Honors’ Global Challenges — Interdisciplinary Thinking Events
Interdisciplinary Ways of Thinking About the Complexities of our World
For people who ask great questions and value diverse perspectives.
College is more than a means to a degree: it’s a launchpad into a lifetime of opportunities to investigate and offer solutions to profound human problems. The University of Washington is committed to deep interdisciplinary inquiry into big ideas and issues; and the Honors Program is proud to be a vibrant center of collaborative thinking at our Top-10 public research institution. Honors brings together curious, nimble scholars to learn across many fields to consider ideas and information from multiple perspectives.
Each year, we convene a public “Global Challenges — Interdisciplinary Thinking” event featuring fast-paced conversations between thought leaders from different disciplines.
NEXT UP:
Public Trust in Science and Why It Matters
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
As science becomes increasingly woven into our daily lives, public trust — or the lack of it — has serious consequences. Join a dynamic conversation between UW Honors Program faculty in STEM fields as they explore what happens when science is misunderstood, mistrusted, or misused.
Featured Speakers
Dr. Maralyssa Bann (Medicine)
A hospitalist at Harborview Medical Center and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Dr. Bann focuses on inpatient care rooted in equity, harm reduction, and patient-centeredness. She brings a global and interdisciplinary lens to her teaching, leading the UW Honors study abroad program “Honors London: Socializing Medicine,” which explores the social, historical, and economic dimensions of healthcare systems around the world.
K.C. Cole (Physics/Journalism)
An award-winning science writer and author of several books, Cole is known for transforming complex scientific ideas into deeply human stories. She’s taught journalism and science communication at USC, UCLA, and now at UW, where she leads two popular Honors courses: “The Art of Science” and “The Science of Human Values.” Her work bridges the gap between science, the humanities, and public understanding.
Dr. Jon Herron (Biology)
A longtime Senior Lecturer in Biology, Dr. Herron is the author of Evolutionary Analysis, a widely used textbook now in its 5th edition. He designs virtual biology labs and has taught for UW Honors since 1996, leading courses like “DNA and Evolution” and “Evolution and Human Behavior.” Beloved by students, he’s a multi-year recipient of the Honors Excellence in Teaching Award — so many times, in fact, that we had to “retire his jersey.”
Dr. Michelle Koutnik (Earth & Space Sciences)
A glaciologist and researcher with experience in Greenland, Antarctica, and Mars, Dr. Koutnik studies how glaciers and ice sheets respond to climate change. She’s been an active part of the UW Honors teaching community for over a decade, bringing planetary science and climate literacy to students through fieldwork-inspired courses and previous Global Challenges panels.
Moderator: Clara McAdams (Interdisciplinary Honors Student)
Clara intends to major in Neuroscience with a minor in Chemistry and plans to attend medical school to prepare for her work as a neonatal health specialist. As Peer Facilitator in the Honors Program, she helps new Honors students learn how to navigate the UW with an interdisciplinary mindset. Clara also leads campus tours, conducts research in the UW Medicine NICU and volunteers with Grey Matters neuroscience journal — conducting outreach that makes science more accessible for younger students.
Join us for an evening of insight, inspiration, and interdisciplinary thinking.
Click Here to Register for Global Challenges 2025
GLOBAL CHALLENGES — INTERDISCIPLINARY THINKING events are supported by gifts to The Friends of Honors fund. Thanks, Friends, for contributing to the health and learning of our community!
Global Challenges Archives
Explore video and audio archives of our past Global Challenges—Interdisciplinary Thinking events, still relevant as our world’s biggest issues continue to evolve.
The Role of Public Research Universities, 2024
On Nov. 13, 2024, Joseph Janes (evolution and cultural impacts of information sources), Megan McCloskey (international human rights law and disability rights) and Ed Taylor (leadership, social justice and critical race theory in education) discussed the many purposes of public research universities like the University of Washington in our world today with moderator, Jaya Field.
Watch GCIT 2024 video recording
Ways of Knowing, 2023
Different disciplines, cultures, and individuals have distinct approaches to gathering information, interpreting it, and forming beliefs. This begs the question: “How do we know things and where else should we be looking for answers?” On November 9, 2023, Samantha-Lynn Martinez, Polly Olsen, Tony Lucero, and Katie Davis explored this topic with the help of Honors students and input from our broader community.
The Power of Place and Care, 2022
Hosted in a hybrid format, Martine Pierre-Louis, LaShawnDa Pittman, Megan Ybarra and Stephanie Smallwood explored the causal factors of displacement and how we can work together to address those challenges. The conversation and Q&A were moderated by Honors student leaders Brandon Wu and Shannon Hong.
Political Engagements Constructing Our World, 2021
Ben Danielson, Alexis Harris, and Dean Spade discussed recent events and opportunities in youth-led political activism in our “Post 2020 World.” The conversation was moderated by alumna and disability rights activist, Christine Lew, centering perspectives from public health, legal systems and mutual aid, poverty, and criminal justice institutions.
Watch a recording of Global Challenges 2021
Communicating About Crises Across a Divided Public, 2020
In our first fully online Global Challenges event, Jeanette Bushnell, Clarence Spigner and Michelle Koutnik brought perspectives from glaciology, indigenous philosophy, public health, and more to this community conversation about the concept of “crisis,” including how activist movements and academia can work in tandem and also hold each other accountable.
Watch a recording of Global Challenges 2020
Technology Ethics and Social Change, 2019
Society is scrambling to understand and govern paradigm-changing technologies like big data and artificial intelligence on our identities, systems, health and rights. Together we explored what’s happening at the intersections of “ethical” social change and technology with Anna Lauren Hoffmann (UW iSchool), Ece Kamar (Microsoft Research) and Shankar Narayan (ACLU: Technology and Liberty Project).
Watch a recording of Global Challenges 2019
The Question of Rights, 2018
Tom Ikeda (Founder/Director of Densho), Megan Ming-Francis (Political Science), and Angélica Cházaro (Law) explored the intersections between historical Japanese-American experiences of disposession and incarceration and current systems and political decisions to disenfranchise/displace and dehumanize.
Watch a recording of Global Challenges 2018
Nationalism, News and the Power of Culture, 2017
Kate Starbird (Human-Centered Engineering and Informatics), Randy Engstrom (Public Servant in Arts and Youth Advocacy) and Reşat Kasaba (International Studies) held a dynamic conversation that helped to broaden perspectives on how to remedy or at least slow the progress of civic discord.
Watch a recording of Global Challenges 2017
Talking About Climate Change, 2016
Jean Dennison (Anthropology/Colonialism), David Battisti (Atmospheric Sciences) and Hanson Hossein (Communication Leadership) discussed why it is so hard for those most invested in the way things are to talk about, much less agree about, the science and social impacts of climate change.
Hossein made the point: “Our solution is storytelling…If you can come up with a really powerful narrative and tell stories in an effective way, you transcend some of the challenges we have right now. If you can find a narrative that both groups or identities can agree upon, then you can start agreeing upon what path you can take to make that change.”
Health and Poverty, 2015
Our first Global Challenges event, hosted in November of 2015, brought together Steve Gloyd, Chandan Reddy and LaShawnDa Pittman for a conversation moderated by Honors Program Director, Vicky Lawson on the relationship between poverty and health access and outcomes. There was no video recording in our first year of Global Challenges events.
Read student Nicole Einbinder’s article, published in The Daily