The fading, centuries-old murals on the walls of churches around the Yucatán Peninsula reflect the influence of the Europeans who landed on its shores in the 16th century. It seems only logical to assume that the images were created by the Europeans, whose arrival transformed the entire hemisphere—but that assumption is actually incorrect.

Jeffrey J. Matthews knows leadership. As the George F. Jewett Distinguished Professor in the School of Business and Leadership, he has spent chunks of his career digging into the subject. And, as a historian, he’s also not afraid to call it as he sees it. His new book, Generals and Admirals, Criminals and Crooks: Dishonorable Leadership in the U.S. Military (Notre Dame Press, 2023), is an investigative meditation on military leadership gone wrong—a tour through hiccups, eruptions, and bad judgment that winds through Gen.

For Abby Steward ’25, “glamping” was as close as her family ever got to outdoor adventure during her childhood in Oregon. So when her summer research at Puget Sound took her not only out into the woods to camp for 10 straight days, but 60 feet up into the canopy of bigleaf maples, “it really tested my capabilities,” Steward says. “I was thrown into something completely new. Being able to witness what my body could do in climbing that many trees felt amazing.”

Ariela Tubert, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy, has long been interested in the ethics of artificial intelligence. Since 2022, Tubert and her spouse, fellow philosophy prof Justin Tiehen, have shared the James M. Dolliver National Endowment for the Humanities distinguished professorship to study the intersection of humanities and artificial intelligence.

TACOMA, Wash. — The University of Puget Sound is pleased to announce that Tanya Erzen, associate professor of religion, spirituality, and society and director of crime, law, and justice studies, has been awarded a grant of $598,500 from Ascendium Education Group. This funding will support the university's Technical Assistance for Teaching and Learning Initiative, aimed at enhancing education within college classrooms in prison.

Tacoma, Wash. - The University of Puget Sound has been awarded $1.3 million from The Mellon Foundation to fund its groundbreaking project, "Reimagining Justice and Carceral Systems through the Humanities." This transformative initiative will employ humanities approaches to shed light on the experiences of those most affected by criminal and legal systems and expand our crime, law, and justice studies program.

Tacoma, Wash. — Professor Stacey Weiss, associate chair of biology and William L. McCormick Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Puget Sound, has been honored with the prestigious 2023 Lynwood W. Swanson Scientific Research Award by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The award was presented to Professor Weiss at the Murdock College Science Research Conference in Vancouver, Washington, on Nov. 10.

If you wander through the city of Tacoma, you’ll likely come across a small garden tucked into the corner of a neighborhood, on the edge of a park, or behind a church, overflowing with tomatoes, peas, and zucchini. These community gardens, tended by volunteers, aren’t just for show. They’re a critical piece of Pierce County’s food network and could be a powerful tool in reducing food insecurity.

Professor of Biology Leslie Saucedo is on a mission to understand what causes unregulated cell growth in the body—a hallmark of cancer. She’s been sharing her passion for cellular biology with students at Puget Sound for 21 years. Her new book, Getting to Know Your Cells (Springer), was published in July 2023.

Artists, professors, and students from various universities will gather at the University of Puget Sound November 3–4, 2023, for a two-day symposium, Flow: Art and Ecology in the Time of Global Warming. This event, supported by a Northwest Five Mellon Engage Grant, aims to explore the connections between art, ecology, and place-based knowledge in the context of climate change while fostering community engagement and collaboration.