Barclay Simpson Scholars Archive
The Simpson Center for the Humanities biannually invites proposals from doctoral students in the humanities to pursue public-facing projects in their areas of study and practice. Our inaugural cohort of fellows met throughout the summer of 2021, with cohorts to be selected every other fall. The fellowship builds on the Simpson Center’s longstanding commitment to public scholarship and furthers the groundbreaking work undertaken by University of Washington faculty, doctoral students, and their community partners in the Simpson Center’s Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funded Reimagining the Humanities PhD and Reaching New Publics initiative (2015-2021). Fellowship cohorts meet weekly throughout the summer to discuss their research in progress.
2023 - 2024 Barclay Simpson Scholars
2021 - 2022 Barclay Simpson Scholars
Ellie Cleasby (she/her/hers)
Valuing Our Clothes: Linking Academic Knowledge and Activism to Organize Against Fast Fashion
This project asks how a Primark T-shirt can cost as little as £3.50. An annotated QR code, printed on a physical T-Shirt shares details of the commodity chain and takes interested parties to a website with more details. Information about the economic, social, and environmental impacts that are co-produced with the T-shirt clearly show that the actual cost is considerably higher. The website encourages viewers to think about the people globally who are involved in making and disposing of their clothes. Stickers and printed T-shirts will be produced to share this project with shoppers.
