We are proud to annouce that Professor Bill Talbott has been selected to serve a two-year term as the Joff Hanauer Honors Professor in Western Civilization, beginning September 1, 2016. In this capacity, he will teach one course per year in the University Honors Program, serve on the Honors Council and occasional associated sub-committees, hold regular office hours for Honors students, and work with the Director of Honors to coordinate student activities in the Honors Program. He will also work with the Hanauer Distinguished Professor in Western Civilization to develop the Graduate Fellows Program of the Hanauer Endowment for Excellence in Western Civilization and participate in other activities with students in the Honors Program. The endowed professorship will also provide funds to support a TA for one quarter each year.
In winter quarter 2017, Bill will teach a new course in the Honors Program: Human Rights from the Bottom Up. In order to give the students in the course an appreciation for the variety of research at UW related to human rights and the great variety of disciplinary approaches to issues of human rights, the course will include readings and guest lectures by faculty from a variety of UW departments and programs whose research focuses on issues of human rights. The students will also do field research on a human rights organization in the Puget Sound area engaged in direct action of some kind on a human rights issue.