW Accessibility. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Simpson Center Sephardic Studies Translation Studies Hub Northwest Translators and Interpreters Society. Target Audience: General public, undergrads, grad students, faculty. Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM.

Safia Aidid Lecture — The Unruly Frontier: Mapping the British Somaliland-Ethiopia Border

Registration required. Safia Aidid is an interdisciplinary historian of modern Africa and Assistant Professor in the Department of History and the African Studies Centre at University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from Harvard University. Her research addresses anticolonial nationalism, territorial imaginations, borders, and state formation in the Horn of Africa, with a particular focus on modern Somalia and Ethiopia. She is currently working on a book manuscript entitled "Pan-Somali Dreams: Ethiopia, Greater Somalia, and the Somali Nationalist Imagination." Made possible by the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities. This event is free and open to the public . Accommodation requests related to a disability or health condition should be made by October 29, 2026 to the Simpson Center, 206.543.3920, schadmin@uw.edu. Event interval: Single day event. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Simpson Center for the Humanities. Thursday, November 12, 2026, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM. Zoom.

Joy Connolly Lecture "Parable of the Scholar: The Humanities in Conditions of Abundance"

Registration recommended. We humanists are hoping for, and many of us are fighting for, a new day in the United States when the production and circulation of knowledge are understood as keystones of democracy and of human thriving – and thus as deserving of substantial public investment. Having worked so long in the spirit of doing a lot with a little, how do we envision the humanities in conditions of abundance? What shifts in traditional academic culture and policy will help us meet those conditions? In the spirit of Octavia Butler’s future-oriented thinking, this talk draws together many threads of contemporary thinking to sketch a future where American universities center the values and practices of liberal arts-grounded humanistic inquiry.    Joy Connolly has served as President of the American Council of Learned Societies since 2019. Previously, she was Provost and Interim President of The Graduate Center at the City University of New York and Dean for the Humanities at New York University. She has a… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: 202. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:15 PM.

Workshop: Medieval Manuscripts at UW

Renowned medieval manuscript scholar Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America and adjunct faculty at Simmons University's School of Library and Information Science, will lead a workshop on medieval manuscripts and manuscript fragments held by UW Special Collections. Please register for this workshop by 5:00pm, November 17, 2026. Workshop capacity is 24. All are welcome, but preference will be given to students. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0O4pCDkstSn0M1I6_8LLmTc3PRY3dDTSWoJTU7yY355x_4g/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=110434663420772396880. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Allen Library (ALB). Campus room: Special Collections Classroom, B069, Allen Library South, Basement. Accessibility Contact: jktanaka@uw.edu. Event Types: Academics. Workshops. Event sponsors: Co-sponsored by UW Special Collections, UW Textual Studies, and the Book Club of Washington. Target Audience: students, faculty, staff, community members. Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM.

"Medieval Manuscripts in the Emerald City" by Lisa Fagin Davis

Renowned medieval manuscript scholar Dr. Lisa Fagin Davis, Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America and adjunct faculty at Simmons University's School of Library and Information Science, will present on medieval manuscripts preserved in collections throughout the Emerald City. Dr. Davis is internationally recognized for her work on manuscript fragments, paleography, and digital manuscript reconstruction. She is also a leading researcher of the mysterious Voynich manuscript, an undeciphered text that has captivated scholars and the public alike for centuries. Please join us for this fascinating lecture exploring Seattle's medieval manuscript holdings. A reception with refreshments and an opportunity to meet and speak with Dr. Davis will follow the presentation. Please help give us an idea about attendance by registering for this event. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSer5hlPIUOUBkpJUgFCJ0nJ9cUEyUIrGL1A0viRQNRy7EAtVQ/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=110434663420772396880. Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Allen Library (ALB). Campus room: Petersen Room, 4th floor, Allen Library North. Accessibility Contact: jktanaka@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Special Events. Academics. Event sponsors: Co-sponsored by UW Special Collections, UW Textual Studies, and the Book Club of Washington. Target Audience: students, faculty, staff, public. Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM.

Sean Jacobs | Eleven Named People: Global Sport and Society

Drawing on Eric Hobsbawm's claim that “the imagined community of millions seems more real as a team of eleven named people,” this talk explores the power of sports teams. Using examples from post-apartheid South Africa and elsewhere, Jacobs asks: Can sports teams expand the boundaries of “the nation,” or can they really overcome xenophobia? Or does sport's celebrated power ultimately reveal the limits of nationalism and identity? About the speaker Sean Jacobs is a South African-born scholar and writer, trained in political science and culture and media studies. He spent 20 years at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (2005–09) and The New School (2009–26), where he became a tenured full professor, before becoming an independent author this year. He founded and long edited Africa Is a Country and recently launched Eleven Named People, inspired by Eric Hobsbawm, exploring the intersections of sport and politics globally. He is writing a biography of NEA Jazz Master Abdullah Ibrahim and recently published a… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: CMU 120. Accessibility Contact: globalsportlab@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Special Events. Event sponsors: Global Sport Lab African Studies Program Department of Communication Simpson Center for the Humanities. Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM.

First Book Manuscript Panel with Diana Flores Ruíz, "Borders, Surveillance, and Solidarity: Critical Studies of Media Infrastructures Now"

In what ways might critical studies of media infrastructures expand our understanding of border regimes? How can analyses of the materialities, sites, practices, and labor of media infrastructures inform strategies of resistance to state surveillance?  Join feminist media and science and technology scholars Lisa Parks (UCSB), Felicity Amaya Schaeffer (UCSC), and Diana Flores Ruíz (UW) for a panel discussion on the sociotechnical relations of borders, surveillance, and solidarity.  Lisa Parks is a Distinguished Professor of Film and Media Studies at UC Santa Barbara, where she serves as Director of the Global Media Technologies and Cultures Lab, and a 2018 MacArthur Fellow. She is a media scholar whose research focuses on satellite technologies and global media cultures; critical studies of media infrastructures; environmental media; and media, militarization and surveillance. Felicity Amaya Schaeffer is Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and Feminist Studies at UC Santa Cruz. Her research and… Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: 202. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, 206-543-3920, humanities@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: Simpson Center for the Humanities and the Department of Cinema & Media Studies. Friday, November 20, 2026, 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM.

Pedagogies and Practices of Relational Memory in the Classroom and Beyond

TBA. Event interval: Single day event. Campus room: Denny 359. Accessibility Contact: Simpson Center for the Humanities, humanities@uw.edu, 206.543.3920. Event Types: Not Specified. Event sponsors: Simpson Center for the Humanities, humanities@uw.edu, 206.543.3920. Monday, November 30, 2026, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM.

Amal Eqeiq Lecture (Details TBD)

Event interval: Single day event. Campus location: Communications Building (CMU). Campus room: CMU 120. Accessibility Contact: lasuw@uw.edu. Event Types: Lectures/Seminars. Event sponsors: About the talk Professor Amal Eqeiq will share insights from her book, Indigenous Affinities, which explores connections between histories of struggle in Chiapas and Palestine. Proposing affinity as a conceptual framework, Eqeiq analyzes examples of Mayan and Palestinian written, visual, and performance texts that articulate a common configuration of Indigeneity. While these two places and histories are seemingly unrelated, Eqeiq foregrounds important links in shared stories of land struggle, practices o… Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM.