Society of Scholars Cohort Archive

scholars discussing a topic around the main Simpson Center conference room table

The Society of Scholars is an intellectual community of humanists of diverse generations, academic ranks, and departmental affiliations who contribute to and learn from one another’s work. Each year, approximately eight faculty and three dissertation research fellowships support members of the Society of Scholars. Scholars in year-long residence at the University of Washington may be invited to participate as well. The group meets biweekly throughout the year to discuss their research in progress. 

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Cohort Archives

2024 - 2025 Society of Scholars

Kyle J. Trembley
Doctoral Candidate
Anthropology
Randa Tawil
Assistant Professor
CHCI-ACLS Visiting Fellow
A portrait of Jasmine Mahmoud standing in front of a bookcase.
Assistant Professor
School of Drama
Oya Rose Aktaş
Doctoral Candidate
History
Danya Al-Saleh
Assistant Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
M. Aziz
Assistant Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Jennifer Baez
Assistant Professor
Art History / School of Art + Art History + Design
Jacob Beckert
Doctoral Candidate
Department of History
Ungsan Kim
Assistant Professor
Asian Languages and Culture
Josh Reid
Associate Professor
American Indian Studies
Bianca Dang
Assistant Professor
History
Diana Flores Ruíz
Assistant Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
JohnMorgan Baker
Doctoral Candidate
English
Andreas P. Bassett stands in front of a large shrubbery while wearing a dark jacket blue shirt and tie.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Anne Duncan
Doctoral Candidate
English
Kathleen Escarcha
Doctoral Candidate
English
medium close-up of Yandong. He is on the left of the frame in a black t-shirt looking at the camera. To the right is a light flare form the setting sun, while the background shows buildings and a park.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Eric Villiers
Doctoral Candidate
School of Drama

2023 - 2024 Society of Scholars

Aria Fani looks into the camera while wearing glasses and a grey collared shirt.
Assistant Professor
Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures
P. Joshua Griffin sits in front of a gray wall wearing glasses, a blue shirt, and a dark jacket.
Assistant Professor
American Indian Studies
Douglas S. Ishii stands in front of stairs while wearing a blazer, teal collared shirt, and a black tie.
Assistant Professor
English
Ralina Joseph smiles in this headshot and wears a yellow flutter-sleeve blouse, a blue necklace, and long circle earrings.
Professor
Communication
Picture of Sarah Levin-Richardson standing in front of a beige wall wearing glasses, a blazer, and a black shirt.
Associate Professor
Classics
James Pierce stands in front of a white wall with his arms crossed while wearing a black collared shirt and black trousers.
Assistant Professor
School of Art + Art History + Design
Photograph of Reuven Pinnata from the chest up, wearing a black shirt and a red Nintendo jacket, against a green blur of foliage.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Headshot of Chandan Reddy
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies and Comparative History of Ideas
Smiling head shot of a woman with long dark brown hair wearing a long sleeved black turtleneck sweater.
Doctoral Candidate
Art History / School of Art + Art History + Design
Portrait of Lynn Thomas wearing glasses and yellow dangle earrings.
Professor
History
Portrait of Arbella Bet-Shlimon in front of a dark wall.
Associate Professor
Department of History
Picture of Christina Yuen Zi Chung wearing a black shirt while standing in front of foliage.
Doctoral Candidate
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
A white butch person with glasses smiling in a light brown blazer and blue and white checkered button-up shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
History
Andreas P. Bassett stands in front of a large shrubbery while wearing a dark jacket blue shirt and tie.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Image of Aaron Carpenter, male, sitting at a wooden table, holding a coffee cup. Magazines are displayed on shelves behind him.
Doctoral Candidate
German Studies
Close-up portrait of a white woman with pink and brown hair and blue eyes wearing a blue shirt
Doctoral Candidate
English
Or Vallah looks at the camera, smiling while wearing a long-sleeved top and sitting in front of a wall with vines.
Doctoral Candidate
Art History and the School of Art + Art History + Design
Maxine Savage stands in front of a large bush while wearing glasses and a grey jacket.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Scandinavian Studies

