Ya Hala Cafe and Retail Space: Critical Conversations (Kanafani)
2025-05-10 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Suzanne Zahr, Art & Architecture, 2441 76th Ave SE, Ste 160, Mercer Island, WA, 98040, United States
Cafe
Remember, Ya Hala’s café and retail space is open to all
📣 IMPORTANT: Some events will require registration/RSVP so you can save a spot!
Take a look ahead at the calendar and then keep an eye out for links to sign up for specific events. You won’t want to miss out.
More details about each weekend’s events will drop on the Monday before. 👀

Ya Hala Cafe and Retail Space: Mother's Day Celebration and Activity
2025-05-11 13:00 - 15:00 | Suzanne Zahr, Art & Architecture, 2441 76th Ave SE, Ste 160, Mercer Island, WA, 98040, United States

Workshops4Sudan: Transnational Solidarity
2025-05-12 15:30 - 17:00
sudansolidaritycollective
Going back to back weeks this month, we bring you the next #Workshops4Sudan, our first collaborative workshop with long-term friends and award-winning poets and writers Safia Elhillo and Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio.
They will be joining us to speak to their friendship with each other, transnational solidarity and relationships between Sudan and Hawaii, furthering their expressions of home and also share some of their lovely poetry!
Sudanese by way of Washington D.C., @safiamafia is the author of Girls That Never Die, The January Children, Home Is Not a Country, and Bright Red Fruit, and co-editor of the anthology Halal If You Hear Me.
Dr. @jamaicaosorio is a Kanaka Maoli wahine artist / activist / scholar / educator / storyteller born and raised in Pālolo Valley, Hawaiʻi. She is an Associate Professor of Indigenous and Native Hawaiian Politics at the University of Hawaiʻi, an internationally recognized poet, subject of an award-winning film, This is the Way we Rise.
We highly encourage you to sign up ASAP! The link is in our bio and in our stories! You can also visit sudansolidarity.com and click “Workshops4Sudan”link on the home page! Comment down what poem you’re looking forward to them reading on the 12th!
Suggested donation: $40 – $100 per workshop. Your contributions reflect our deep appreciation for the time and expertise of our instructors, as well as the urgent, ongoing needs in Sudan.
All proceeds go directly to the Sudan Solidarity Fund, supporting vital mutual aid efforts on the ground. When registering, please select the workshop you’d like to attend—each donation applies to one session.
#KeepEyesOnSudan #Workshops4Sudan #SafiaElhillo #JamaicaOsorio #TransnationalSolidarity #poetry #friendship #hawaii

Nakba Day: Panel Discussion
2025-05-15 19:00 - 21:00 | Register for Location
Mark your Calendars!
Baladna, in collaboration with Ya Hala, will be hosting an informative panel discussion regarding the Nakba. This is a great opportunity to learn from Palestinians about the catastrophe that struck their families and homeland, and has carried on for generations.
Registration link in bio – closes at 4pm on 5/14

Screening and Discussion: The Land Speaks Arabic
2025-05-17 15:00 - 17:00 | Liberation Center, 606 MAYNARD AVE S, Seattle, WA
Join us for a screening and discussion of The Land Speaks Arabic (2007) on Saturday to commemorate 77 years of Nakba.
This documentary brings together rarely seen footage of Palestine before 1948 along with historical research, eyewitness accounts, testimonials, historical documents, and more to detail pre-1948 Palestine and the early planning and work that gave birth to Zionism and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in 1948 that has come to be known as the Nakba.
Join us as we watch this documentary together and have a discussion together following it.
📅 SATURDAY, MAY 17
🕢 3 PM STARTING PROGRAM
📍LIBERATION CENTER – 606 MAYNARD AVE S, SEATTLE

