Barclay Simpson Scholars | Simpson Center for the Humanities

3 scholars at a conference table in active discussion

The Barclay Simpson Scholars Program consists of 1) biannual summer fellowships for four doctoral students to pursue public-facing projects, and 2) a prize to honor exceptional faculty contributions to scholarship in public.

Inaugurated in 2021, the summer fellowship program was endowed with a new gift from the Simpson family foundation in recognition of the value of the humanities to the public good. This visionary contribution to the future of our work has historical resonance: in 1997, a major gift from Barclay and Sharon Simpson endowed the Simpson Center, and what had previously been the University of Washington Center for the Humanities was renamed the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities in tribute to Barclay Simpson’s father.

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Call for Nominations: Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public

The Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities invites nominations of University of Washington faculty members for the Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public. Nominations Due Friday, February 15, 2019.

Barclay Simpson Award

Michelle Habell-Pallán interviews Girl in a Coma.

From Chicana Punk Rock, Habell-Pallán Forges a Vision for Public Scholarship

When the indie-rock band Girl in a Coma visited a museum in San Antonio in 2009, they found themselves included in the exhibition. The museum was featuring American Sabor, a bi-lingual celebration of the contributions of Latinas and Latinos to...

Gillian Harkins Creates Seminar on Public Scholarship as Means and Ends

Gillian Harkins (English) has developed a new graduate seminar based on her work as a 2016 Mellon Summer Fellow for New Graduate Seminars in the Humanities. The fellowship, part of the Simpson Center’s Reimagining the Humanities PhD and Reaching New...

Humanities

Prison Studies

Interrupting Privilege

UW Professor of Communication Ralina Joseph Is Teaching People to Talk About Race Across Generational and Racial Lines

James Gregory’s Research on Redlining Prompts New Washington Bill on Racist Property Covenants

The transformations possible through the new bill demonstrate what this understanding of historical research can mean in practice.

Michelle Habell-Pallán Awarded Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public

It takes creative words to describe the energy that Michelle Habell-Pallán conjures through her boundary-breaking scholarly projects—the work that has earned her the 2017 Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public.

Barclay Simpson Award

Ralina Joseph Awarded Inaugural Mellon/ACLS Scholars & Society Fellowship

The American Council of Learned Societies announced that it has selected Professor Ralina Joseph (Communications) as an inaugural Mellon/ACLS Scholars & Society Fellow.

UW Faculty

Awards

Simpson Center Announces Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public

The Walter Chapin Simpson Center mourns the passing of the visionary philanthropist Barclay Simpson on November 8, 2014. In honor of his memory, the Simpson Center announces the Barclay Simpson Prize for Scholarship in Public.

Barclay Simpson Award