We’re now approaching the end of University Press Week 2023 and the final day of the UP Week Blog Tour. Thanks to you and our university press colleagues for celebrating the ways that university presses give voice to the scholarship and ideas that shape conversations around the world with this year’s theme, #SpeakUP.

Prompted by today’s UP Week Blog Tour theme, “Where do university presses #SpeakUP?,” we are excited to feature one of the many organizations that help to amplify our authors’ work: Humanities Washington.

Humanities Washington works with authors and scholars to bring vital public programming and events to cities and towns across Washington State, in partnership with libraries, museums, and other cultural organizations.

“Humanities Washington helped me connect with communities all across the state that I would not have otherwise,” said Eric Wagner, author of After the Blast: The Ecological Recovery of Mount St. Helens. “Having spent the last five years trying to tell just one part of the story of Mount St. Helens, I loved hearing all the stories other folks had from the eruption. . . . I probably learned more about the mountain from the audience than they did from me.”

“The reach of Humanities Washington throughout Washington State and their network of libraries, community organizations, senior centers, and professional associations provides a robust platform for educating Washington State residents about our region’s critical environmental and cultural history,” said BJ Cummings, author of The River That Made Seattle: A Human and Natural History of the Duwamish.

Read more in our Q&A with Humanities Washington program manager Sarah Faulkner.

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First, for those not already familiar, please briefly describe Humanities Washington and the work that you do.

Humanities Washington is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to open minds and bridge divides by creating spaces to explore different perspectives. To this end, we provide cultural programs to tens of thousands of Washingtonians each year. We run a variety of programs, including Prime Time Family Reading, a six-week reading and discussion program for families of young children; Think & Drink, which brings experts to local taprooms to discuss vital issues in a relaxed environment; the Poet Laureate program, which promotes poetry for all; and our Speakers Bureau, which sends forty experts across the state to give free, public presentations in partnership with museums, libraries, and other community venues. All our programs are dedicated to sparking conversation and critical thinking in every corner of Washington.

What is the role that scholars play in Humanities Washington programs? 

Scholars are essential to Humanities Washington programs. They serve as panelists for our Think & Drink programs, thus bringing their expertise directly to the public; guide families through reading discussions in our Prime Time Family Reading Program; and serve as ambassadors for the humanities through our Speakers Bureau program.

As a part of the Speakers Bureau, our experts guide audiences through a one-hour interactive presentation that’s designed to teach them something new, help them consider a new perspective, and spark conversation. Scholars share new humanities research and give explanations of complicated topics in accessible yet nuanced language. They’re thought-provoking, engaging, and an immense boon to creating a better informed and engaged Washington. Our programs are especially appreciated in rural areas that may not have access to a university or college, allowing the community to interact with experts from across the state.

Every year, the Speakers Bureau program brings hundreds of free events to cities and towns across the state and many of these events feature UW Press authors. Can you share a highlight or two from the 2021–2023 season?

We’re constantly impressed by the fantastic work our speakers do across the state. UW Press author Eric Wagner did an astounding thirty-five presentations on the ecological recovery of Mount St. Helens. His presentation, entitled “After the Blast: Mount St Helens 40 Years Later,” bridged the gap between the sciences and the humanities to help audiences see the immense impact of human choices on the living world around us.

Wagner traveled to twenty-two different cities, seventeen counties, all ten Congressional Districts, and reached over thirteen hundred Washingtonians through his presentations. I had the pleasure of seeing him present to an audience of 102 people at the Harstine Island Community Club, an incredibly engaged group in rural Mason County. Eric’s warmth, humor, and immense knowledge helped every audience member—from ages ten into the nineties—learn something new and enjoy doing it.

Collectively, the 2021-2023 roster offered almost 400 presentations, over half of which were quickly and deftly adapted to be delivered via Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are so grateful to our presenters, who help us deliver what one Speakers Bureau host calls “their lifeline to ideas.”

The 2024–2025 Speakers Bureau roster was recently announced and includes four UW Press authors. What excites you about these authors and their topics? Can you share more about the presentations that are planned?

We are beyond excited about these authors and their topics! We strive to provide a wide variety of topics on our roster to serve the largest possible audience. We partner with Washington nonprofits to organize these presentations, and our hosts include libraries, museums, historical societies, high schools, carceral institutions, community centers, and more! Thus, we try to provide presentations on a variety of topics, including art, literature, philosophy, society, history, and more. The work of our four UW Press scholars gives a good idea of the variety we have to offer.

In his presentation “Stomp and Shout: The Untold Story of Northwest Rock and Roll,” author and historian Peter Blecha (author of Stomp and Shout: R&B and the Origins of Northwest Rock and Roll) takes us on a sweeping musical journey that covers not only the Greatest Hits of the Northwest but also the lesser known yet vitally important bands that laid the foundation for what Blecha calls “the Northwest Sound.”

Author and journalist David George Gordon returns to the Speakers Bureau with a presentation called “Heaven on the Half Shell: Washington State’s Oyster Odyssey.” In conjunction with the second edition of his coauthored book by the same name, Gordon leads Washingtonians through a natural and social history of the Pacific Northwest’s most beloved bivalve with his famous good humor and passion.

University of Washington professor Josephine Ensign (author of the Washington State Book Award Finalist Skid Road: On the Frontier of Health and Homelessness in Seattle) asks audiences to be vulnerable and compassionate as she guides them through her presentation, “Homelessness and the Meaning of Home.” Drawing on both her scholarly research and her personal experience of homelessness, Ensign teaches the history of homelessness and explores the contemporary crisis throughout our state and country through a deeply personal lens.

Ingrid Walker, professor emerita of University of Washington Tacoma (and author of High: Drugs, Desire, and a Nation of Users) asks a bold question: “What If We’re Wrong about Drugs?” Tackling contemporary issues like the opioid crisis, drug (de)criminalization and stigmatization, medical drug use, and addiction, Walker asks if changing our cultural stories about drugs and their users can help us take a new approach to drugs.

And these are just four of the forty presentations we offer (you can find all forty here). We’re incredibly proud of the upcoming roster and the work they’ll do to spark meaningful connections and conversations among neighbors in our state. Whether folks attend to have fun, to debate, to challenge themselves, or to learn about a new culture or topic, we hope that all Speakers Bureau attendees will leave with a new perspective on the world around them.

If you’re interested in any of these presentations, please reach out to Humanities Washington at speakers@humanities.org to see how you can bring them to your city!

Thank you, Sarah, for taking the time to answer our questions!

Thank you, UW Press, for the amazing work that you do to open minds across the state! Happy UP Week!

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Visit the UP Week Blog Tour page to learn more about how community organizations, booksellers, libraries, and scholarly societies work with university presses to amplify authors’ work in various communities around the world and join in the celebration of university presses on social media with the #UPWeek and #SpeakUP hashtags!