Contemporary Translated Works Book Group: Sand-Catcher by Omar Khalifah, Translated by Barbara Romaine
2025-05-21 11:30 - 13:00 | Virtual
Join the Contemporary Translated Works Book Group – Now Monthly!
Mechanics’ Institute, in partnership with the Center for the Art of Translation and our new presenting partner, Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum, is thrilled to announce the expansion of the Contemporary Translated Works Book Group into a monthly, member-led series! Beginning Spring 2025, we will host lunchtime discussions (12:00–1:00 pm PT) online via Zoom on the third Wednesday of each month, featuring thought-provoking literary selections from around the world.
Four young, Palestinian journalists at a Jordanian newspaper are tasked, on account of their heritage, with profiling one of the last living witnesses of the Nakba, the violent expulsion of native Palestinians by the nascent state of Israel in 1948. The old man has no desire to be interviewed, no desire for his memories to be preserved, no desire to serve as an inspiration for the youth of tomorrow. As threats from the team’s editor-in-chief put more and more pressure on the journalists, they must decide just how far they’re willing to go to get the old man on the record.
Join us at 11:30 AM for a Q&A with the translator before the discussion at 12:00 PM.
Free to Folio members.
Learn more and get tickets >>
Order Sand-Catcher >>

Virtual Lecture: The Timeless Thobe – Documenting Land, Heritage & Culture in Palestinian Dress
2025-05-24 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Date: Saturday, May 24, 2025

Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed 24 hours prior to event
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian, Researcher & Educator
Registration Fee: Sliding scale
The thobe, a traditional hand embroidered dress made and worn by Palestinian women for centuries, is the bedrock of Palestinian identity through heritage, culture and land. For millennia, women in the eastern Mediterranean have showcased their skillful stitchery on their traditional dress, displaying unique motifs, colors and styles across the various villages of old Palestine.
After 1948, over 750,000 Palestinians were forced into exile, carrying their dressmaking and embroidery traditions with them into refugee camps and around the world. As the diaspora spread across the globe, the largest and longest-standing population of displaced people in the world, the thobe evolved into a symbol of national and cultural identity beyond borders.
In this live virtual lecture, dress historian, researcher, and educator Wafa Ghnaim will explore the evolution of the thobe and the visual language of tatreez (embroidery) as used on traditional Palestinian dress. From village styles to diasporic adaptations, this talk offers a compelling look at how dress documents the intertwined threads of history, memory, and identity.
What You’ll Receive:

Live access to the 2-hour lecture
A recording for 7 days after the live session

Important Notes:

Tickets are nonrefundable.
This is a live, virtual event hosted via Zoom.
Registration closes at 10:00 AM EST on May 24, 2025.
A Zoom link will be sent via email the day before the event.
The instructor reserves the right to review and decline registrations at her discretion to ensure a respectful and safe learning environment for all participants.
Space is limited to ensure an intimate and interactive experience.
Sharing your camera is required.

Free Film Screening: Israelism
2025-05-25 19:00 - 21:00 | Vashon Theater, 17723 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon, WA, 98070
Two young American Jews travel to Israel seeking a deeper understanding of the country they were raised to love. What they encounter profoundly impacts them, leading them to join a growing movement to redefine their community’s relationship with Israel in this challenging and emotional journey. Join us for the free screening of this film.
About the film
Two young American Jews – Simone Zimmerman and Eitan – are raised to defend the state of Israel at all costs. Eitan joins the Israeli military. Simone supports Israel on ‘the other battlefield:’ America’s college campuses. When they witness Israel‘s mistreatment of the Palestinian people with their own eyes, they are horrified and heartbroken.
They join the movement of young American Jews battling the old guard over Israel’s centrality in American Judaism, and demanding freedom for the Palestinian people. Their stories reveal a generational divide in the American Jewish community as more young Jews question the narratives their synagogues and Hebrew school teachers fed them as children.
The film also features voices like Jacqui, a Jewish educator who says “Judaism is Israel and Israel is Judaism”, and former Anti-Defamation League President Abe Foxman, who claims voices like Simone and Eitan’s represent a small minority. Thought leaders like Peter Beinart, Jeremy Ben-Ami, Noura Erakat, Cornel West, and Noam Chomsky also weigh in.
Directed by two first-time Jewish filmmakers who share a similar story to the film’s protagonists, Israelism is produced by Peabody-winner and 4-time Emmy-nominee Daniel J. Chalfen (Loudmouth, Boycott), executive produced by two-time Emmy-winner Brian A. Kates (Marvelous Ms. Maisel, Succession) and edited by Emmy-winner Tony Hale (The Story of Plastic), Israelism uniquely explores how Jewish attitudes towards Israel are changing dramatically, with massive consequences for the region and for Judaism itself.