2022 - 2023 Society of Scholars

Black and white portrait of Kewi Adeyemi
Assistant Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Heekyoung Cho looks to the left while wearing glasses.
Associate Professor
Asian Languages & Literature
Portrait of Alina Méndez.
Assistant Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Portrait of Ariana Ochoa Camacho wearing glasses and standing in front of a bookcase.
Assistant Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, University of Washington Tacoma
Portrait of Carole Lee standing outside.
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy
Portrait of Madeleine Dong wearing glasses, a scarf, and a dark jacket.
Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
Mal Ahern looks at a roll of film that has been unwound.
Assistant Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
profile of Maya Smith smiling at the camera, hair pulled back with some curls along the left side, wearing a red top under a blue blazer with a necklace
Associate Professor
French & Italian Studies
A portrait of Amalie Goul Dueholm standing in front of a wall.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
A portrait of Leah Rubinsky standing in front of a body of water.
Doctoral Candidate
Comparative Literature
Justin Randolph stands in front of a dark wall while wearing glasses and a white sweater.
CHCI/ACLS Visiting Scholar and Assistant Professor
History, Texas State University
Portrait of Megan Ybarra
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
A portrait of Raphaëlle Rabanes wearing a grey jacket.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
A portrait of Anna Nguyen wearing glasses.
Doctoral Candidate
History
Brendan McElmeel stands on a rooftop wearing a dark shirt.
Doctoral Candidate
History
Diana Molkova stands facing the right while looking into the camera and holds a huge fuzzy dog.
Doctoral Candidate
Classics
Portrait of Gust Burns.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Jingsi Shen stands outside with mountains in the background.
Doctoral Candidate
Comparative Literature
Matthew Childs sits outside on a hill overlooking a body of water.
Doctoral Candidate
German Studies
Maxine Savage stands in front of a large bush while wearing glasses and a grey jacket.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Scandinavian Studies

2021 - 2022 Society of Scholars

Portrait of Leigh Mercer wearing glasses and a dark jacket standing in front of a blue wall.
Associate Professor
Spanish & Portuguese Studies
Portrait of Xin Peng standing by a golden Japanese Maple tree
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Rich Watts
Associate Professor
French & Italian Studies
Mika Ahuvia in suit jacket smiling with bookcase in background
Associate Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
Portrait of José Alaniz in wintertime New York from 2018
Professor
Slavic Languages and Literatures
Portrait of Dan Berger leaning against a brick wall
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Profile picture of Sarah Brucia Breitenfeld: a person with short brown hair in a blue button up sitting in front of a lake.
Doctoral Candidate
Classics
Portrait of Stephanie Clare; woman wearing glasses, red shirt and black blazer
Assistant Professor
English
Portrait of Hajin Jun
Assistant Professor
History
Portrait of Louisa Mackenzie
Associate Professor
French & Italian Studies
Profile of Katia smiling at the camera in a dark blazer and orange shirt
Doctoral Candidate
History
Joe Concannon stands in front of a tree wearing a gray sweater.
Part-time Lecturer
English
Grace Funsten looks at the camera while standing in front of a white wall.
Doctoral Candidate
Classics
Erin Gilbert stands in front of a body of water.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Justin Mohler looks at the camera while sitting in front of a river.
Doctoral Candidate
German Studies
Matthew Poland looks at the camera while wearing green glasses.
Part-time Lecturer
English

2020 - 2021 Society of Scholars

Portrait of Cleo Woelfle-Erskine in front of a body of water wearing a green shirt.
Assistant Professor
School of Marine and Environmental Affairs
Portrait of Robert Anderson wearing a dark grey sweater.
Graduate Student
Department of Geography
Yuta Kaminishi stands in front of a body of water wearing glasses and a grey shirt.
Graduate Student
Cinema & Media Studies
Taylor Soja wears a black shirt and tan jacket.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of History
Close up of cherry blossoms.
Graduate Student
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Amanda Doxtater
Associate Professor
Department of Scandinavian Studies
Liora Halperin stands outside wearing glasses and a blue shirt.
Associate Professor
History
Portrait of Daniel Bessner in a blue shirt and glasses
Associate Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
A close-up image of Danny Hoffman wearing a black shirt.
Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
A close-up portrait of Bettina Judd wearing glasses and a dark shirt.
Assistant Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Portrait of Devin Naar wearing a purple shirt and tie and wearing glasses.
Associate Professor
Department of History
Portrait of Linh Thủy Nguyễn wearing an orange shirt.
Assistant Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Adair Rounthwaite sits on a blue chair wearing a pink sweater.
Associate Professor and Chair
Art History
Portrait of Maryam Griffin wearing glasses.
Assistant Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell

2019 - 2020 Society of Scholars

María Elena García stands outside wearing a red scarf and grey jacket.
Professor
Comparative History of Ideas
Jenna Grant stands outside in front of a brick wall wearing a patterned shirt.
Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Belinda He stands in front of a bank of windows wearing a black shirt and gray jacket.
PhD Candidate
Jackson School of International Studies
Jang Wook Huh stands outside in front of a building wearing a blue shirt.
Assistant Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Joel Alden Schlosser sits in front of a wooden lattice wearing a collared shirt.
Associate Professor and Chair of Political Science
Bryn Mawr College
Ray Jonas wears glasses, a collared shirt, and a jacket.
Professor
Department of History
Adrian Kane wears glasses and a blue shirt with a bookcase in the background.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of History
Priti Ramamurthy stands outside wearing glasses and a floral shirt.
Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
La TaSha Levy wears glasses and a dark shirt with a multicolored background.
Assistant Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Lily Shapiro stands in front of a bush wearing a blue shirt.
PhD Candidate
Anthropology
Laurie Marhoefer stands in front of a white brick wall wearing a grey shirt.
Associate Professor and Jon Bridgman Endowed Professor of History
Department of History
Christopher Teuton sits in front of a bookcase wearing a maroon shirt.
Professor and Chair
American Indian Studies
A black and white image of Rae Paris near a window.
Assistant Professor
English
Davinder Bhowmik stands outside wearing a green scarf and patterned shirt.
Associate Professor
Asian Languages & Literature