Virtual Delegation: Balata Refugee Camp
2025-05-28 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Join us for a virtual tour of Balata Refugee Camp, with Mariam Ajwa from the Yafa Cultural Center.
This virtual tour will be followed with a discussion and Q&A.

Webinar on Anti-Palestinian Racism
2025-05-31 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual
The Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism is hosting a virtual educational webinar on Anti-Palestinian Racism.

Here are the details:
Title: Understanding Anti-Palestinian Racism in a Time of Fear
Date: May 31, 2025
Time: 10am-11:30am PST/1pm-2:30pm EST
How to sign up: Registration link!

Our goal is to educate, raise awareness and empower people to approach their own organizations and institutions to address this form of racism.

I’ve attached the flyer as well. We are asking people to limit their posting about the webinar to groups or individuals that would benefit from this form of education and/or are interested in fighting this form of racism but please do spread the word!

Hope to see you there!

You can find out more about our research on anti-Palestinian racism here.

This is a free webinar, and while there is no charge to attend, we welcome donations to support the ongoing work of IUAPR. You may donate here.

Virtual Lecture: Tatreez Symbolisms Interpreting Meaning in Palestinian Embroidery Motifs & Al Naksa
2025-06-06 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Virtual Lecture: Tatreez Symbolisms Interpreting Meaning in Palestinian Embroidery Motifs & Al Naksa 🗓 Friday, June 6, 2025 ⏰ 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST 📍 Online (Zoom link sent 24 hours prior) 🎟 Sliding scale registration 👤 Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian & Educator
This lecture commemorates the Six-Day War (June 5–10, 1967), which began the ongoing Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. In the wake of this seismic event, tatreez shifted in its meaning and function as a form cultural expression. From the intimate labor of individual women’s hands to the international recognition of Palestinian embroidery by UNESCO in 2021 as Intangible Cultural Heritage, tatreez continues to serve as a vessel of collective memory and a historical record of the Palestinian people.
Photograph by @m0nastic Chris Gale
🔗 Register at the link in bio
#Tatreez #PalestinianEmbroidery#AlNaksa #WafaGhnaim #artsed#arthistory

Virtual Briefing with Journalists on the Ground with Just Vision
2025-06-30 10:00 - 11:30 | Virtual
I invite you to join Just Vision, +972 Magazine, and Local Call on Monday, June 30 at 1:00 PM ET / 8:00 PM Jerusalem time for a timely virtual briefing with journalists on the ground, who will help make sense of the regional stakes of Israel’s assault on Iran, the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, mounting repression in the West Bank, and the growing threats to press freedom. Register here.
I will be moderating the conversation alongside Haggai Matar (Director of +972 Magazine and Co-Director of Local Call), and our discussion will feature the following panel of writers and editors:

Mohammed Mhawish, Contributing Writer, +972 Magazine: In the midst of a genocide, Mohammed covered the destruction of Gaza and its people from the ground. Now living in exile in the United States, he writes about his homeland from abroad, including recent work that focuses on documenting the lives, culture, and history of Gaza.

Orly Noy, Editor, Local Call: Orly’s most recent work includes a searing analysis of the existential threats posed by the Israeli military’s hubris and a warning of the dangers of regime change fantasies. Her background as an Iranian-Israeli offers a unique perspective on developments in both societies.
Shatha Yaish, West Bank Reporter, +972 Magazine: Shatha, who recently joined +972 after over a decade with AFP, covers East Jerusalem and the West Bank, most recently writing on the Israeli army’s use of the war with Iran as a pretext to seal off and lock down towns and cities throughout the West Bank.
Oren Ziv, Staff Reporter, Local Call: Oren covers topics ranging from refuseniks to military and settler violence in the West Bank. A photojournalist, he’s been on the scene documenting the aftermath of missile strikes from Iran.

Please join us for this critical conversation by RSVPing here. A Zoom link will be provided upon registration.

Announcing: Resistance Arts, a Conversation with El-Funoun (Virtual)
2025-07-12 10:00 - 12:00 | Virtual
Announcing: Resistance Arts, a Conversation with El-Funoun
Saturday, July 12 | 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern, 8PM Palestine
The struggle for Palestine lives in every form of resistance, including art. Widely considered the lead Palestinian dance company in Palestine and the diaspora, El-Funoun was established in 1979 by a small group of enthusiastic, creative and committed artists. The Troupe has developed an innovative style of dance deeply-rooted in Palestinian and Arab folklore and informed by elements of contemporary dance movement. A leading cultural institution in Palestine, El-Funoun has used dabke, music, and cultural work as tools to confront erasure and resist the zionist occupation, making them and their dancers a continuous target of imprisonment and repression by the zionist entity.
Join the PYM’s Resistance Arts Committee for a discussion with El-Funoun that is rooted in political clarity, history, and the realities we face now. We will be exploring:
– What do we mean by resistance arts in the Palestinian context?
– How did El-Funoun turn culture into a site of struggle, from choreography built inside prison walls to stages across the world?
– What does it mean to build and defend Palestinian cultural institutions today, both under occupation and in exile?
Link to register for the webinar: https://bit.ly/PYMxEl-FunounWebinar
You don’t want to miss this!

Virtual Lecture: Regional Distinctions in Palestinian Dress
2025-07-18 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Late 19th/Early 20th Centuries

Date: Friday, July 18, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed 24 hours prior to event
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian, Researcher & Educator
Registration Fee: Sliding scale
Description: Until the mid-twentieth century, the dress of the Palestinian people was descriptive of identity; first by societal segment (city dweller, villager or nomad), and then by the region in which the wearer came. Within each regional style, finer distinctions in women’s dress (thobe) were expressed that shared the maker’s life and the natural world around her. Palestinian women recorded their identity in their thobe with embroidery (tatreez) through a shared illustrative language of embroidered patterns, stitching techniques and thread colors. The thobe records unwritten stories and serves as a visual register of collective and individual identities, documenting a woman’s village, tribe or town, her marital status, her familial lineage, and the material impact of colonialism, occupation, war and exile. The regional identity of the woman defines the overall governing style of her thobe, and evidence of identity is largely through her embodiment of land.
This lecture will discuss the regional distinctions in dress in historical Palestine by city, village and tribe for at least six regions, to include Ramallah, Galilee, Gaza, Bir Saba, Al Khalil, and Bethlehem.
What You’ll Receive:

Live access to the 2-hour lecture
A recording for 7 days after the live session

Living Heritage: Traditional Egyptian Crafts between Disappearance and Innovation
2025-07-29 16:00 - 17:30 | Virtual
This panel explores Egypt’s living heritage through its traditional crafts, each one carrying centuries of cultural memory and identity. Despite facing economic and social pressures, many of these crafts are being revived through creative entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and sustainable design. We highlight the voices and experiences of artisans, examining how their work can be preserved, reimagined, and celebrated both in Egypt and around the world.

This virtual lecture will be in English! Event link will be provided 30 minutes before the start of the session.