2018 - 2019 Society of Scholars

Black and white portrait of Kewi Adeyemi
Assistant Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Portrait of Jennifer Bean
Associate Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Jean Dennison
Associate Professor
Anthropology
Portrait of Vanessa Freije
Assistant Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
Portrait of Radhika Govindrajan
Assistant Professor
Anthropology
Portrait of Jason Groves
Associate Professor
German Studies
Ungsan Kim
Assistant Professor
Asian Languages and Culture
Portrait of Dian Million
Associate Professor and Chair
American Indian Studies
Portrait of Akanksha Misra
Assistant Professor
Gender & Women's Studies
Portrait of José Francisco Robles
Assistant Professor
Spanish & Portuguese Studies
Portrait of Xiaoshun Zeng
Doctoral Candidate
History
Headshot of Naomi Macalalad Bragin
Assistant Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell

2017 - 2018 Society of Scholars

Portrait of Ana M. Gómez-Bravo
Professor of Spanish
Spanish & Portuguese Studies
Portrait of Elizabeth Janssen.
Doctoral Candidate
English
Jeffrey Knight wears a plaid shirt and glasses.
Associate Professor
English
Christian Novetzke wears a black shirt and glasses.
Professor
Jackson School of International Studies
A close-up image of Jesse Oak Taylor wearing a blue shirt and glasses.
Professor
English
Liina-Ly Roos wears glasses, a white shirt, and a black jacket.
Assistant Professor
German, Nordic, and Slavic, College of Letters & Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sarah Ross sits on a beach looking toward the water.
Doctoral Candidate
Cinema & Media Studies
Jordanna Bailkin wears a striped shirt in front of a white wall.
Jere L. Bacharach Endowed Professor in International Studies
Department of History
Yomi Braester wears a black jacket in front of a white wall.
Professor, Byron W. and Alice L. Lockwood Professor in the Humanities
Cinema & Media Studies
A black and white image of Darren Byler wearing glasses.
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Anthropology
Shannon Cram stands outside wearing a black shirt.
Associate Professor
School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell
Susan Gaylard stands behind a red bicycle and in front of a bookcase wearing a light-green jacket and purple sweater.
Associate Professor of Italian
French & Italian Studies
Headshot of Olivia Noble Gunn.
Assistant Professor
Department of Scandinavian Studies

2016 - 2017 Society of Scholars

Close up color photo of Amanda Swarr with bookshelves behind her.
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Portrait of Sasha Welland
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
Portrait of Megan Ybarra
Associate Professor
Department of Geography
Portrait of Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano
Assistant Professor
History
Portrait of Ruby Blondell
Professor Emerita
Classics
Portrait of Adriana Vazquez
Assistant Professor
Classics
Portrait of Sarah Dowling
Assistant Professor
Comparative Literature
Portrait of Jesse Meredith
Visiting Assistant Professor
History
Stephen Groening looking at a computer monitor
Associate Professor
Cinema & Media Studies
Portrait of Michelle Habell-Pallán
Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies
LaShawnDa Pittman
Associate Professor
American Ethnic Studies
Headshot of Chandan Reddy
Associate Professor
Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies and Comparative History of Ideas
Portrait of Ileana Rodriguez-Silva
Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies
History
A portrait of Jasmine Mahmoud standing in front of a bookcase.
Assistant Professor
School of Drama

2019 - 2020 Society of Scholars Fellow

Ray Jonas wears glasses, a collared shirt, and a jacket.

Ray Jonas (he/him/his)

Professor

Borderlands: A Global History of the Mexican Second Empire

The Mexican Second Empire was established following a European invasion of Mexico in 1862, led by the armed forces of Britain, France, and Spain and exploiting the distraction of the American Civil War. Although the Empire was ephemeral – it collapsed in 1867 – its history underlines issues that proved durable. Borderlands situates the Empire within European anxieties about Manifest Destiny and the continental scale of the American Republic, as well as a racial vision of Latin America at the mercy of Yankee aggression. Throughout, the Empire served as the guardian of a modernizing settler colonialism; in its twilight months, the Empire served as a haven for Confederate refugees and the plantation economy.