Virtual Delegation to Al-Makhrour
2025-07-30 09:00 - 10:00 | Virtual
In Beit Jala, Occupied Bethlehem, Palestinians who were forcibly evicted from their homes by IOF-backed settlers have been battling to return.
Join us on a virtual delegation with Alice Kisiya, Palestinian Christian activist fighting land dispossession in Bethlehem, to learn about al-Makhrour and how you can support

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire
2025-07-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location
Censorship, distortion, and intimidation have made many of us unable to access knowledge about Palestine and the diaspora. And now? We need this knowledge more than ever.
So proud to be hosted through @baladna.pnw
Seattle, sign up for this 4 session course where we’ll discuss the connections between Palestinian dispossession and resistance in the US Empire and in Palestine. Open to everyone.
Registration in bio and https://tinyurl.com/nhff2khb
July 30, Aug 6, Aug 13, Aug 20
7:00-8:30pm
Location to be announced
#seattle #palestine #baladna #class #historyofthepresent

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire (Class Two of Four)
2025-08-06 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location

ARCE-DC: The Milky Way and the Ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Sky by Dr. Or Graur
2025-08-09 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
The ancient Egyptians left us some of the earliest records of the night sky, in which they noted the sun, the moon, planets, and several constellations. Many of these celestial objects are associated with—or personified by—certain gods, such as Re and the sun. Yet how the Egyptians conceptualized the Milky Way remains unclear. This talk will focus on the popular suggestion that the Milky Way was a manifestation of Nut, the Egyptian goddess of the sky.
The speaker has tested this theory by combining astronomical simulations of the Egyptian night sky, readings of primary sources (the Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Fundamentals of the Course of the Stars), research on ancient Egyptian material culture (coffins, funerary papyri, and tomb murals), and anthropological studies of Milky Way creation stories from around the world.This talk will show how Nut’s depictions changed over the course of Egyptian history, and will present the first visual evidence for the Milky Way in ancient Egyptian art. Dr. Graur concludes that the Milky Way was not a manifestation of Nut but one more astronomical phenomenon that graced her body in her role as the goddess of the sky.
The online event typically lasts an hour—50 minutes for the lecture, 10 minutes for Q+A.
No recording or imaging of presentations is allowed in any way.

Bread and Blood: A Reading with Samah Zaqout in Gaza
2025-08-13 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Join us for a reading with Samah Zaqout in Gaza.

My name is Samah Zaher Zaqout and I am a Gaza-based Palestinian living under the current “war.” I wrote this piece, “Famine, Fear, and the Fight for Bread” to shed light on what we are experiencing here, especially in Northern Gaza where we are experiencing the most difficult conditions.
A little about me: I am a writer, translator, and teacher. I graduated from the faculty of Arts, English literature, as one of the best students; I was a student of the late Dr Refa’at Al-Areer.
I write about life in Gaza. I have published some of my pieces on outlets such as Electronic Intifada, We Are Not Numbers, and Politics Today. I have also participated with my writings in some events and books abroad.
I am partnering with Eyewitness Palestine on an exciting event.

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire (Class Three of Four)
2025-08-13 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location

The American Nakba: Palestinian Dispossession and Resistance in the Heart of US Empire (Class Four of Four)
2025-08-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location

Yafa: Virtual Delegation
2025-08-27 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
We are thrilled to announce that for this month’s virtual delegation to Yafa, occupied Palestine, we will be joined by Sami Abu Shehadeh– Palestinian elected official and former member of the Knesset.
During this virtual delegation and Q&A on Wednesday, August 27th at 12pm EST, hear from community and political leaders Abed and Sami Abu Shehadeh about the history of Yafa, the challenges that Palestinians are currently facing there, as well as the city’s significance in connection to the ongoing genocide and displacement in Gaza.

Register for the event here!

What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda
2025-08-30 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
This Saturday, August 30, 2025 Virtual Programming via Zoom:
What exactly happened in 1948? An animated map by Palestinian architect Nisreen Zahda.
Please Click Here to register to attend this event via Zoom.
Screening will start at 12:00 PM US EDT; 19:00 Palestine, 18:00 Europe, UK 17:00; Running Time 12 minutes, 2023, English language. The screening will be followed by Q&A discussions with the audience.
About the Topic
The 1948 Nakba—Israel calls it the War of Independence and claims it fended off and conquered the invasion of several Arab armies from surrounding countries. Nothing could be further from the truth.
As the genocide in Gaza continues to unfold, it’s crucial to put the events of 1948 into perspective and examine the similarities and differences. There’s a stark contrast between the misinformation and lack of media coverage in 1948 versus the live-streamed coverage of the current genocide on people’s mobile devices and screens worldwide. Was what happened in 1948 as tragic and horrific as what’s happening in Gaza now, just unknown to the world?

A Conversation with Khayari founder Areej Masoud
2025-09-24 19:00 - 20:30 | Register for Location
Areej Masoud, a Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem and the Executive Director of Khayari – a Women’s Empowerment organization in the Occupied West Bank, will share her insights about the realities of life in Palestine, her work with Khayari and how you can get involved.
This event will be co-hosted by Bethany Presbyterian Church and Quest Church.
Location provided via email after competion of registration.

Tatreez in Conversation: Six Dresses, Six Stories
2025-09-25 09:00 - 11:00 | Virtual
Tatreez in Conversation: Six Dresses, Six Stories

Date: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST
Location: Online, Zoom link will be emailed 24 hours prior to event
Instructor: Wafa Ghnaim, Dress Historian, Researcher & Educator
Registration Fee: Sliding scale, starting at $10
Description: Until the mid-twentieth century, the dress of the Palestinian people was descriptive of identity; first by societal segment (city dweller, villager or nomad), and then by the region in which the wearer came. Within each regional style, finer distinctions in women’s dress (thobe) were expressed that shared the maker’s life and the natural world around her. Palestinian women recorded their identity in their thobe with embroidery (tatreez) through a shared illustrative language of embroidered patterns, stitching techniques and thread colors.
After al-Nakba and throughout the 1960s, the thobe transformed into a reflection of national identity. It no longer signified a woman’s village, tribe, or town, her marital status, or her familial lineage, but instead bore the material impact of colonialism, occupation, war, and exile. While the loss of regional identity in dress is registered as part of the violence Palestinians endured during al-Nakba, this shift also marks a moment of unity in Palestinian communities newly dispersed and scattered across the region. The six-branch dress, a dress construction that became a governing style by the 1960s, showcases innovative approaches by women at the time to protect a vital component to Palestinian cultural heritage.
This lecture will focus on the six dresses presented in Tatreez Inheritance, examining their material characteristics, their paths to the United States, and the ways in which one can employ the art of “close looking”—a skill Wafa learned from her mother at a young age—to uncover evidence of a woman’s personality, vocation, life, and sense of pride.

Media, Race, and the Sudanese Civil War | Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar Series
2025-10-02 08:00 - 09:30 | Virtual
In April 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. In the ongoing conflict, thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and millions more require urgent humanitarian assistance. In the midst of it all, another element has become a focal part of this trauma: the media. In this talk, Dr. Christopher Tounsel (University of Washington) will discuss the war’s historical background, address why Western media has been comparatively silent in its coverage, and show how one community’s response to the conflict sheds light on the intersections of race, media, and the African Diaspora.
Christopher Tounsel is Director of African Studies and associate professor of history at the University of Washington. An historian of the Sudan, Tounsel is the author of Chosen Peoples: Christianity and Political Imagination in South Sudan and Bounds of Blackness: African Americans, Sudan, and the Politics of Solidarity.
The Global Africa Transcontinental Seminar brings together UW African Studies, the Department of History at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal, and the African Program at Sciences Po Paris, France, and aims to engage scholars and students around contemporary research on “African Worlds” or ”Global Africa.” The virtual monthly lectures and discussions will connect communities of scholars across the humanities and social sciences in North America, Africa, and Europe to discuss themes such as Black radical politics, decolonial feminisms, African technologies, environmental history, postcolonial migration, religion and modernity, and language. Through consideration of the ways in which the three continents have influenced each other and their respective institutional contexts, the seminar will bring original and situated perspectives on a range of topics and further a rich conversation across institutions, teaching traditions, and research.

Symposium | Gender, Translation, and the Short Form in the Eurasian Periodical
2025-10-10 09:00 - 15:00 | University of Washington – Thomson Hall, 1911 Skagit Lane, Seattle, WA, 98105, United States
Literary modernity did not always appear in book form, but as a periodical! Throughout the 20th century, literary and cultural production across much of Central, Western, and South Asia reached readers through the pages of periodicals. These periodicals–newspapers, magazines, and journals–housed a variety of literary forms ranging from serialized novels, to poetry, to short stories, alongside advertisements, comics, and photography. This symposium features emerging literary scholarship that investigates short form fiction as it appears in the rhizomatic 20th century periodical, and its intersections with translation and gender. How does fiction move across and between languages in 20th century periodical cultures of Eurasia? What does an explicit and intentional consideration of gender in these translingual (and frequently transnational, or transhistorical) literary movements illuminate? In exploring such questions, this symposium foregrounds gender, translation, and the short form in the growing field of Periodical Studies, and brings together scholars working on texts from across Eurasia, in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Tamil, Russian, and Turkish
Thomson Hall : Rm 317

Healing Under Occupation: Mutual Aid Webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope
2025-10-15 09:00 - 10:30 | Virtual
Join us for a webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope to learn about their mental health work: empowering Palestinian children and their caregivers, and supporting their healing to help them realize their full potential.

Join us for a webinar with Anar Palestine and Healing to Hope to learn about their mental health work: empowering Palestinian children and their caregivers, and supporting their healing to help them realize their full potential.

Lecture: The AI Con with Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna
2025-10-21 18:30 - 21:00 | Wyncote NW Forum, 1119 8th Ave (Entrance off Seneca St.), Seattle, WA, 98101
Is artificial intelligence on the brink of world domination? Have tech giants created autonomous thinking machines? Will AI render authors, artists, and other creatives obsolete? Are we entering an era where computers surpass humans in every way?
According to linguist Emily M. Bender and sociologist Alex Hanna, the answers to these questions are clear: no, they wish, LOL, and definitely not. What fuels these dramatic predictions is a phenomenon known as AI hype—a misleading narrative that distorts reality to serve corporate interests. Hype doesn’t just exaggerate; it justifies data exploitation, accelerates surveillance capitalism, and undermines human creativity by reducing skilled work to mechanical tasks.
Bender and Hanna provide essential tools to identify AI hype, break it down, and expose the underlying power plays it seeks to conceal.
Alex Hanna
Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)
Alex Hanna is the Director of Research at the Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR) and a sociologist whose work explores the data behind computational technologies and its role in deepening racial, gender, and class inequalities. She also studies social movements, focusing on anti-racist campus protests in the U.S. and Canada. Dr. Hanna holds degrees in computer science, mathematics, and sociology from Purdue University and earned her MS and PhD in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
She is the co-author of The AI Con (Harper, 2025), a critical examination of artificial intelligence and the hype surrounding it. Alongside linguist Emily M. Bender, she co-hosts Mystery AI Hype Theater 3000, a lively, incisive series on Twitch and podcast platforms that deconstructs AI industry narratives.
Dr. Hanna’s research has been published in top-tier social science journals, including Mobilization, American Behavioral Scientist, and Big Data & Society, as well as leading computer science conferences such as CSCW, FAccT, and NeurIPS. She serves as a Senior Fellow at the Center for Applied Transgender Studies and is an advisory board member for the Human Rights Data Analysis Group.
Recognized for her contributions, Dr. Hanna has received the Wisconsin Alumni Association’s Forward Award, been named to FastCompany’s Queer 50 list (2021, 2024), and featured on Business Insider’s AI Power List. She was also highlighted in the Cal Academy of Sciences New Science exhibit, which celebrates queer and trans scientists of color.
